Our Hiking Blog

The sound of helicopter rotor blades was music to the ears of badly injured walker David Briese recently. 

David was in a group enjoying a picturesque walk in a remote area on the far side of Mt Bogong, Victoria’s highest mountain, in the Alpine National Park.  The four day circuit was to see them climb to the summit of Mt Bogong, explore the surrounding ridges, spurs and valleys, then rejoin the track to return via Mountain Creek.

But a simple stumble left David with two completely broken ankle bones more than a day’s walk away from medical treatment.

After a great day that had included some hard climbing, David’s world ‘went pear-shaped’ when the toe of his boot dragged, causing …

We all know the dangers of hiking and backpacking in wilderness areas and so take due care, but should we necessarily label as irresponsible all the inexperienced people who venture out there less prepared than us? In this article we discuss who is responsible for hiker safety.

Our Hiking Blog friend, Matthias, has an interesting tale of a young German walker who came across him recently on a walk from Lake St Clair, Pine Valley, Never Never, Walls of Jerusalem, Lake Ball to Dixon’s Kingdom.

Matthias was alone at the camp near Dixon’s hut, but just as the weather set in and visibility reduced to 50m, in strolled a young German backpacker.

Experienced walkers can tell hair raising tales of young travellers poorly prepared for the unpredictable weather encountered in Tassie’s highlands, but Matthias says this young fellow was extremely poorly prepared, with only street clothes and cross runners, a plastic poncho and three plastic bags of supermarket food.

With no hiking boots, proper raincoat, gaiters, GPS, …

I know we are a bit obsessed by snakes here at Our Hiking Blog but there is always that niggling concern you may be bitten by a snake while in an isolated place.  The odds are very low but the more we walk, the more we tend to see snakes along the way.

We were recently contacted by Ben from The Australian Snake Bite Kit asking about advertising on the site.  After sussing out his product we happily agreed to go ahead. The observant ones among you may notice his advert to the right of screen!

As part of the “deal” Ben has offered to provide a FREE Australian Snake Bite Kit as a competition prize.

So, here is the …

Some of you may have heard of Chris Townsend, he is a “bit of a legend” in British walking circles , sort of like John Chapman in Australia.

Chris is the Equipment Editor for the British TGO magazine and he recently posted his Top 10 favourite new items of gear for 2010.

He used many of these items in the U.S. while he completed the Pacific Northwest Trail in 2010 so they have been well tested!   Chris also write a pre-trip article,  Planning a hike on the Pacific Northwest Trail, that is well worth a read to understand his “before and after” thinking.

We really like this list because:

• it has been used by an expert, particularly on

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