Tasmania's Overland Track
The Tasmanian Overland Track (OT) is the subject of my latest adventure. I wanted to hike across some epic terrain, climb mountains, and swim in creeks and waterfalls. I also wanted to do this the best way I could manage, a single ultralight pack for all my needs. I can announce resounding success in this endeavor, because I had an absolutely fantastic adventure.
The OT is a 78 km long walking trail that meanders from Cradle Mountain down to Lake St Clare in the center of the island of Tasmania. It also connects with multiple side trails which allowed me to climb 5 fun mountains in the 6 days I took this trip. I calculated that I actually hiked 108 km with all the side trips, and it was always my intention to try and run up all the mountains, which I did a pretty good job of. The following is my rough trip log, as well as musings that I remembered through to the time that I’m writing this.
Gear:
I must discuss my gear as it was really important to me on this trip. I bought for this trip a new ultralight bag (Mountain Laurel Designs Exodus) and tent (Tarptent Notch), and I only packed one entire suit of clothing for 4 seasons of outdoor adventure, all of which fit in one dry bag. My one concession was for a ‘Town Shirt’ so I could look slightly respectable in public, which was a very good idea. One thing I have learned is that hiking in my short running shorts are fast and light and easy to clean and perfect for the warmer hiking temperatures I experienced. I wore my synthetic short sleeved shirt and my short running shorts every day on the track, washing them in a creek or waterfall every night. I brought three pairs of wool socks, a lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight pair. I wore the heavies at night, and I did all the hiking in the lights. I carried a JetBoil and an ultralight sleeping pad and down sleeping bag (Enlightened Equipment Evolution). My beloved Sony DSC-RX100 camera did an admirable job of photodocumenting my trek across the land, and I had a small light bag of light sundries.
I also carried 8 days’ worth of food, mostly dried fruit, noodles and spices, 750g of smoked salmon, 750g of beef jerky of various types, granola bars, some dried tomatoes, coffee, tea and chocolate, milk and cereal. My food was intended to be just enough for me to eat it down to nothing at the end. All up my loaded pack weighed 13 kg which is pretty fantastic. The majority of folks on the OT had packs weighing 20-25 kg, and many of them carried 3L of water all the time. I utilized a Sawyer mini water filter and drank constantly from the mostly abundant trailside water sources, and I usually carried less than half a litre of water. What this really equates to is that I had a lighter, faster and more fun adventure than any of the other travelers. In fact I did quite a good bit of running with my pack on.
And that’s it! Not much was packed, because I didn’t want to carry anything else.
Log:
12/21
Today I flew to Launceston to start my OT adventure. I took the airport bus into town, and the bus driver suggested that I hike the gorge as it's the town's number one tourist attraction. I walked to the backpackers and dropped off my big pack, and I put together a daypack. This excellently maintained path follows on both side of cataract gorge. In a few km from the seafront entrance is a cute public park and a series of small restaurants. This was a really charming feature of this town, and the dolerite gorge walls looked like they would be excellent for crack climbing.
12/22
Today I took the Tassielink bus from Launceston to Cradle mountain National Park. I checked in at my campsite, and I set up camp and packed a hiking day bag. The weather was cool, clear, low humidity and overall gorgeous. I asked for some daytrips that I wouldn't see on the OT, so they sent me around Dove Lake via Ronny Creek which sits under the watchful gaze of Cradle Mountain. The scenery was quite stunning, and I went swimming in that frigid lake 4 times to cool off. I drank its water, this was a great day. After this hike I shot back to the visitor center to pick up my OT pass. I then took the bus to hike a seldom-transited track that follows Dove Creek from the outflow of Dove Lake through the dove Gorge. This was a very technical track and I really enjoyed following its climb along the mountain until it discharged at the visitors center. I naturally also went swimming in the creek a few times.
Directly across the street from the visitors center is the Cradle Mountain Lodge, and I had much beer and an amazing steak to fortify me for the forthcoming trek. I walked back to my campsite and behaved myself like a responsible human being. If you believe that… Let’s just say too much beer!
The OT is a 78 km long walking trail that meanders from Cradle Mountain down to Lake St Clare in the center of the island of Tasmania. It also connects with multiple side trails which allowed me to climb 5 fun mountains in the 6 days I took this trip. I calculated that I actually hiked 108 km with all the side trips, and it was always my intention to try and run up all the mountains, which I did a pretty good job of. The following is my rough trip log, as well as musings that I remembered through to the time that I’m writing this.
Gear:
I must discuss my gear as it was really important to me on this trip. I bought for this trip a new ultralight bag (Mountain Laurel Designs Exodus) and tent (Tarptent Notch), and I only packed one entire suit of clothing for 4 seasons of outdoor adventure, all of which fit in one dry bag. My one concession was for a ‘Town Shirt’ so I could look slightly respectable in public, which was a very good idea. One thing I have learned is that hiking in my short running shorts are fast and light and easy to clean and perfect for the warmer hiking temperatures I experienced. I wore my synthetic short sleeved shirt and my short running shorts every day on the track, washing them in a creek or waterfall every night. I brought three pairs of wool socks, a lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight pair. I wore the heavies at night, and I did all the hiking in the lights. I carried a JetBoil and an ultralight sleeping pad and down sleeping bag (Enlightened Equipment Evolution). My beloved Sony DSC-RX100 camera did an admirable job of photodocumenting my trek across the land, and I had a small light bag of light sundries.
I also carried 8 days’ worth of food, mostly dried fruit, noodles and spices, 750g of smoked salmon, 750g of beef jerky of various types, granola bars, some dried tomatoes, coffee, tea and chocolate, milk and cereal. My food was intended to be just enough for me to eat it down to nothing at the end. All up my loaded pack weighed 13 kg which is pretty fantastic. The majority of folks on the OT had packs weighing 20-25 kg, and many of them carried 3L of water all the time. I utilized a Sawyer mini water filter and drank constantly from the mostly abundant trailside water sources, and I usually carried less than half a litre of water. What this really equates to is that I had a lighter, faster and more fun adventure than any of the other travelers. In fact I did quite a good bit of running with my pack on.
And that’s it! Not much was packed, because I didn’t want to carry anything else.
Log:
12/21
Today I flew to Launceston to start my OT adventure. I took the airport bus into town, and the bus driver suggested that I hike the gorge as it's the town's number one tourist attraction. I walked to the backpackers and dropped off my big pack, and I put together a daypack. This excellently maintained path follows on both side of cataract gorge. In a few km from the seafront entrance is a cute public park and a series of small restaurants. This was a really charming feature of this town, and the dolerite gorge walls looked like they would be excellent for crack climbing.
12/22
Today I took the Tassielink bus from Launceston to Cradle mountain National Park. I checked in at my campsite, and I set up camp and packed a hiking day bag. The weather was cool, clear, low humidity and overall gorgeous. I asked for some daytrips that I wouldn't see on the OT, so they sent me around Dove Lake via Ronny Creek which sits under the watchful gaze of Cradle Mountain. The scenery was quite stunning, and I went swimming in that frigid lake 4 times to cool off. I drank its water, this was a great day. After this hike I shot back to the visitor center to pick up my OT pass. I then took the bus to hike a seldom-transited track that follows Dove Creek from the outflow of Dove Lake through the dove Gorge. This was a very technical track and I really enjoyed following its climb along the mountain until it discharged at the visitors center. I naturally also went swimming in the creek a few times.
Directly across the street from the visitors center is the Cradle Mountain Lodge, and I had much beer and an amazing steak to fortify me for the forthcoming trek. I walked back to my campsite and behaved myself like a responsible human being. If you believe that… Let’s just say too much beer!
12/23
I awoke groggy, because I sometimes make poor decisions that I later have to deal with the repercussions of. So it is. I packed up my tent and had my bag stowed in just a few minutes. I dashed out of camp and grabbed the shuttle bus in to Ronny Creek. I had intended to wake up extra early and hike the 7 km in, but I heard from another hiker that the trail was nothing special, compared to what I was to be seeing. I started the hike from Ronny Creek, and I intended to take the ‘hard way’ up Marion’s Lookout. The lookout itself was pretty epic, and the track was quite steep. It is my intention to be super-athletic and climb all the mountains that I come across. I started with a mantra: Run up the mountain! Run up the mountain! I kept saying that to myself to push myself to go harder and faster.
I awoke groggy, because I sometimes make poor decisions that I later have to deal with the repercussions of. So it is. I packed up my tent and had my bag stowed in just a few minutes. I dashed out of camp and grabbed the shuttle bus in to Ronny Creek. I had intended to wake up extra early and hike the 7 km in, but I heard from another hiker that the trail was nothing special, compared to what I was to be seeing. I started the hike from Ronny Creek, and I intended to take the ‘hard way’ up Marion’s Lookout. The lookout itself was pretty epic, and the track was quite steep. It is my intention to be super-athletic and climb all the mountains that I come across. I started with a mantra: Run up the mountain! Run up the mountain! I kept saying that to myself to push myself to go harder and faster.
This track led up to an old emergency hut that I ate lunch in, and then I dropped the big pack and took a daypack to climb Cradle Mountain. This was a great fun climb, and meandering among the dolerite scree high up a very steep mountain was a really cool experience. I’m also very fast, so I was moving quickly across the rocky landscape, passing many slower hikers. It was at this point I realized I had forgotten my salmon in the campground fridge. Damn!!! I met the guy who I’d been drinking with the night before and told him to take my salmon otherwise it would be wasted, and I wasn’t turning around to get it. Big mistake on my part, as that was supposed to be cooked with all my noodle and make them actually good.
I climbed down the mountain and reclaimed my big pack, and I was off for a few hours. I didn’t pass many hikers, and I took a side trail to climb barn bluff. The day was starting to get very hot, and quality water sources were becoming scarce. My water ran low and I only had one chance to refill it. Although I filled it I didn’t take enough time to camel myself up. I then spent the next hour approaching and climbing the mountain. This is a big imposing mountain, and it features in many of my photos, and it’s taller than Cradle. However I erred in my hydration and sustenance plan. I ran out of water completely about ¾ way up the mountain. I was feeling really weak in the heat, and then I started to have heat shakes. That’s not good, so I abandoned the mountain to walk an hour out and find that little stream. I sat there and drank 2L of water, filled up my bottle, and ate. I ate a lot, it took a while. I met a few people passing by as I ate and they hiked in towards waterfall valley.
After eating and water, I felt infinitely better. I slung my pack and started running down into the waterfall valley campsite. That’s right, me running across varied track with a 12 kg pack, passing everybody on the trail. Today was the first day that I started developing my reputation as the “running American guy”. I set up my tent alongside a stream issuing forth from a waterfall. I hiked up the waterfall a bit to a more private and deep section of the creek, and I took a wonderful cold bath. I then wandered about and talked to many people. I sat for a while with one group and chatted until after dinner, then I met and talked with a couple from Brizzie. I asked everybody about their camping gear, and they all complained how heavy their 22-25kg packs were, and I talked about my ultralight 12 kg packs. I was the only person who went up both mountains. Later on we hunted down a wombat.
There was this Tasmanian hen named Reggie who wandered around the place with an air of authority and ownership. He looked like a mix between a chicken and a duck. He claimed the caretaker lady as his girlfriend and he’d attack her if she started talking to other humans. He follows her around everywhere. This was a comical arrangement. After dinner a Currawong tried to steal my LED headtorch, the cheeky bastard. Not sure what he’d do with it though.
12/24
In the morning I was awake and on the trail at 6, the earliest in the camp. I was trotting down the hill by 6:30 into rolling fields of buttongrass plains. The rock underfoot had changed in nature. It was a firm concretion of large egg and bigger sized river rocks. The concretion binder was some white rock that was very hard. I had been walking across dolerite scree in the first day’s hike, so the sudden change to this concretion was striking. It was really strange to see all those worn river rocks embedded in the bright white. This impenetrable layer of unbroken rock no doubt contributed to the buttongrass plains nature. No larger tree can sink its roots and grow, hence only buttongrass survives.
In the morning I was awake and on the trail at 6, the earliest in the camp. I was trotting down the hill by 6:30 into rolling fields of buttongrass plains. The rock underfoot had changed in nature. It was a firm concretion of large egg and bigger sized river rocks. The concretion binder was some white rock that was very hard. I had been walking across dolerite scree in the first day’s hike, so the sudden change to this concretion was striking. It was really strange to see all those worn river rocks embedded in the bright white. This impenetrable layer of unbroken rock no doubt contributed to the buttongrass plains nature. No larger tree can sink its roots and grow, hence only buttongrass survives.
I had a theory for the formation of this landscape that I later shared with the other travelers. Much of this landscape is shaped by glacial action from the last ice age. I theorized that early in the ice age those river rocks were formed by the melting glacial action. However as the ice age rolled on, that eventually the river valley was covered by an increasingly heavy ice sheet. The weight of the ice compressed the river stones with the calciferous sand, and the entire plane became fused into a sheet of mostly unbroken rock.
The plain was mostly featureless and low. Barn bluff haunted me for hours, I was very upset that I wasn’t able to conquer it. The pics would have been epic. I stopped by Lake Windemere after only two hours hiking. This was supposed to be the shortest day hiking, but I wasn’t going to set camp after only two hours. I was the fastest person and therefore alone at the lake, so I took off my clothes and took a bath in the lake. I also took the opportunity to clean my clothes. I stopped by the hut .5km later and got the weather report that indicated I should pass on though. People were still waking up in Windemere, and now I found myself passing everybody. I charged through further buttongrass plains until suddenly the rocks underneath changed and I propelled myself through a dense forest, running at times.
I sprinted the steep climb up into frog flats, coaching myself to “run up the mountain” and going as fast as I can. Lots of people were struggling greatly as the day became hotter. This was shaping up to be a fine day, and I had charged up into New Pelion Hut by 1:30. I had met this Korean girl Yoon on the Tassielink bus and she arrived just after me and we shared a camping platform. Once our tents were pitched we took off to take a bath in the waterfall. This was a long 1.5km hike but I made the most of it by swimming for over an hour. The water was frigid but I stayed in as long as I could. After a while I crawled out and found a comfortable spot on the hot rocks alongside the river. The ice bath and following warm rock sent me into a blissful slumber. I slept over an hour when some other campers woke me up. I talked with them and swam some more. I drank my fill of river water, filled my bottle, and hiked back to camp.
I made dinner and wandered around and talked with folks. I passed everybody coming into this Hut, so everybody saw how fast I hiked. The entire time, and frequently running. I tried to spread the word of ultralight hiking mentality. Lots of people wished they had planned their packs lighter. I showed off my cool gear and tried to get everybody to buy a sawyer mini. We passed so many water sources that it is senseless to carry 3 kg of water. I wanted to hike up Mount Oakleigh but it was a really long, hot and dry trip and I was just enjoying myself relaxing in the waterfall and hut. This was a really fun day and I was positively beaming at the end of it.
I was putting my pack inside the huts daily to keep the animals out of them. However tonight my bag of tea and chocolate had dropped out and I hadn’t noticed. A possum found it and I awoke to noises of a cheeky little possum eating my tea and chocolate. He was unimpressed with me until I exited my tent, and then he slinked away. I put the remaining stuff in my JetBoil but he came back. He was persistent and really wanted my tea, doing a good job of destroying most of the bags. Possums are crack addicts when it comes to tea.
12/25
Merry Christmas! I was up with the sun again, fully fueled and watered up for another “run up the mountain” day. Today I had plans to hike mount Ossa, Tasmania’s highest peak, as well as Pelion East which is a big butte of a mountain and looks rather cool. I blasted out of Pelion Hut up towards Pelion Gap which is at the saddle of the two peaks. It was beautifully clear and cool today, and I was able to run at a good pace. Once I attained the Gap I dropped my big pack and took my daypack up Ossa. This dolerite is just so fun to climb!!! Climbing Ossa was a real joy. I was moving fast and doing rather athletic rock climbing. I passed 5 groups of people who had an earlier start than myself. As I got towards the end I maneuvered through an Australian rock climbing scale 8 climb. I could have gone an easier way, but the rock climbing method was way more fun and I assessed my personal danger to be low. I got to the top and drank water from a pretty tarn, and I walked in the snow remnants from the previous week. I was the second one up the mountain, the first being a park ranger. We took each other’s pictures, and his picture was going on the website because it’s snow on Ossa on Christmas, which doesn’t always happen.
Merry Christmas! I was up with the sun again, fully fueled and watered up for another “run up the mountain” day. Today I had plans to hike mount Ossa, Tasmania’s highest peak, as well as Pelion East which is a big butte of a mountain and looks rather cool. I blasted out of Pelion Hut up towards Pelion Gap which is at the saddle of the two peaks. It was beautifully clear and cool today, and I was able to run at a good pace. Once I attained the Gap I dropped my big pack and took my daypack up Ossa. This dolerite is just so fun to climb!!! Climbing Ossa was a real joy. I was moving fast and doing rather athletic rock climbing. I passed 5 groups of people who had an earlier start than myself. As I got towards the end I maneuvered through an Australian rock climbing scale 8 climb. I could have gone an easier way, but the rock climbing method was way more fun and I assessed my personal danger to be low. I got to the top and drank water from a pretty tarn, and I walked in the snow remnants from the previous week. I was the second one up the mountain, the first being a park ranger. We took each other’s pictures, and his picture was going on the website because it’s snow on Ossa on Christmas, which doesn’t always happen.
I ate and drank and descended. I then passed the 5 groups who were still on their way up. They all saw how fast I move on the mountain, and they got out of my way. There was an absolutely lovely valley with pretty scoparia in full bloom. Scoparia is really spiky and scratchy and everywhere on the alpine areas, but it was very pretty in this one valley. I got to the gap and talked to a few folks while I ate and prepared to attack Pelion East. The trail up this mountain was very muddy and it could have benefited greatly by duckboards. I reached the alpine region of the mountain and it was amazing to see the fragmented knife-blade dolerite. These long sharp blades of rock gave this mountain a decidedly more dangerous feel. I was careful and approached the steep butte at the tip of the mountain. There wasn’t a marked path, so I probed the mountain on 5 different approach routes until I found one that seemed the most reasonable. I followed this until I was high, and near the top. At the crux I had to do a rock climbing move that was within my capability, but if I made a mistake I’d fall 15m. I also wasn’t entirely sure about the getting down part. I reluctantly abandoned my approach, and I hiked down to the gap.
More snacks, and I started the “run down the mountain” to Kia Ora hut. I ran swiftly down the mountain, I felt really good. It was hot out but I was making my own wind and stayed relatively cool. Everybody else complains how hot the hike down from the gap was, but I really enjoyed it. It also only took me 35 minutes while many other folks took much more than an hour.
At Kia Ora I hit the waterfalls. Multiple waterfalls. These waterfalls were colder, and I couldn’t stay in as long. I was in a very festive mood, because I’d just had fun running and climbing mountains, and now I’m in a frigid waterfall just hanging out. I wandered and chatted with multiple groups as I went swimming every 10 minutes over the course of a few hours. I was on the hunt for a potential romantic interest, however such things seemed unlikely. We all sat and communally ate our best meals. It was a very merry Christmas indeed. Part of the fun is meeting all these cool adventure-minded people, and the rest of the fun is the swimming in waterfalls after a day of fun climbing mountains!
12/26
I woke from Kia Ora and embarked on a big day hiking. I set out and was shortly at Bert Nichols hut, which is huge. Halfway to Bert Nichols are three large waterfalls. I previously took baths in smaller local waterfalls, but these series were huge. I bouldered around the last, biggest one, Hartnett Falls for a good while. I crossed it a couple times and took lots of pics, and went swimming and then hiked on. I wanted to climb the Acropolis next and I worked my way up into Pine valley. Today’s hike started off in Dry eucalypt forests which evolved to more wet temperate forest. In the distance the Traveller range of mountains stood high and proud, while the Acropolis stands tall over Bert Nichols Hut. The turn up into Pine Valley followed Cephissus Creek, and it was an increasingly pretty and rainforest-y walk.
I really enjoyed the scenery up in here. All the trees were covered with beards of moss, and the creek was a pretty backdrop. I got up into the Pine Valley Hut and met some Tassie locals. They like this area too, and many visit frequently. I gave them the full ultralight backpacker talk. They were really interested in it, because they were just accustomed to slinging 20kg packs. There’s an epic hike up in here where you follow the ring of mountains from the Acropolis to The Labyrinth, something on my ToDo list. A couple carrying rock climbing gear intended to do exactly that. Epic!! On my todo list for sure!
12/27
The weather was starting to deteriorate today, but the rain held. I woke up and climbed up the Acropolis. The trail was steep and not well transited. I felt sluggish and slow. I’ve had quite a few days of hardcore hiking and “run up the mountain”, frequently with my pack. I climbed to 1200m and my head was in the clouds. There still remained 300m of climb, and it was cold and windy and wet. I decided that I needed the rest, so I descended back to the hut.
At this point I met a cute young Aussie girl named Clare, a Hobart local. She backpacked in for a short weekend hiking. I chatted with her for a while as I stuffed food in my face and forced myself to drink water. Apparently I’m not eating enough, because the forced sustenance break was all I needed to get my power up. I ended up talking to Clare and joining her for a hike into the Labyrinth, at her pace. It was good to slow down and hike with somebody else for a change, and I needed the rest.
The Labyrinth path ascends some pretty cool features. At one point you’re hiking up a waterfalling steep creek. At the top of the Parthenon, a long series of Tarns exist amongst these huge rounded dolerite boulders. Not many trees can grow amongst these huge rocks, and it stands in sharp contrast against the ferny Pine Valley. We followed trail to the campground at Lake Elysia, which is a super pretty location. This is an alpine valley scraped out by glaciers, with the surrounding basket of Dolerite mountains remaining. We hiked out of there and moved back to the hut.
I took a bath in the cold Cephissus creek, and then I forced more food into my belly. Clare took a nap, and we had a weather forecast expecting lots of rain all the next day. We moved out stuff into the hut. I had a great time chatting with all the local Tassies I met in the hut. There was a cool family with 3 kids and they had climbed the Acropolis, but they couldn’t see anything once they summited.
12/28
It rained all night, and outside was wet. Possums had gotten into Clares pack and stolen her tea, so I gave her my last tea bag while I drank coffee. My pack is pretty much empty of food. Certainly nothing in it that I actually want to eat! I readied myself for a day of walking in the rain, and I set out. At some point on trail I met Clare, and I joined her until I got to Narcissus hut. For the first hour and a half my boots stayed dry, but eventually they were wet. I was demoing a new concept in rain gear, which is a rain skirt that I made with a piece of Tyvek and a belt. It worked well but the rain was inevitable. Clare enjoyed stomping through the mud puddles, and soon I took to her lead. I was already soaked, no bother trying to stay clean.
I parted ways with her at Narcissus hut which was super crowded with campers awaiting extraction via the ferry. Her ferry was at 3:30 and she faced a wait of a few hours. I intended to overnight at Echo hut 5km away, so I set off. Now I’m running, fast. The rain is keeping me cool as I push myself fast and hard through the muddy forest along Lake St. Clare. I got to Echo hut and it was small and empty. I was already wet and it was just another 11km to the end of the trail. I ran as fast as I could in the mud, my pack like a feather at 8kg. At some point I had to logover a felled tree, and I slipped three times attempting it, getting covered in mud. The fourth time was a success, but I was left as a mess.
I was motivated by the promise of good food and beer at the end of the trail. I rocked up unto the visitor center covered in mud and tired. I took my gaiters off and saw that I had 6 leeches attached and several had already drank my blood and dropped off, leaving good long trails of blood. It didn’t stop raining the last 16km, and I didn’t stop running. My plan A was to catch a ride with Clare to Hobart, but she caught an earlier ferry than scheduled and was gone. I had my first beer and then I went outside to de-leach myself and take a bath in Lake St Clare. After my bath I changed into town clothes, and my transformation from dirty hiker to normal person was complete.
I decompressed from my mud run with another 2 beers, and I made plans to get to a backpackers and lodge down the street. I got a hot shower and had dinner and beer with my fellow backpackers who had completed the OT at the same time. I was immensely satisfied with myself, and this had been a grande adventure.
I woke from Kia Ora and embarked on a big day hiking. I set out and was shortly at Bert Nichols hut, which is huge. Halfway to Bert Nichols are three large waterfalls. I previously took baths in smaller local waterfalls, but these series were huge. I bouldered around the last, biggest one, Hartnett Falls for a good while. I crossed it a couple times and took lots of pics, and went swimming and then hiked on. I wanted to climb the Acropolis next and I worked my way up into Pine valley. Today’s hike started off in Dry eucalypt forests which evolved to more wet temperate forest. In the distance the Traveller range of mountains stood high and proud, while the Acropolis stands tall over Bert Nichols Hut. The turn up into Pine Valley followed Cephissus Creek, and it was an increasingly pretty and rainforest-y walk.
I really enjoyed the scenery up in here. All the trees were covered with beards of moss, and the creek was a pretty backdrop. I got up into the Pine Valley Hut and met some Tassie locals. They like this area too, and many visit frequently. I gave them the full ultralight backpacker talk. They were really interested in it, because they were just accustomed to slinging 20kg packs. There’s an epic hike up in here where you follow the ring of mountains from the Acropolis to The Labyrinth, something on my ToDo list. A couple carrying rock climbing gear intended to do exactly that. Epic!! On my todo list for sure!
12/27
The weather was starting to deteriorate today, but the rain held. I woke up and climbed up the Acropolis. The trail was steep and not well transited. I felt sluggish and slow. I’ve had quite a few days of hardcore hiking and “run up the mountain”, frequently with my pack. I climbed to 1200m and my head was in the clouds. There still remained 300m of climb, and it was cold and windy and wet. I decided that I needed the rest, so I descended back to the hut.
At this point I met a cute young Aussie girl named Clare, a Hobart local. She backpacked in for a short weekend hiking. I chatted with her for a while as I stuffed food in my face and forced myself to drink water. Apparently I’m not eating enough, because the forced sustenance break was all I needed to get my power up. I ended up talking to Clare and joining her for a hike into the Labyrinth, at her pace. It was good to slow down and hike with somebody else for a change, and I needed the rest.
The Labyrinth path ascends some pretty cool features. At one point you’re hiking up a waterfalling steep creek. At the top of the Parthenon, a long series of Tarns exist amongst these huge rounded dolerite boulders. Not many trees can grow amongst these huge rocks, and it stands in sharp contrast against the ferny Pine Valley. We followed trail to the campground at Lake Elysia, which is a super pretty location. This is an alpine valley scraped out by glaciers, with the surrounding basket of Dolerite mountains remaining. We hiked out of there and moved back to the hut.
I took a bath in the cold Cephissus creek, and then I forced more food into my belly. Clare took a nap, and we had a weather forecast expecting lots of rain all the next day. We moved out stuff into the hut. I had a great time chatting with all the local Tassies I met in the hut. There was a cool family with 3 kids and they had climbed the Acropolis, but they couldn’t see anything once they summited.
12/28
It rained all night, and outside was wet. Possums had gotten into Clares pack and stolen her tea, so I gave her my last tea bag while I drank coffee. My pack is pretty much empty of food. Certainly nothing in it that I actually want to eat! I readied myself for a day of walking in the rain, and I set out. At some point on trail I met Clare, and I joined her until I got to Narcissus hut. For the first hour and a half my boots stayed dry, but eventually they were wet. I was demoing a new concept in rain gear, which is a rain skirt that I made with a piece of Tyvek and a belt. It worked well but the rain was inevitable. Clare enjoyed stomping through the mud puddles, and soon I took to her lead. I was already soaked, no bother trying to stay clean.
I parted ways with her at Narcissus hut which was super crowded with campers awaiting extraction via the ferry. Her ferry was at 3:30 and she faced a wait of a few hours. I intended to overnight at Echo hut 5km away, so I set off. Now I’m running, fast. The rain is keeping me cool as I push myself fast and hard through the muddy forest along Lake St. Clare. I got to Echo hut and it was small and empty. I was already wet and it was just another 11km to the end of the trail. I ran as fast as I could in the mud, my pack like a feather at 8kg. At some point I had to logover a felled tree, and I slipped three times attempting it, getting covered in mud. The fourth time was a success, but I was left as a mess.
I was motivated by the promise of good food and beer at the end of the trail. I rocked up unto the visitor center covered in mud and tired. I took my gaiters off and saw that I had 6 leeches attached and several had already drank my blood and dropped off, leaving good long trails of blood. It didn’t stop raining the last 16km, and I didn’t stop running. My plan A was to catch a ride with Clare to Hobart, but she caught an earlier ferry than scheduled and was gone. I had my first beer and then I went outside to de-leach myself and take a bath in Lake St Clare. After my bath I changed into town clothes, and my transformation from dirty hiker to normal person was complete.
I decompressed from my mud run with another 2 beers, and I made plans to get to a backpackers and lodge down the street. I got a hot shower and had dinner and beer with my fellow backpackers who had completed the OT at the same time. I was immensely satisfied with myself, and this had been a grande adventure.
posted by Mike @ 21:03
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