How long are your day walks?

[igor]

It's too late now to change the plan unfortunately as we've already paid the OT fees, which I personalty found outrageously high.180+30 per person plus they force you to get an information pack for another 52 bucks and it is nothing but a couple of useless brochures. Plus we've paid a transportation company another 500 to get us to the start of the track and back from the end to Hobart. So it is all locked up. It is very unfortunate if we've have to walk along the lake in the dark. Maybe we'll get up earlier on the second day though.

[Nuts]

they force you to get an information pack for another 52 bucks and it is nothing but a couple of useless brochures. .

This is not correct, it also contains a map and chapmans book. It is also not compulsory though is recommended, moreso for those who assume these things aren't necessary.

The useless brochures outline minimal impact and walk preparation, also 'necessary', moreso for those who haven't encountered the concepts before.

[flyfisher]

Walk the OT in 2 days but what a waste of a beautiful area. Still whatever floats yer boat.

FF

[MrWalker]

It's too late now to change the plan unfortunately as we've already paid the OT fees, ... So it is all locked up. It is very unfortunate if we've have to walk along the lake in the dark. Maybe we'll get up earlier on the second day though.

As we've noted here previosuly different people have different reasons for walking. Personally I think the OT is a reasonable 2-day walk, but preferably not on consecutive days. I had planned to walk from Ronny Creek to Arm river. Then on a different occassion take the ferrry up the lake and walk from Narcissus to Arm River. My wife wouldn't do the racing around in the car required so I did out and back walks at each end instead. So I'm all in favour of your attempt and will be interested to hear how it goes.

You need to think about where to stop overnight. Pelion Hut is the biggest so you can avoid taking a tent. Kia Ora would give more chance of finishing the second day in reasonable light, but you might find all the best spots taken by the time you get there after walking all day from Ronny Creek. However, you will probably get up at dawn on the second day and have more time than the first day, so Pelion Hut could be OK.

On my walk I reached Narcissus at 5pm and Cynthia Bay at 8:50pm, about 10 minutes after sunset. However, I knew from walking at Cynthia Bay the previous day that the last 20minutes would be on very wide flat tracks and the section before that is very good. So don't worry too much about doing that in the dark. However, the section in the forest to Echo Point is very rough and undulating. So although it is not continually steep it is very up and down and rough with mud and tree roots. This will take longer than you expect and will not improve until quite a while after Echo Point.

If you don't make any other side trips make sure you visit Hartnet Falls.

[Nuts]

The runners have standards for equipment and backup.
You'll need shelter of some description.
You will need enough gear/supplies for any one of a number of reasonable outcomes as if not relying on others.
Iv'e done it in two days, no big deal, all you will see is your feet but hey... as FF said

[igor]

they force you to get an information pack for another 52 bucks and it is nothing but a couple of useless brochures. .

This is not correct, it also contains a map and chapmans book. It is also not compulsory though is recommended, moreso for those who assume these things aren't necessary.

The useless brochures outline minimal impact and walk preparation, also 'necessary', moreso for those who haven't encountered the concepts before.

really? and how do you not accept it? When ordering the permits online there is no way of not having this information pack. The map of OT is not part of the pack, it comes as part of the permit. And the brochures are full of wonderfully useful info about wombat droppings and how to distinguish them from kangaroo ones. Very useful indeed.

[igor]

As we've noted here previosuly different people have different reasons for walking. Personally I think the OT is a reasonable 2-day walk, but preferably not on consecutive days. I had planned to walk from Ronny Creek to Arm river. Then on a different occassion take the ferrry up the lake and walk from Narcissus to Arm River. My wife wouldn't do the racing around in the car required so I did out and back walks at each end instead. So I'm all in favour of your attempt and will be interested to hear how it goes.

You need to think about where to stop overnight. Pelion Hut is the biggest so you can avoid taking a tent. Kia Ora would give more chance of finishing the second day in reasonable light, but you might find all the best spots taken by the time you get there after walking all day from Ronny Creek. However, you will probably get up at dawn on the second day and have more time than the first day, so Pelion Hut could be OK.

On my walk I reached Narcissus at 5pm and Cynthia Bay at 8:50pm, about 10 minutes after sunset. However, I knew from walking at Cynthia Bay the previous day that the last 20minutes would be on very wide flat tracks and the section before that is very good. So don't worry too much about doing that in the dark. However, the section in the forest to Echo Point is very rough and undulating. So although it is not continually steep it is very up and down and rough with mud and tree roots. This will take longer than you expect and will not improve until quite a while after Echo Point.

If you don't make any other side trips make sure you visit Hartnet Falls.

thanks, I'll make a note. I'll study the rout again in the next few days on google earth as I have a full GPX track of it to see if what you've written above makes sense to me. Our tent is very light - just 1.5 kilo so we don't worry about not having spots at the huts. My wife is going to curry a very light pack with freeze dried packs of food and some spare cloth. I am currying the tent, sleeping bags and inflatable mats - all very light. we have a purification filter so no need to curry more than 1 litre of water. That is why I think the walk is going to be very enjoyable. We did Great Ocean Walk in Victoria - it was 98 km in 3 days amd we easily did 33+ km in 8 hrs.

[Son of a Beach]

On Australia Day my wife and I are going to walk Overland Track. We plan to do the whole length including walking along the lake St Clair and not taking ferry in 2 days. I've studied the description of OT and think that the recommended 6 days walking time is WAY OVER what is really needed to walk this track comfortably. Walking with the average speed of say 4 km/h for 8-9 hrs a day (which is not much) plus say 1-2 hrs rest time gives maximum of 11 hrs of active time. Plus we need to carry much less food and a little water - my understanding there are plenty of creeks and little lakes there. So with the 15 kilo backpack it shouldn't be that difficult to keep the intended scheduler. We must anyway otherwise or return tickets to Sydney will be wasted.

I agree that the 6 days recommended to walk from Cradle Mtn to Narcissus is well over what is needed. I've done the whole thing (including lakeside walk) in 5 days, including side trips to the 3 main Mersey waterfalls. I've done Cradle Mtn to Narcissues in 4 days, then caught the ferry. But I would not want to do it much quicker than that.

I've also done it in 5, 6, 7 and 8 days on various occasions. The more days spent on the track the better the walk has been, in my opinion.

2 days to do the entire thing, including the lakeside walk, is really stretching things, in my opinion. But then maybe you're an awful lot fitter and quicker than I am. I do like to actually spend a bit of time at camp in morning and evening to enjoy just being there, too. In fact that is why I do such walks - not for the walking itself, but the 'being there' (and walking to get there makes being there even better).

Yeah, the guys who run the whole thing in just a few hours... I don't get it either... maybe they should just run around the oval. But everyone is different and has their own ways of enjoying themselves, so let 'em at it, I suppose.

[Nuts]

really? and how do you not accept it? When ordering the permits online there is no way of not having this information pack. The map of OT is not part of the pack, it comes as part of the permit. And the brochures are full of wonderfully useful info about wombat droppings and how to distinguish them from kangaroo ones. Very useful indeed.

Because it isn't right, the information pack is a numbered box option when making a booking. The information pack contains Chapmans book, map and various notes.

http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=7827#3

[Nuts]

PS you don't need tablets or filter. This advice is likely buried somewhere in the info pack.

[Nuts]

and.. there is a good chance you will meet at least 3/4 parks staff on the way. you do have that permit right?

[MrWalker]

PS you don't need tablets or filter. This advice is likely buried somewhere in the info pack.

Iagree. The huts have good supplies of rainwater and any running creek is OK. Although I grew up on Adelaide tap water so I'm immune to almost everything.
However, there are a few sections where on a hot day you might need more than a litre between refills. But I sweat an awful lot when I'm walking so maybe I go through a lot more water than others.

[igor]

and.. there is a good chance you will meet at least 3/4 parks staff on the way. you do have that permit right?

I believe so. That is why I have complained about the fee. Great Ocean Walk has longer distance also has a number of camping sites with water and toilets and it is free.
One thing i forgotten to ask - is there mobile coverage at the finish of the OT? a private company driver is supposed to pick us up at the end and bring to Hobart. Can I call from the car park?

[igor]

PS you don't need tablets or filter. This advice is likely buried somewhere in the info pack.

Iagree. The huts have good supplies of rainwater and any running creek is OK. Although I grew up on Adelaide tap water so I'm immune to almost everything.
However, there are a few sections where on a hot day you might need more than a litre between refills. But I sweat an awful lot when I'm walking so maybe I go through a lot more water than others.

I am always a bit hesitant to drink the untreated water, 99.9% it is OK, but you never know is there is a dead wombat floating 50 meters upstream. We are using a superfine ceramic filter that you need to pump very hard. Plus the tablets just to be sure,

[ollster]

I am always a bit hesitant to drink the untreated water, 99.9% it is OK, but you never know is there is a dead wombat floating 50 meters upstream. We are using a superfine ceramic filter that you need to pump very hard. Plus the tablets just to be sure,

I would suggest on the OLT that you try and drink water from the streams (most particularly the ones coming off the side of mountains) and avoid hut water wherever possible. It's not the water itself, but the taps that attract cross contamination. Also the hut tables are a great source of bacteria IMO. Use copious amounts of anti-bacterial hand wash after toilet and obviously before eating if you are eating in the huts or have touched door handles etc.

The "poo fingers" poor hygiene factor of other people cannot be overlooked and is most likely to give you gastro - far more so that any running water on or near the track IMO. I've seen it happen where one person cross-infects multiple others and it's very unpleasant.

[Miyata610]

Igor, I'm sure you'll have great trip and see lots of great sights even if only two days worth. You'll want to come back.

I'm with Ollster re hut water... Those taps really scare me. I'd rather take water from fast moving streams.

I can't comment on phone reception, other than to say my iridium works all along the track well actually it doesn't like dense tree cover

[Miyata610]

Oh and I don't think they fly your poo out by helicopter on the great ocean walk or fly in heating fuel to the huts.

[Azza]

I really don't think you need to worry too much about the water - some of the cleanest water in the world.. treating the water - its just not the done thing down here.
We just don't need to do it... (touch wood)

Obviously don't take it downstream from huts and campsites...
Invariably whenever you get one of these popular walks that attracts the trekking crowd you tends to get a higher percentage of people doing the wrong thing environmentally.
I've got gastro a couple of times in Tasmania in twenty years of walk - both times involved overland track huts.
Probably picked it up off the table surfaces and taps in the hut, I doubt its from stream water.

There is some Telstra 3g coverage at Narcissus Hut and Lk St Clair... probably not worth bothering if your with any other carrier.

[igor]

Oh and I don't think they fly your poo out by helicopter on the great ocean walk or fly in heating fuel to the huts.

really, they do that? What about the wombat poo? Or the human poo is much too dangerous to leave in the park? Snowy Mountains national park has also plenty of huts and nobody is crazy enough to send helicopters to fly out the waste. And the park entrance is just 18 bucks per car. Of course one can invent all sorts of super expensive activities, plus I am sure they have an office somewhere with secretaries and people in suits full of self importance they all need to be paid good salaries. This is where most of the fees are going.

[igor]

I really don't think you need to worry too much about the water - some of the cleanest water in the world.. treating the water - its just not the done thing down here.
We just don't need to do it... (touch wood)

Obviously don't take it downstream from huts and campsites...
Invariably whenever you get one of these popular walks that attracts the trekking crowd you tends to get a higher percentage of people doing the wrong thing environmentally.
I've got gastro a couple of times in Tasmania in twenty years of walk - both times involved overland track huts.
Probably picked it up off the table surfaces and taps in the hut, I doubt its from stream water.

There is some Telstra 3g coverage at Narcissus Hut and Lk St Clair... probably not worth bothering if your with any other carrier.

No, I am with Telstra. Switched from Optus several years back when we started bushwalking extensively and discovered that Optus is no good anywhere but Sydney

[Nuts]

Oh and I don't think they fly your poo out by helicopter on the great ocean walk or fly in heating fuel to the huts.

really, they do that? What about the wombat poo? Or the human poo is much too dangerous to leave in the park? Snowy Mountains national park has also plenty of huts and nobody is crazy enough to send helicopters to fly out the waste. And the park entrance is just 18 bucks per car. Of course one can invent all sorts of super expensive activities, plus I am sure they have an office somewhere with secretaries and people in suits full of self importance they all need to be paid good salaries. This is where most of the fees are going.

That's just how it is Igor. Wherever the money goes, even if it isn't subject to accountability it Is counted, surely they'll reach saturation someday
This is just the direction parks have taken with the Overland Track, plenty of others to choose from.

[Miyata610]

really, they do that? ......

Yep they store it in big plastic tubs and it's collected by helicopter regularly. As I also mentioned they fly in fuel too. Also the track is manned by several rangers 24 hours a day, in the private ranger huts. That has to cost. This is a seriously managed track, like no other I've used.

As to wombat poo.... I don't think wombats carry in diseases from all over the world.

At least we don't have to carry water purifiers and chemical treatments. Maybe there is a connection here.

[Son of a Beach]

Wombats don't leave toilet paper, tampons and various other rubbish lying around when they take a dump either. Or perhaps they just bury/conceal it better than some of the bushwalker deposits I've come across.

[tom_brennan]

Oh and I don't think they fly your poo out by helicopter on the great ocean walk or fly in heating fuel to the huts.

really, they do that? What about the wombat poo? Or the human poo is much too dangerous to leave in the park?

Yes, human poo is more dangerous. Many pathogens find it hard to cross species barriers, particularly unrelated species like humans and wombats.

You're much more at risk of picking up something from human poo than wombat poo, even though there's probably a heck of a lot more wombat poo in the park.

[corvus]

Igor with respect you have a lot more to worry about on this trip than the water quality your journey from Ronny Creek to first night stop Pelion ?? will be interesting only a bit over 39km ,day two Pelion to Cynthia Bay via the lake track 46km this is not like the Great Ocean Road Track so good luck mate and yes it is not impossible just a pity you will miss out on so much.
corvus

[photohiker]

The reason they 'do that' is that the OLT became so popular that the number of people on the track at peak times was way more than the facilities or environment could cope with. It was basically getting loved to death. So the Parks decided to increase the management of the track, limit the maximum number of walkers, and charge a fee.

Similar situations have arisen on other iconic walks. The Grand Canyon has a limit for walkers and also for raft groups for instance.

I'd hazard a guess that if the Great Ocean walk (or any other) ever got to the same situation, similar controls would come into play.

[igor]

Igor with respect you have a lot more to worry about on this trip than the water quality your journey from Ronny Creek to first night stop Pelion ?? will be interesting only a bit over 39km ,day two Pelion to Cynthia Bay via the lake track 46km this is not like the Great Ocean Road Track so good luck mate and yes it is not impossible just a pity you will miss out on so much.
corvus

I have a complete track in form of GPX file. It shows 73 km. Once again - if 86 year old could run it in 12 hrs, surely we could do it walking in 24. We don't intend to run (although on the last day we might just to catch our ride), We just intend to walk extra hours. Having a rest every now and then and just walk all day, until we are tired. We used to walk 12 hrs non stop in the very rugged terrain back in Russia (in Caucasus Mountains) and here in AU many times. I don't even consider walking as a heavy physical exercise, it's most natural human activity. The weight of the backpack is going to be between 10 and 12 kilo. Again is not a super heavy load. OT is not an off-road type of track and is managed very good, that normally means having a comfortable 4 km/h average speed. so 10 hrs of walking time plus 2 hrs of rest allow us to walk very comfortably, taking pictures and enjoying ourselves.

[MrWalker]

... will be interesting only a bit over 39km ,day two Pelion to Cynthia Bay via the lake track 46km ...corvus

I have a complete track in form of GPX file. It shows 73 km.

I think Coruvus must be allowing for side trips. Chapman's book shows 31.6km to Pelion Hut and 74km total, making 43.4 for the second day.
Stopping at or near Kiaora overnight would be 39.8 and 34.2km each day.
Although the track is reasonably well maintained there are rough sections where it is hard to maintain a good pace. But you can get a good idea by your time to waterfall hut compared with the book times and pace yourself from there on.

[corvus]

Yes sorry Igor I did include side trips on day one so around 33km for first day ,I have witnessed walkers arriving at Pelion in the dark after a non stop from Ronny Creek and they were totally stuffed.
Day two I stand by my estimate of 46km give or take a couple of km, cobber I am happy for you to do this in the time you want guess I am just concerned that you are underestimating this walk but hey ! good luck anyway
corvus

Last edited by corvus on Tue 10 Jan, 2012 8:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[kbm63]

In Qld usually around 10 - 15km day walk but that's with kids. Depends on the type of walk. If walking with a club or larger group (or older kids), or stop to take photos or try to identify birds or plants, the walk always takes longer. It doesn't matter how far or how long you walk, as long as you (and the people you are walking with) enjoy it!!