The Camp
Each time I had stopped during the day there had always been a few mozzies to greet me, and the camp site was no exception, in fact far too many to count. Although they did seemed to stay close to the ground which meant long trousers kept them at bay and the odd one that reached higher could easily be swatted away. This was fine whilst I was sitting around camp cooking and eating dinner but when I retired to bed all of me was close to the ground, (I would love to know what these blighters live on when they can’t get bushwalker). This trip I used the GoLite Shangri-La2 and the Serenity net tent from Six Moon Designs. This set up meant that I had plenty of space inside to spread out my gear, and the mesh did keep the mozzies out, I did however push my pillow above my head to help lift the netting higher and thus more clearance from those hungry mozzies. The weather was great for being out, with the predicted thunderstorms, whilst audible, came nowhere near me and there was only a few strong gust of wind as the change came through, so all in all I had a good nights sleep.
Morning Light
I rose early so I could enjoy the early sunny shine and following breakfast I packed up and headed off. The walk to the car park at Salisbury falls is quite short at only 7Km however the views on this section are well worth the shorter walk. I continued the last few hundred metres along Loggers lane until it finishes at Taylor track, here I swung south following the MVO across the creek that feeds the Brien Gorge Falls until I meet the Friends Walking track, taking a left turn I travelled along this well used track to the turn off to Kwat Kwat lookout.
This lookout has great views across the plains and whilst I had not travel far from camp it was still nice to stop and have a look. Retracing my steps to the Friend’s track I continued on my journey southward until the start of the Alpine view track is met. This track as its name suggest provides some spectacular views both of the nearby Wangaratta and of the Alps. Eventually it drops down and meets up the track to Salisbury falls. From here it was only a short 2 Km walk down to the car park, although the falls do offer photo opportunities (until the camera went flat) and its own views of the distance Mountains to the south.
So there you have it, not the longest two day walk but it did provide a night out, a walk through sections of the park I had not seen and a chance to give some different hiking gear a run.
A note about water, I have always found when I walk in the Warby's that I tend to drink more water than normal, so I would recommend to others to not under estimate how much water you may need on a trip like this. Also on water, given the camp site is not tooo far from the road it would be possible to do a water drop near the camp site (maybe at the intersection of Loggers and Taylor’s) before starting the walk.
Thanks Wazza for a great report, it is pleasing to see flowers are out as are the mossies, there are still a few hangers on around here but the first frost should fix that. Yeah carrying 2 days water aint fun and something that I suspect many non aussies do not appreciate the need for. I will be interested to hear more about the SMD inner net, I have been contemplating an from ookworks in the UK, I suspect I will have to provide some design info which resulted from a lunchtime meeting a little while ago.
ReplyDeleteYour reports are certainly encouraging me to spend more time in the NE when I am next in Oz.
Thanks NB for dropping by, the SMD inner net did its job, the SMD web site shows the sides “standing up” but since the SL2 will not allow me to have the apex of the SMD at its full height the sides sagged at the bottom. However with plenty of room inside the SL2 this caused me no problems.
ReplyDeleteThe floor of the SMD is very slippery and the Exped wanted to slide down hill, so I will look at putting some beads of silicone on the floor to help slow the slide.
Google had trouble finding ookworks :) I am interested to see what you end up with, my thought (ignoring weight) would be to go to a two pole design with a straight head end, and leave the foot end slopping similar to the SL2 nest.
Yes the NE has a lot to offer even with the mozzies!
Sorry about that should be oookworks
ReplyDeletewww.oookworks.com
You may also want to think about dots of silicone on the mattress instead. Certainly the Exped mats are slipperier than the Neo Air.
Thanks for the link, google keep telling me I wanted cookworks!
ReplyDeleteWazza, nice to see you out and about in a place I haven't been to before.
ReplyDeleteThis shelters business is draining isn't it? I'm still hoping to get some sort of shelter epiphany happening! I'm tossing up between tarps etc, but with so many options I can't make a decision! Good to see you trying out stuff, so I can get an idea of what might work for me.
Definitely interested in the AARN pack which intrigues me and might help out my stuffed neck. I've yet to hear anyone say a bad word about their pouch system. NB in the comments above used one for a 400 km hike which had me jumping off the couch in interest! They must really carry a load well for such a long distance walk compared to a 'traditional' pack. Pretty pricey though, but it's worth it if it works for me...
Thanks Greg, Firstly you may want to get a cup of tea as this reply is quite wordy, yes there are lots of places to walk sometimes you just have to open your eyes and look. One day I might try for an overnight trip I can do using only public transport to get to and from the walk.
ReplyDeleteRegarding shelters, As I see it there are 3 design principles, Tent (including pyramids) both end and side entry and the Bivvy Tarp combo. I feel that the Aussie bugs would require me to always carry a Bivvy of some sort to keep them a bay. The only Bivvy I tried was the SMD Meteor (http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/bivy/meteor.html) (must work out how to inbed links in replies)
I chose this one as I felt the large mesh area would make it more multi use including inside huts.
Tarps, I had a play with them, but I found the need to pitch differently at each camp site frustrating, were with a tent put in the pegs put up the poles and she’s done.
As for tents, I have used a few different brand but they were all end entry, which requires you to do that 180 degree turn in a very small space, so I thought I would give side entry a try. Again lots of choices, in the end I settled with the Golite SL2 and SMD Serenity
(http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/nettents/serenity-nettent.html), as I felt the SL2 was a good shelter, same pitch every time, zippered door, in built vents and I could use walking poles to hold it up.
The Serenity well it was the lightness and its height was the closest match to the height of the SL2. Yes I know the SL2 is end entry, but the inner is side entry so I don’t do the 180 degree turn and using a quilt means that I don’t need to get into a very small hole at the top of the tent, so its more like getting into bed at home, which I generally manage without too much fuss.
Backpacking north has a look at making thing lighter, have a look at, http://www.backpackingnorth.com/2011/08/ultralight-makeover-redux-pt-3-ditch.html
This was my first trip with the AARN Mountain Magic 55, and with two days water on board it was great to feel “balanced” I carried the full 5 litres in the front, plus map, compass, gps, snacks & camera, the rest I had in the back.
Day 2 packing was a bit harder as I had less water so I moved a few small heavy items forward, including lunch and the stove. The main draw back with the AARN MM55 is you can only use the MM44/55 pockets on them and the hip belt is simpler than some of their other bags. Another down side of the AARN’s is the bag has more adjustments than a standard pack, but I suspect people who buy the AARN’s brought it as they wanted to enjoy walking more and felt the AARN was the path to take.
Well after that I better have a cup of tea.