Monday, October 28, 2019
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Tasmanian Trail Hike - Day 010 - Bronte Park to Miena
Day: 10
Date: Sunday, 27 October 2019
Start: Bronte Park
Finish: Miena
Daily Kilometres: 31.4 (35.0 TT, less 3.6 because of bushfire detour)
Total TT Kilometres: 272.3
Weather: Cold all day with a chilly wind and mostly overcast with a few showers of wintry mix in the afternoon.
Accommodation: Lodge
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Apple crumble
Lunch: Trail mix and meat pie
Dinner: Beef rissoles and vegetables
Aches: I swapped to wearing my camp shoes (a very old pair of Nike Pegasus) for today to see if that made any difference to my feet. I think they were marginally better at the end of the day, though I did score a blister on my left heel. I'm thinking now that the Brooks Cascadia I have been wearing are aggravating my feet for some reason. It's hard to say how/why. I generally have a high opinion of Brooks, having been sponsored by them during my marathon career and having worn them for most of my Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 1986.
Highlight: None really
Lowlight: Things got pretty bleak while crossing the vast plain surrounding Little Pine Lagoon, with a cold wind coming off the lake and a wind-driven wintry mix adding to my discomfort.
Journal:
I woke at 6am, ate what was left of last night's apple crumble for breakfast, and after watching the news headlines left my very comfortable cabin for the cold outside (3°C without the windchill) and the 31km to tonight's stop at Miena. After reading about closures on the Tasmanian Trail website, I decided to keep it simple and just follow the road to Miena rather than risking unexpected detours while trying to follow the published route. Even the published route was mostly along the road anyway.
Although cold, the early walking was peaceful and enjoyable through alpine forest on a formed-earth road with almost no traffic. Most of the time, the road seemed to be crossing a forested high plateau and was relatively flat, though there were no views. I just coasted along, listening to some music on the radio and trying to judge whether my feet were better because of the change in shoes (see above).
As the day wore on, there was more traffic, but still long periods of nothing. Several people stopped to ask if I wanted a lift, but I politely declined. Further north, there was clear evidence of a severe and recent fire, with no signs of green shoots, gnarled and blackened trees, and bare red earth and rocks. It had a kind of stark beauty, despite the devastation.
After about 20km, the road reached Little Pine Lagoon and crossed a vast scrubby plain. The weather seemed to worsen (see above), though it may have just been because I was more exposed, and the long straight stretches of road seemed never-ending in the harsh conditions.
Finally, I reached the Miena General Store about 2:45pm and stopped in to warm up with a hot meat pie, as well as buying a few snacks to take with me to the lodge where I will be staying, which was another 3km along the road. Somewhat refreshed, I set out for the walk to the lodge which followed the shore of Swan Bay, part of the Great Lake. There were quite a few weekend shacks and clearly fishing is the big thing around here.
I reached the lodge just before 4pm, and they checked me in for two nights despite there still being some demand for rooms from the bushfire fighters tackling the blaze nearby (see yesterday's blog post). They also handed over my self-mailed food parcel (they are the Post Office as well), so I'm set for the next few days after I leave here. I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Tasmanian Trail Hike - Day 009 - Victoria Valley to Bronte Park
Day: 09
Date: Saturday, 26 October 2019
Start: Victoria Valley
Finish: Bronte Park
Daily Kilometres: 33.3
Total TT Kilometres: 238.3
Weather: Cold and mostly overcast with occasional rain and snow/sleet showers.
Accommodation: Cabin
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Snickers and Mars bars
Lunch: Trail Mix
Dinner: Ravioli and apple pie.
Aches: Feet still sore 🙁
Highlight: Getting to the cabin, escaping the miserable weather, and watching the rain and wind through the window of my heated cabin as I write this blog.
Lowlight: Not long after I decided it had warmed up in the early afternoon, I stopped and removed my thermal top (keeping on my heavy-duty rain jacket) and beanie. Within about 15 minutes, the temperature dropped and it began raining, then hailing, then snowing. Soon I was very cold (just wearing shorts as usual), but with nowhere to shelter, didn't want to stop and get stuff wet as I retrieved warmer gear and rainpants from my pack. I soldiered on as long as I dared, hoping it would blow over, but in the end stopped and put on the thermal top and beanie again. In changeable weather, it's always a challenge working out what to wear and when to change, though I knew that if worst came to worst, I had all the gear I needed in my pack to get warm and safe.
Journal:
Today was always going to be a bit of a grind. The TT was to follow a minor gravel road for about 30km, then a sealed road for another 3km.
I got up at 6am and was walking by 7am on a cold morning. Knowing the route, I decided to try and maintain a good pace, have limited breaks, and get to the cabin I had booked for the night at a reasonable hour.
None of the roads were busy, but there was some traffic and the road easement was wide, meaning there wasn't that sense of closeness to nature that you get from the logging tracks. Mostly, I passed through forest, but there were also some cattle grazing properties, several large reservoirs that were clearly popular for fishing, and some small groups of weekend shacks. I'm now in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, and there was a more alpine feel to the vegetation. There was also lots of smelly roadkill, mostly wallabies and wombats, to hold my breath as I passed.
There wasn't much else to report on for the day, apart from the weather (see above), and it was mostly a case of just getting from A to B as quickly as possible. I reached the cabins at 3pm in light drizzle and was greeted by name by the proprietor (apparently, I'm the only booking for tonight) who also kindly drove me to the local store (barely qualified for the name), 800m away, later on so that I could feed myself tonight and tomorrow.
During the day, I decided that rather than wait until next Friday for my next day off, I would try and stay an extra night at Miena, which I reach tomorrow night. A phone call has tentatively set that up, though it may depend on the nearby bushfire (see yesterday's blog) being extinguished/tempered by the weather, so that the firefighters staying there go home tomorrow.
Friday, October 25, 2019
Tasmanian Trail Hike - Day 008 - Ouse to Victoria Valley
Day: 08
Date: Friday, 25 October 2019
Start: Ouse
Finish: Victoria Valley
Daily Kilometres: 24.2
Total TT Kilometres: 205.0
Weather: A bit of everything with a strong dose of wind
Accommodation: Tent
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Bacon, eggs & tomato, and a milkshake
Lunch: Salad sandwich
Dinner: Soup and rehydrated meal
Aches: All good, apart from tired/sore feet towards the end of the day.
Highlight: The afternoon walk on a forest trail, when the worst of the wind had passed, through the Lanes Tier Conservation Area, with old growth eucalypt forest and a bracken understorey, was very pleasant.
Lowlight: The worst of the windstorm, which hit while I was crossing open grazing land on a gravel backroad, was very unpleasant, with wind-whipped dust making it very hard for a contact lens wearer.
Journal:
I slept in until 7am, then packed up and walked into town at 8am and bought myself a cooked breakfast at the roadhouse. By the time I finished that, and bought some drink and snacks at the store, it was nearly time for the Post Office to open. It duly did and I received my mailed food pack to see me through to my next resupply in a few days. I was on the road out of town by 9:20am in pleasantly warm conditions but with ominous clouds building in the northwest.
The day's hiking was really divided into two parts, the first half was to be through hilly open grazing land as I climbed up to Lanes Tier, and the second half was to be through forest including the Lanes Tier Conservation Area. It also turned out to be a day of two halves weather-wise with the morning quickly deteriorating into gale-force winds, with occasional wind-driven rain and dust, making it quite unpleasant in the open. Despite that, there was virtually no traffic and only one farmhouse in about 10km, so I had the place to myself.
About the same time that I left the farm for the forest, the wind seemed to drop a little, but maybe I was just more protected, and there were periods of sunshine. It warmed up enough to resume hiking in a T-shirt and there was no more rain, though the wind continued to howl in the treetops. Partway through the forest, I came on some signage warning that the road I was on was closed for logging, but I heard no machinery and ultimately saw no-one as I pressed on through.
At a break I checked messages on my phone and found one from a member of the Tasmanian Trail organisation warning me that the trail near Miena, where I will be in a couple of days, has been closed because of a bushfire. I was aware of the fire through radio bulletins and knew that although it was a couple of days old, it had flared up in the strong winds. Given there is rain in the forecast, I suspect the trail will be open by the time I get there, but there is a roadwalk alternative if not.
After the joys of the Lanes Tier CA, the trail rejoined a more major (though still minor) gravel road and I walked through the hamlet of Victoria Valley, which seemed to comprise just one house, and found the TT campsite a little further on, arriving just before 4pm. There's a toilet, water tank and picnic table, but no shelter and it's on the crest of a ridge meaning it is exposed to the strong and cold winds as I write this. I think I will be in the tent early tonight.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Tasmanian Trail Hike - Day 007 - Jones River to Ouse
Day: 07
Date: Thursday, 24 October 2019
Start: Jones River
Finish: Ouse
Daily Kilometres: 26.4
Total TT Kilometres: 180.8
Weather: Mostly sunny and very warm
Accommodation: Tent
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Picnic and Mars bars
Lunch: Trail Mix
Dinner: Hamburger with the lot, chips and a milkshake.
Aches: Feeling good apart from tired/sore feet near the end of the day.
Highlight: The ford of the Broad River, which while quite challenging (flowing strongly and groin deep), came at exactly the right time to wash my shoes and socks which were caked in greasy grey mud after I got caught in a bog while trying to get around a big puddle a couple of kilometres earlier. After ten minutes slowly and carefully negotiating the rocky river, shoes and socks were clean (relatively).
Lowlight: It's a public holiday in southern Tasmania (Royal Hobart Show Day) that I hadn't counted on in my planning. I hoped to pick up a self-mailed food parcel at the Post Office in Ouse, but it was closed, and I'll have to delay leaving Ouse tomorrow until after the PO opens at 9am. I had also hoped to get an evening meal at the town pub (and, forlornly, accommodation) but was told no accommodation and no meals because of the public holiday. Not a big deal, as the camp area in town is fine and I got an early dinner at the town roadhouse.
Journal:
I woke to a beautiful mild morning and took my time packing up to give the tent flysheet some time to (partially) dry. I was hiking on the gravel backroad following the Jones River westwards by 7:45am. I had about 4km to reach a more major road, and for most of that distance, a ewe and two lambs, who must have escaped from a paddock somewhere, trotted fearfully along the road in front of me. They tried a few gates without success, but would not let me sneak past and end their trek. The last I saw of them, they were trotting off into the distance along the sealed road to Hobart.
Apart from feeling some guilt about the plight of the fleeing sheep, I enjoyed a beautiful morning walk with wisps of mist in front of some of the hills with the rest of the peaceful valley bathed in sunshine. It was already T-shirt weather, despite a cool night.
After the short sealed road section, came a long stretch of old logging tracks through mostly regrowth pine forest. It was a bit scrappy and boggy in parts, with the route chosen to avoid a forestry road, perhaps unnecessarily. In one of the bogs, I badly misjudged the depth of the mud and before I knew it was sinking to calf level and in fear of having my shoes sucked off. I finally extracted myself and was lucky that the Broad River crossing came soon after (see above).
From there, the trail returned to civilisation, crossing the Derwent River just below Lake Repulse and the Repulse Power Station. There followed a long hot walk along a baked clay road to Ouse. The scenery was pleasant and the road pretty much deserted, but it was hard work and I was sweating buckets.
Happily, I reached the tiny village of Ouse, my goal for the day, at 3:30pm and quickly bought an ice-cream and cold Diet Coke at the town store, which I consumed in the shaded town bus shelter. Later, I struck out for both accommodation and a meal at the town pub, so had an early dinner at the town roadhouse and then trekked the 0.5km to the former town sports field, now used as a campsite for the TT and for grazing sheep. The camping facilities are good, and I'm happy.
There's a severe weather warning for tomorrow, with gale force winds preceding a cold front bringing rain and snow down to 800m. No doubt I'll soon be dreaming of T-shirt hiking again.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Tasmanian Trail Hike - Day 006 - Bushy Park to Jones River
Day: 06
Date: Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Start: Bushy Patk
Finish: Jones River
Daily Kilometres: 30.1
Total TT Kilometres: 154.4
Weather: Mostly sunny and warm
Accommodation: Tent
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Cereal and toast & jam
Lunch: Chicken salad sandwich
Dinner: Soup and rehydrated meal
Aches: Both feet still sore with plantar fasciitis playing up in the right.
Highlight: Walking along a treeless grassy, sheep-mown ridge in the early morning sunshine which gave helicopter-like views over the valley below.
Lowlight: I could have done without the steep cross-country bush bash up to the Mt Bethune ridge at the end of a long day, but the views were great from the top.
Journal:
I enjoyed a relaxed farmhouse continental breakfast at the B&B before hitting the road, literally, soon after 8am. After 10 minutes walk, I reached the "quaint" Bushy Park Roadhouse/Post Office, and stopped to collect some mailed food to see me through to the next town. While there, I bought a 1.25 litre Coke (for my day's hydration ….. inadequate, as it turned out) as well as a sandwich for lunch and a few chocolate bars. It was 8:30am by the time I got going again, and the day was already warming up.
For today, the official TT crosses through a number of private properties, one of which required prior permission to cross (I called last night and they were happy to have me pass through), whilst the others require you to stick to the marked trails. I was also going to camp for the night at a private family-owned campsite by the Jones River, and had called ahead to confirm that was OK as well. There are alternate road routes for those who do not want to cross the private land, and I'm guessing most mountain-bikers use the roads.
Anyway, not long after leaving the roadhouse, I climbed a gate, the first of many (and getting less agile as I age), and followed the first farm track through private land. After a solid climb, fantastic views were revealed (see above), and it was almost intoxicating to cruise along the broad grassy ridge with the world spread out below and to have it all to myself, apart from a few sheep.
Later there were some more backroads sections, but the highlight of the day was certainly the trail, often not marked, through private farmland and woods, made better by a picture-perfect day with a light cooling breeze. Here and there I saw wallabies and also a couple of echidnas. In parts, particularly where it was rocky and/or cross-country, the going was slow, and there were a couple of solid climbs that had me sweating buckets and wishing I had bought more Coke at the roadhouse.
The last highpoint of the day was the traverse of Mt Bethune around 5pm, with more fantastic views, and then a long descent through farmland to the Jones River. Just before reaching the campsite, I passed a farmhouse with a water tap outside and I filled both 2 litre water bottles, anticipating a thirsty night. The campsite has a shelter, tables and chairs, a water tank and a long-drop toilet, so everything I need. Tables and chairs are always particularly welcome.
It is supposed to be hot tomorrow, so I will carry extra water, and there is a river to ford, that is sometimes impassable, so maybe some excitement ahead.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Tasmanian Trail Hike - Day 005 - New Norfolk to Bushy Park
Day: 05
Date: Tuesday, 22 October 2019
Start: New Norfolk
Finish: Bushy Park
Daily Kilometres: 23.1 TT (+1.2 other)
Total TT Kilometres: 124.3
Weather: Mostly sunny and mild to warm
Accommodation: B&B
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Egg & bacon croissant
Lunch: Ham salad roll
Dinner: Tomato soup and rye bread, bangers and mash
Aches: Feet still very tired/sore
Highlight: I really enjoyed the bucolic scenery as I traversed the Black Hills on a very quiet back road under a warm sun, with some snow-capped mountains in the far distance.
Lowlight: None really.
Journal:
Knowing that I only had about 24km to walk in total, and wouldn't be able to check into my B&B until after 3pm, I slept in, and took my time to pack before leaving the motel and walking into New Norfolk to have breakfast at the nice bakery I found yesterday. While there, I also bought a salad roll to take with me for lunch on the trail (road),
I left the bakery around 9:30 and spent the first few kilometres on suburban footpaths (sidewalks) including crossing the Derwent River (which I was to cross again at the end of my day's hike). Although suburban walking is not a highlight, I enjoy watching everybody going about their usual daily activities, feeling somewhat like an observer from another planet. People exercising, shopping, mowing lawns, watering gardens, primary school kids playing cricket in a Phys Ed class, and so on.
The day was warming up, and I soon stripped down to my T-shirt for the first time on thi trip.
Originally, without checking the map, I assumed I would be following the Derwent River upstream for the day, but in fact, the TT took backroads over the Black Hills before dropping back down to the river late in the day. The climb was long, though not particularly steep, and overlooked a rural valley where I could see small holdings and observe farmers going about their various activities. There were some small forested sections and then a sort of plateau before the road, which was very quiet, turned to gravel and began an equally long descent providing good views to the north and west. The farms were larger on this side, with few trees and vast grassy fields sweeping up the side of the mountain.
I leaned against a farm gate to eat a late lunch in the sun and watched with interest a flock of white cockatoos in the distance, trying to work out which bird was making the decisions for the group as to which tree to perch in, and when to fly. It seemed a bit random, but I'm sure PhD's have been written on the subject.
After lunch, I had another 10km to the B&B, half of it along a busier road that followed a gorge created by the Derwent, before I descended to cross the river, pass through some hop fields and reach my quaint B&B set in a large garden around 4pm. They provide a limited dinner menu, which I signed up for, there being no other nearby dinner options. It turned out to be delicious, homemade from local produce, and I ate it on their front verandah on a beautiful mild evening.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)