Pre Trail -
Having done all the packing the night
before all that was left was to cook up a nice bacon breakfast and wait
for our lift to the Airport. Mum came to drop us in and is also going to
take care of some of the more dramatic pot plants when were gone.
Ride in was pretty good but the
Virgin baggage drop was moving very slowly. A few were complaining at
the staff, as if it were their fault, and others on a Perth flight were
called to the front to rush them through. Time enough for lunch before
jumping on our flight to Launceston. The on flight entertainment was a
bit choppy and laggy but the flight went ok.
After a 15min taxi we made it to the Pod Inn. Its a backpackers but with individual Pods to sleep in. Thin plastic though so not at all sound proof. Out for dinner but stopping into the Kingsway Whisky bar on the way. Trying out a few new Tasmanian drops to pack out on the hike. The guys running the place were really helpful and had some good advice.
Slept in a little, at least they're light proof. Over breakfast talking to another guest who pointed us in the direction of Cataract Gorge. A nice short warm up walk we could do from here. Beautiful gorge and a cool old suspension bridge my mum visited (pre-kids) in 1976. I tried to recreate the photo but I don't think I did so well matching the attire or hair. . .
Back along the Zig-Zag track which involves a pretty decent hill and a lot of steps. Into town to grab some hiking gas and lunch. Another Whisky bar with new options. On the way back to the Pod inn we stopped in at Crown Cellars to grab supplies. They were also super helpful and had tasters. Ended up spending a bit more than my usual selection but how often do you hike the Overland and turn 40 (yep, I'm old) in the same year?
Day 1 - Launceston to Waterfall Valley hut.
Up at 530am for breakfast to be ready for a
620am bus (Overland Track Transport.) We were the last (of 8) to hop
in. Was good because that meant we were were off straight away instead
of weaving around town for other pickups.
The driver was impressed with how
light the packs were, mine being close to 14kg (...with no water yet). Which is heavy for me;
So much food 😓 But that will allow us to do the side trips at least. He
said that often hikers are well over 20kg... when we jumped in one of
the hikers asked if we were experienced trekkers.... I mentioned that
I'd done one or two decent hikes...
As the conversation went on over
the long drive a few of my notable hikes came out which generated some
good discussion. The driver did well to chat and alleviate some hikers
fear of the trail, having done it 20 times himself it was good knowledge
to hear. With a jovial delivery.
We arrived around 10am and did a
briefing. They checked out our gear, but not very thorough, made us
watch a vid on hypothermia and then sent us on our way. The shuttle bus
we were on had something wrong with its gear box which meant the bus
behind us (on the supposed 15min journey, with 15mim between departures)
caught up...
The hike starts on a boardwalk nice
and calm but quickly ascends past some nice small waterfalls and a good
lake. Steep rocky steps, with chain assist, later and we were on
Marion's lookout for a break. Bit cold in the wind so not long before we
headed off.
Kitchen hut, emergency shelter, was a good spot to drop packs and summit Cradle Mountain. Pace was a bit slower up the steep scramble and ultimately I pushed on solo to bag the peak. Amazing view and obligatory Survey Marker...
Back down to the hut just snacks for a late lunch we pushed on the remaining 5k to Waterfall Valley hut. Arriving just before 6pm (sunset 750 ish, so plenty of light) to find most other hikers (that stayed near Cradle Mountain last night) already spread out. Bottom platforms taken but plenty of room up top. I didn't appreciate that one person was taking up 5 (five!) Pack hooks. He had pack, shirt, poles, gloves and his hat. All on separate hooks!
Room was pretty stuffy with all the bodies so we cracked a small window before dinner. Good pasta side for me and a chat with a hiker from Germany who apparently had a *very through* pack shake-down, and was forced to buy a rain jacket to replace her poncho! Lucky they didn't see my Frogg Toggs. . .
With teeth done and the fading light we decided to turn in, just as it had started to rain on the 30m walk to the outhouse. We found the room windows closed, guess people like stuffy... I was in my hiking shorts and a base layer top and sweating... don't have to worry about being too cold...
Day 2 - Waterfall Valley to Windemere
The original plan was for us to double back 1km to the Barn Bluff turn off and then do a 7km return side trail, and scramble, to the summit. More exposed but similar climb to Cradle Mountain... the view of bluff was non-existent. Wind, rain, exposed scramble? We gave it a miss...
It was already 930 before we worked up the courage to step out into the rain. Time to check out the old 4 bed hut (glad were in the new one...) before continuing on. Not the best views today but a few clear openings. At the lake Will Junction it was at least 40km winds and sideways rain, so we decided to skip it. Seeing a few other beautiful lakes on the way.
Just before we reached the hut a Ranger out in the rain stopped for a permit check... pretty keen in this weather. Less than 5min later we were at the hut. 11am with Sam and Simon leaving just after us and arriving with us. 1.5 hour hike, not bad for a sign posted 3hr journey... good to be out of the rain and wind for lunch.
The others trickled in over the next 2-3 hours, cold and wet. Though after lunch there was a glimpse of hope and even some small openings of blue sky. So much so that a group decided to go for a swim. Mad. Without a volunteer in the house to keep some in check they found the gas heater timer button. Right next to the "Do not use if temperature is greater than 10°c". I don't think it made it long enough to run out of running time before someone hit it again. Even though the room was 25° + and stuffy. A few of us opting to rug up in the cold outside rather than sweat in the common room... One hiker had some torn up feet so we did a bit of care with draining the high pressure blisters and treating the others. Fix-a-mole did the trick hopefully. Some of us played some card games to kill the time before eventually eating dinner and heading to bed.
Day 3 - Windemere to Pelion Hut.
Another rainy morning but a bit quicker to
pack up. Just as we were ready to leave we saw some sunlight break
through the clouds and the rain stop. We took off the rain jackets but
before we could put them away and get our packs on it started again...
so out they came...
Longer day today 16.8km to the hut.
Cold. Windy. Wet. Track was often a stream and the forested sections
were muddy. There was some small breaks in the clouds though offering
sole good views. Everyone else was in heavy rain pants but I still
seemed to be going ok in shorts. Luckily there were also many boardwalk sections... though some abruptly ending...
The day dragged on a bit and the slippery roots in the forest sections and wet rocks everywhere else were a drain on energy. My partner slowed towards the end due to the more difficult terrain so we dropped back the pace a little. Still fast enough to catch and overtake the guided group wandering along.
Pelion Hut is an older hut and not
as warm, but there is still a gas heater to take the chill out of the
air. Getting out of the wet clothes is always a good feeling and lunch
always helps too. More started to arrive also happy to be rid of the
rain. Which was now getting worse.
About 4pm a hiker wandered in
shivering and very cold, possibly verging on developing hypothermia.
People jumped to action making hot drinks and helping get her into a
sleeping bag. She was one of 4 with the 2nd arriving soon after and the
other 2 last seen ~2hrs ago, including the one with the sore foot...
As others were deliberating a
course of action Cathlyn started getting ready to head out and not
wanting anyone to go off alone I joined her. We started back down the
trail with a light jog and only made it about 20min before finding the
pair, cold and weary but in high spirits. Alison was very happy to take
up my offer to carry her pack. I think she was shouting yes even before I
had finished asking the question...
As we were getting them warm Linda
who arrived earlier was feeling better and warmed significantly. By
dinner all was fine and talk turned to tomorrows plans. A very friendly
ranger popped in and gave us a weather update. 1° colder than today and
25mm rain. On her way off she spotted a wombat so she ducked back to let
us know. We only caught a glimpse as it waddled off into a bush.
Day 4 - Pelion Hut.
We awoke to a snow covered ground. Pretty
fresh white snow looked amazing but was a sign that we had to think
about plans. The original plan for the day was Mount Oakley but with
snow, high wind and predicted rain we decided to take a zero day
instead. The Oakley offshoot had us back here anyway so we could still
follow our schedule.
On the way back the rain came in
and we got wet again. Shoes were still soaked from yesterday but
stepping in puddles didn't help... Lucky we had a lot of time to dry
gear.
By midday we saw the first of the
next group arrive and before long it was a full hut again. New 'getting
to know you' conversations taking place in the lead up to dinner and Mt
Oakley put on an amazing show, lit up by the setting sun. Before long
it was time again for bed, rugging up for the cold night ahead.
Day 5 - Pelion Hut to Kia Ora Hut. (+Mt Ossa?¿)
We got away a little earlier today on the
rumours of clearing skies late morning. The track out from Pelion Hut is
through a beautiful forest with a great (and gushing) creek off to the
left for a lot of the climb up to the Pelion Gap Saddle.
We could just catch a glimpse of Mt
Ossa through breaks in the clouds and despite an earlier drizzle it
wasn't raining on us at that moment... a moment short lived. Despite a
stiff wind at the gal we decided to test the waters and hike up the side
track. Hoping for conditions to improve.
They didn't.
We had an ok trek up to Mt Doris,
mostly protected from the high winds but crunching snow under foot. We
broke through some ice that had formed on the puddles... that should
have been enough to make us turn back. However we pressed on. The
'Japanese rock garden' just after you skirt around Doris was amazing.
When we poked out heads outside the
protection of Doris we caught a face full of wind. Rain hoods snapped
back and if you weren't ready for it the gusts knocked you off balance
on the flat! After a very brief deliberation, and just enough time to
snap a picture of Ossa before clouds closed in again, we decided there
was no chance for a safe summit today and turned back. It rained the
whole way back to the saddle. At least the creeks were flowing?
A bit disappointing but soon we were warm in the Kia Ora hut and were met with other hikers that went through the same thought process, so at least we weren't alone. In the afternoon we also got some great views of Cathedral Mountain and saw a Wombat with a baby Woman in tow!
Day 6 - Kia Ora hut to Bert Nichols Hut
Another casual start as it was still drizzling a little bit. We were saddened to learn that one of our fellow hut guests decided they're too weak to pack out their rubbish (seriously, you packed it in full of food... it's LIGHTER NOW!) and dropped it down one of the drop toilets. As most had already set off for the day we could only have our suspicions about who was the absolute bellend that would do something so monumentally rude and selfish. Felt very very sorry for the Ranger that had to now fish it out.
When we got going we started off in a beautiful mossy forest, enchanting to look at. It was also nice to be on some of the older sections of boardwalk. Past the boardwalks you still had to keep an eye on where you were placing your feet as it was quite muddy and an errant foot would find itself in a deep hole...
It wasn't too long before we met the first side track for some falls. After ditching our packs we set off down a fairly steep path, many tree roots to use as steps. Two separate falls D'Alton and Ferguson split off this trail. The former necessitating were shoes as you have to hop across a small cascades to get there. As you would expect after 4 (Four!!) days of rain the falls were pumping and spectacular. So we had that at least I guess... We pressed further on to Harnett falls and actually caught a glimpse of blue sky on the way.
Blue skies and sunshine!! We thought about pushing on but didn't want to push our luck. Rinsed off the socks and set them in the sun, they almost even dried. The helicopter pad made for a good sunbathing platform before clouds eventually closed in again. A very light drizzle but enough to retreat into the hut.
Dinner inside the hut and a group started trying to get the gas heater running with little success. I wasn't too upset as
with our body heat alone it was already 18° inside and I was warm in my layers. They suspected it had ran our of gas... probably from all the other people like them who felt the need to run it when it was already 18°c inside... We were warned that this hut gets cold overnight but I was pretty
toasty in my sleeping bag.
Day 7 - Bert Nichols to Pine Valley (+Labrinth)
We were worried that the long weekend
(Labor day) would bring in a lot of weekend hikers and with Pine Valley
being a popular spot thought it might get busy. So we got up early and
hit the trail at about 745. Along with us this morning was another hiker
we met 2nd night at Pelion. Its good to have some fresh conversation
and interesting tales. I think it also helped motivate us to put a bit
of pep in our step.
A cruisy hike out following a
gradual grade down the valley before a right turn into Pine Valley.
Similar track with a few nice suspension bridges over rivers. It was
also cool to cross some of the old log bridges. Closer to the hut it was
the mossy forest again and you follow along a beautiful creak.
Someone decided to get the emergency fire stove going. Seems to be a theme here. Every hut has huge signs saying emergency use only if less than 10°c but there is always that 'someone' that wants to (attempt too...) dry gear. As such it was a bit hot inside, especially with people drying smelly hiking garments... Though not as bad as other nights. It was a relatively small hut too.
Getting to bed it felt too warm in my sleeping bag but it was too late (and no space...) to retreat to setting up the tent...
Day 8 - Pine Valley to Echo Point Hut
LOUD! Hut this morning. People banging about from 6am (still dark) to get their day hikes in. We slept in a little longer but with the breakfast table no more than 1m from the bunks there wasn't too much sleep to be had, even with ear plugs.
Back down Pine Valley in the wonderful Moss filled forest before getting back to the overland track on the side of the valley and more scrub bush. We made decent time to Narcissus Hut, where some would catch a ferry to finish their hike at the northern end of Lake Saint Clair.
We got to the very rustic Hut and decided to pitch the tent for the first time on the hike. Before long a boat pulled in, apparently its the boat that also picks up hikers, but they were doing a lake tour so about a half dozen people got to watch me put up the tent...
Not long after a pair arrived in a Kayak, having paddled over to climb Mt Ida earlier in the day and to camp here on the way back to Cynthia Bay. Two more hikers rolled in later in the day but we were all pretty spread out. A reported Rat problem here had parks install a storage box which was handy and large enough for all to drop packs in.
The wind was pretty hectic at the Lake edge so we sought shelter in the hut to cook. Gas was getting blown about outside and wasn't doing a great job of heating water. We were mid dinner when another hiker rolled in and set up camp. Just after dinner the wind dropped and it looked like it would be a pleasant night.
Day 9 - Echo Point to Cynthia Bay
After a great sleep in the tent it was time
to pack up and complete the last small section of the Overland Track.
After breakfast we got started and it was much like yesterday afternoon.
An up and down roller coaster with big tree roots as steps. With the
occasional muddy hole.
We were told he last section a
pretty flat along the western edge of Lake St Clair, just with lots of
tree roots. What they don't advertise, and certainly don't emphasise, is
that also on the western side of the lake is Mt Olympus. Standing 1472m
high.
The burgers were held in pretty high regard here (as are most fresh cooked meals after multiple days in the bush) and I must admit I too found it tasty. That said it wasn't more exciting than any other burger, hand cut chips were really nice though!
As we sat down for lunch a few hikers we met along the trail also finished up today so it was good to catch up and say our goodbyes. This trail was a few first timers, who looked keen for more, plus plenty of experienced hikers looking to tick it off the list. It was good to chat over lunch about future plans and potential other hikes.
Another long windy bus ride to get back to Launceston. A few drops before our stop so we got out of the bus around 530pm. We had booked a room at the Grand Hotel. As soon as we walked in the door the lovely receptionist took a look at us weary hikers and said a standard room would not do! After the overland we deserved a soak, so she upgraded us for free to a family room with a Spa they had empty. Champions!
We immediately went for showers first while it was filling with hot water before jumping in for a well deserved relaxing hit tub soak. Soon though it was time for dinner. We went into Du Cane brewery, recommended by the bus driver, for a great pizza and a nice Pilsner. Another great end to a great hike.
Keen to get back in decent weather and bag the Ossa peak!!
