Rookie, whats the worst that can happen. ;)

[neilmny]

Strange move down the Jamie Licola rd for a bit. I thought he might be bailing for the bad weather.
But back on the AAWT again at Rumpff Saddle. It's all a bit like The Trueman Show without pictures

[bigkev]

Strange move down the Jamie Licola rd for a bit. I thought he might be bailing for the bad weather.
But back on the AAWT again at Rumpff Saddle. It's all a bit like The Trueman Show without pictures

I'm thinking that he might of met someone up near the Licola Road last night and they are driving him down to Rumpff Sadle. If you look at the times on his 'pings' you couldn't walk that fast, well I couldn't anyway

[neilmny]

Oh oh! Looks like he's heading down the wrong spur on Mt McDonald!
Someone did that a short while ago and ended up lost (temporarily).
Bigkev mentioned that fella............"he had missed the spot to leave the ridge running down off Mt MacDonald and mistakenly descended into very rough country towards the Jamieson River"

Wade has bounced back from every other mini adventure lets hope this one gets added to the list.


Oops spoke to soon he's on the way back already.

[bigkev]

Oh oh! Looks like he's heading down the wrong spur on Mt McDonald!
Someone did that a short while ago and ended up lost (temporarily).
Bigkev mentioned that fella............"he had missed the spot to leave the ridge running down off Mt MacDonald and mistakenly descended into very rough country towards the Jamieson River"

Wade has bounced back from every other mini adventure lets hope this one gets added to the list.

Oops spoke to soon he's on the way back already.

Give Wade his due, he's nothing if not determined He walks some strange hours though!

[neilmny]

And he does a good distance for such a late hour walker.
He's seems to be pretty handy on night time navigation.

[neilmny]

Looks like Wade has a sense of humour.....Spot OK message this morning with the note "Hey would you look at that, I'm alive" from the Nobs.

[onward]

I hope it is just flat batteries in the SPOT, his last message about being alive (preset message) was 1/30/2018, 10:53:01 AM (27hrs ago) and I cannot imagine having a rest day at The Nobs.

[neilmny]

I hope it is just flat batteries in the SPOT, his last message about being alive (preset message) was 1/30/2018, 10:53:01 AM (27hrs ago) and I cannot imagine having a rest day at The Nobs.

Clicking on the ticked no.50 on the map, apart from the location etc. it shows "Battery state: LOW."
He has been staying a while at a lot of places.....

[Lophophaps]

How does he get power? Solar? Spare batteries? A long cable?

[onward]

When I met him he said he had 5 usb battery packs and a 21w Anker Solar panel (which he had put out at lunchtime).

[bigkev]

Wade should have mobile reception from the Mt Buller tower from Mt MacDonald until Mt Spec (assuming that he's with Telstra). I hope he gets his spot tracker working before he tackles the Razor Viking section

The Nobs are a slightly unusual spot to stop for a long break, it's a long steep walk from there down Nobs Track to get water, there maybe water in some of the gullies after the rain on Monday/Tuesday though?

[GBW]

Go Wade! I'm enjoying this and he seems to be doing alright apart from a few wrong turns. He did bypass aka chicken out on Victor Spur and Mt Skene track and took the road but he's done well to get over Macdonald. Why he turned right at Black River I'm not sure but another nice recovery...maybe he was heading for the N15 track... hopefully he got some good footage!

We hit Black River off course 60-80m SE of the log crossing which we later found as we made our way downstream. It was hot, we could hear the river and headed straight for it for a dip. After wading across there was no sign of a footpad but it's clear you cross the river and continue downstream on the north side...eventually you'll find a track. You could mistake the log as another crossing if you went the way we did.

I have a Spot but don't use the tracking to preserve batteries for one OK message per day but if for whatever reason you couldn't hit the SOS at least there's a breadcrumb trail...plus the entertainment it provides is priceless. You can pay extra for "extreme tracking" which is 2.5 minute intervals; the base rate comes free with the plan and is at 10min intervals I think. I'd say Wade's batteries in his Spot are running low with a couple of missing sections over Macdonald...hopefully he has some spares. Last known position is at the base of The Nobs...here perhaps...

Good luck Wade and stay safe.

[bigkev]

Where's Wade?

Has anybody heard anything from Wade?

I'm missing following his adventures.

[onward]

He suddenly appeared today at 1pm in the Mt Howitt area- currently on the Crosscut Saw. It would be outstanding up there today and he will have good weather going across Viking.
I am not sure whether a Spot is such a good idea if you can just disappear like that.

[bigkev]

Maybe Wade had some spare batteries stashed at Macalister Springs??

Anyway, it's good to see he's still going OK

[neilmny]

...........I am not sure whether a Spot is such a good idea if you can just disappear like that.

I agree onward. It's great for people close to you to see where and how you are going but the potential
for miss understanding of your wellbeing/or not, is high when batteries go flat or the signal can't get out etc.
My guess is the batteries were flat and he didn't realise it until now.

[onward]

Batteries are still saying low...maybe that is when the Spot is not happy!
He is still very slow, he is only at the 165km point, I make it he has been going for 18/19 days, that is less than 10km a day. He is going to have to speed up at some stage (at least the NSW part is easier).

[neilmny]

Anyone know if Wade has pulled the pin, it's kind of looking that way?

[bigkev]

Anyone know if Wade has pulled the pin, it's kind of looking that way?

I'm wondering if his spot is more or less out of juice and he is now saving it for emergencies.

If he is continuing on he should either be at Hotham or very close, hopefully he posts an update when he gets there?

[WadeThrupp]

Thank you to everyone following my trip so closely. I arrived at Hotham today and am enjoying an abundance of fresh food.

Now..
- I regretfully missed the Victor spur turn off.
- Black River is not hard to navigate around, just make sure the compass is not upside down (I kept thinking "I'm coming from South West.." next think I know I'm heading south west and think I'm going the right way) easy out and the track by summer is more defined then other areas of the walk. You
- I caught a lift back down to Rumpff saddle the day after not being able to find my water.. and beer. God I was thirsty. I later found the same empty beer tins that were with my water either the cows got to them or the bogans did. Lucky I stashed my food elsewhere for this drop.
- Followed the ridge on Mt MacDonald east, rookie error with only 200ml water left.
- Water at Barkly River East is in the far gully, far away, 5L lasted 5 mins. On this day I did not want to risk finding water at High Cone so instead of the scrub bash east of The Nobs I followed the Nobs Track north, big mistake, very steep decent..
- THEN the next day it rains for 20 hours and blows a Gail while I'm on that stupid exposed campsite. Even if I had my rain pants I could not have gone anywhere because I could not see anything through the mist. A whole day wasted getting wet then drying out. After the rain I found a trickle of water east of the peak and got the f$#! out of there.
- I wish I had of hiked in water and food to stay a whole week on the crosscut saw, the razor and Viking, this section was amazing!

Now tracking.. I thought that since the Spot Gen3 comes with rechargeable batteries and has a USB port i could recharge the batteries with my power bank. So I used my spots batteries for my headlamp and they are now flat and won't charge and I doubt I will see a shop that stocks Lithium AAA's until Canberra. The Spot apparently will use an alternative power source via the USB port however it drains so little power that my power bank won't stay on. .. Now I know this last point I can find a work around to ensure tracking continues... I might need to turn it on every time I stop. Or simply press the power banks button every now and then... I digress. The spot works fine and in an emergency the SOS function will work.

[Xplora]

I doubt I will see a shop that stocks Lithium AAA's until Canberra.

Try calling Foodworks at Falls Creek (03) 5758 3009 They are supplied by Foodworks at Mt. Beauty (03) 5754 1400 which may have the batteries you need but you will need to be specific if the Spot is particular. Falls creek is a small diversion. Alternatively you could contact Foodworks at Omeo (03) 5159 1210 or the Post Office Omeo (03) 5159 1209. If either has the batteries then you can arrange for the postie to drop it out to Glen Wills retreat which is a couple of km's down the road from the track. If you try the post office first then speak only to Peter or Cathy. Peter has helped out walkers before and is the boss. Next mail day is Friday which will have it at Glen Wills before you get there. Cathy is also very switched on.

[neilmny]

Hi Wade,

Thanks for the update and great to see your safe at Hotham. There's certainly been some interesting weather over the time you've been out there and looking at Vic Emergency the odd fire, not near to you, but in the region too. It's been fascinating to follow your trip on the spot and not just to see where you are but to also see how people (me included) react when the SPOT trace is not going or arriving as anticipated. Something, if I was to use one, to learn from in terms of how my family might perceive what is taking place out there.

My powerbank does the same thing on low drain. I can't run my GPS from it. Probably all you can do is hit the on button from time to time.

You must be getting some great footage and photos.
Good luck with the rest of the trip.

Neil.
PS - As for the cows....they's *&%$#!

[bigkev]

Well done Wade, you've done the hardest section, it's all downhill from Hotham

I hope you get the battery issue's sorted as you were supplying hours of entertainment for me following your progress.

Cheers
Kevin

[onward]

Ahhh-clearly the worst that can happen is that the Spot runs out of batteries!
Glad to see you are still with us.
You may also be able to get someone to post you the Spot batteries to Thredbo (or from Thredbo hitch into Jindabyne ). Or get a USB AAA charger so you can recharge the Spot Batteries. My Garmin GPS has the same silly arrangement, you can power it externally via the usb but not recharge the batteries (well unless you buy the 'special' Garmin batteries).
Crosscut Saw and Viking are amazing, but you still have some places to rival that yet! And you can always go back and to the Howitt-Crosscut-South Viking circuit an easy(?) 3-4 days!
take care
Martin

[north-north-west]

For a rookie, even just making it to Hotham is a major achievement. Enjoy all the fresh food, you've well and truly earnt it.

[Neo]

Rock on Wade. I'm partial to the lunch special steak chips ñ salad

[GBW]

Great stuff Wade, you got further than me first time up. Hope you've got Mawson Hut, Jagungal, Blue Waterholes, Bimberi and Booroomba Rocks on your list if you have time.

[crollsurf]

Hi Wade,
I've got a nice bottle of 1981 Mildara Shiraz & Cabernet waiting for you at Dead Horse Gap to share. There is also a very good Pizza joint at Thredbo. Just saying in case you make it

[onward]

Wade's Spot Tracker is running again, with a 'good' battery rating...on his way to Derrick or Dibbins for the night!
Go Wade!

[GregR]

Appears he has made it to Bogong.

I'm enjoying watching this slow motion movie immensely. Not enjoying eating humble pie with a crow filling tho.

Go Wade!