My First time!....the OLT.

[Mechanic-AL]

I have been avoiding the OLT. Not like the plague but because of it. But recently I got around to thinking that maybe I’m the only silly bugger missing out. I figured I should at least take a walk down the backbone of “Australia’s premier multi-day bushwalk” and see for myself what all the fuss is about. I found it a little disconcerting right from the start to have so much information about a walk so readily available before I’d even left home. At times I began to feel like I’d already walked some sections of the track! Despite this flood of information all the major weather forcasts failed to predict the severity of an evil series of cold fronts that hammer the whole state on the day I was to begin. Sleet, hail and snow down to 800mts being freeze blasted by 70kmh winds resulted in a severe weather warning and a bushwalkers weather alert. Thankfully there were plenty of open bookings the following day so I spent the day spinning my wheels and going no where at the Cradle Mt. campsite. And what a difference a day made! Even by Tasmania’s erratic weather standards it’s hard to believe 2 days one after another could be so different. I started up to Marions Lookout under clear blue skies and no wind at all. The previous days onslaught had dumped enough of the white stuff so that I felt like I was walking through one of those iconic postcards scenes. Just beautiful!

The traffic up to Kitchen Hut was a bit thick and at times the track resembled a conga line but as I dropped over the back I suddenly found I had it all to myself. The views to Barn Bluff and down Fury Gorge were awesome. Half way through day one I was already feeling like I had had my 200 bucks worth. That felling soured a bit when I arrived at Waterfall Valley only to be told all the tent platforms were booked out. I might be wrong here but I guess that PWS built these tent platforms using funds gathered from track fees? My money is the same as everyone else’s so how do these tent platforms become the exclusive domain of tour groups? As I searched for somewhere high and dry to pitch my tent the ranger suggested that I just ‘stay in the hut like everyone else’. Well my first and only night in a hut felt like I was at a camping and bushwalking expo! Brand spanking new gear everywhere. And true to form some clown had a good crack at setting the hut on fire as they struggled to come to grips with the technicalities of their new fuel stove for the first time.

My plan of action the next morning was to sleep in a bit and avoid the worst of the mornings feeding frenzy. This plan worked a treat and resulted in a much more relaxed departure than some people experienced. Heavy mist being swirled around by the gentlest of breezes added to a general feeling of eeriness as I walked around the rim of Waterfall Valley. As I passed through the remnants of Joseph Will’s 1890 coal diggings I wondered what had brought people like him out here in the first place? I know the search was on in earnest for the states supposed mineral wealth around then but I’m guessing that for most of Tassies early bush pioneers it must have been about more than just the money. Some of those people must have had an extraordinary affinity with the bush just to have survived out there back then. As I wandered into the bog that is the track to Innes falls I came across my first fellow walker of the day. A big strapping young lad from Denmark was hopping from tussock to tussock in a pair of sand shoes with his jeans rolled up over his calves in an attempt to not get them wet! My first reaction was to assign him a spot in the Fools’ Tools and other assorted Idiots Department but when I realized that he was one of the few people who had even bothed to check out Lake Will and one of an even slimmer number who had bothered to take a look at Innes Falls I had to give this young viking credit for at least getting out there and exploring a bit. As I dropped from the open country down to Lake Windermere I passed through the most stunning glade of Fagus in full swing. A kaleidescope of greens reds and vibrant yellows. Thankfully there were a large number of available tent platforms at Lake Windy and I celebrated my first night under canvas…er, nylon ( what ever it is) but letting rip with a particularly violent volley of tent shuddering farts!!

The rain started around midnight. Not the gentle plip plop of intermittent showers but the steady drum of rain. Day 3 got swallowed up in grey murk. The view from Forth valley lookout was non exsistent and the only thing to do was lean into the weather and slog onwards. By the time I wandered into the forest near Pine Forest Moor I was glad to see the duckboard starting to disappear. I would hate to see the OLT become the pine and chicken wire highway from go to whoa. By the time I had reached Pelion Creek there were watercourses running everywhere. If I had tried to find somewhere 50 metres from a watercourse to take a slash I would have ended up with a ruptured bladder! Pelion Creek and Forth River looked impassable without a footbridge and I think I could have packrafted down to Frog Flats quicker than walking. As it was the boardwalk across Frog Flats was over knee deep underwater anyway. A huge amount of track work is being done on the way up to Pelion Hut. One look inside the hut when I arrived revealed a scene that looked more like washday on the banks of the Ganges. Despite being cold and wet a tent site looked infinitely more appealing.

The clouds had once again lifted by the next morning and Mt Oakleigh shone golden in the early morning light. The walk up through thick myrtle forest to Pelion Gap was mesmerizing. I kept expecting to see a hobbit strolling down the track or to hear a troll cackling away under a footbridge. It was just a wonderland. I recalled reading in Jack Thwaites biography that Bert Nicholls had told him Pelion Gap was the coldest place in the state. As I approached the turn off to Mt Ossa the wind driven hail set in and I had no reason to argue with him. I had witnessed a young Canadian woman rising early every morning and hitting the track before most people were out of bed. I figured she didn’t want to miss out on a good bunk at all the next huts along the way. As the sleet morphed into snow I was surprised to see this young chick come walking down the Mt Ossa/Doris track. She told me she had been up early with the intention to summit Ossa on the way to Kia Ora that day but had turned around because of ice and limited visibility. I quietly scolded myself and promised not to be so judgemental of others in future. As if to confirm these thoughts viking man from Lake Will came up the track. He was stripped back to just a flannelette shirt and shorts and after a brief greeting swung left and disappeared into the next snow flurry heading up Pelion East. I couldn’t see much value in a side trip in the present conditions but before I had crossed Pinestone Valley the weather had begun to lift and miraculously there were even a few patches of blue sky showing. I parked myself on a boulder and inch by inch the whole panorama of Ossa, Pelion East, Cathederal Mountain and the Du Canes began to show themselves. As I surveyed the majestic scenes around me I could only imagine what ethereal views viking man was taking in from the summit Of Pelion East! I was pleased to see 2 fresh devils scats on the way to Kia Ora. My tent platform that night had the most surreal view of Cathederal Mountain with a sky full of stars sparkling overhead.

Du Cane hut came upon me by surprise the next day. I had been finding the time guidelines on every sections to be unusually generous ( was that really 16.5 kms from Windermere to Pelion Hut?). Again the fortitude of people like Paddy Hartnett and his wife left me stunned. On the decent to Hartnett Falls I took a bad spill off a slimy tree root. My right kneecap ended being shoved across to an angle it was never intended to go to and the pain that shot up my leg was instantaneous. Things can turn around so quickly. One minute I am enjoying my surroundings and then suddenly I am in pain and feeling a bit distressed. All at once the forest has become a more darker sinister place and I’m no longer so happy to be there. I hobbled back up to the track junction ( sadly without seeing the falls) and after a long rest I wrapped a bandage around my knee and continued on. To add to my misery heavy clouds had rolled in and any views I had hoped to get of Castle Crag and Falling Mountain were obliterated. It took me the rest of the day to limp into Bert Nicholls hut. To cap off a very sore day the Bert Nicholls Hyatt Hotel left me gobsmacked. I struggled to come up with any logical reason PWS could have had for whacking up a freaking colourbond Taj Mahal out there? Surely with capped walker numbers and an abundance of tent sites this beast is just overkill on a massive scale. I can only hope the vision is not to have these things strung out along the pine highway from the Cradle to……the grave. That to me would be the death of one of Tasmania’s greatest ‘outdoor’ experiences

It’s funny how you can build up an image of somewhere in your head and when you get there it’s nothing like you imagined. As I approached the Pine Valley turn off the next day I had expected the countryside to still be more alpine and open. Even with all that pre-walk info I had divulged it was good to discover an area nothing at all like I had expected. The dry eucalypt forest was a sure indiction that the track had decended quite a way. The walk from Pine Valley turn off that arvo was at a very sedated pace and as usual I began to feel a little bit sad that my time in the bush was close to the end. After putting up my tent at Narcissus that arvo I made a big hot cuppa and walked down to the jetty in the fading light. The reflections of Olympus in the waters of Lake St Clair were perfect. So still and peaceful.

I was momentarily confused by a small branch floating on the lake that I hadn’t noticed before. To my amazement my small branch suddenly pulled a duck dive and headed for the bottom! I have spent countless hours staring vacantly into rivers and lakes with the single minded purpose of one day seeing a platypus in it’s natural enviroment. For the next 15 minutes I had the pleasure of watching this little critter go about rustling up his evening meal. A couple of times he/she would have been no more than 10 metres away and I’m pretty sure he had a good idea that I was there the whole time. Such a special moment! I had earlier noticed 3 people from Sydney holed up in the Narcissus Hut. The way these 3 people had raced from hut to hut and then spent long hours playing cards in dark corners reminded me of bats in a cave. In my unbridled excitement at finally seeing a platypus I mistakenly thought that these people would be equally enthusiastic about seeing one of natures more elusive mammals. I rushed back to the hut and sure enough there they were, hanging upside down from the rafters. I told them of my encounter with the platypus and that he was still down there if they wanted to take a look.” Did Ya get any video”? asked one young dude eyeing off the camera in my hand. I showed them a couple of minutes of vid I had shot. “ Cool” was the reply I got as they wrapped their wings back around themselves and disappeared back into the darkness. I was stunned!! Wasn’t this the sort of experience these guys had come out here for in the first place?? “Don’t be so judgemental” a voice inside my head piped up. “ Friggin idiots” another one replied.

Despite a continuing pain in my knee I was keen to walk the last day around the lake shores. I set of with Mt Olmpus lit beautifully in the morning light and enjoyed good views of Mt Ida and the Traveller Ranges until I reached Echo Point. From there the conditions continued to deteriorate and for a brief moment I envied the people whizzing by on the ferry. That feeling didn’t last long as I entered more of the amazing forest that fringes Lake St Clair. With a bung knee it took me around 7.5 hours to get to Cynthia Bay but the beauty of the scenery along the way made me glad I did it.

During the walk I had witnessed people from all walks of life, varying degrees of fitness and with a range of previous bushwalking experience getting out there. I can understand that many walkers who have spent years taking on some of the states harder routes and tracks may feel a sense of propriety over the area. That’s only natural. But it is encouraging to see such a broad range of people showing an interest in getting out there and having a look. I just hope the powers that be don’t feel a need to dumb the whole experience down too much.

And now for some of those side trips…………..

AL.

[DaveNoble]

Good report Al - thats what the Overland Track is all about. Do it again. Each time it is different. Do a few of the side trips - many of them are special.

From my memory - there are no tent platforms at Waterfall Valley, except up in the forest - the big "Group Campsite" - which does need to be booked. But if I was camping at Waterfall Valley - then it is nice to camp on the grass - near the old hut. Thats where most Overland Track walkers camp. But after snow - these sites may have been a little damp? You can of course stay in the old hut or the new one.

You mention the walkers in Narcissus who couldn't be bothered to go out and see the platypus. I find this attitude strange too - but not surprising. I have been on the track, staying in a hut - and tried to get people to go out and see things (e.g. a sunset) - and most just don't bother..... But on my recent trip on the Overland Track - I did manage to get most of the people at Waterfall out of their tents and the hut - looking in the sky at the moon- waiting for an eclipse...... unfortunately I had got the date wrong (it was the next evening)

Dave

[DanShell]

Thank you very much for taking the time to write about your OLT experience, I really enjoyed it.

"I rushed back to the hut and sure enough there they were, hanging upside down from the rafters."

[Mechanic-AL]

Hey Dave
I think from looking at your post in the gallery section we may have been out there around the same time,
I checked the campsite near the old hut and like you say, it was pretty soggy.
This and the attitude of the cave bats were the only disappointment of the whole trip.
I will do it again and I'm sure every time would open my eyes to something new out there!
But as far as walking in Tassie is concerned....so much to do and so little time. ( bout time I moved back home. All the airfares are starting to hurt).

AL

[icefest]

Funny story about that date and the eclipse...

The mightiest respect to the canadian who got to innes falls in jeans and sneakers. When I went there the track was more hip deep holes than walking ground.

[ofuros]

I've skirted around the Overland track on most of my past walking / fishing trips,
gonna have to do it one day myself, enjoyed your write up Mechanic-Al.

[GPSGuided]

Insightful take on the myriad of walkers out that way. People really have vastly different takes on what they want to get out of their walks, don't they? Enjoyed the entertaining read. Thanks!

[Nuts]

Great story AL, sounds familiar. Many of the platforms were built before the booking system started. I'm not sure what the current story is at Waterfall Valley, encouragement to use the huts perhaps? Anyhow, for some reason there are no public tent platforms, just the group setup, the companies pay quite a considerable fee to use them. They also have no choice to retreat to huts in bad weather. It's good to see that the track rangers are proactive rather than have guides need to move people off the platforms, often going on dark (as has happened in the past, not without drama as you could imagine).

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

What a great read - thanks for taking the time to write about your experiences.

Every time someone makes a track log, despite how differently we see things, it takes me back there. For the brief time I spent reading your report, it felt like I was right there - enjoying it all over again.

It's funny reading about the weather, and the submerged duckboards. Two months ago, I walked from Pelion Gap to Kia Ora in the hottest, driest conditions you could imagine. With every step, a small cloud of fine dust rose up into the air. Two and a half litres of water wasn't nearly enough between huts, and some of the hut water tanks were bone dry. It must have been approaching 40 degrees in the sun - we continually cursed the lack of any shady rest spots.

I've done all of the advertised side trips other than the Labyrinth from Pine Valley, and Innes Falls was my least favourite. A lot of mud, scratched legs, damaged vegetation and a long way for a pretty mediocre reward. They should either improve the track to reduce the environmental damage, or reconsider advertising this side trip all together (IMHO).

Well done again - what a great read.

[Overlandman]

Glad you had an enjoyable trip and hope the knee is ok,
My first trip to Innes Falls , I was covered in mud up to my knees. I was astonished to find a fellow walker at the falls who was clean, no mud at all.
Turned out he had walked around the edge of Lake Will in the water.
Regards Overlandman

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Walking around the shallows of the lake sounds like a very clever idea!

[Mechanic-AL]

Depends on wether it is summer or winter!!!

[RonK]

Every time I've walked the OLT has been different - the weather, the track conditions, the people I've met, the wildlife I've observed, such as the Eastern quoll at Narcissus - the first I've ever seen in the wild.
I applaud anyone who commits the time and energy to walk the track, whether they be experienced bushies or novices on their first ever walk.

[wayno]

yup and the card players, seen it before, stay up all night, making a racket, playing cards.. waste daylight sleeping in.
they will get bragging rights with their friends and family for having done the OLT, go figure!
tracks like that, you go back and do them again and you see things you never saw the first time, first time you stare at the view. next time round you might find you see a lot more of the plant life or animal life closer to you. you'll see more details this time when you look around.i have trips i keep going back to, and it's different every time, there's always more to see, something is slightly different, or very different if the weather varies...

[geoskid]

You mention the walkers in Narcissus who couldn't be bothered to go out and see the platypus. I find this attitude strange too - but not surprising. I have been on the track, staying in a hut - and tried to get people to go out and see things (e.g. a sunset) - and most just don't bother..... But on my recent trip on the Overland Track - I did manage to get most of the people at Waterfall out of their tents and the hut - looking in the sky at the moon- waiting for an eclipse...... unfortunately I had got the date wrong (it was the next evening)

Dave

Ohh Faark Dave - the best part of the story I feel is to come - So what happened? This is the juiciest story I have yet to hear for a long time. Did they know you were, you know .. Dave ,or what - would love to hear more about how this went down.

[geoskid]

I have been avoiding the OLT. Not like the plague but because of it. But recently I got around to thinking that maybe I’m the only silly bugger missing out. I figured I should at least take a walk down the backbone of “Australia’s premier multi-day bushwalk” and see for myself what all the fuss is about. I found it a little disconcerting right from the start to have so much information about a walk so readily available before I’d even left home. At times I began to feel like I’d already walked some sections of the track! Despite this flood of information all the major weather forcasts failed to predict the severity of an evil series of cold fronts that hammer the whole state on the day I was to begin. Sleet, hail and snow down to 800mts being freeze blasted by 70kmh winds resulted in a severe weather warning and a bushwalkers weather alert. Thankfully there were plenty of open bookings the following day so I spent the day spinning my wheels and going no where at the Cradle Mt. campsite. And what a difference a day made! Even by Tasmania’s erratic weather standards it’s hard to believe 2 days one after another could be so different. I started up to Marions Lookout under clear blue skies and no wind at all. The previous days onslaught had dumped enough of the white stuff so that I felt like I was walking through one of those iconic postcards scenes. Just beautiful!

The traffic up to Kitchen Hut was a bit thick and at times the track resembled a conga line but as I dropped over the back I suddenly found I had it all to myself. The views to Barn Bluff and down Fury Gorge were awesome. Half way through day one I was already feeling like I had had my 200 bucks worth. That felling soured a bit when I arrived at Waterfall Valley only to be told all the tent platforms were booked out. I might be wrong here but I guess that PWS built these tent platforms using funds gathered from track fees? My money is the same as everyone else’s so how do these tent platforms become the exclusive domain of tour groups? As I searched for somewhere high and dry to pitch my tent the ranger suggested that I just ‘stay in the hut like everyone else’. Well my first and only night in a hut felt like I was at a camping and bushwalking expo! Brand spanking new gear everywhere. And true to form some clown had a good crack at setting the hut on fire as they struggled to come to grips with the technicalities of their new fuel stove for the first time.

My plan of action the next morning was to sleep in a bit and avoid the worst of the mornings feeding frenzy. This plan worked a treat and resulted in a much more relaxed departure than some people experienced. Heavy mist being swirled around by the gentlest of breezes added to a general feeling of eeriness as I walked around the rim of Waterfall Valley. As I passed through the remnants of Joseph Will’s 1890 coal diggings I wondered what had brought people like him out here in the first place? I know the search was on in earnest for the states supposed mineral wealth around then but I’m guessing that for most of Tassies early bush pioneers it must have been about more than just the money. Some of those people must have had an extraordinary affinity with the bush just to have survived out there back then. As I wandered into the bog that is the track to Innes falls I came across my first fellow walker of the day. A big strapping young lad from Denmark was hopping from tussock to tussock in a pair of sand shoes with his jeans rolled up over his calves in an attempt to not get them wet! My first reaction was to assign him a spot in the Fools’ Tools and other assorted Idiots Department but when I realized that he was one of the few people who had even bothed to check out Lake Will and one of an even slimmer number who had bothered to take a look at Innes Falls I had to give this young viking credit for at least getting out there and exploring a bit. As I dropped from the open country down to Lake Windermere I passed through the most stunning glade of Fagus in full swing. A kaleidescope of greens reds and vibrant yellows. Thankfully there were a large number of available tent platforms at Lake Windy and I celebrated my first night under canvas…er, nylon ( what ever it is) but letting rip with a particularly violent volley of tent shuddering farts!!

The rain started around midnight. Not the gentle plip plop of intermittent showers but the steady drum of rain. Day 3 got swallowed up in grey murk. The view from Forth valley lookout was non exsistent and the only thing to do was lean into the weather and slog onwards. By the time I wandered into the forest near Pine Forest Moor I was glad to see the duckboard starting to disappear. I would hate to see the OLT become the pine and chicken wire highway from go to whoa. By the time I had reached Pelion Creek there were watercourses running everywhere. If I had tried to find somewhere 50 metres from a watercourse to take a slash I would have ended up with a ruptured bladder! Pelion Creek and Forth River looked impassable without a footbridge and I think I could have packrafted down to Frog Flats quicker than walking. As it was the boardwalk across Frog Flats was over knee deep underwater anyway. A huge amount of track work is being done on the way up to Pelion Hut. One look inside the hut when I arrived revealed a scene that looked more like washday on the banks of the Ganges. Despite being cold and wet a tent site looked infinitely more appealing.

The clouds had once again lifted by the next morning and Mt Oakleigh shone golden in the early morning light. The walk up through thick myrtle forest to Pelion Gap was mesmerizing. I kept expecting to see a hobbit strolling down the track or to hear a troll cackling away under a footbridge. It was just a wonderland. I recalled reading in Jack Thwaites biography that Bert Nicholls had told him Pelion Gap was the coldest place in the state. As I approached the turn off to Mt Ossa the wind driven hail set in and I had no reason to argue with him. I had witnessed a young Canadian woman rising early every morning and hitting the track before most people were out of bed. I figured she didn’t want to miss out on a good bunk at all the next huts along the way. As the sleet morphed into snow I was surprised to see this young chick come walking down the Mt Ossa/Doris track. She told me she had been up early with the intention to summit Ossa on the way to Kia Ora that day but had turned around because of ice and limited visibility. I quietly scolded myself and promised not to be so judgemental of others in future. As if to confirm these thoughts viking man from Lake Will came up the track. He was stripped back to just a flannelette shirt and shorts and after a brief greeting swung left and disappeared into the next snow flurry heading up Pelion East. I couldn’t see much value in a side trip in the present conditions but before I had crossed Pinestone Valley the weather had begun to lift and miraculously there were even a few patches of blue sky showing. I parked myself on a boulder and inch by inch the whole panorama of Ossa, Pelion East, Cathederal Mountain and the Du Canes began to show themselves. As I surveyed the majestic scenes around me I could only imagine what ethereal views viking man was taking in from the summit Of Pelion East! I was pleased to see 2 fresh devils scats on the way to Kia Ora. My tent platform that night had the most surreal view of Cathederal Mountain with a sky full of stars sparkling overhead.

Du Cane hut came upon me by surprise the next day. I had been finding the time guidelines on every sections to be unusually generous ( was that really 16.5 kms from Windermere to Pelion Hut?). Again the fortitude of people like Paddy Hartnett and his wife left me stunned. On the decent to Hartnett Falls I took a bad spill off a slimy tree root. My right kneecap ended being shoved across to an angle it was never intended to go to and the pain that shot up my leg was instantaneous. Things can turn around so quickly. One minute I am enjoying my surroundings and then suddenly I am in pain and feeling a bit distressed. All at once the forest has become a more darker sinister place and I’m no longer so happy to be there. I hobbled back up to the track junction ( sadly without seeing the falls) and after a long rest I wrapped a bandage around my knee and continued on. To add to my misery heavy clouds had rolled in and any views I had hoped to get of Castle Crag and Falling Mountain were obliterated. It took me the rest of the day to limp into Bert Nicholls hut. To cap off a very sore day the Bert Nicholls Hyatt Hotel left me gobsmacked. I struggled to come up with any logical reason PWS could have had for whacking up a freaking colourbond Taj Mahal out there? Surely with capped walker numbers and an abundance of tent sites this beast is just overkill on a massive scale. I can only hope the vision is not to have these things strung out along the pine highway from the Cradle to……the grave. That to me would be the death of one of Tasmania’s greatest ‘outdoor’ experiences

It’s funny how you can build up an image of somewhere in your head and when you get there it’s nothing like you imagined. As I approached the Pine Valley turn off the next day I had expected the countryside to still be more alpine and open. Even with all that pre-walk info I had divulged it was good to discover an area nothing at all like I had expected. The dry eucalypt forest was a sure indiction that the track had decended quite a way. The walk from Pine Valley turn off that arvo was at a very sedated pace and as usual I began to feel a little bit sad that my time in the bush was close to the end. After putting up my tent at Narcissus that arvo I made a big hot cuppa and walked down to the jetty in the fading light. The reflections of Olympus in the waters of Lake St Clair were perfect. So still and peaceful.

I was momentarily confused by a small branch floating on the lake that I hadn’t noticed before. To my amazement my small branch suddenly pulled a duck dive and headed for the bottom! I have spent countless hours staring vacantly into rivers and lakes with the single minded purpose of one day seeing a platypus in it’s natural enviroment. For the next 15 minutes I had the pleasure of watching this little critter go about rustling up his evening meal. A couple of times he/she would have been no more than 10 metres away and I’m pretty sure he had a good idea that I was there the whole time. Such a special moment! I had earlier noticed 3 people from Sydney holed up in the Narcissus Hut. The way these 3 people had raced from hut to hut and then spent long hours playing cards in dark corners reminded me of bats in a cave. In my unbridled excitement at finally seeing a platypus I mistakenly thought that these people would be equally enthusiastic about seeing one of natures more elusive mammals. I rushed back to the hut and sure enough there they were, hanging upside down from the rafters. I told them of my encounter with the platypus and that he was still down there if they wanted to take a look.” Did Ya get any video”? asked one young dude eyeing off the camera in my hand. I showed them a couple of minutes of vid I had shot. “ Cool” was the reply I got as they wrapped their wings back around themselves and disappeared back into the darkness. I was stunned!! Wasn’t this the sort of experience these guys had come out here for in the first place?? “Don’t be so judgemental” a voice inside my head piped up. “ Friggin idiots” another one replied.

Despite a continuing pain in my knee I was keen to walk the last day around the lake shores. I set of with Mt Olmpus lit beautifully in the morning light and enjoyed good views of Mt Ida and the Traveller Ranges until I reached Echo Point. From there the conditions continued to deteriorate and for a brief moment I envied the people whizzing by on the ferry. That feeling didn’t last long as I entered more of the amazing forest that fringes Lake St Clair. With a bung knee it took me around 7.5 hours to get to Cynthia Bay but the beauty of the scenery along the way made me glad I did it.

During the walk I had witnessed people from all walks of life, varying degrees of fitness and with a range of previous bushwalking experience getting out there. I can understand that many walkers who have spent years taking on some of the states harder routes and tracks may feel a sense of propriety over the area. That’s only natural. But it is encouraging to see such a broad range of people showing an interest in getting out there and having a look. I just hope the powers that be don’t feel a need to dumb the whole experience down too much.

And now for some of those side trips…………..

AL.

Hey Al, I felt the need to Quote the whole lot - loved your take on your trip. I also appreciated you sharing in your own way what you experienced about the people you met over the week (that's the type of insight that floats my boat - cheers Bud)

[DaveNoble]

You mention the walkers in Narcissus who couldn't be bothered to go out and see the platypus. I find this attitude strange too - but not surprising. I have been on the track, staying in a hut - and tried to get people to go out and see things (e.g. a sunset) - and most just don't bother..... But on my recent trip on the Overland Track - I did manage to get most of the people at Waterfall out of their tents and the hut - looking in the sky at the moon- waiting for an eclipse...... unfortunately I had got the date wrong (it was the next evening)

Dave

Ohh Faark Dave - the best part of the story I feel is to come - So what happened? This is the juiciest story I have yet to hear for a long time. Did they know you were, you know .. Dave ,or what - would love to hear more about how this went down.

We all went to bed! About 8pm or so.....

Next day, at Windemere, I met the ranger passing through and we got talking. He mentioned that he had heard that there was supposed to be an eclipse the night before. But as it hadn't happened, it must be the next morning. We compared notes and it turned out we had both been listening to the same radio report (on 7NT - when they interviewed a local astronomer). Had we both got the date wrong? I think it is possible that the radio report had confused the date. Anyway - that evening - we did see the eclipse - and a beauty it was too!

Dave

[kanangra]

Al I loved that report. Broke me up. A terrific read. It really takes all types to make a world.

K.

[north-north-west]

One of the best ever trip reports. Please do more.
And thank you.