Where should I hike alone?

[Evie87]

Hi all,

New to the forum and I have only done one big hike (Mt Difficult, Grampians, 2 nights, 3 days, with friends). I was hoping for some advice! I am 27, in reasonable health and I want to go on a solo hike, I would love something that is around 5 days, 4 nights. Planning to go in late June, early July.

I am looking for somewhere that is:

A. within an 8 hour drive from Melbourne.
B. Perhaps a circuit because I am hiking alone, or could I hitch hike back to the car?
C. Medium to Easy difficulty. The challenge for me is being alone!
D. (although I said 8 hours), Perhaps somewhere more north, so weather wont be an issue. I haven't taken any of my hiking gear through the wet so I am unsure on its ability to stay dry. But that's negotiable
E. The more variance of environment the better (woodland - beach - rain-forest)

Any advice or tips always welcome!

Thankyou! x

[neilmny]

Evie that time of year is probably not the best time for your first solo experience.
It will be winter and you are going to need good wet weather gear or four season gear to cope with that.
As for a 5 day hike, the ones in Northeast Vic. within 8 hours of Melbourne will more than likely be under snow.

Search through the Victorian track notes etc. you might find something to tempt you there.

and welcome to the forum.

[walk2wineries]

Hi all,

New to the forum and I have only done one big hike (Mt Difficult, Grampians, 2 nights, 3 days, with friends). I was hoping for some advice! I am 27, in reasonable health and I want to go on a solo hike, I would love something that is around 5 days, 4 nights. Planning to go in late June, early July.

I am looking for somewhere that is:

A. within an 8 hour drive from Melbourne.
B. Perhaps a circuit because I am hiking alone, or could I hitch hike back to the car?
C. Medium to Easy difficulty. The challenge for me is being alone!
D. (although I said 8 hours), Perhaps somewhere more north, so weather wont be an issue. I haven't taken any of my hiking gear through the wet so I am unsure on its ability to stay dry. But that's negotiable
E. The more variance of environment the better (woodland - beach - rain-forest)

Any advice or tips always welcome!

Thankyou! x

Blogs about the Great South West don't make it sound appealing in winter. However the GOW sites have lists of providers who do do pickups and transfers, so you could do a one-way walk?

[Evie87]

Given the weather, I was originally planning on going farther north, but the terrain would be foreign to me (tropics, dingeos, .. other crazy animals we don't get down south) ! Perhaps I better off waiting until November !

[Hallu]

Neil, North also means NorthWest, so the mallee country, and June/July is the perfect time to walk there =) That being said, it's mostly 3 day circuits there Evie. One in each of the parks, i.e. Murray Sunset, Hattah-Kulkyne, Wyperfeld. Since they are reasonably close together, you could visit two parks maybe ? Or the other option is the Desert Discovery Walk in Little Desert ( http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks ... do/walking , call them or e-mail them to get the brochure), West of the Grampians. It's 84 km, which can be stretched in 5 days, but it's usually done in 4. It's not hard as you just need to follow the poles, but it can seem scary in this vast semi-arid place. It's great for wildlife (roos, emus, birds), but water can be an issue, I haven't walked it all the way, just sections of it. The best place to get information is at the Desert Lodge, right in the park. They organize pick-ups, drop-offs, and know everything there is to know on the park, give them a call : http://littledesertlodge.com.au/ . I love the area myself, but some people find it boring. After all it's mostly flat, not many trees except next to the rivers, and you can find the odd bogan or 2 in his motorized vehicle (4WD or dirtbike). Call the lodge and VICpark, ask them where to get water (there are tanks at the campgrounds along the way, but they're not always full), worst case scenario you can ask the lodge to drop you some water at strategic points.

[neilmny]

Neil, North also means NorthWest, so the mallee country, and June/July is the perfect time to walk there =) That being said, it's mostly 3 day circuits there Evie..............................

For sure, but I was stuck on the 5 day angle.
The Great South West walk http://www.greatsouthwestwalk.com/intro/ and the Lower Glenelg National Park area might be good too. http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks ... ional-park

Check out Hallu's reports and pictures on the Desert parks. - search is your friend

[Evie87]

Oh well, three days still works, thanks Ill check them out and get back with any questions I may have!

[Lizzy]

A lot further north- but I did the Jatbula in NT last June solo.there is a trip report in the NT subforum if you are interested

[Eremophila]

As someone who feels the cold when camping, I agree with Neilmny... tough time of year for a first solo outing. Having said that, any first solo outing is a learning experience!

The Little Desert option sounds appealing, I'm thinking of taking a few days off work soon so might head up & have a look at that one. Don't forget the winter nights inland will be much colder than those in Melbourne.

Parts of the Great Ocean Walk might be good, but will likely be windy and wet. The bonus being that each campsite has a lovely big shelter where you can hang out. It's not remote and the shuttle service is handy.

I've done about half of the Great South West Walk and I can't see it being attractive in winter.

[pgrwrx]

You may also wish to consider Wilsons Prom. Can be wet and cold down there at that time of year but you are within reasonable distance to exit at any time. Try the Tidal to Oberon, Oberon to Roaring Meg, Roaring Meg to Little Waterloo, Little Waterloo to Refuge or Sealers then out. Pretty much at any time you are only a few hours from getting out if you have too.