Bushwalk Australia

Arrived home in Perth, WA, on Monday the 21/6/16 after spending an adventurous 10 days on the OLT on a trip that was a birthday present for a friend of mine, Vanessa. She had never hiked prior to this and had trained hard for it and as a result she had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and trip. I have to say, she did incredibly well and I am very proud of her. I think she only hated me once, and that was during the 3 hour descent into Scott Kilvert hut......but she got over it and we're still talking.....although there was the chain off of that peak on the way to Dove Lake car park....what was that called......

Not much else to say as I'm straight back into work and don't have a lot of time to do a write up, but here are a couple of teasers for you.

As I get time I'll build up the pics and jot a few words.

All in all a fantastic trip which we both thoroughly enjoyed.

AL.

Nice photos Alan........more please

Hi Neil, Thanks, some more for you.....

Al.

That's a reeealy long jacket! Where is that sign? Such an amazing area

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Lovely photo and a LOT of gears in that huge blue pack.

Nice shots, Alanm.

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Strider wrote:That's a reeealy long jacket! Where is that sign? Such an amazing area

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Strider, Long jackets are the go for hiking, accessibility to the lower pockets is a breeze. The sign is at Pellion Gap.

Al

GPSGuided wrote:Lovely photo and a LOT of gears in that huge blue pack.

GPSGuided, Yes mate, there was 32 Kg of gear in that bag, we didn't have to rely on huts being heated to dry gear and could camp anywhere suitable, plus I was carrying 10 days food for 2 people. Vanessa carried 18 to 24 Kg, although the 24 was only for two days thankfully! We took the track down into Scott Kilvert hut and on that day she had about 20Kg, that was a tough gig for both of us due to the steepness of the descent, the descent took us 3 hours from memory.

Al.

alanm wrote:

Strider wrote:That's a reeealy long jacket! Where is that sign? Such an amazing area

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Strider, Long jackets are the go for hiking, accessibility to the lower pockets is a breeze. The sign is at Pellion Gap.

Al

Ah yes of course it is. Looks very different under all that snow.

And yes, I have a long jacket too. I use it for bushwalking. But that one is looooong

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Nice photos. Particularly like the contrast between the first two - one all white, the other all green . . .

north-north-west wrote:Nice photos. Particularly like the contrast between the first two - one all white, the other all green . . .

Thanks for that, it was an amazing contrast and couldn't have worked out better as Vanessa had never seen snow, let alone hiked in it!

Al.

Part 2.

great stuff Alan! i recall passing you on the Friday morning as you headed towards Windy Ridge and had heard stories earlier in the week about the suspension bridge water level that i found hard to believe, seeing that pic makes it very real!

Is that a watch or a GPS attached to the camera bag? Very similar to how I carry my photo gear when I'm not using the Aarn's balance pockets.

OnePerfectDay wrote:great stuff Alan! i recall passing you on the Friday morning as you headed towards Windy Ridge and had heard stories earlier in the week about the suspension bridge water level that i found hard to believe, seeing that pic makes it very real!

Yep, that bridge caused a bit of a hiccup in the form of a lost pair of Boonie boots. My combined weight caused it to "wobble" a bit when I was at the low point and the water caught it........

Al.

north-north-west wrote:Is that a watch or a GPS attached to the camera bag? Very similar to how I carry my photo gear when I'm not using the Aarn's balance pockets.

north north west, It's a Silva ADC weather station, I don't think they're made any more. I use it for the Barometer, wind speed and temp mainly, it graphs all it's functions as well. A very handy little tool.
Carrying the camera there works well for me. I also have a strap around my waist so it doesn't bounce whilst I'm walking. I think my bag is on the way out though as there was a bit of water ingress this trip. I shoot with a Pana GH4 and it's supposedly water resistant, however, it got a bit of moisture in the lens and body. Time to look for another waterproof bag, that one has had a hard life and withstood the rigors of different forms of touring well.

Al.

Beautiful photos Al, appreciate you sharing them here. Looks like you two had an amazing time.

Travis.

Part 3.

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Part 4...............The end.................

Great photos Al.

Well done Al & Vanessa.
Great photos.
Is there anything that you would take / wouldn't take, change etc if you did the trip again?
(Apart from the mask )
I too have a Silva. Great piece of equipment.
Regards OLM

Hi Alanm
Nice pictures and report got to ask whats the mask for and did it live up to expectations its something ive never seen before.

Overlandman wrote:Well done Al & Vanessa.
Great photos.
Is there anything that you would take / wouldn't take, change etc if you did the trip again?
(Apart from the mask )
I too have a Silva. Great piece of equipment.
Regards OLM

Hi OLM,

Vanessa reckons she would take a GoPro, (I sent it home......) She wouldn't take a mask and in regards to food, she'd have a 50 / 50 ratio of dehydrated to normal food.

Me, I'd only take the mask's if I were doing long hauls in sleet / high winds / driving rain. [More on them in the next post]

I can't be bothered with a GoPro, I'd rather buy an extreme wide angle for the GH4. [I'm waiting for, but not holding my breath, a 4MM fisheye.... ]

I had too many backup batteries, 66,000 mAH, I'd leave 22'000 mAH at home based on a 10 day trip. I used it mainly for my tablet on which I captured the track in OziExplorer. I only used 1 battery of 3 for the GH4, with which I took 1100 pics and 1 x 2 minute vid.

I'd not take dehydrated food again, I used Back Country for the 1st time ever [never used dehydrated food prior] and whilst I found it convenient, particularly for tent cooking, I prefer my fast meals of spag, rice, Deb and peas. I find the meals expensive. I found some Strive that was left in a hut, and TBH, wasn't impressed.

Other than that, I'd pretty much keep everything, yes my pack was 32Kg, but other than the current days food, which Vanessa carried, I carried the rest and all the heavy gear. We were totally independent [to the point where I was able to let a fellow hiker use all my down gear to sleep in due to him having a soaking wet down sleeping bag], always warm and dry and had good shelter that, if required, could be used every night, with comfort, even in heavy snow / rain conditions. We had no reliance on hut heaters, unlike most of the hikers we met. By the finish my pack was down to 26 Kg. Based on Vanessa's success, I tried to use a lambs wool waist band.....screaming disaster...managed to "gift" it to a young guy who'd been duped with his sleeping mat, but that's a whole new story.

Vanessa started with a 24 Kg pack, dropped very quickly to 21, then hovered around the 19 to 20 Kg mark, and by the finish was down to an 18 Kg pack. [I transferred weight daily] She carried the days food, stove etc, all the sleeping gear,and towards the end, the tent [Wilderness Equipment 1st Arrow which weighs in at 3Kg when wet.....] She also carried all the down outer clothes and some of the hut clothes. She used a lambs wool waist band which worked well. She did incredibly well.

Everything was in separate dry bags in a pack liner, we never had to worry about water ingress, even if we went turtle up in a puddle or creek.

Both packs were Wilderness Equipment 'Lost World' {Not the current style, which I don't think are as good} These are high quality, high volume packs with very good harness's. We both had the optional side pockets. On the OLT, the side pockets are fine, but in the rough, they'd be a PITA and I wouldn't use them if I could help it. My only gripe is the waist strap adjusting mechanism on mine is getting hard to operate, it's seen a bit of use! I'm going to chat to WE about it.

Al.

dingelberry wrote:Hi Alanm
Nice pictures and report got to ask whats the mask for and did it live up to expectations its something ive never seen before.

dingleberry, The mask is a 3M 6000 series respirator mask without the filters. I've been looking for something that's light and keeps the rain / wind / spray off my face and that doesn't fog up with use. As it has a nose / mouth compartment and vents expelled air to atmosphere it doesn't fog up particularly easy, even with strenuous use. The one downfall is the collection of water vapor from one's breath collecting in the mouth piece during cold weather [read quite a puddle] after an hours use. However, I felt that to be a small price to pay considering it kept my whole face lovely and warm and only fogged up a bit due to a mistake on my part. [I let some cold air in inadvertently!!!] It weighs in at 400g, which I don't think is hideous....[I'm not a weight weeny!] Here in Australia it costs about 600 bucks, which I do think is hideous, but I picked it up off Ebay for 120 US, landed at my front door. I bought, from China [surprise] a pack of 25 protectors for 25 bucks. I left the protector on whilst in use, but wouldn't do that next time as it's a bit 'cloudy' All in all, for my intended use, I'm very happy with it. Next it will be tested in the sea kayak....... hope I don't fall out.......

Al.

Thanks for the reply Al, happy birthday to Vanessa also.
Had you done the Overland before? N S or S N
South to North is always good for me, more gentle on the aging body.
I too have my pack heavy for a few days with fresh food, including;
pizza, steak, bacon, cabana, spuds, garlic, mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes, mountain bread, promite. Etc.
I take a few dehydrated packs just in case, also packet soups & minute noodles.
I also have a front balance pack clipped to my cascade, the front back can be used as a bumbag as well.
Regards OLM

Overlandman wrote:Thanks for the reply Al, happy birthday to Vanessa also.
Had you done the Overland before? N S or S N
South to North is always good for me, more gentle on the aging body.
I too have my pack heavy for a few days with fresh food, including;
pizza, steak, bacon, cabana, spuds, garlic, mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes, mountain bread, promite. Etc.
I take a few dehydrated packs just in case, also packet soups & minute noodles.
I also have a front balance pack clipped to my cascade, the front back can be used as a bumbag as well.
Regards OLM

OLM, mate the last time I did OLT was 32 years ago, N to S. I had some really good gear, for instance the tub on my single skin tent was 100% waterproof, pity the skin was totally porous.....I used to have to pitch it on a slope otherwise I'd have drowned during the night!

There have been, in my opinion, some vast improvements, [read boardwalk] there have also been a few mistakes. [read some of the huts], overall, I'm impressed by the condition of the track considering a minimum of 8000 people passed over it last season. However, one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the Australian penchant for going 'straight' up damm hills, I mean, what sort of nutter does that, head somewhere where the people rely on walking to carry everything and one will find their tracks zigzag up the hills, it may = a bit of a longer walk but the effort is greatly reduced, as is the erosion to the track.

I chose S to N for the fact that Vanessa hadn't done much steep stuff and I explained to her that by going S to N we "....would gradually gain altitude very gently whilst climbing the odd slope but also experience our fair share of descents...." I'm not so sure if she still believes me..... She doesn't swear much but did comment that I might have been born out of wedlock a couple of times......

I'm disappointed with your food list....you forgot the eggs.... and I carry lamb as opposed to steak....Maggi Pizza topping for the spaghetti is also a winner as is butter for the spuds!

Al.