Choose a diary entry31/03/2004 - Retrenched! 02/04/2004 - Farewell Lunch 03/04/2004 - Preparation 1 04/04/2004 - Preparation 2 05/04/2004 - Packing 06/04/2004 - Sydney to Hobart to Mt. Field NP 07/04/2004 - Tarn Shelf, then into the Southwest 08/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 1 - Up Alpha Moraine 09/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 2 - Lake Cygnus 10/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 3 - Lake Oberon & Square Lake 11/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 4 - Lake Oberon to Lake Cygnus 12/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 5 - Lake Cygnus to Junction Creek 13/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 6 - out to Mt Field NP 14/04/2004 - Back to Hobart for resupply and on to Southport 15/04/2004 - Southport, Hastings springs, Cockle Creek 16/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 1 - Cockle Creek to South Cape Rivulet 17/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 2 - South Cape Rivulet 18/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 3 - back to Cockle Creek, then Hobart 19/04/2004 - Hobart to Lake St. Clair 20/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 1 - to Vera Hut 21/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 2 - Tahune Hut and the Summit 22/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 3 - Tahune Hut to Vera Hut 23/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 4 - out to Derwent Bridge 24/04/2004 - Derwent Bridge / Lake St. Clair to Hobart 25/04/2004 - R&R in Hobart 26/04/2004 - Hobart, buying a new Camera 27/04/2004 - Hobart to Port Arthur 28/04/2004 - Port Arthur Historic site, then to Fortescue Bay 29/04/2004 - Tasman Trail Hike - Fortescue Bay to Eaglehawk Neck 30/04/2004 - Eaglehawk Neck to Hobart, Targa 01/05/2004 - Hobart R&R, Salamanca Markets 02/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 1 - to Wombat Flat 03/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 2 - to Mt. Ramsay 04/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 3 - Mt. Ramsay to Huskisson River 05/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 4 - Camped at Huskisson River 06/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 5 - Across the Huskisson 07/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 6 - Out, then to Strahan 08/05/2004 - R&R in Strahan 09/05/2004 - Dissapointing Gordon River Cruise 10/05/2004 - Strahan, R&R, Preparation for Overland Track 11/05/2004 - Strahan to Lake St. Clair 12/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 1 - Lake St. Clair to Pine Valley Hut 13/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 2 - the Labyrinth and Acropolis 14/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 3 - Pine Valley Hut to Kia-Ora Hut 15/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 4 - Kia-Ora Hut to Mt. Ossa to Pelion Hut 16/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 5 - Pelion Hut to Windermere Hut 17/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 6 - Windamere Hut to Cradle Mountain Village 18/05/2004 - Sick!, Cradle Mountain to Launceston 19/05/2004 - Recovery 1 20/05/2004 - Recovery 2 - Doctor, and Cataract Gorge 21/05/2004 - Recovery 3 22/05/2004 - Recovery 4 23/05/2004 - Recovery 5 24/05/2004 - Launceston to Bicheno 25/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 1 - the Hazards to Cooks Beach 26/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 2 - back to Bicheno 27/05/2004 - Exploring Bicheno 28/05/2004 - Bicheno to Launceston 29/05/2004 - Exploring Further in Launcestion 30/05/2004 - Cataract Gorge 2 31/05/2004 - Launceston to Liffey Falls to Deloraine 01/06/2004 - Trowunna, Devils Gullet, Walls of Jerusalem National Park 02/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem Hike - Day 1 03/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem - Day 2 - Out, then to Hobart 04/06/2004 - Mt. Field NP, Styx Valley & on to Triabunna 05/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 1 06/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 2 07/06/2004 - R&R in Launceston 08/06/2004 - Flying Back Home

Tasmania Diary

[ Up ]

[ Prev ][ Next ]

Sunday, May 16, 2004

Overland Track - Day 5 - Pelion Hut to Windermere Hut

During the night, I could hear it raining, and when I woke in the morning, it was still raining.
After wasting a bit of time, figuring out whether to stay at Pelion or to go on, I decided to push on, to at least Windermere Hut, since the rain wasn't very heavy, and since it might rain tomorrow as well.
I set off slowly into the rain, the first from the hut to leave, and quickly found that the rain had submerged many parts of the track in puddles. I also found that things were now quite slippery, as I fell when I stepped on a wet tree root, just a few minutes from Pelion Hut, getting me a bit muddy.
After about an hour of walking in the forest, I came to Frog Flat – supposedly a camp ground, but it would have been very wet in the rain.

There had been quite a few muddy spots and eroded areas up to Frog Flat, but they weren't as bad for the next hour, which was spent climbing slowly through the forest. The forest was quite pretty, with cloud occasionally enveloping it, then the occasional ray of sunshine, but the rain never really stopped, just eased to be very light. Fairly suddenly, the trail emerged on a buttongrass alpine plain. There were clouds swirling in the adjacent Forth Valley, and it was still raining a little. The track surface turned to broken rocks, which often had shallow water lying over them.

After traversing the plain, coming to a stand of trees, and going through, another, bigger plain opened in front of me – Pine Forest Moor. A short side track led to a viewpoint of the Forth Valley which was still somewhat impressive despite the surrounding mountains being hidden by cloud. As I left the lookout, the rain really started to come down, and as I crossed the Moor, on boards and broken rock, the wind picked up to turn the rain into driving rain. By this time, I'd remembered that my waterproof pants didn't work very well, as I was wet wherever they rubbed. On a fine day the Moor would be quite beautiful, as it is studded with many small tarns, and surrounded by mountains, but I mostly saw just the track as I pushed on with my head down into the rain. At one point the track actually went through the middle of a small tarn, although it may normally be dry.
I was on the lookout for lakes, since the next hut was near Lake Windermere. After Pine Forest Moor, there was a sharp dip where I thought a lake might be, but no, no lake. Then I topped the a rise, and saw a lake which I thought was the Lake Windermere (it turned out to be Lake Curran), but the track passed it and continued for another kilometre before coming to Windermere Hut.

It was a relief to walk into the dry hut. The relief was however tempered by learning that the gas heater was not working.
While I had some lunch, Annerieke van Hoek and Jeroen Immerzeel, who I'd met at the previous huts, turned up. Since Jeroen was a chemical engineer, he soon determined the active gas bottle was empty, and Annerieke with her small hands was able to turn on one of the other full ones. That pretty much made me decide to stay, since we'd been told that the Waterfall Valley Hut's heater was also not working, and I really wanted to dry my stuff.
The rain continued on and off for most of the afternoon, making me even more glad that I didn't go on. The only problem was, what would the weather be like tomorrow? – Better or worse?

Admin login | Original script by Alex