by emma_melbourne » Thu 22 Jun, 2017 10:49 am
Thanks everyone for your feedback and thoughts.
Just to say, I've decided not to do the Overland Track, taking on board all of your feedback. It's an accumulation of factors - of the heavy weight load I'd be carrying, the remoteness of the trail in terms of access or escape if anything did go badly - such as injury, terrible weather etc, and I have on very rare occasions in my life had an allergic reaction unexpectedly to a plant and broke out in very bad hives.
It's only happened a couple of times, once in Paris when sitting outside a cafe (not hiking!) next to a pot plant similar to privet which brushed against me. And it's happened a second time in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, where I had a reaction to some kind of plant - to this day do not know what plant caused the reaction, and I broke out in terrible hives, and ended up needing steroids and strong antihistamines and it was very miserable for 3 days. I of course have antihistamine in my First Aid bag, and steroids, just in case, but nonetheless it wouldn't be fun to get a massive outbreak of hives on a long hike in the Wilderness carrying a baby.
I've never had any hiking accident or fall. I've never in my life broken any bones, hiking or otherwise. And I've never yet misjudged or made an error in respect of the weather, or got lost, or been ill prepared for anything. I'm quite a careful person, and quite a coordinated person.
In fact on previous outings, it's been my companions who have had falls, or got sick, or been ill prepared in some way, and I've ended up looking after them. I'm the one that goes out with the good first aid kit, and compass.
But I take on board all your points regards the complications of being with a baby, and alone. That if anything was to happen to me, if I were to trip or fall, and I'm by myself, it would be potentially very difficult or disastrous with a baby.
And I do think it's an awful lot of weight to be carrying, now that I've done the calculations of all the equipment, clothing, nappies and food that I need, both in weight but also volume.
And realistically I would end up needing to do a lot of equipment upgrades to get my weight down sufficiently. To upgrade to a very expensive tent (US $600 + shipping for Zpacks Duplex) to save weight (as it weighs just 600 grams), and upgrade to a lighter mat that also takes up less bulk volume in my pack (such as the Thermarest NeoAir or the Nemo Tensor, to get down to around 420 grams for mat - around AUS $200). And there's a few other pieces I need to upgrade to lighter, such as my existing Marmot Guides down jacket is too heavy at 510 grams and I probably need to buy a Ghost Whisperer or Patagonia Ultralight down jacket, or similar, to cut 200-300 grams off the down jacket weight and also the bulk in my pack, another US $200. And I need to get some extra drybags to be able to section of clothing, and other items, to keep potentially wet clothing away from dry, etc. And ensure my quilt stays dry I want to double-up with a second drybag as it came in a drawstring dry bag and I prefer to put it in a second drybag to be on the safe side.
As every 100 grams is precious weight, and every cubic cm in my pack is precious volume. Given I only have 38 Litres to play with. And I am already carrying so much weight with my daughter and the weight of the WE Wildchild infant carrier pack which is around 3 kg with the compartments added on. Then carrying around so much food.
And there's already cost involved in flying to Tasmania, hiring a car of getting a bus, paying the fees for entrance onto the trail, etc.
My daughter is a toddler now, and she does like doing a lot of walking and playing around. She likes being in the backpack for hikes, loves being up high and we talk and sing together, but we haven't been doing massively long hikes in terms of distance, nor very strenuous terrain.
And I agree I don't know exactly how she will be in 6 months time as to whether she'll still love being in the backpack for long hikes.
I think it's prudent to instead set up camp somewhere fabulous, and do dayhikes out.
That would mean:
a) MORE PLEASANT / FUN / ENJOYABLE TRIP FOR BABY
b) MUCH SAFER / MUCH LESS RISK
c) REDUCED SPENDING
I could get a cheap 1.2 kg tent such as Naturehike Taga at US $117 or Naturehike Cloud Up 2 at US $119, rather than spending US $600 plus freight for a Cuban fibre tent such as Zpacks Duplex. Or, if I'm not needing to walk far with the pack weight, I may even be able to get away with my existing tent which is a Naturehike Star River 2 tent and is 2 kg, and is freestanding and has been a really good little tent for us, and packs pretty small.
I've looked at some of the different places you all mentioned, not being familiar with Tasmania.
Emotionally, the place which appealed to me most was Pine Valley.
Looks like we would go to Hobart, then bus or rental car, and then ferry across Lake St Clair to Narcissus Hut. Stay there, potentially for 2 nights. Then do the walk to Pine Valley. Do some short local walks from Pine Valley that are not too treacherous or difficult, and weather-dependent. Potentially if there's people there who we might be able to do the short walks with, I should welcome that opportunity for company and socializing, and the added safety enabled by the company.
And return to Narcissus hut, back across the lake, and back to Hobart.
Does that all sound more realistic to you experienced hikers and parents?
Best,
Emma