Great Pine Tier: 3-6 April 2018

We’re going on a bushwalk!! It’s going to be a good one… after a few days of lamenting what looked like horribly wet weather across the north, west and south of the state, and reluctantly settling on a brief car camping trip to the north east, the mood took a turn for the better. The latest forecast had us excitedly considering a few days wandering around the Walls of Jerusalem region, with only a tiny bit of hesitancy (we never trust the weather man entirely!).

And so we muddled our way through packing – it had been a long time and was no longer something I could with my eyes closed. But we got there (and didn’t forget anything too crucial), and were good to go only an hour late on Tuesday morning.

We’d chosen to head in via the Lake Augusta/Ada route, for something different. It made for a shorter drive, but we still managed to spot three wedgies (turns out this was only a taster for what we would see)! Pulling up at the cleared dirt carpark we couldn’t believe the blue skies around, and set off happily, but tentatively – each nursing pre-existing sporting injuries.

The track is a very decent 4WD road for some time, and the walking less exciting as a result. There are, however, plenty of lakes and the odd hut to check out. And the wildlife was something else indeed. Two platypus, a giant wild spider, a dragon (the lizard kind) and a funny fat insect with super skinny legs made up the ‘before lunch’ count for us.  A cormorant who’s flown inland came shortly after. This was, of course, on top of the usual grasshoppers, skinks, ducks and green rosellas. The funny insect thing turned out to be a mountain katydid, I was informed by a friend, which have a cool little trick where they camouflage in nicely, unless a predator gets too close, whereby they lift their wings up to reveal super bright apparently scary colours on their bums!

By this stage we were on the foot track, walking through landscape that is so typical of the region. While not arduous – incredibly flat and no scrub to contend with – both of us were weary by the time we arrived at Lake Fanny, and paused for a snack while we contemplated our plan of attack up what looked like a rather green Great Pine Tier.

We took our time crossing the outlet from Fanny to keep our feet as dry as possible, then wound our way between the scrub around the southern end of the lake. So far so good. With some excellent decisions and the odd guess we continued in the same fashion up a green but not scrubby chute onto the spine of the tier, where the going continued to be just as easy, winding through eucalypts, over rock and low heath.

The true summit was a tad evasive (not clearly marked on the map), so we did a bit of a tour of some of the higher points to ensure we actually had claimed our first peakbaggers point for 2018! Though it was 5-5:30 hrs after having set out, we were knackered and decided to set up camp near the largest lake on the plateau. Though the views west to the Overland Track mountains were a tad obscured, and the site wasn’t beautiful, it was a pretty place to be nonetheless. We watched an orange moon rise in the cloud free sky, then fell asleep without a problem at all!

Near Ada lagoon – lots of fishermen huts to explore here

Ada Lagoon – we saw 2 platypus here!

Typical walking in this area

Reflections in a tarn on Great Pine Tier

Think we’ll camp near here, on Great Pine Tier

From the summit of Great Pine Tier, looking towards Mersey and Turrana in the distance

Graham claims his first peak and point for 2018

The colour was pretty as the sun set

Very different colour on the trees the next morning

We awoke to another lovely day, explored the campsite a little before cooking breakfast, doing some physio, and packing to leave. We continued to wander our way along the tier’s ridge, then dropped down and headed to intersect the track coming off Jerusalem, ultimately headed towards Dixon’s Kingdom. Graham had yet to climb King David’s Peak, so that was our next stop.

It was a beautiful sunny day, almost felt like summer, and it was a bit of an effort climbing up the last hill to the track. There, we dumped our packs in the scrub, took water and snacks, and bounded down the track, feeling very much lighter without packs. There were heaps of people out and about, and Dixon’s Kingdom was full of Wilderness Equipment tents (I was pleased to see!). We greeted everyone we passed, and they all seemed pretty happy!

It didn’t take long till we were turning left off the track up to Solomon’s Throne, and after a very short sharp ascent, were on top, looking over to King David’s, which had a tiny figure standing on top. That was our true destination so we kept on moving, tracing our way along the edge, attempting to stay on one of the multiple branching pads.

It’s a decent way between the two peaks, but the figure that we’d spotted from Solomon’s Throne was still on the summit, lying on the rocks out of the wind, enjoying the sun and listening to something through headphones. We ducked out of the wind as well and had a snack, before deciding we should return and take our packs over the far side of Jerusalem. And so we did, enjoying the easy walking and being grateful we didn’t have to camp with everyone else. As we walked we passed numerous middle aged people, most with Wilderness Equipment packs and gaiters. Just as I was telling Graham I thought they must be a group, who should come along but Zane, otherwise known as Abel Zane, or one of the three we had had an impromptu meeting with at Lake Curley when we were doing the Spires! It was great to see him happy and out on the track again.

We eventually made it back to our packs, feeling pretty tired by this stage. We were due for a late lunch, however, which temporarily boosted the energy levels. It was still a slog with full packs up Jerusalem, and we sidled round the right hand side of the summit to avoid unnecessary effort.

Picking our way down the far side, we popped out just south of Zion Gate and wandered across soft green heath and moss. We weren’t in a huge rush, knowing the further we walked, the further we’d have to walk out in two days time. We also knew we’d be camping close to five, to avoid walking in the dark. As it was, we picked our way up the hill in front of us, and found a lake a short distance over the far side, with some lovely and flat sites to camp. We barely had to voice the question, before packs were off and we went about the usual end of day routine.

From the end of Great Pine Tier looking towards the Walls over the country we’d walk

Great Pine Tier would have been fabulous before all the pines were burnt out

Graham takes in the route ahead as we approach the Walls

On King David’s Peak looking towards the Overland Track

The chute on Solomon’s Throne

The pines were a big feature of this walk

How about we camp here?

Pretty colours again that night, followed by stars and moon

We woke to another lovely day, though we were expecting some rain later in the afternoon. We also had a long day ahead with unknown terrain, so we were up and breakfasted fairly early. Graham started us off on a route that changed with every new view – such was the nature of the terrain. But we chose well, and avoided and serious scrub, ducking and weaving so much at times we felt we were going round in circles! The route we finally took followed the high points to the west of Daisy Lake.

Just over 2.5 hrs after setting out we were sending the odd message from the top of Mersey Crag, happy with our progress. We still had Turrana to go, but it looked feasible. It did, however, take a lot longer than we expected to get off Mersey, and the walk up Turrana was longer than I had remembered. Three wedgies were playing in the wind and stole our attention momentarily.

We were both stumbling over the smallest of obstacles as we walked the last few hundred metres, and I knew I was glad we’d be having a slightly longer break given we had lunch to eat. It was windy on top, so we took the view in quickly before sheltering off the summit out of the wind. As we ate we decided on the route back to the tents. We opted bravely not to retrace steps (the ‘known’ route) and instead follow the continuation of the Little Fisher track south along the edge of Long Tarns, until a point closer to camp, where we’d head up and over a series of smaller rises (the ‘unknown’ but less up and down option).

Conscious of the time, distance and of the rather cloudy turn in the weather, we were keen to get going. We made excellent time back down to the track, and had an enjoyable half hour wandering along it. It made for very easy going, and there were a number of stunning spots that would be worth camping at.

Where Long Tarns juts out to the west we headed up and over Richea Ridge, managing to avoid all the scoparia! Two more knobs and we could see our little orange tent. A most welcome sight! We’d got back safely with time to change into warm clothes and cook some soup before the rain set in.

The next morning the sun turned the pines orange

It was a nice camp site

Looking towards the Walls as we start climbing up the ridge towards Mersey Crag

Graham on Mersey Crag

Climbing up Turrana and loving the pines

Mersey Crag from the walk up Turrana

Graham and one of the multiple cairns on Turrana

True to our excellent luck this trip, the rain stopped over night and we woke to a damp but clear morning. Just as well, we figured we had a long walk out. After packing the very wet tent into Graham’s pack (thanks!!) we set off with a few extra layers on. Encouraged by our success the day before, we once again chose to be creative with our route, scrapping the ‘retrace our footsteps’ for a more direct route straight down to Lake Fanny and round the edge. Why would you want to go over Jerusalem and Great Pine Tier if you didn’t have to??

As it turned out, the walking was very open, very flat and very easy. We made record time to the top of the lake and my suspicion that there might even be a pad round the side was confirmed with a few cairns and the odd stick. It was a different matter trying to stay on it, however, as the wombat pads were often more distinct than the track itself. It also clearly wasn’t a bushwalkers track, and usual unwritten ‘rules’ didn’t seem to apply. To be honest I found the off track walking we’d just done much easier – there at least you could go wherever you wanted!

We celebrated our speedy return to the track head at the southern end of Fanny with a super early lunch, then plodded the very long way back out, seeing more mountain katydids than you could have imagined (and being rather shocked that we’d never seen them before this trip!). A surprise encounter with an older couple on their way in to spend a few days at Fanny was as delightful as it always is, and momentarily diverted attention from our sore feet.

We arrived back at the cars in perfect time, with enough daylight to drive home and keep the wildlife safe.

All up: 70.8km, 2221m ascent

Day 1: 16.6km, 5:44 hrs, 391m ascent

Day 2: 15.7km, 8:04 hrs, 821m ascent

Day 3: 20.0km, 9:18 hrs, 788m ascent

Day 4: 18.6km, 6:48 hrs, 263m ascent

Walking out, it wouldn’t be the Walls area without at least one photo of cushion plants!

Pines and reflections, what a beautiful area

The long road out.. love the colours though

Mountain katydid in all its camouflage

Mountain katydid showing it’s colour under threat

Wolf spider blending in well

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Sphinx and Pavement Bluffs: 21-22 December 2017

Sphinx and Pavement Bluff GPS route

To say this was the first time I’d climbed these mountains would be a lie, but it was the first time I could see what I was doing! My first visit had been a club affair when I was still green at the bush walking business – back in the day we went regardless of the weather and during the year that Simon (leader of the walk) managed to score whiteout conditions on something like 11 or his 13 walks!

Graham hadn’t done either of these walks, so to pacify my desire for new adventure he agreed to climbing these two on a day we’d have view. We had been somewhat disappointed not to be able to go to slightly more exciting territory in the southwest, but the weather was far from agreeable anywhere but the northeast.

In an attempt to increase our fitness for an up and coming epic trip in January, we decided we’d lug packs up on top and camp there. There is, of course, no need to do this, as both mountains are easily climbable as a day trip. But a high camp is always nice!

We set out very late, I’d just come off night shift (not the same as when I was baking – the longer nights take it out of me much more) and we both had to pack. Graham kindly drove while I tried to get a bit of sleep. I think we got to the start of the track and were ready to set off at about 4.30pm. There is parking out of sight of the road, if you head a short way down the gravel track. It certainly doesn’t feel like the kind of area you’d want to leave a car for an extended period of time.

Caterpillars at the carpark

The track starts off as an old vehicle road, and dirt bikes would have made things rather fast. Signs say it’s 2 hours to the plateau. It’s heads in a bee-line north west, and eventually turns into a foot track, marked by blazes, red arrows, tape and cairns. The gradient increases and the pace drops off the closer you get to the top. The smell was pungent, and it brought back vague memories of teenage scents – lip balm I think, but I couldn’t quite place it!

The track starts off like a road

Higher up, the track becomes a foot track only

We managed to do the 2 hrs in 1:45, which we thought was acceptable with the weight on our backs. We chose a spot to camp, tucked out of the wind as best we could. You’re a bit spoilt for camping up there, and though we’d lugged water up, there was plenty up there for those wanting a slightly lighter trip.

We left our gear behind and ducked over to Sphinx Bluff, ignoring the pad and finding our own way (it’s that open one doesn’t really need the pad). The wind was like a caged lion below, racing around and flinging itself at the rock walls that formed the edge of the plateau. If you stood in the right (or wrong) spot you got a taste of the full force of its power. 35 minutes later, we were back at our gear, ready to set up the tent, eat and fall asleep nearly before our heads hit the pillow. Though I’d been keen to stay up for sunset, it was both too windily cold and I was way too tired.

Heading across to Sphinx Bluff (back right)

Easy open going to Sphinx

The bluff – a little rocky mound

Looking down a wind chute, west-ish along the edge of the plateau

Me and the summit of Sphinx

Towards the coast

Sphinx Bluff summit cairn

Stacks Bluff from Sphinx

Similarly, I was in no state to be up for sunrise and it was no warmer. We had an easy morning, packing up then moseying over to to Pavement Bluff. The walking was equally open and undemanding in the navigational sense, and we were back at out gear within an hour. The walk down was nearly as tiring on legs as the way up, due to the gradient and the need to break each step lest we find our feet getting ahead of ourselves!

All up: 6 hrs, 12.7km, 913m ascent (time includes choosing tent sites etc)

The summit of Pavement Bluff

Sphinx from Pavement Bluff, the tiny little knob on the horizon!

Proteus: 31 December 2017

Mt Proteus GPS route

Marking the last day of the year with a 10.5 hr walk in constantly drizzling rain doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? It wasn’t exactly the plan, but it was the reality!

Graham and I had another four days to get fit with, but the weather was almost just as bad as the last four. We thought we might be able to get away with ducking into New Pelion and timing Oakleigh, Pelion East and Proteus for in between the fronts. Unfortunately the weather forecast left a lot to be desired, and the day we walked in (after a second 14hr night shift with next to no sleep) was the only day without near constant rain!

But this write up is just about Proteus, which we did on our third day, or the last day of 2017! We set out a tad later than planned, by 8:45. We ran into Shelly, now parks ranger, who we’d first met at Lake Curly. She was looking good and very happy and it was nice to say a brief hello! In a quick 2 hrs we were at Pine Forest Moor, just before the start of the forest. We looked out across the button grass moor into the whiteout – it gave nothing away. So we set off on a rough bearing, trying to make sense of the ridges as they materialised in the mist so we had a visual bearing as much as rough line of the gps.

Leaving the Overland Track, we’re heading for that thing over there in the mist.. I think!

The going was slow, as we wove in between button grass mounds, trying to stick to the grassy or coral fern patches. We quickly tired, and gave in to the fact we weren’t going to be breaking and speed records. On the southern side of the first rise we spotted the ?little weather station that Shelly had told us to check out. She wasn’t sure what it was, and neither were we, but a weather station certainly seemed plausible!

Pelion West hides, but you can see the little weather station thingy that Shelly told us about

The going improved even though the weather didn’t and by about the second rise there was much less button grass. In patches we strode through low scrub, but nothing that slowed us down anywhere as much as the button grass had.

Lemon scented boronia predominated higher up, and mountain rocket and flag irises made an appearance too. As we crushed the boronia underfoot we inadvertently released quite a nice smell in our wake! As the ridge curved around and we approached the main climb, we attempted to stay on the northern side as per the notes in the Abels. As we were to discover on the return trip, there’s a very decent pad that runs along the southern edge!

We reached the summit somewhere around 2.5 hrs after leaving the Overland Track. We expected to find the summit cairn, it had been described in the Abels, but found it quite puzzling as we couldn’t figure out where the rocks had come from – there weren’t any others in sight!!

Summit cairn of Mt Proteus – yay!!

It was white, wet and cold, so we didn’t stay very long before beginning a much slower plod back down. We did, however, catch glimpses of Pelion West and Oakleigh as we lost a bit of height. It would have been speccy to see them on a clear sunny day!

Glimpse of Oakleigh as we make our way down, you can see the rough route, we’re headed to the tiny clump of trees just above centre of the photo and below the craggy bit of Oakleigh – that’s where we left the OT.

A glimpse of part of Pelion West

We sheltered behind a shrub for lunch somewhere on the moor but the fuel did little for our energy levels. An hour later we were happy to be back on a formed track, and even happier, 2 and a bit hours later, to walk into camp.

Approaching the clump of trees that marks the Overland Track and the final leg of the day – we’re looking forward to getting OFF the button grass!

We celebrated with soup, lentils (yummier than that sounds) and lollies ;)!

All up: a very tiring 31.3km, 10:28 hrs, 843m ascent (NB, this was after the 12km walk in, and a 22km half-day to Pelion East and Oakleigh, so we were a tad tired!)

Agamemnon, Philps and White Needle: 26-28 October 2017

Agamemnon, Philps and White Needle GPS route

Three years ago Graham and I spent our Show weekend climbing Frenchmans Cap, Clytemnestra and Sharlands Peak. This year we were heading back in to check out Agamemnon, Philps and if we were lucky, White Needle. It seemed right somehow, although we were both doubting our fitness and our ambitious plans for the 2.5 days!

We left the car park in the early afternoon, recognising with excitement one of the names in the logbook. The walk in raised the usual feelings of enjoyment at being back in the bush, impatience at still being on a track, and excitement about what the next two days would bring.

The acidic smell of ants, the musical note of the first olive whistler, hard quartz underfoot and squint-inducing sun all had a relaxant effect. Graham had other plans, however, and decided the short day would be a good way to stretch his legs and test his fitness. We tested it well, and by the time we approached the final hill before Vera we were travelling at a much more reasonable plod! 

The hut and campsites were well occupied, but we found a cute little spot and refamiliarised ourselves with how to pitch the tent (it’d been a while!). Soup and dinner followed. The last thing I remember is Graham stating that if he was going to be organised he should get his head torch out before it got dark… we both fell asleep before he did!

On the half day we had heading in, Graham leads the ‘charge’ towards the still distant mountains we hope to be climbing the next day!

The morning dawned crisp, and we kept warm jackets on though we knew they’d be off in 5 minutes. The brief climb up from the hut back took us to where the new track work sears a white scar through the button grass plain, blinding in the morning sun. We stripped off and headed up the very obvious button grass lead that would take us to the ridge line connected to Agamemnon. It was easier going than it had looked, and there was clear evidence of many parties having gone before us, some more recent, some yonks ago. 

Scrub scraped against our knees, sweat formed on our brows and I finally felt free again. I was surprised at how much I missed being off track exploring the secrets and treats of a new mountain. A friend had recently referred to me as a ‘wild girl’ and I don’t think she could have been more on the money – I felt like I was home. 

At the top of the rise we were greeted with a magnificent view, that we’d have from various perspectives for the rest of the day. Frenchmans Cap, Philps, Sharlands and Barron Pass were centre stage, Agamemnon waiting behind the undulations for a later introduction. 

The ridge we were on that would take us to the summit of Agamemnon was fun, and we spent a fair bit of time mucking around early on. It was such that you’d pop over a rise, or sidle round a rocky outcrop and find the route ahead was quite unexpected. We found ourselves on steep drops more than once – often intentionally! In fact, we were pretty spot on with our route finding – the odd cairn helping us along when we weren’t sure. 

After one more scrubby rise, again better than it looked, and some open climbing we found ourselves negotiating rocky outcrops on the way to the summit. 

The view was perfect – it was the kind of place you could stay for a long time!! We felt pretty good having got to the summit in 3.5 hrs, but unfortunately we had more walking to do. So after a short break we dropped off and headed across a lovely bowl (looked like nice if exposed camping with flowing water!). 

The Abels description was pretty spot on, except that the small band of scrub might have been small, but the scrub certainly wasn’t! I had been warned, but the walking had been so reasonable till then that I’d been lulled into a false sense of security. Graham in particular wasn’t impressed to find himself in scoparia that was well over his head. We ducked and twisted through the branches and were happy to pop out the far side. 

We were soon on the open ridge leading towards Philps, and trudged along, legs getting weary but mind refreshed. We were surprised at how long it took to reach the summit from Agamemnon, but were having a break for lunch regardless. Philps marked my 650th point on the HWC peak baggers list (I have to mark the 50s now because the 100s are few and far between!). 

We briefly entertained the possibility of completing the traverse across to White Needle and down to Barron Pass but sensibility prevailed – we’d heard stories of people being benighted for exactly the same thing! Given we’d now been out for 6.5 hrs including breaks we thought it safer to head back than to go on and potentially have to turn around with even less time to spare. 

The walk back was quicker, if a little more stumbley, but no less enjoyed. We chatted happily with a couple who had day tripped out to the Cap that day, and wrote briefly in the logbook. It had been a big, off track walking day, and we were more than ready for dinner. We raised a toast to two fellow walkers, and their wives who must surely be finding it hard to adjust to their absence. Again, we were asleep almost as soon as we got into our sleeping bags. 

Leaving the track near Vera and heading up the opening in the scrub

Looking back down at the track after the first climb, it’s just a bit obvious!

Happy much? Sending Philps (left), White Needle (next left, directly before Barron Pass), Sharlands (right of the pass) and Frenchmans (behind Sharlands – almost looks like one and the same) a wave!

Frenchmans sticks out behind Sharlands

Frenchmans hiding behind Barron Pass.. Philps to the left.

The scenery was stunning, and the land we were walking on was wonderfully convoluted and craggy in parts

We did take the time to muck around 😉

One of the lakes, Marilyn, that seemed to elude us a lot of the time, despite being really quite close!

L>R: Philps, White Needle, Frenchmans

Looking back along part of the ridge we’d followed, the Eldons along the horizon

On Agamemnon, looking at the Prince of Wales range – feels pretty close from up here!

Graham takes it all in – it is a lovely mountain, with stunning views around

Heading off Agamemnon and towards Philps – proved longer than expected, with one or two scrubby sections (one involve walking under scoparia!)

On the ridge to Philps! Fun and easy walking for what were now fairly tired legs

Frenchmans and Philps up close

Looking back at Agamemnon.. you can see that green scoparia scrubby band nicely in this one!

Waving to a friend further north.

Reckon this would make for lovely camping!! Beautiful water just off Agamemnon.

We woke early to the sound of the alarm, happy the heavier rain from earlier that morning seemed to have subsided, but aware there was more forecast. We decided we were going anyway unless things deteriorated further. We were a tad anxious about this one. We had a short time frame, and White Needle had eluded us once before. Not just the out-of-time or no-view-no-point kind of eluding. Our first attempt had been the closest we’d been to giving a mountain a good crack and failing to get to the top. Understandably, we’d turned around our confidence shaken after Graham went swinging from a small scoparia bush by one hand when the rock under his feet gave way. 

This time we’d done more research and were armed with a route and reassurance that if we went right instead of left, we’d find a much cruisier and less exposed way up. The source was a hard core walker himself, so we were still a tad hesitant about what his ‘easy’ might mean. 

We set off round Lake Vera, walked through quite a dark forest, and pushed up the climb to Barron Pass. We timed it perfectly, the mist lifting to reveal blue skies around. The rock was wet, but we had no real excuses now. We sorted our gear and set off. 

The start was as we’d done it, good pad to the left hand side of the foot of the mountain, a bit of a scramble up rock face and we were heading back to the right. Then one more scramble up rock and all of a sudden we found ourselves on much more promising terrain. White Needle seemed possible. The pad was still evident and we followed it up, cross checking from time to time that we were still on the right route. Very quickly we stood below the final bit of climb: a gentle scramble up rock that promised all fun and no real challenge. 

And there we were! On the summit of White Needle with great big grins on our faces. The view towards Sharlands was the best, and probably the most impressive you’ll ever get of the peak! We spent too long enjoying the moment, and eventually dragged ourselves away. We had the long walk back to Vera then out to the car ahead, and we didn’t want to be driving 14 mile road in the dark. It was an exercise in patience, persistence and sheer doggedness, and by the end it was the birdsong that kept us going. 

We made it, tired and sore, but pretty stoked with our 2.5 days and just over 50km of walking. Even better, we ran into the two guys we knew as we were about to leave the car park!

Day 1: 15.5km, 4:41 hrs, 691m ascent

Day 2: 13.5km, 10:36 hrs, 1370m ascent

Day 3: 23.7km, 10 hrs, 1312m ascent

White Needle looks much more imposing than it actually was (given the right route!).

After setting out armed with Jared’s correct route, we were surprised to find that after two small climby sections, the going was surprisingly gentle!! We were pretty happy to be on top – the view to Sharlands was by far the best ;)!

Graham salutes Sharlands – pretty happy to have made it up this time, having felt disappointed in our retreat of our first attempt.

Heading back, you get a bit of a sense of the terrain!

Sharlands, from the top of a chute we still had to go down – a tad too big to fit in one photo, but you kind of get the idea!

A wave to an old friend – Clytemnestra was my first solo off track multi day walk if I remember correctly!

A last look back, and a rough approximation of which way we went

Some nice forest for when the views are more immediate, accompanied by frequent and very tuneful birdsong.

Mt Beecroft: 3 July 2017

Mount Beecroft GPS route

My first walk to Beecroft was early in my bushwalking days, so when we chose to head off for a couple of days escape in winter to Cradle, I certainly didn’t mind going back. And with blue skies, very little cloud, a little bit of snow and perfect views towards Cradle, there was nothing to complain about!

We’d travelled up the day before after I’d finished my last night shift and climbed Kate before having a much needed early night. Graham was generous enough to also give me a sleep in, so it was late morning before we got out and into the car. Beecroft is only a short drive from Cradle though, so we were parked on the side of the road and set off just after 11.

A slight uphill rise very quickly rewarded us with views towards a snow covered Cradle Mountain and Barn Bluff, and for the next hour or so we strode south across the gradual undulations. The track was easy to follow, if a tad boggy in spots. New markers had been put in since I was last there and made it impossible to doubt where the track went.

Less than 5 mins from the road, and the view is already rewarding!

The track is as easy as this to follow, and the walking just lovely

You end up sidling even the tiny rises in the landscape

When we were below Beecroft (after an hour and 15-20 minutes) we departed from the PCT and followed more stakes (they hadn’t been there when I’d first been through), over to and up a steeper bit of climb, which eventually brought us out onto the summit plateau. We could see the trig point a short distance away, and took our time getting there as it was just too good not to enjoy!

Beecroft gets closer, and is quite a nice mountain to look at!

The summit itself is a rocky podium, which proved to be very windy, noisy and bitingly cold! We hunkered down in lee of the wind and ate a quick lunch. It sounded as if a mix of a twin prop aeroplanes and some decent sized waves were racing by. With full tummies they soon had us making a hasty retreat – half running just to get warm again!

Part way up the steepest part of the climb up Beecroft, we paused to frame Cradle and Barn once again

The summit trig, with those two mountains yet again

Looking south towards some familiar mountains

As we lost height we also lost some of the wind and adopted a more leisurely pace. It’s fair to say that this was in part mediated by us feeling rather tired. While it wasn’t a demanding walk, it was a reasonable distance and each step required attention least we stepped in an icy cold water-filled hole.

And back we raced, wrestling the wind for every bit of warmth we could hold on to

It was, therefore, with contented tiredness that we returned to the car under 4 hours after starting out. We felt we’d earned our dinner and didn’t even mind too much that the forecast for the next day was looking very average – we counted ourselves lucky to have had such a glorious day already!

All up: 11.3km, 3:50hrs, 469m ascent.

We finished the day with a quick visit to Dove Lake – why not??

One last one of Cradle 😉

Mount Connection: 30 April 2017

Mount Connection GPS route

I first did this walk very early on in my ‘walking life’, back when I didn’t have a car, was restricted to where I could get to on a road bike, and barely knew what a cairn was (honestly, I’d had to ask a friend). It was also before I had a GPS, and therefore didn’t get written up as a blog post. It probably doesn’t really need a post, because it’s so close to Big Bend and fairly straight forward, but in the interests of being as complete as possible (and I’m already missing enough) I’ll do it but keep it short.

This time it was Graham’s birthday, and having gone on a walk the day before he was updating his peakbagging list. We noticed he hadn’t done Mount Connection, and it seemed the perfect thing to do when he got back from lunch with his son. We met up in town, drove slowly up behind the flocks of tourists (despite the late hour), and were read to leave from Big Bend at 3pm.

Start of the walk from Big Bend.. hard to miss

The start is well signed, and after 20 minutes following the 4WD track we came across the sign on the left hand side of the road that marked the track to Collins Bonnet via Mount Connection. The walking was much nicer here, no more road and a rather nice rocky track with sections of board walk.

The road walk begins

Off the road and onto a much nice walking track!

We were motoring along, it turned out Graham wanted to get to the summit within the hour (!), and sure enough, just before the hour we stood on the track 100m to the north of the summit. When I’d first come, I hadn’t found a pad to the top, so we just ducked into the very low scrub and small scree. On the way back, we found a cairned pad that was patchy in places because it was so open, but there was one there. If we’d walked another 20m we’d have found it!

Looking back at Mt Wellington after a section of boardwalk

Graham adds another rock or two to the cairn marking the pad to the summit

We spent 15 minutes on the summit enjoying the view, trying not to cool down too fast. Graham had enough time to do a birthday FB post, while I sat and thought about how different walking was from the last time I’d been up that way. I think the biggest difference was that I had long since replaced my pre-walk self-doubt of ‘am I going to make it or am I going to get lost and make a fool of myself’ with a confident belief that any mountain is climbable even if there’s always a sense of caution as to what restrictions weather, injury and terrain might place on intended plans.

Graham on top! Happy Birthday :)!!

Wellington (can you see the tower?) from Connection summit

The walk back was a tad more relaxed, although it seemed we were forever chasing the line where the shadow of the mountain met the edge of the sun’s rays as it sank low and golden to the west. We ducked off the road and onto a nearby scree field at one point just to catch it on the trees. Despite all of that, we made it back in 1:10, in what proved to be a lovely birthday afternoon walk!

All up: 9km, 2:30, 419m ascent.

Chasing the sun back home

Off track onto some scree, just to catch the sun’s glow

Dromedary and Platform in the distance, while the sun makes gum leaves shine like gold

Last bit of pinky red

And we’re back.. a lovely 2 hours!

Food and hydration for the beginner

A rather embarrassingly long time ago I was asked to put together some tips on yummy bush-tucker, aka the kind of food you might like to eat on a walk. I said I’d get onto it straight away…. I did, it’s just taken this long to complete! So my sincerest apologies to the reader who asked for it :/. I’ve decided to start off with dinner – cos it’s the big one. There are many ways of doing this, and I reckon a great approach is to check out what everyone else does and steal all the things you like to come up with your own food menu. I’ve tried to include a bit of a range that will give you an idea of what I found good from the I-can’t-cook or I-don’t-have-time perspective through to the I-have-a-dehydrator, I-want-yummy-food and I-want-to-know-exactly-what-goes-into-my-tummy end of the spectrum. But preparation time and taste aren’t all that it boils down to, there’s also weight and gas consumption involved. It’s up to you to make the call on what combination works best for you – these are just ideas that are perhaps best suited to those who don’t do much overnight stuff and want a bit of a place to start.

Preparation:

The quickest, easiest way to get a dinner meal is to buy one. If you’re really pressed for time, you can order online (can’t say I’ve done this!). There’s a few brands out there and many of the camping stores will stock back country, backpackers pantry or the outdoor gourmet country. I’ve had a few of these and found them rubbery, pretty average on taste, salty and have heard that for many guys they’re not big enough (they’ll buy a double serve). They’re cheap and easy on gas – add boiling water to the packet, let sit, and eat in 10 minutes. There’s always those easy pasta meals you can buy from any supermarket, which probably have a bit more taste, are cheaper and you can throw your own combination of veggies in.

A much better alternative to the bushwalking specific meals is Strive Food (https://www.strivefood.com.au), made by a nutritionist with calculated serving sizes. They’ve got to be the best pre-packaged meal out there for taste and cost (in my opinion). They are marginally heavier (130-150g single serve as opposed to 90ish grams) and take a little more to rehydrate, but a boil up, 10 minute wait, and reheat if needed works pretty well. My favourite would be the spaghetti bolognaise (even better it uses 2 minute pasta so it’s super fast), followed closely by the creamy vegetable pasta. If you shop in store they have ‘seconds’, which is all just about the packaging not the taste, and is another way to save a little bit of money.

Taste:

The best tasting meals are home cooked. If weight isn’t an issue and you’re on a short trip, frozen is a perfectly good option and I’ve used it before – just choose a relatively juicy meal so you don’t get it stuck to the bottom of your stove while reheating!

You can obviously cook from scratch, but this is pretty costly with gas and time (not what you want to be doing after a long hard day) and not very practical if you’re out by yourself (it’s more efficient if you’re group cooking). Fresh veggies also don’t last particularly long, and are hard to keep from getting squashed!

The best option for taste that’s also weight and gas efficient is to dehydrate your own meals. This does, of course, take a bit longer to prep at home, and requires some basic cooking skills! A few tips are to use super lean meats, get them minced, and dice all veggies nice and small. My favourite home cooked meal is definitely a lentil curry, although green chicken curry, spaghetti bolognaise, balti chicken and chilli con carne all taste amazing as well.

Weight:

As mentioned, the most weight efficient meals are dehydrated meals. But you do need to be careful that you don’t skimp on a few grams and end up hungry. Your own dehydrated foods are the best option for a reasonable weight as you can cater exactly to your needs (for instance, I’ll have 70-80g of whatever meal we’ve cooked up, and add 30-40g of rice, but will give Graham 100g and 50g respectively). Extra potato deb or couscous are both handy to have in the bottom of your pack too to bulk up your meal for a minimum amount of weight. To add a sense of fresh green veggies, dried peas are wonderful by day 4 of a walk and we’ve recently tested out Campers Pantry dried veggies – the mushrooms are very tasty! And if you’re worried about needing an emergency meal, you can’t go past 2-minute noodles for weight and ease (I’d recommend one of the spicy brands like Indomie).

Gas consumption:

The most fuel efficient meals (short of bringing a second lunch that doesn’t require cooking) are bought dehydrated meals. You only have to boil water once and they’re good to go (though a tad rubbery). Both Strive and home made dehydrated meals come in next. A boil, a 10-15 min wait, and a part-boil just to heat it back up are usually enough to get your meal back to normal. Occasionally minced chicken will still be a tad chewy, but not rubbery (that’s very important)! Cooking from scratch obviously takes a lot of gas. If you have the time, putting your food in water to soak before boiling it up also decreases gas consumption.

Extras:

There are a few handy extras you might want to consider:

Continental ‘Cup a Soup Sensations’: These come individually packaged in plastic-foil (not the papery kind) which means they travel excellently and don’t have an issue getting wet. AND, they taste delicious. Always a good starter to rehydrate or warm up with, especially while waiting for a meal to rehydrate. (You can of course use any kind of soup – I quite like the Miso soup you can get from supermarkets too!)

Chocolate: If you like chocolate, this never goes astray. Always rounds off a slightly salty meal with the perfect amount of sugar. Lindt balls are my favourite 😉 but they’re a bit bulky to pack, and if they get too warm they’re a complete mess!

Custard powder: A handy thing to have if you’re unsure about your serving sizes. Can fill you up that tiny extra bit if you’ve underestimated your appetite, and can be had hot or cold. If you’re feeling luxurious, a few strawberries go brilliantly with it too, or dehydrated banana!

Port/Muscat: For those who like a little drink, this one just seems to fit (though I’m aware it’s very much a personal preference thing!).

If you’re dehydrating your own meals, don’t forget extra salt, pepper, and some chilli powder – so much easier to make adjustments out there.

Breakfast:

Again, there’s plenty of options here. I now use 75g of quick oats, 10g of sultanas, some milk powder and brown sugar for breakfast. That does mean a hot breakfast (which I find a quite nice way of easing into the day), but it might not appeal to all. It’s easy to boil up 600ml of water, 300 for the porridge and 300 for a hot chocolate, and it’s pretty weight efficient. Other people I know do muesli or pre-boiled eggs (for the first few days, and egg powder thereafter). I just didn’t find either filling enough.

Lunch:

I have to say, I rather love my lunches on bushwalks. I’ll have anywhere between 4-6 vitaweets, spread with butter from a small tub (so much more palatable!), a slice of cheese for each vitaweet (off a block – pre cut slices are messy if they get hot), a chunk of salami (1-2cm), 3-4 cherry tomatoes (depending on how many were in the pack and how many days they have to last) and 3-4 sugar snap peas (as with the tomatoes). The cherry tomatoes and peas are a huge luxury, but they keep excellently (yes, even on 10 day walks!) and are just divine the longer a walk goes on. That all usually fits into a lunch box that’s a tad smaller than an A4 sheet of paper, although occasionally the cheese or salami starts off outside until after the first lunch (cos they don’t squash or break up).

A photo of my lunch from the Old River circuit walk. Had this for 9 lunches (plus an extra biscuit with cheese, which was in my mouth at the time I was taking the photo!)

Snacks:

This is where a lot of my food weight goes. I tend to go through three ‘bars’ a day on bigger walks. There’s heaps of options out there and they’ll all give you the extra calories you’re burning off. I used to go for the bars with the highest energy per weight, I now try to steer away from purely chocolate to more of the natural or ‘raw’ bars when I can afford them. Partly because they’re better for me, partly cos they don’t melt, partly because they leaving me feeling better and fuller for longer than pure sugar. Play around with your own mix of scroggin, beef jerky (home made is great!), dehydrated fruit or leathers, and lollies for when you need something extra.

Hydration:

Shotz tablets (or other rehydration tablets): these guys are great for on the track. Rehydration is one of the most important things out there, not just of water but also of essential electrolytes. If the electrolytes and water lost throughout the course of your walk exceeds your intake or body’s ability to compensate it can leave you feeling particularly crummy, with symptoms ranging from fatigue to nausea, vomiting and cramping. Shotz are the best brand out there (in my opinion), but the main thing is to use them if you’re doing tough, long or particularly hot or dry days. Some friends who have found cramping to be a problem also use a version that has a lot more Magnesium (you can get them from the chemist or Woolies), to great success.

A few bits a pieces, the two meals are green chicken curry and chilli con carne, there’s beef jerky, dried banana and strawberries, apricot leather, and dried mango