Finally had a good free weekend to tick off a hike that's been on my to do lost for a little while, Point Pure in the northern section of Main Range National Park.
The usual pre-hike preparation the day before, seemingly blowing the dust and brushing some cobwebs off some of my hiking gear. Second time used this year, shameful. I also decided to pre-soak my water filter as it probably dried out. My brother 3d printed me a new cap for the back end of my sawyer squeeze which came in handy to stop any dripping.
The hike starts from Glen Rock/Casuarina Camp Ground, about a 2 hour drive from home. We got away just on 7 and had a smooth run up and were away hiking by 920. The first 4km are along a very well maintained mixed use trail. Crossing Blackwell's Creek a few times. We could get across dry the first 3 but no chance for the 4th so ploughed on through. Fairly exposed at the start, pack sunscreen!
The fire trail ends and you have to push though about 400m of snake country (knee-waist high grass) before linking up with some old fence trails heading up Repeater Ridge. Fairly easy going along the fence line, barely a scant trace of wire but the majority of posts are still standing strong. The the track it's easy to follow. Still pretty exposed on the Ridge.
Eventually the 4wd track ends, and it appears like the fence gets a lot better, with the trail changing more into bush scrub. Good footpad still and a bit more shade, but the incline definitely makes you work. A few rocky sections that require a bit of effort, but I would stop short of calling it a scramble. One had a cute little green snake, trying to soak up some warmth. Eventually you top out on an unnamed peak, take a sharp left, and start heading down again.
Steep stepping down almost straight away as you walk along some fairly thin Ridge lines. Made a little more hazardous as it began to rain on us. Littered with a few more rocky outcrops to navigate you roller-coaster along the Ridge for a while. Eventually you veer right, where we almost immediately lost the footpad. Unable to relocate it we traversed across the side of the hill, often a foot slipping on the wet grass.
My shoes were mostly dry after the creek crossing, during the climb, but wet grass has made them drenched once more. This section would have been a bit annoying in the dry, so pushing through wet grass certainly wasn't making it better... type 2 fun right...? It was very slow going, carefully placing each step as the grass was hiding many rocks, logs and washouts. I managed to hold my feet, a few times just barely, but my partner did slide about 1/2 a meter and with the slope needed some help up. At least the rain had eased up...
Eventually we started to hear rushing water, so I knew we were almost through it. Sigh of relief as we spotted a crystal clear flowing creek, gushing with water. The Valley also opened up to great views as the skies finally parted and we actually saw the sun again. Not much longer to camp from here but we stopped to collect more water for the night and tomorrow. Even with pre-soaking the filter it had more of a drip than a flow... Good excuse for a rest I guess.
Like some magical barrier the other side of the creek was more open bush, with relatively short grass. Mush easier walking. Not far from the creek we startled a wild pig that shot off into the bush. Black as night. It wasn't much further until we were at camp. Fairly spacious, obvious signs of past hikers, including a fire ring, and a great view into the valley. With the damp ground from the earlier rain and the wind picking up the valley we were very quick to cool down. I threw on my thermal top and used my rain jacket to block the wind and my partner already had almost all of her layers on.
We ventured the ~100m from camp to the tip of Point Pure to enjoy a late arvo tea and the view. Not long after we were visited by another little busy friend. A tiny little guy, very interested in the scotch bottle. Back to the tent briefly for me to change into the rest of me warmer clothes before making dinner, enjoying the last of the sun disappearing, some good colour after it dropped behind the mountains, but fairly short lived. Soon it was time to head to beg to slip into warm sleeping bags.
In the morning it was nice and calm with the sun shinning, so it started to warm up fairly quickly and the condensation on the tent quickly dried. Still a more casual pack up with the two of us, so it wasn't until 820am that we broke camp and begun the hike home. No trail immediately apparent from camp, but it was still nice open scrub with short grass and easy going. Navigation was fairly easy... there was a cliff to our right; Don't fall off it.
It wasn't too long before the scrub got thicker. Faint traces of a footpad drifted in and out. Some evidence of past hikers were branches were snapped off and had already regrown. Choke points (top of peaks, around bigger fallen trees) has a defined track that lasted barely 10-20 meters before dissipating once again into the scrub. Mostly soft scrub though, not too hard on the bare shins. At a creek crossing we could see patches of stinging nettle, but easy to avoid. Along the exposed cliff line was a lot clearer and easier going. Still fairly slow though, navigating and passing through it all. Probably averaging just over 1.5 km /hr through this stretch.
There was another good climb to get up and over a cliff line before linking up to a ridge. On the way up almost stepped on a decent sized Carpet Python enjoying a patch of sun. Only the 2nd snake we've seen this weekend.... but I'm not sure I'd want to think too hard about all the ones we didn't...
After all that climbing it was time to head back down.... 600m drop over ~2.5km made for some pretty steep sections. Ground was fairly good, plenty of vegetation cover for the most part. Some of it had fairly loose dirt which lead to a few slips. Steep drops either side at a few points as well, so be careful with your feet placements, but safe enough as long as you take your time, and that we did...
Just as you reach the creek at the bottom you run into thickets of Lantana. Fun! There is a goat trail that leads you right through a 100m gauntlet of it, then you double back along the dry rocky creek bed to almost where you started (+ down a ~2m drop off.) If I venture back again, I might drop to the creek a little earlier off to the right nearing the end of the ridge, as following the creek was a lot easier than pushing through the lantana.
A little celebration as we made it back to the maintained shared use trail. Nice and wide, slashed grass, easy hiking. Still 9km back to the car though. Lots more criss-crossing over the creek. Some you can stay dry through, others not. Held a fairly steady 5km/hr pace most of the way, excluding the creek crossings/rock hopping, and back to the car with plenty of sunlight left. Though definitely a long day for just 15 km...
