Preparing for future walks.

Getting Prepared

You may have noticed that things have been pretty quiet on the bushwalking front lately. Despite having a couple of trips planned over the summer holidays we were unable to get away at all. This was mostly due to Australia's habit of catching alight over summer. 

The two areas we had planned to visit, Mt Baw Baw plateau and Mt Feathertop, have both been the scene of significant bushfires and this put paid to any thoughts of walking. We haven't written off these trips completely but may just have to consider them in a few months time.

Of course, the problem for firefighters in the Mt Feathertop region is the difficulty of the terrain. If you look back at previous posts, particularly taking not of Diamantina spur, you'll get an appreciation of the work in store for the firefighters.

There has been one upshot of this inability to go walking. It inspires me to start considering future walks and what may be required to complete these. My thoughts over recent weeks have been turning back to the Overland track in Tasmania (which our daughter has yet to complete), extended walks in locations such as Europe, the UK and Ireland, and most significantly the Australian Alps Walking Track. 

The AAWT is a track approximately 650 kms long travelling from Walhalla in Victoria to Canberra in the ACT. A walk of this length obviously requires a significant amount of preparation and a significant investment of time (usuaklly in the region of 6 weeks to complete).

While discussing the possibility of completing the AAWT from end to end my thoughts, and the thoughts of the family, turned to the current state of our equipment and what upgrades may be required. The most important upgrade is going to be new packs for all of the kids. Our twin boys are currently approaching 6 feet tall and filling out. Our daughter, too, is growing in strength and capability so she will also require a bigger pack. The thought e're having is to go with a couple of One Planet packs for the boys and pass one of their smaller packs to our daughter.

While looking into the art and science of pack selection I found the following very useful info graphic (click on the image to see more detail).

This is a beautifully designed infographic that clearly explains what pack will be best for the walks you plan on doing and how to measure and fit that pack.

This is the type of information that can be very hard to find for beginners, such as some of the group that walked the Strzelecki Track last year. If I find anymore info like this I'll be sure to post it.

Credit for image goes to REI (www.rei.com)

Introduction to Bushwalking on the Grand Strzelecki Track

It's been a while since my last post, six months in fact. Winter in Victoria isn't a terribly popular time to go bushwalking. But this winter did see the opportunity for some plans to be made for a fun weekend walk.

Over the last six months I've had several friends talk to me about taking them, and their boys, on a weekend bushwalk to introduce them to the joys of this brilliant sport. After a bit of discussion, some thinking and planning, a lot of procrastination, and finally some decisions, we decided on a section of the Grand Strzelecki Track. This is a relatively new track that was officially opened in May 2012. The section we decided to walk was the Balook to Macks Creek section. While this section is only about 10 kms long, it allows us plenty of time to explore on the way, climb waterfalls and have some fun at camp.

The first night we parked at the Tarra-Bulga Information centre and walked about 400m to our first campsite. This was the old Balook State School which ceased functioning as a school in 1954 (I think). It was converted to a school camp some time through the 2000's but from the six foot trees on the volleyball court it's been some time since it's seen school groups. For a small piece of family history, my dad was one of the last students to attend Balook Primary School.

Friday night saw a small shower of rain go through but not enough to be any bother. What was a bother, for anyone thinking of walking this track, was the lack of water at the campsite. The nearest available water was back at the visitor centre. This wasn't a problem but a note on the map would have been appreciated.

Starting out near the old Balook State School

 Saturday saw us wake to a clear, blue sky with nothing but some left over drizzle on the tents. A quick breakfast and we had our packs on ready for the days walk. The track leaves the school and heads into the park proper. The track is a beautiful, wide, leaf-strewn track where 3 or 4 people can walk side by side. There was the obligatory stopping to adjust packs and shoes but we quickly settled into our stride.

The track descends steadily until it meets Wild Cherry Track and we turn left. At this point of the track we start to discover how damp a rainforest can be. Yep, we're walking through some of the remnants of the temperate rainforest that originally covered this area.

Wild Cherry track junction

At this point we saw the sign to Macks Creek Hall so we knew we were on the right track although not going all the way to the hall. The track remained quite wide at this point but we did meet some of the local fauna at this point in the form of leeches. 

Wild Cherry Track

 We continued on a steady downhill for the next couple of hours avoiding the damper spots to stop. Along the way we saw, and heard evidence of the local wildlife although no sightings as such. This probably had more to do with the amount of talking going on rather than the lack of wildlife. The track became steep enough, and muddy enough, that we almost all took a fall at some stage. Thankfully none were serious, just seriously funny.

Pause for a snack and leech check

We reached to bottom end of the park and noticed an obvious change in the bush as we passed from original rainforest to pine reforestation. Although dropping to the creek in the gully the ground became steadily drier as the bush opened up. We eventually came to a great waterfall that was asking to be climbed so a rest break was called. As is always the case, there were a few minor scratches, scrapes and bumps from climbing but nothing serious so we continued on to our campsite. 

Climbing the falls

The campsite we were aiming for tonight turned out to be quite popular with 4x4s. When we arrived there were 5 or so 4x4s well established in the camping area. Not being aware this might be a possibility meant we had an impromptu discussion to decide what we would do. The suggestions made included walk to the cars at the end of the track (another 1 km or so) and drive home, drive the cars and the packs back to Balook while the kids ran back u the track, or continue walking and hope we came across another campsite.

Macks Creek

After only 400m or so we came to a section where the track opened up enough for us to fit 5 or 6 tents with beautiful access to the creek. We settled in for the night and were soon met by a couple of friends who couldn't make the whole weekend but came for the night. We had a great night learning to whittle sticks, telling stories and messing around in the creek.

The group of walkers

We all had a great weekend and it was a good introduction to bushwalking. No doubt there will be more walks in the future. But how to fit these in while also getting out with my family. Oh well, guess I'll just have to make time for more bushwalking.

Easter at Mt Feathertop

We had aimed at getting up to Mt Feathertop some time in February but due to some very unfortunate circumstances we weren't able to make it. We made new plans for Easter and were able to be joined by some friends this time.

The day arrived and we started walking in cloud, with the threat of rain and a forecast of thunderstorms. This didn't slow the boys down who took off a a great pace with no sign of slowing down.

Foggy statrt

 We managed to keep pup with the boys for the first hour and met them at a couple of rest breaks before they well and truly left us behind. Of course, I was using the excuse that I needed to stay at the back of the group "just in case" but I think they saw through my excuses.

Break time

 Thankfully the weather didn't close in any further and never developed into the threatening rain. This meant we had quite pleasant walking with plenty of time for photos and  video. I think April particularly enjoyed not having to keep up with the boys and so she made good use of some Mum time.

On the Razorback

 As we approached Federation Hut we could see a few tents already set up but were hoping there wouldn't be huge crowds. Due to the cloud the hut popped up out of nowhere rather than seeing it grow closer for the last hour or so.

Approaching Federation Hut

 The second day (Saturday) couldn't have been a greater contrast. We woke to ice on the tents and cloudless skies after an incredibly windy night. Sunrise promised a great day of exploring.

Mt Buffalo in the morning

 We summited in the morning as all the boys had a full day of exploring ahead of us. The girls summited also then returned to the tent for a restful afternoon.

Summit of Mt Feathertop

We left the summit via the northwest spur along a track that was something less than a very minor goat track. We made our way to the MUMC hut then returned around the side of Mt Feathertop in time for a late lunch.

That evening we made our way up Little Mt Feathertop for a chilly, but fabulous, sunset. Remarkably we had no cloud, no rain and no storms today despite persistent forecasts by the weather bureau. We built a cairn, took some photos then climbed down in the dusk.

Sunset

Twilight

Sunset from Little Mt Feathertop

We walked out on Easter Sunday in much the same conditions we walked in with. What a stunning weekend, with some good friends, and fantastic weather.

The last day of our walk welcomed us with a beautiful crisp morning that promised to be a clear and dry day. As I mentioned previously, because of the rest day we had due to snow we were booked on the ferry that departs Narcissus Hut at about 11:00 am. In order to arrive in time we set off from Bert Nichols Hut at 5:30 - 6:00 am. Yep, an early morning but we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to finish the 10 km walk with time to rest at Narcissus.

Mount Olympus

This is a beautiful, undulating walk along the edge of button grass plains. Much of the walk is spent looking ahead to Mount Olympus laid out in magnificent panorama.

Mount Olympus

As we were again nearing the more accessible parts of the park, due to the ferry, we noticed an increase in both the amount, and quality, of the boardwalk. One of the highlights of this section is the swing bridge over the Narcissus River. This is strictly a one person at a time bridge that has a remarkable amount of bounce in it. This is amplified by the fact you're carrying roughly 20 kg on your back which has a tendency to upset your balance somewhat.

Last of the Buttongrass plains

Whether it was the coffee waiting for us, the ferry to take us along the lake, or the bed waiting for us in Hobart, we made excellent time this morning and ended up with an hour or more to rest and explore the river and upper reaches of Lake St Clair before the ferry arrived.

Yep, we all made it

Narcissus Hut

We had a few goodbyes to make here, although this wasn't the last we'd see of some of our walking companions as we bumped in to several of them at Salamanca Market in Hobart.

The ferry, what a beautiful sight!

Watching the ferry arrive was a lovely feeling. We knew we'd finished and were very proud of the effort everyone put in, particularly the boys. It was a hard walk for them considering the two days of snow we encountered, and the winds strong enough to blow the boys over. Despite the difficulties we encountered there was immediate agreement that we'd be back. Next time, though, we're going to climb as many mountains as we can, and we're going to take the youngest in our family as well.

The date of the next trip? Hopefully, January 2014. Overland, here we come!!

Check back over the next few days and I'll hopefully have a link to a couple of minutes of video.

The Overland Track Day 6 - January 6, 2009

Today we are truly on the downhill run, except there's still one range to cross. Thankfully the track crosses the lowest point of the Du Cane range and not over Castle Crag as shown in the photo. Today would be a beautiful walk through a lot of temperate rainforest and then into drier eucalypt forest.

Du Cane Range

After a short 45 minute walk we came across Du Cane hut. This is one of two original huts still standing (the other being the original Pelion Hut). For this reason it's heritage listed and not appropriate to sleep in although it does have some beautiful campsites around it.  

Du Cane hut was originally known as Windsor Castle and is home to the legendary "Possum Pete". This is an infamous possum of indeterminate, yet extremely old age. He has been considered responsible for opening any and every make of pack, tent, sleeping back, container and sundry other items. He can remove food from the most difficult and well hidden places and has never been able to be caught. Thankfully we didn't see him and our food resources stayed intact.

Du Cane Hut

 We walked past several significant waterfalls today, however considering the climb down to them we didn't head too far off track. We had some restful stops in the mossy, temperate rainforest before starting the climb to the 1070m high Du Cane Gap.

Trackside stop

 Once we reached the top of the Gap we noticed the environment start to dry out and the fauna start to change. After the steady climb to the top we then had a steeper climb down the other side of the range to reach our final nights accommodation, Bert Nichols Hut.

Resting at Du Cane Gap

 There was one last highlight for todays walk before we would reach the hut.  Once we reached the forest floor on the other side of the Gap we spotted the "Bottom Tree". It didn;t get it's name because it's at the bottom of the descent. If you look carefully at the photo you'll work out for yourself why it got it's name.

Yep, it's the "Bottom Tree" (look closely)

 Bert Nichols Hut is a very controversial hut. It was built about six months before we did the walk, and cost over $1,000,000 to build. Much of the cost was due to the fact that the materials all had to be airlifted in. the controversy arose because many trees were cut down to clear the space (you can see the firewood under the hut in the photo) and despite all this expense and tree clearing, it only sleeps as many people as some of the smaller, original huts on the track. Hopefully this isn't the direction that the rest of the huts go when they need replacing.

Looking back at Bert Nichols Hut

We had one final night with the friends we'd made on the track then settled in for a very early night as we needed to be out at the ferry pickup by 11:00 am tomorrow and we really wanted to be able to enjoy the last days walk. The early night meant we could be in the track by 6:00 am giving us 5 hours to reach Narcissus Hut and the ferry.