Congratulations and many thanks to the Bureau of Meteorology!

Drum roll…… the Overland Track now has its very own weather forecast.

Yep, a specific seven day forecast for the Cradle Valley.  It includes forecasts for “the Overland Track area”, New Pelion Hut and Lake St Clair. Up until now we have always relied on the Mt Reid and Lake St Clair forecasts. That left about 80km in the middle!

Head off to the B.O.M. site to check it out – Cradle Valley forecast.

Because this is a very short note, we thought some indulgence with a series of “weather” photos taken along the Overland Track might be fun.

Barn Bluff topped lightly in snow. This trip was in winter heading back to Cradle Mountain from the Walls of Jerusalum.

A wet day on the track as a walker tries to use a plastic poncho to protect his camera gear….

This was a trip in July, lots of the track was like this. Snow shoes weren’t necessary but the snow and ice was very slippery.

Speaking of ice, we loved these patterns.

This shot was on day five of a quick trip through from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair. We had not seen the top of ONE range in four days because of low cloud, rain and fog.  As we headed out on the boat, out came the sun!

Echo Point, a top spot to camp when the lake is low.

Ah, the last day on the track on a February trip. A few of us rinsed out some clothes or swam in them to freshen up. It was a beautiful day as we camped at Echo Point.

What sort of weather have you experienced on the Overland Track?

Have you had all days of sunshine, a mix of sun and snow or just terrible weather?

Shoot us a comment below or post your Overland Track weather images on our Facebook page. We would love to see them!

Every now and then we come across a jewel of information about the Overland Track in Tasmania. In the following video, shared on our Facebook page by Mark Finlay. you get a real feel for the track conditions, scenery and huts.  It is a delightful production and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Overland Track from rfphotographics on Vimeo.

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If you have done the Overland Track and want some great memories, check out this video. Alternatively, if you are planning the trip from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair, study this video closely. You will learn a lot and see why you need to be prepared for all types of conditions.

Thanks Mark for giving us the heads up on the video and letting us know our How to Hike the Overland Track ebook was very helpful.

What do you think?

How was the video?

It is pouring down rain in Victoria this morning and very wet across southern Australia.  One person who has been watching the weather closely in Tasmania for the last week is fellow Our Hiking Blogger, Sue.

On Thursday,  Sue and three friends head off to Tasmania to hike the Overland Track.   This will be her 8th time  walking from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair.

They are well prepared for this trip, no matter what the weather or conditions. By drawing on her experience and using the information in our How to hike the Overland Track guidebook she has the right gear for the Overland Track and Tasmanian walking conditions.

Sue wandering on the Overland Track on a cold crisp day

With  excellent gear, great lightweight  food, appropriate clothing and a great attitude to the walk,  wet or cold weather will not ruin the trip, rather make it uncomfortable at worst.   In addition, they are psychologically strong, ready for the demands this walk can produce.  For example, even though it is early Autumn,  there has been a bit of snow around……

This article is not an advertisement for the Overland Track Guide, rather a few points outlining why it is useful for first time walkers on the Track.

Recently on Trip Advisor, McGalio write up his Overland Track experience.  It made interesting reading and reinforced our initial reasons for writing the guide.

Over to McGalio:

We had a pretty good time, but we were unprepared. Physically we were ready to go, but our equipment (especially shoes) were not up to the task.

So, there were some hard times. We were naive, but the official website is misleading. This is a hard hike. You need to be able to tromp through long stretched of mud. The website would lead you to believe that there is a lot of boardwalk. This isn’t the case. Even when there is boardwalk, it’s in disrepair to the point that you’d rather it wasn’t there.

The huts/camp sites were very nice though. The surroundings are breathtaking.

Just make sure you’re prepared before you go, or it may be lost on you. Also, take your time. We did it in 3 1/2 days. I wish we took 5 or 6. 12 hour hiking days can be hard to enjoy. Also, some sites say its a 65 km track. This is “how the crow flies.” It’s actually around 85 km.

Failed boots on the Overland Track - they were ok 10 years ago....

McGalio adds a few tips and words of advice:

• Make sure your shoes are waterproof and bring gaiters!!!
• Take your time. The best times you’ll have will be in camp making new friends. Don’t limit camp to being “just the place you sleep.”
• Don’t cheap out on equipment. It will make it a completely miserable experience if you’re unprepared. I feel lucky that it was just our shoes that weren’t up to the task. I can’t imagine having a wet sleeping bag or an uncomfortable pack.
• Have fun. It can be great. But you have to make it that way. It can also be terrible if you don’t respect it.

Great advice from this young fella!

So what is Sue’s plan with her three friends later in the week?

They are just taking their time, wandering from hut to hut, stopping and enjoying the scenery and native animals, eating well, keeping dry using good gear and allowing six nights for the trip.

A nice way to enjoy yourself and have a very relaxing journey.

If you are planning the Overland Track and want more information about our ebook, How to hike the Overland Track click on the link. There are also a lot of testimonials from people who bought and used the guide that may reassure you.

For those of you who already own the book, expect an email early next week with your free copy of the new, updated edition.

Editing is almost complete and the book ready to release. It has had a major design overhaul, lots of editing and tidying up with a few additional sections. Many thanks in advance to Georgie Bull for all her hard yakka trying to make it more like the “Queen’s English” and getting rid of a lot of brackets etc….

Have you hiked the Overland Track?
Looking back, what would you have done differently?
Shoot us a comment below, you know we love to share your thoughts!

Frank is back from a great trip across the Overland Track from Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair in one of Tasmania’s World Heritage National Parks.

On this trip he walked with a small group from north of Sydney in Australia.  We met via Our Hiking Blog and because Frank had some spare time and needed to do the trip before we release an updated version of our eBook, How to Hike the Overland Track.

As an aside, we try and walk the track each year to keep the book as up to date as possible. (plus it is was a great excuse to bushwalk this beautiful part of the world again)

Rather than do a detailed trip report, in this article we will share the many reasons he rediscovered why you should take the time (and effort) to visit this spectacular area.

It is a great “beginner’ bushwalking trip
If you have some hiking or bushwalking experience and are looking to hike in Tasmania then this journey is a great one.

• There are regularly spaced huts providing shelter and very basic facilities if the weather is poor
• The track is well marked and in good condition compared with others (that are more muddy and wet) in Tasmania.
• In season there are rangers along the track that can offer advice and assistance if required.

Narcissus Hut after a great cleanup!

The scenery is spectacular and varied

Two of our party had previously hiked in New Zealand and this trip was their first on the Overland Track.  They were surprised and really happy that on each day there was a huge variety of walking conditions and “environments”.

There are beautiful ancient forests, wide open spaces with button grass plains, wild and craggy outcrops and magic streams and rivers.  You sometimes walk through all of them in one day!

The people you meet
We generally shared the huts each night with the same people who had started the Overland Track on the same day as us. There were two German couples and two fit young guys from the USA. On other nights we met a guy from the UK, a group of six Spanish people, two girls from Sydney and a small crew from Cradle Huts.

This is one of the great parts of walking the Overland Track. You meet fascinating people from across the world, get to chat about each others countries, check out their gear and exchange tips about different places to visit in each country. It is a lot of fun and lifelong friendships can be made.

The side trips are great
Some sections of the Overland Track are quite short for example from Waterfall Velley to Windemere Hut is about three hours walking.

We had a lazy start to the day, starting to walk around 9 am. After a quick break along the way we went into Lake Will and explored the area. Barn Bluff dominates the vista and on a hot day the lake is fantastic for a swim off the sandy beaches.

At this point we had some rain and decided to walk straight through to Windemere Hut and take a late lunch. The original plan was to have an extended break on a rocky outcrop that overlooks a beautifiul area of tarns. Lunch was eaten around 2 and the rest of the day was spend snoozing and exploring the area (without packs!) Three of our party “swam” in Lake Windemere……

Another day we went into D’Alton and Ferguson Falls. There was a HUGE volume of water roaring over them! A terrific day and enjoyed at a leisurly pace with plenty of breaks and a nice easy pace.

Part of the Ferguson Falls - Overland Track Tasmania

The Food!
Frank was responsible for the food on this trip, it was just easier and gave him a chance to share a few recipes from our hiking recipe book, Food to Go.  It worked out very well and the group seemed to enjoy each meal.

Rehydrating and heating dehydrated spahetti bolognaise

We will do another article of the type of food we took in the near future.

The Weather

The forecast was for showers, rain, rain, rain, HEAVY rain and rain.  A couple of years ago Frank walked with Leon and Alan and it was shocking weather. This was a worry before we left. In fact we got minimal rain other than some drizzle patches and on the Pelion to Kia Ora day light rain that stopped us from climbing Mt Ossa.

Mt Ossa platform - Overland Track Tasmania - our only wet day

Many thanks to Leigh, Tracey and James for being such great walking companions.  It was terrific to walk with a well prepared and fit group of people.  It was also wonderful to share that beautiful part of the world with people who appreciated the wild and wonderful Cradle Mountain National Park!

Over to you!

Have you hiked the Overland Track?

What was your favourite part of the trip? Leave a reply below, we would love to hear about your “best bit”!

In this article Frank shares most of an email he sent to a small group of friends he is walking the Overland Track with this week.   It has been long distance planning as we live around Australia. We are meeting in Launceston so have had to communicate by email and Google Docs online.

It is their first time in that part of the world and Frank is “leading” the group (more like taking responsibility that stuff does not get forgotten)

They had all read our guide to planning the Overland Track in Tasmania , read more about it by clicking here.

We thought it was worth sharing the information here to emphasize some important points about planning the trip but also the process we are going through to make sure everything works out well.

Over to the email:

The weather has been quite “changable” in Tasmania so please stick to the clothing plan in our Overland Track book. I am not being a prophet of doom but always expect the worse as regards weather, especially rain, cold and snow. Your “outer shell” or raincoat will be the most important piece of gear you carry / wear. Please make sure it works well and treat it with water repellent stuff if you have any concerns (I will be!) That being said, we will be fine!

Also expect to get wet feet, even with “water proof” boots. I expect the track to be wet and muddy this time of the year. Getting boots dry at night can be a challenge, even with the heaters in the huts.

Looking at the bookings, there are a lot of gaps on the days before and after we leave, with 17 spots still available on the day we go. This is great as “pressure” on the huts won’t be too strong and we should have a bit of space. We all have tents anyway, so no stress if they are busy or you want a bit of space.

Food
Just a reminder: You need to take your own breakfast and snacks for throughout the day. I find this much easier to prepare and package from home in a ‘controlled” environment. Make sure you reduce any unnecessary packaging and don’t forget powdered milk if you like cereal.

Snacks:
Put simply, I take some scroggin to nibble as I walk along or when we have a break. In addition I’ll  take one bar (like a Mars bar ) for during the day or when we reach camp. I’ll also take one other snack thing per day such as fruit cake or another bar. I used to take heaps more but find I don’t need to eat as much, AND it weighs heaps!

There are heaps of ideas and a good plan in the Overland Track guide.

Lunch:

I suggest we buy ALL our lunch stuff in Launceston together (if everyone is happy) Suggest a combination of:

• Dry biscuits
• Flat breads
• Cheese
• Cold meats
• Tomato
• Spreads
• Sprouts

(you get the idea)

If you like a hot soup at lunch time, bring them from home – I will be taking five, one for each day.

I know that supermarket pretty well so it won’t take too long and is quite simple to work out.

I will start dehydrating the meals tonight, still finalising the menu but it will all be fine in the day(s)!  I plan to use recipes out of our book, Food to Go

Blisters:

There is every chance one or all of us will get blisters. The best method of attack is protection before you walk each day. If you know you are particularly susceptible then please make sure you bring your usual treatment / tape.   I will have a small first aid kit for “emergencies” but not enough tape for 4 people each day if we all get blisters!

I use stuff called SLEEK or LEUCOPLAST which looks a bit like medical duct tape. It sticks really well and is great for prevention i.e. if you get a hot spot you tape it up THEN. I will have some antiseptic and padding stuff if anyone gets a real blister, rather than a “hot spot” but you need to carry your own daily requirement.

Gear Check

I think it might be a good idea on Wednesday, once we get to Cradle Mountain Lodge to double check all our gear and get rid of anything we don’t need (or is doubled up) This can go with our bags to Hobart.  My (boring) old saying is that, unless you eat it, you will still be carrying it at the end, your base weight will not get lighter!

We hope this has been interesting for anyone planning a trip with a group that is spread out across your country or State.

Key Points:

• Agree on a “leader” or someone to coordinate all the preparation. This may not be the most experienced person, just the person who loves “lists”
• Give everyone a job such as the First Aid Kit or cooking gear.  Make sure they feedback to the group they have it or any problems they are having.
• Check and double check people have taken what they have been allocated.
• Trust no-one, imagine the first night, ready to cook dinner and the pots are no where to be found….

Have you ever been on a trip with a group and someone forgot a vital piece of gear?

Shoot us a comment below, we would love to read about it!

Many thanks to Dennis Harding – Tasmanian Wilderness Photographer for his terrific image of Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain

In this final article, Nik Sands from Bushwalk Australia shares the story of the last day of  his trip from Lake St Clair to Cradle Mountain with his wife Heidi.  They completed the Overland Track, walking south to north, in August 2010.  It was a fantastic trip with lots of snow and beautiful scenery!

Over to Nik

We had arranged for a 2:00pm pick up at Ronnie Creek with the ‘Whiskeylovers’ but we knew that the deepest snow was yet to come, and the German bloke at Windermere said he’d taken 9 hours to do this section of the walk 2 days earlier. So we set an alarm for 5:00am to give us time to cook our pancakes and get going as soon as possible after it was light.

Well the pancakes were a complete flop due to the new thin-metal titanium pan I was using. They burnt in the middle before cooking around the edges, as I’d been warned by other bushwalkers would happen with such a pan (unlike my good solid Trangia fry pan). So I ended up having two scrambled pancakes before giving up and filling up on dry ryvita biscuits and other odd bits and pieces of food. We ended up leaving Waterfall Valley at 7:10am, hoping we’d get to Ronnie Creek before 3:00pm.

Sure enough, the snow on the first few hours walking was deeper and slushier even than before. There had been 45 millimetres of rain overnight at Cradle Mountain and it had blown a gale all night, but had settled down somewhat by the time we left. Kim said that the rain had washed out about 2 feet of the depth of the snow from the day before.

Snow drift dropping off the edge of Cradle Cirque - Tasmania

With our snow shoes on, we nearly kept up with Kim’s quick walking pace, even though she had no snow shoes. Although walking is hardly the word. Nearly every step was between knee and waist deep in snow for Kim, and for us snow-shoers it was about 1 in 10 or 20 steps went down deep.

Kim and Heidi taking a break while walking around Cradle Mtn with Barn Bluff in the background

However, after rounding the corner at the north west of Cradle Mountain, the snow became more solid and better for the snow shoes at which point we were able to finally walk with confidence with the snow shoes, which was to last well all the way to Marions Lookout.

Walking past a nearly covered track marker

Kitchen Hut’s lower level was almost completely under snow, with a small snow ramp having been built up to the reach to top level door. I was like a little kid being very excited to be able to actually use the top door at Kitchen Hut for my first time ever. We enjoyed a relaxed lunch there before continuing on across the plateau.

Kitchen Hut - Overland Track - Tasmania

The snow ended abruptly just before Marions Lookout. It was moderately deep on one side of a clear line, and none at all on the other side of the line. Below Marions Lookout we still had the occasional drift of snow all the way to Ronnie Creek, but not terribly deep, and it became more and more patchy the lower the altitude. On the way down from Marions Lookout to Crater Lake, Mrs Beach enjoyed bum-sliding through any remaining snow drifts on this steep section of track, considering this easier and quicker than battling through these snow drifts on foot.

We parted ways with Kim at the Dove Lake turn off as she’d left her car there, and we met up with the Whiskey Lovers at Ronnie Creek at 2:15pm just after they’d returned from Crater Peak – only 15 minutes late, and 2 hours better than what we’d anticipated might be the case. 7 hours for the day from Waterfall Valley.

So here we end this epic trip report.  Many thanks to Nik for sharing this terrific information. Remember, Bushwalk Tasmania is a fantastic resource for all things bushwalking,  in not only Tasmania, but across Australia.  Drop by and check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Welcome to Part Five of a trip report courtesy of Nik Sands from Bushwalk Australia. Nik and his wife Heidi completed the Overland Track, walking south to north, in August 2010.

In this article we combine two days, from Frog Flats to Waterfall Valley Hut!

Nik did not have any images for this section but he mentions wombats in a section below. We found a movie on Flickr that may please!

Over to Nik:

Well this was the day that had been forecast for heavy rain, but we managed to get the tent packed away before any rain came. In fact the heavy rain did not come all day, and there was just some light drizzle occasionally, but nothing of any significance.

I had always swore I would never camp at Frog Flats due to the abundance of both leeches and mosquitos for which it is renowned. A great place to stop for a break or even for lunch, but never camp there. However, we figured there’d be no mozzies in the winter cold, and the leech activity would be much reduced under the weight of snow. And we were right, we saw no mozzies at all, and only one leech on the outside of a shoe the entire time we were there. It was a great camp site and we really enjoyed our stay there. Great views of the mountains around us above the tree tops again.

This was expected to be a long tiring day to Windermere and we were not disappointed. The snow was again quite deep after we’d gained some altitude ascending out of Frog Flats. However the snow as getting quite slushy and again we were frustrated by the snow shoes over Pine Forest Moor and the other snow-laden areas. They were definitely better than boots alone, but were still sinking deep sometimes.

The clouds were getting darker, and there was a gentle but freezing cold breeze from the west, but the rain was only minimal. The Fourth Valley Lookout was completely sheltered from the wind and we enjoyed a relaxed lunch taking in the views from there.

Late in the afternoon, the highlight of the day was when I spotted a nice looking snow drift in the distance, and then realised that the track passed close by both the bottom and the top of the snow drift. Unable to let such an opportunity pass us by, I insisted on doing a few goretex toboggan runs down the snow drift, some of which we captured on video. Great fun for those of us who are still little kids at heart.

It took us 7.5 hours to reach Windermere where a young German bloke already had the heater going and the hut was pleasantly warm, but smelling somewhat of shellite or petrol from his chooffer. He was not terribly well equipped (jeans!) and carrying a months worth of food and was somewhat discouraged by the very difficult snow walking he’d had over the last two days. He warned us that it took him 9 hours to get from Ronnie Creek to Waterfall Valley and 5 hours from Waterfall Valley to Windermere.

Dinner was home made from scratch chicken curry, home dehydrated with rice – this was absolutely brilliant and completely restored my faith in my abilities to dehydrate top quality meals for bushwalking. Thanks to Frank and “Food to Go” for the tips and confidence building.

Supper was Port, turkish delight and cherry ripe chocolate.

Windemere to Waterfall Valley

The next morning the weather had finally started to close in properly with some significant wind, and rain starting to get a little heavier. The German chap had decided to stay at Windermere for another night and have a rest day. He had a month’s worth of food, so why not?

We headed out into the deteriorating weather for another slushy snow slog to Waterfall Valley. This is usually a 1.5 to 3 hour leg of the trip, but the German bloke was right – in the current snow conditions, even with snow shoes, it took us a full 5 hours. This leg of the walk was not terribly memorable except for the sleet stinging into our faces as it was blown by increasingly strong wind, by my reliably bad memory of “just over that spur of Barn Bluff, then across the flat” (when it was actually over the next spur).

Part way across the last flat section leading to Waterfall Valley hut, we disturbed a wombat on the track which then headed off along the track in front of us. After following it along for about a hundred metres or so, we eventually realised we were no longer on the track at all. So we then corrected our position and followed the actual track to the last small ascent of to the hut turn off.

These last few metres were the most frustrating of the day. After picking up a pair of home made dodgy-looking snow shoes I’d found discarded by the side of the track, I sunk deeper and deeper into the snow as we came across the most difficult section so far where it is normally very simple walking. I finally caught up to my wife in my number of dummy-spits and hissy-fits for the day, as I sunk in deeper with every step and then resorted to crawling to the turn off, only to find that then my arms also sank in as far as my shoulders. With both legs and both arms in the snow as deep as they could go and having face planted the snow in that position, and trying to carry somebody else’s discarded snow shoe rubbish, I spat it and cursed and winged like 3 year old tantrum (and I know about 3 year old tantrums this year).

After recovering my composure, we waded, slipped and skidded the last few metres to the hut and settled in for a late lunch and to await the arrival of our friend Kim who’d promised to meet us there later that day after walking in from Dove Lake, and who’d promised to bring us some fresh steak for dinner.

Kim is a very fit and very fast walker, however, she’s only just started bushwalking this year, and was very inexperienced, particularly when it comes to snow and bad weather. I had warned her of the possibility of deep snow and bad weather and that people died up there in bad conditions and therefore she should not attempt the walk if the weather was bad, but she was determined to come no matter what. So with the weather now being near blizzard conditions, it was a bit of an anxious wait for us, not knowing for sure if she would turn up or not, and if she didn’t turn up would it be because she cancelled, or because she was stuck out in the bad weather or lost in the snow?

The weather had been getting worse all day, and the rain was getting progressively heavier still as the afternoon wore on, but Kim did arrive late in the afternoon very wet and very tired after a solo deep-snow slog with no snow shoes. A very valiant effort, if not entirely a good idea.

And she had brought not only the promised fresh steak for our dinner (meaning we didn’t have to eat home dried dahl), but she’d also brought fresh lettuce, bread rolls and a variety of other ingredients to make comprehensive steak burgers which were delicious.

But it got even better still – she’d also brought large pieces of freshly made berry brownies and a large portion of double cream.

What a luxuriously extravagant meal and dessert for the sixth night of a hard snow-wading bushwalk!

Wow, FUN Nik?

Welcome to Part Four of a trip report courtesy of Nik Sands from Bushwalk Australia. Nik and his wife Heidi completed the Overland Track, walking south to north, in August 2010.

In this section they encountered a lot of snow and skipped Pelion Hut, camping at Frog Flats instead. It looks much nicer there than in summer where the leech population increases!

Over to Nik:

Before leaving home, the weather forecast for day 4 was for fine sunny weather, and for day 5, it was “heavy rain”. Not wanting to do the longest day of the walk in heavy rain, and getting some idea of how much longer it might be while wading through deep snow in heavy rain, we made the decision to make our fine weather fourth day longer than originally planned in order to make the next day of expected bad weather shorter. Even if it meant pitching and packing a tent in the rain.

So we set off somewhat earlier than on the preceding days, aiming to have Lunch at Pelion Hut instead of staying there overnight as originally planned.

Mt Pelion East from Kiaora

It was a beautiful day, with hardly a cloud in the sky as we left Kiaora, and only patchy cloud for most of the day. And what brilliant views we had all day. Snow covered ground and snow covered mountains everywhere we looked.

We used the snow shoes for a few hours up and over Pelion Gap, but it was still exceptionally slow going with the snow being very deep in places, and the snow shoes still sinking in up to waist deep frustratingly often (but still a LOT better than it had been before we put them on). The snow shoes also gave us the freedom to walk side by side for a while, and not worry too much about sticking to the track, and just making our own way to ‘the gap’.

Early in the day we could hear the helicopters doing their run between the Arm River road and the next of the private huts at Windy Ridge, as the pilot had yesterday told us he would be doing. About three quarters of the way up to Pelion Gap, we could hear a helicopter coming up behind us and turning around we watched our mate from yesterday flying low up the track behind us a little off to the side, and then nearly right over us with a wave.

Mrs Beach, falling waist deep in snow again, suggested that we should have asked him to drop us off at Pelion Hut the day before.

Approaching Pelion Gap

We had our morning tea at Pelion Gap while taking in the astounding views of Pelion East, Ossa, Cradle, Barn, and various other mountains near and far in all directions. It was a beautiful sunny day, with everything covered in snow, and not a breath of wind it was just magic!

Taking a Break at Pelion Gap

But we had to press on, and eventually got to Pelion Hut where we had a relaxed lunch of hot noodles on the verandah. We then continued on for another two hours to Frog Flats, with much less snow on that part of the track, but still patches here and there.

Mt Oakleigh from Pelion Hut

We pitched our tent on a thin cover of snow at Frog Flats after a 7.5 hour walk from Kiaora, with the weather still holding out.

Frog Flats Camp Site

Dinner was absolutely delicious – Pasta, with pesto, home dried veges, pine nuts and chopped salami. I’m definitely doing this one again!

Supper was port and home made choc-chip biscuits.

A lone walker passed by while we were having dinner, and it was just starting to get dark. He was aiming for Pelion Hut that night. It was going to be dark in about 30 minutes, and he had about a 2 hour walk to get there. I hope he made it OK.

Thinking of hiking the Overland Track in winter from south to north?

What are conditions like on the Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair hike when there has been a lot of snow?

Welcome to Part Three of a trip report courtesy of Nik Sands from Bushwalk Australia. Nik and his wife Heidi completed the Overland Track, walking south to north, in August 2010. It was to be one of the “snowiest” Overland trips for several years.

Over to Nik:
Home dried bircher muesli for breakfast (thanks for this idea Frank!)… mmm… good… but don’t overdo the water next time, and don’t forget to add the home dried strawberries carried all this way!

It had snowed heavily again all night and there was now an even deeper layer of fresh snow on everything. But the cloud appeared to be thinning out and it looked like it was going to be a nice day with some indistinct glimpses of the DuCane Range through the cloud to the west. Before leaving the architectural marvel that is Bert Nichols Hut, Heidi decided that she’d better try out the snow shoes in a controlled environment rather than trying to figure it out with cold fingers on rough terrain. So she spent a few minutes parading around the square flat patch of snow in the plain behind the hut which covered the helicopter pad. Satisfied with how to attach, remove and use the snow shoes, we strapped them back onto the pack and set out.

Testing the Snow Shoes on the Windy Ridge Helipad

As we gained altitude through the rain forest up Windy Ridge towards DuCane Gap, the snow got deeper, and the forest was breathtakingly beautiful, as were the glimpses of the DuCane Range through the trees. Eventually the snow became deep enough that we thought we’d better try the snow shoes out for real, and we found the going a little easier for a while. It was touch and go though, with the shoes often getting tangled in vegetation or duck board, or simply sinking too deep into the soft snow.

Snow Covered Pandanii

Walking Through the Rainforest on the Way Up Windy Ridge

First Real Use of the Snow Shoes for the Trip Approaching DuCane Gap

We had lunch at DuCane hut (Paddy Hartnett’s Hut), and again got ridiculously cold while doing so (the sun had been out for a while, but disappeared at lunch time, so we opted for inside). We pushed on as soon as we could after lunch, arriving at Kiaora Hut mid afternoon.

DuCane Hut (Paddy Harnett's Hut)

For much of the day, we’d been hearing the distant buzz of helicopters coming and going, and were wondering if they were searching for a lost bushwalker. The closer to Kiaora we got, the louder they became, until we saw one descend into the forest just ahead of us, a few minutes before we got to Kiaora. After removing our packs, the chopper took off again, then lowered into the forest a little further on, and then rose up again, circled around towards us and then landed on the snow-covered helipad right behind Kiaora Hut. After waiting for the rotors to stop, and for the pilot to disembark, I asked him if he was looking for anyone, but he said that he and a second helicopter were just re-supplying the private hut nearby. The other chopper was on the helipad there, so he was just going to wait here until the other chopper left and he could get on with the job at the private hut. So we had a good chat with him until he had to move on, and waved him off as he set off for the short trip of a couple of hundred metres to the private hut nearby.

I then fired up the coal heater using what remained of my firelighters, and got the hut reasonably warm for the evening. In fact it eventually got so warm that I had to strip down to just my thermals, and then down to just undies for a while. The thermometer on the wall (quite close to the heater) said 20°C. I hope I didn’t waste too much coal.

Dinner was cous-cous with home dried veges, stock and tuna. Delicous.

Supper was a port night cap.

Ed: Wow, what a great trip, soooo much snow. Thank Nik, really enjoying this trip report.

Have you ever hiked in this much snow?
How was it? Fun? Hard? A battle?
Shoot us a comment below and share your adventures!

This is the second part of a trip report courtesy of Nik Sands from Bushwalk Australia Nik and his wife Heidi completed the Overland Track, walking south to north, in August 2010. It was to be one of the “snowiest” Overland trips for several years.

Over to Nik:

During the night a good 5 or 10 cm of fresh snow had fallen, and during the morning it continued to snow quite heavily at times. This was truly beautiful, and for Heidi, it was both exciting and intimidating, being the first time she had done any walking in heavy snow, either in the air or on the ground.

Snow Echo Point

Snow Echo Point Jetty

We started the cold morning with some hot porridge cooked properly with real rolled oats, salt & butter. We then set out on the track for our first full day of walking after saying our farewells to the Whiskeylovers (friends who had taken us to Lake St Clair) and confirming arrangements for pick up – 2pm on Wednesday at Ronnie Creek, which should give us plenty of time to do the 4 hour walk from Waterfall Valley that day.

There was quite a lot of fresh snow on the track and in the trees which was very pretty, and snow continued to fall occasionally. On the approach to Narcissus where the track skirts around the swampy flood plain there was a slight breeze which chilled us to the bone so that by the time we got into Narcissus hut for lunch were were very cold indeed. So we rugged up as much as we could and got stuck into our Banjo’s Bakery pide lunches – chicken, mustard and salad for me, and chicken avocado for the missus.

Crossing the Narcissus River - Overland Track Tasmania

By the time we’d finished lunch we were bitterly cold despite wearing nearly everything we’d carried and being inside a hut. We had a brief but serious discussion about whether we should continue on or not, knowing that we’d just walked merely the easiest part of the entire track and were already feeling rather tired and very cold. Neither of us was willing to be the one to call off the trip at this point, so we donned the packs and headed out into the winter again.

Heidi having a "well earn't break"

For the rest of the afternoon and most of the next day, we battled with fresh snow on the track and small trees bent over criss-crossing each other across the track as they were weighed down by the fresh snowfall. In some cases, a karate-chop would dislodge enough snow for the trees to spring upright again out of our way, rather like a gate opening, but in most cases we had to scrape, push and battle our way through this tangle of snow-laden vegetation. The snow was getting a little deeper in places but was quite soft and not quite deep or hard enough to use the snow shoes yet.

The Bowling Green

We eventually arrived at the newish monstrosity of a ‘hut’ at Windy Ridge, called Bert Nichols Hut. We were rather wet at this point, and got cold again rather quickly after stopping. Our wet weather gear was good, but the snow that gets caught up in the bottom of the trousers, and in the cuffs of the sleeves melts onto the wrists and ankles, and then wicks up the inside of whatever we were wearing. So we were wet up to the knees and elbows at least, and then damp from sweat all over.

It was a relief earlier in the day when we met a group of 10 walkers who’s assured us that there was still plenty of firewood for the wood heater in the hut. I had carried in a small supply of fire lighters for this hut and the next one just to make sure I could get the heaters going quickly even without having a good supply of kindling. So soon after bringing up a few armfuls of logs from under the hut, we had a roaring log fire going. There’s no way that fire is capable of heating that enormous room in such a poorly designed bushwalkers hut, but it sure was nice having it to ourselves as we sat right in front of it all evening.

We set up our beds in front of the log fire to sleep for the night.

Dinner was home dried pasta with a home made pasta sauce. It wasn’t quite right, but I know what I did wrong and I think it will be a great meal next time I do it.

Supper was port and Lindt chocolate.

Ok,
Back to reality, let’s get some hiking stories happening here!

Nik Sands from Bushwalk Australia has kindly offered to share the story of his adventures on the Overland Track in August. Nik and his wife Heidi “escaped” from the children and headed off together on what turned out to be a pretty tough and challenging Overland Track trip.

This trip report was originally published at Bushwalk Australia in several sections. Nik suggested that readers of Our Hiking Blog may find it interesting reading.  In massive agreement with that sentiment, we present the first part of their story on hiking the Overland Track from south to north, in winter.

It is quite an adventure….. over to Nik.

Earlier this year when my not-really-a-bushwalker wife Heidi suggested walking the Overland Track in winter as part of her training for the “Burnie 10″ (10km road run), I jumped on the opportunity and immediately compared diaries, and booked it into the only available winter week in our combined calendars to make sure she couldn’t change her mind and that it would go ahead. We decided to include the lakeside walk rather than catch the ferry, and being a slow walking team, and unused to deep snow, allowed 7 days.

The trip finally happened last week from the 26th of August to the 1st of September, 2010, and turned out to coincide with Tasmania’s best snowfalls for about 6 years (according to the Ben Lomond ski reports). We carried snow shoes and used them on 5 of the 7 days.

Our itinerary in brief was as follows:

Day 1 – Cynthia Bay to Echo Point Hut (after morning meetings and a 3pm start).

Day 2 – Echo Point to Windy Ridge Hut (Bert Nichols Hut).

Day 3 – Windy Ridge to Kiaora Hut.

Day 4 – Kiaora to Frog Flats (in tent).

Day 5 – Frog Flats to Windermere Hut.

Day 6 – Windermere to Waterfall Valley Hut.

Day 7 – Waterfall Valley to Ronnie Creek.

We met people on the track on every day except for day 1 and day 6, but we only shared a hut or campsite once, at Windermere on night 5.

This walk ended up being much more difficult than usual due to lots of deep soft snow, but the scenery was even more impressive than usual due to lots of deep soft snow.

Day 1 – Cynthia Bay to Echo Point Hut (after morning meetings and a 3pm start).

After morning meetings, and ignoring the weather forecasters’ “bushwalkers alerts”, we met up with the ‘Whiskeylovers’ who had very kindly agreed to drop us off and pick us up at the end. They also decided to walk in to Echo Point with us for the first night. There was a considerable amount of snow on the road driving to Lake St Clair and I was surprised at how fast the snow plough up there travels when it came flying around the corner towards us spraying sow in the air. As a bonus, we watched a pair of wedge tailed eagles flying quite close to the road during the drive over the plateau.

While getting our packs on at the Cynthia Bay visitors centre, it began to snow again, drifting into the corridor where we’d just filled in the log book. This was a sign of things to come.

We began walking from Cynthia Bay at about 3:00pm and it continued to snow on and off during the afternoon and evening. After a walking for a while, the two ‘Whiskylovers’ went ahead while Mrs Beach and I continued on at our own more moderate pace. Eventually the light began to fade and we had to start using head torches to see where we were going for the last half an hour. Eventually, Mrs Beach’s torchlight fell on a sign next to the track that simply said “Toilet”, and we knew we’d reached the hut in the complete darkness at about 6:30pm. What I didn’t realise until the next day was that we’d already passed the actual Echo Point Hut sign a few metres earlier and had very nearly gone straight past the hut in the darkness with our heads down trying to avoid tripping on the root covered track.

The thermometer in the hut said that it was 2°C inside when we arrived, and 1°C outside.

Dinner was fresh vegetable stir fry with rice, accompanied by some white wine which the Whiskeylovers kindly shared with us.

Supper was Lindt chocolates.