ACT at my feet

Taken from Bimberi peak. Highest in ACT at 1913m 3k and 400m off the track but worth it. No reception last 24hrs.

Honeysuckle creek sat station

Recieved the first images as Armstrong stepped on the moon. Now a pleasant campsite.

Man they make fire trails steep round here

That last one made Pluvi look like a pussy

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Day 1 - Namadgi visitor center to Sawpit Creek Trib.

Big day +1570m -1020m, 35k.

Camp is at 35 37.0, 148 53.6 The track on the Snowies Map is shown in the wrong place. Very hot and dry with just two water sources all day. Had lunch at Honeysuckle Satellite tracking station. This is the station that transmitted the first step on the moon. Dingos howling at
dusk, 100s of kangaroos and a snake at the edge of the road.
Off to climb biggest peak in ACT tomorrow. No hot spots. No sunburn.

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Mt Tennant 1370

Looking back toward Canberra Good 700m climb to here. Great 6 foot practise

Bye Bye Civilisation

Tharwa visitor centerealies today

Finally !!!

At long last everything is in place. It is a long 2 days to put all
the drops in place. The odo showed 1460 when I returned the car with
20 mins to spare. Temp will be 20 plus for next 2 days so it will be
a bit uncomfortable. Must go get some sleep.

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Whoops

Best laid plans and all that. That set of maps is supposed to be in the Threadbo box 3hrs ago. The background is Kiandra. Also found the Kiandra box short of one meal. Guess i will have to make it here by the end of day 5 or starve.:-(

Murray river power scheme

Quite an eyesore Heaps of bike groups heading though to Philip Island for this we. Bit of a hazard as they are sometimes using all the road

Stunning day at Mt Hotham

The razorback ridge with Mt Feathertop reaching for the skies 2nd highest peak in VIC at 1922

So well hidden i could not see the food drop at 2m

It is in there alright

If you thought omeo hwy was bad

Man what a classic allow yourself plenty of time Rough as guts

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Posts from the track

Just a warning that any posts I am able to make from the track are liable to be rather brief.

My phone is recommended by Telstra for rural use but there are a lot of unhappy folk out there stating" lousy reception on Next G, give us back the old system", so don't hold your breath that there is good reception. The other limit is battery life - while I have some spares in food drops I'll need to be careful.

Many posts are liable to be not much more than a position update, so M&D and Clare can track progress on a map.

cheers

So Let's Try Again

More than two weeks down the track and the horrific VIC bush fires are still active. Yesterday was another bad day - fortunately without great loss.

The track is closed for the the first 16k outside of Walhalla and it impossible to know how long this will stay in place. Track near us at Apple Tree Bay stayed closed for 6-8 months under similar circumstances 3-4 years ago. While it is quite possible to circumvent these closures by road and other tracks but it isn't clever with Warburton just 60-70km west under threat.

Rather than wait further, I have decided to reverse the direction, start at the Canberra end and walk south. This requires re-jigging and re-visiting of all the food drops once again. Two long and full days of travel (1280km), so that all the map section are reversed. Also all the food and other consumables (stove fuel) need to be in the right place in the right quantities. Sounds simple - yeah right!! Nothing about this has proved simple so far. It took all last night to figure out exactly what had to be moved from A <=> B <=> C <=> D ....... I am worried that I have missed something and end up with it in the wrong place.

The theory does that VIC will have a good dowsing of rain by the time I get there - we shall see. There are a number of bail out points if not.

So I am all packed and ready to set off tonight with a flight to Melbourne, then food drops Wed, Thursday and get on the track at Tharwa on Friday. It is made all the more difficult as Clare was able to help last time with driving and we could take extra home comforts knowing that she could take them back to Sydney (like regular clothes).

Only bright side was the discovery that Avis and Budget rental companies need to move cars around the country and are offering $10/day rentals for some one way movements. Lucky me that Mel => Canberra is one of them right now.

Karl

Bite the bullet

OK, I've finally joined the mainstream and purchased a regular rain jacket.

The poncho was keeping the pack dry but was wetting through on shoulders and arms in heavy downpours, leaving the clothing below wet and cold. That might be OK knocking about the Blue Mts for a weekend but will not cut it if I get lousy weather for 4-5 days on end. Jacket is providing warmth that poncho can not.

Umbrella was just too much hassle, so I have decided it stays at home. Net reduction in weight 120g

Research indicates eVent is the fabric of choice these days. It is clear that staying dry even in these supposedly breathable fabrics is actually all about avoiding perspiration.

• Wear the minimum layers underneath
• Hood back and top of jacket undone if possible
  
• Open front of jacket and pocket zippers if possible
• Don't overexert
  

Montane, of the UK, specialise in lightweight outdoor clothing by choosing the materials carefully and minimising the "extras". I settled on a Montane Quickfire after checking the reviews and forums at "backpackinglight".

Arrived today - 323g, significantly less weight and volume than my existing Goretex (900g plus). Fits in outside side pocket with water bottle, so no change to current packing arrangement.

Wet weather sum up

Well, I went looking for wet miserable weather and found it by the bucket. 15mm 9am-3pm today according to BOM. Temps from 7-9C. Visability was 50m at times.

Findings

• Tarp was 100% - dry as a bone, heaps of sideways room (can take 2 pax) and length was fine as well. I had it set low, so front beak was tricky to get under but gave excellent shelter once inside.
• Umbrella - in two minds on this one. It certainly keeps you dry on firetrails but the pack is getting wet and therefore wets through clothing. Blew inside out on one occasion to boot and is tedious to carry or hold anything else (map, compass, GPS, food). Handle stands 4-6 inches above pack and is a pain when bushbashing.
  
• Silnylon Poncho - wets through in ten minutes and eventually wets to base layers. Rain is due to continue for next 3-4 days, so will try early poncho's to see if they also wet through.
• Polyester balaclava - excellent - broke the chill and warmed the neck when very cold and wet.
• Wore wool base layer both days. I think my normal microfleece would have been warmer both dry and wet.
• Phone - excellent reception but chews through battery - pretty much flat in two days.
• Wind shells - neither are WP as expected but are significantly reducing the wind chill, therefore are keepers
• Midlayer - wet through quickly - was glad it was synthetic and not down

Careful what you ask for

It sure is wet + windy out here.
Shell top is great. Shower proof + warm.
Shell trousers did wet through as expected, but they were not cold. They are a good fit good but need to have the ankle width increased so shoes can remain on to get them on/off
Tarp ok so far. Lifters are giving plenty of extra room but look a bit fragile when it blows.
Rain poncho wets thru - need more work on this one.
Reception on phone has been 100% so far in places that haven't worked
on other phones.
Fingers x'd for a calm night

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Rock climbing anyone?

Typical of the west side of narrow neck is a ledge half way up the cliff face that can run for a kilometer or more in places. That narrow band of green is the ledge and accesses the wall above it for climbing. It ran about 1.5k before petering out
Yipes!
They can have it.

Wet weather shake down

10-15 C + showers expected the next few days so am heading up to
Katoomba for a chance to check out some of the new gear especially the tarp
+ wind shells.
Pack weight of 7.0kg includes a couple of extra clothing options to try +
umbrella otherwise should have been 6.0kg

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Food drops - Mission in it's own right

Don't underestimate the food drop run. The website "nowwhereroute" proved very capable and puts the trip Sydney => Melbourne via Kiandra, Thredbo, Glen Wills, Mt Hotham and Jamieson at 1500k odd and 22hrs. Add some extra time to get up to Mt Skene and back - you are looking at 24hrs plus for drive time. It proved to be quite accurarate on its time estimates. Certainly got our moneys worth from the rental car on this one - about 10c/km plus fuel. PS/ Hertz doesn't charge a one way fee

Back Home

Flew back to Sydney with Clare last night to rethink options and wait for normality to return. While none of the AAWT is involved in the firestorm (actually there is a hotspot on the track within the first 10k of Walhalla), VIC bush is no place to be right at this moment.

Still smoldering

Both sides of the freeway burnt out for 10k in the Wandong / Kilmore region. Skies are clear by this point.

Best laid plans of mice + men

Appalling fires in Vic. Final food drop is abandoned, walk is postponed + am returning to Syd to rethink options.
Photo shows main street of Mansfield with 100m vis.

Hazards of driving in Mexico

Strong winds had small rubbish littered all over the road to Omeo yesterday but this was rather larger. The police at Omeo really did not need another hassle after a busy day closing roads and tracks for the Dargo fire. He was more interested in what we intended to do next - with very good reason !!

Bushfire sunrise at Mt Hotham

Finally ready to go

2:45 and finally we are all set and ready to head off in a few hours. Pack loaded and looking rather odd with umbrella strapped to the back :0 Base weight finally came in at 5.9kg after some last minute additions. Bit heavier than the 5kg I was looking for but there is a few extras in there that don't appear on a standard weekend trip (300g of maps for a start). With 6 days food and 1.2l water I figure 12kg. Summary below.

Pack	605
Sleep System	1170
Shelter	426
Clothing	1103
Pots, plates, cut	209
Stoves	348
Wetgear	440
Water prep, bottles	104
Water	1200
Food	4650
Fuel	210
Navigation	398
Misc.	1012
Misc. - Bags	105

That's the entire shelter - Tarp, pegs, guys and groundsheet at just over 400g













After more than a week of very hot weather in Vic, there is a cool change expected late Sat. Monday is looking at min 8, max 13, ideal for the start of my journey. By Monday evening I should be at 1500m odd, so should be out of this crazy heat.

Must go get a few hours kip.

It was a real hot day in Sydney today !!!

Hmmm ! Someone left the cage door open and look what I found !! That's better already.

Update

Another crazy day - just over 24hrs to go before we head off and still a list a mile long to be taken care off tomorrow (today). Clare will come along for the the road trip and then will fly back from Melbourne Sunday night. I'll stay in Melbourne Sunday and head out to Moe, bright and early on Monday. All food drop boxes are now loaded with supplies according to their location. Camera and phone batteries have had a final charge up - to be honest the LiPo's don't lose any charge anyway.

Must go

Will it ever stop

I'm looking forward to getting walking - at least I will get some rest. 5 hrs alone yesterday to put the dinners together, each in a day ration. This makes life easy on the trail, makes sure that I eat the correct amount and allows me to easily drop a days worth of food if I run ahead of schedule.

Each contains
Pasta 120+g
Dried sauce 65g
Soup 35g
Dried vege 20g
Coffee 20g
Biscuits 35g

Approx 300+g total. Yeah, I can hear the sniggers now at OSRAM about the coffee. I figure after a days walking I deserve a treat. Hey Graham - what happened to the coffee machine as a leaving gift !!!

Then there was 3 hrs on the snack/lunch packing . Finally it is all done.
Snacks 160g
Lunch 160g

Together with breakfast at 130g, makes about 750+g / day. Target was 800g, so happy with that.

There is a cool change forecast for melbourne on sat night, so time to go. Have hired a car for Friday evening to Sunday evening to be to Melbourne and put in the Food drops at Kiandra, Omeo H/W, Mt Hotham and the Jamieson/Licola Rd. Last night from 11-2am I tried to route plan the food drops to make this work. "nowwhereroute" is showing it as 22hrs of driving plus a couple of hours for the drops, say 24 hrs. Guess I'm going to be busy this w/e.

Like I say - looking forward to walking for a rest and some early nights.

Progress update

I can't believe the time and effort required to put this together. How you could prepare and work at the same time I really don't know.

Dehydration is finally finished and the 2nd unit returned with thanks to S&Y. Tarp is now complete. They estimated 8hrs work but I reckon it was more like 16hrs.

It took nearly three hours today just to package the 36 breakfasts. Each is 90g cereal, 15g milk powder and 20g dried fruit (approx. 1.5 Kiwi or Nectarine). Each is double bagged and the fruit separated for ease of re hydration on the trail.

The heat wave and total fire ban are putting a fly in the ointment. Worst comes to worst the pasta will soften in cold water but hardly ideal. Temperatures need to drop somewhat to make the walk bearable and moreover, safe.

Tomorrow - Package up the rest of the food and finalise gear list

New Toy

I wanted to make up a new tarp for the trip. The current 10x8 is too large for solo use and the 9x5 is far too small width wise to offer protection and headroom. I wanted the roominess of the double and the weight of the single.

This design is based on one at the Backpackinglight website. I extended it another 12", so the main panel is 7.5' long. With the front and back beaks the total length is 9.5'. The main panel is 4.5' wide at the front and tapers to 33" at the back. There is plenty of room for all my gear on either side.

The anchor ties are very robust, and I added a couple extra down the sides for strong winds. I've just added lifters this evening on the side panels to create even more room. Clare thought it was a double, when she checked it out.

I'm pretty happy with the outcome, certainly it is quite attractive. Weight of tarp only is 285 g, without guys and stakes. Material is Silnylon, 5 yards exactly.