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On Monday 2nd of November I attempted my first through hike on the Cape to Cape in the South West of WA. Before I get into my experience I'll drop my Lighter Pack, so you can get a feel for the gear I was using for my first proper long distance bush walk (attempt). https://lighterpack.com/plr8u4
Feel free to give a shake down on my gear selections. My pack was a last minute purchase and I would have preferred to have purchased a pack from Dan at Wilderness Threadworks; time being of the essence it would've taken too long to get one in time as I had left buying my pack to the last minute.
https://preview.redd.it/eso9b4mrnex51.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33918edea4d4a6e554476d0575d4434a07c79d24
After some discussions with u/bumps- I had tweaked some of my kit choices, omitting my Nemo Hornet 1p footprint as the camp sites provide a soft underground meaning the thin bath tub of the tent would be safe from any potential damage as it is quite thin. I subbed in some boardies and a towel so that I could enjoy swims in the ocean along the way.
Preface: I am new to Ultralight but have been slowly acquiring and updating my kit since August. I have experience of day hiking over the past 3 years in the Rockies in Canada, an overnighter on the Bibbulmun, and have covered most of the day hikes in the Perth hills such as John Forrest NP, Serpentine NP, Paruna Wildlife Sanctuary and day walks on the Bib. I have also hiked the Stirling Ranges 3 times.
Highlight: Wyadup Rocks
Day 1 - Naturaliste to Mount Duckworth Campsite
After spending significant time over months planning and preparing for my first through hike, and acquiring all of the necessary gear. I had my gear spread out, ready to pack and leave Perth for the 3 hour drive to the trailhead at Cape Naturaliste lighthouse. This is where the misfortune began. I was planning to start the short 10km hike to the first campsite (Mount Duckworth) by around 1pm to give me time to set up my tent for the first time and potentially have a swim at sunset, but due to losing a piece of equipment I wasted an hour searching for it to no avail, and didn't get to the trailhead until closer to 3pm. The weather on day 1 wasn't ideal, with strong squally winds and intermittent down pours leading to moody and woolly conditions. Fortunately that cleared up before I made it to the campsite, and the sun was still up by the time I made it into the camp site at around 6 giving me plenty of time to set up gear, have some dinner and wind down for the day. The highlight of the first section was Sugarloaf rock, with a sweeping view around a bay with the big rock formation slightly out to sea in the distance providing magnificent views, even in the cloudy rainy conditions.
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Day 1 - Sugarloaf Rock between rain patches
Day 2 - Duckworth to Moses Rock Campsite
After a pretty average sleep, and a surprise night time downpour leading to me running out to move my pack into the tent vestibule, I rose bright and early for a 5am start. I opted to utilise my ankle brace to protect my previously injured ankle from any potential harm on what was to be a 25km day. The morning was windy, cloudy and moody much like the first afternoon. I was greeted with blustery wind but the sun popped out to warm things up, and my neck buff came in handy keeping my neck and face warm. On the brief 3km section to Yallingup I encountered some nice wildflowers and a flock of black cockatoos, which were less than impressed by my presence and kept moving further along the trail as I moved closer towards them. After skipping breakfast, at Yallingup 3km into the morning hike I opted to once again skip brekky (rookie error) and chose to have a protein bar instead.
After leaving Yallingup the 2km beach stretch alluded me. I previously walked this stretch in summer as a teenager and even bare foot found it quite the challenge as the sand is soft and it is slow going. So I took the cowards way out and took the alternative route along the coastal heath on the Quenda trail, which saved me a lot of grief after the struggles I encountered on the beach at 3 bears beach (Kabbijgup) on day 1. After a brief walk along the beach at the southern end of Smiths I had to cross a small water body running into the ocean, and this was the start of all of my problems....
I managed to enjoy the spectacular views of Smiths Point, Canal rocks and Wyadup rocks over the next few kilometres. Similar to Sugarloaf rocks, every new bay that I viewed provided panoramic views over reef and rocks leading up to large, scattered rock formations. These truly are a sight to behold, and are popular tourist attractions year round with natural spas and great views from around the peak of each formation. Around Canal Rocks I noticed that my heels were beginning to get extremely sore from my new Saucony Peregrine 10 trail running shoes, so I stopped to apply a bandaid and re-adjust my ankle brace to try and provide some relief from this. I also began noticing that on the decline walking sections my toes were getting crushed, regretting not cutting my toe nails before beginning the through hike.
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Smith's Point
After trudging along Injidup beach, I stopped to watch the surf at Inji car park break and applied some sunscreen, only to find that my bottles cap was loose, and sunscreen had leaked all into the side pocket of my bag, which was frustrating to find. Nonetheless, I savoured as much of the sunscreen as I could, rested my somewhat sore heel/toes and then continued on with my day about 9km into the 24km day. As the day moved on, the weather started to warm up, and I had already burnt through 2L and only had 2L to get me through the warmer middle part of the day.
Past Injidup, the trail moved into mostly 4wd shared trail along the limestone cliff faces which make up plenty of reef breaks, passing popular spots such as Gallows and Guillotines, which looked quite raw and ragged in the strong southerly winds and large swell after the storms of the weekend. The wind and temperate weather provided nice conditions, but the soreness in my feet was really beginning to put thoughts into my head, and I was scrunching my feet together on the declined sections in an attempt to protect my toes from being crushed into the toe box of my shoes. I stopped in shade where I could take sips of water and escape the harsh sun, even though it was only 20 degrees. During this section I came across a bobtail, and a booty shaking monitor lizard.
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Quininnup Falls
As I got to the end of this cliff top section I made it to the Northern end of Moses Rock (Quinninup beach), and made a short detour to visit the Quinninup falls which were quite a nice place to stop and enjoy. This brought me onto the rock bottom of my day along the Moses rock section, where my feet were so sore I ended up taking them off, and walking barefoot for a stretch. Upon assessing my feet I realised it was too little too late, with large blisters beginning to welt on my heels. I was pretty devastated and stressed at this realisation. And being Melbourne cup day, no taxis were available to put me out of my misery and take me back to my car. After waiting at a crossroad for about an hour working out what to do I opted to trudge on to the Moses Rock campsite and stay the night, albeit in a lot of discomfort.
I made it to the campsite at about 3pm, and enjoyed finally having a full meal, setting up camp nice and early, refilling water stocks and enjoying the view over the coastline towards the Wilyabrup Abseiling cliff faces. I was rewarded at the end of the day with a bittersweet sunset, and blustering winds with waves to match. Going to sleep to the raw sounds of the ocean pounding on the coastline was quite comforting considering the hard day I had, in which I had also managed to suffer from a headache due to the lack of food, and had developed wind/sunburn from the harsh weather.
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Sunset at Moses Rock Camp
Day 3 - Moses Rock Campsite to Moses Rock Road, and then back to Perth
In the morning I made a sumptuous protein quick oats brekky, and watched dolphins surf at the chair looking over the ocean at the campsite. Another issue occurred this morning, with my protein ziplock bag blowing out, so I had to transfer the contents into the oats bag. I made the short 2km hike back to Moses rock road from the campsite, and encountered more hikers in that short stretch than I did on the first 2 days, as the weather was magnificent, low 20s and light offshore winds making it perfect hiking conditions. I was fortunate enough to have my girlfriend make the trip down to pick me up/console me after my misfitted equipment had ended my trip early. As I had no intentions of pushing through any further pain barriers after the pain I had experienced walking 15km with blisters from Injidup to Moses Rock. At the road I encountered a female kangaroo with a joey, and a very large male, which was extremely stand offish. I kept my distance and luckily my girlfriend's car scared them away, as they seemed threatened and ready to strike if I had attempted to pass them.
After collecting my car I took my girlfriend for a sumptuous lunch meal at the Eagle Bay Brewing Company. Which I recommend highly for meat eaters and non-meat eaters alike.
If you made it this far, cheers for listening to my failed attempt at the Cape to Cape, I plan on heading back in late Autumn next year to complete it. Now I will move on to some learnings in terms of equipment, what worked and what didn't.
Gear Experiences - What Worked

1. Nemo Hornet 1p Tent - great bit of kit, easy to assemble, relatively light at 900g and handled the rain and wind quite well. Was surprised at how easy it was even on first use, although I need to learn how to set it to sit a bit tighter as I couldn't quite get the rain cover to sit right.
2. Columbia Silver Ridge Lite Shirt - Recommended on a thread on here, great sun protection from the harsh elements and fast drying in the windy, hot conditions.
3. Meals - between the protein oats, the TVP/Ainsley Harriot couscous combo and the Back Country cuisine meals, I had a nice variety and balance which I would've enjoyed if I had completed the track
4. Osprey Atmos AG 50 Pack - although not ultralight, this pack made the 14kg I started with feel more like 6-7kg, and did not impinge on my hips or make me sweat too badly due to the trampoline backing. Although it weighs 2kg, I found it to be a good addition to my gear collection.
5. All Trails - worked a treat on this trail, accidentally stuck to a 4wd trail at one point and it helped reconnect me to the main trail in no time.

What Didn't Work/ Could've been better

1. Saucony Peregrine 10 Shoes- due to the lugs being too flat on my trusty old Columbia mid boots, I opted to buy a pair of trail runners for this trip, which I stupidly did not break in before embarking on the hike. These were about 1/2 a size too big and lead to heel rubbing blisters and bruising on my big toes from crushing them on the decline when my feet slipped forward.
2. Ziplock bags for protein and oats - too easily broken, opting for slightly heavier plastic takeaway containers or standard home brand plastic containers would have been a safer bet
3. Lush toothpaste tabs- these taste like absolute crap, a blend of soap and licorice. Definitely will stick to the standard Colgate in the future.
4. Nemo Tensor Sleeping Mat - maybe I'm just a light sleeper but I found the mummy mat is hard to fall asleep on and I wake up 4-6 times throughout the night, maybe this is just something I need to get used to...
5. Bucket Hat - neck protection is king in harsh weather, and a legionnaires hat with full neck cover would have been preferable on the trail, paired with a bandana or lighter fabric face covering to protect from the harsh winds. Although the bucket hat did cover the ears and provide some protection.

And finally, gear I probably didn't need to bring with me was the Patagonia synthetic jacket, as it never got that cold and a super light fleece would have done the job (which I need to acquire). I could have done with some wind pants as the breeze did get a bit cool at night and in the morning, nothing heavy duty just something to protect the skin from the elements. I probably could've gotten away with using the neck buff as a towel and really the towel was a luxury.
TL;DR - Second day of first through hike I was brought down by poorly fitted new hiking shoes, which I should've worn in prior to the hike/holiday. Experienced beautiful conditions and scenery but suffered through some pain/self inflicted hunger.
Thanks for reading!