Heysen Trail Day 32 - Hiskey’s Hut to Crystal Brook

=========================== I’m still having minor issues with ramblr but I think I figured it out. It seems to truncate when I use Apple emoticons, so I’ll try to avoid them going forward. Please let me know if text is missing or you can’t view photos =========================== —————————————————— TL;DR Lots of fence walking he first half and country road walking the second half of my 20 km journey into Crystal Brook. It’s nice to stop early, resupply and enjoy a pub meal and accommodation. —————————————————— Extended version: The silence of the lambs? Bah! (Or should that be Baaa)? Who thought that falsehood up? I awoke to a fine day after a rather loud night from the many sheep on the hills around me calling to their lambs and the lambs calling back. Don’t they ever sleep? Maybe they have become nocturnal? Sleeping in the day where they can lie in the sun since they must be shivering all night...? Hiskey’s hut is a nice stone hut. Reading the logbook, apparently it had fallen into a state of disrepair four or five years back, and vermin seriously moved in. The roof had holes in it so pigeons nested inside the hut and there was literally pigeon shit everywhere. As one hiker put it, “It was better than a tent in the wind and rain. Just!” FOHT (Friends of HT) to the rescue! They spent many days here sealing up the hut and trying to make it vermin proof. They’ve more recently planted a heap of trees to the west which, if they survive will make a nice wind break in coming years not to mention another source of firewood from downed branches. Big shout out to FOHT; I’m so impressed with their work with minimal resources. Okay, enough lily gagging around. Time to get walking! I’ve got a pub stay in only an easy 20 kms! Ah, the glamping life for me! Later: The walk started out with a heap of fence following but the landscape was green and rolling. I only had 20 kilometres to walk today which is a welcome break from my usual 30 kilometres. At the 10 kilometres mark, I emerged from the fields and started following tracks, then country roads. Mind numbing monotony but easy fast walking. Short day, why do my feet hurt? WTF? When you about five kilometres from Crystal Brook, the trail suddenly turns off on a sand track *in the wrong direction!* Even worse, it climbs a hill! Why?! Picture this: you are walking along the hypotenuse of an right triangle heading precisely where you want to go, when the trail suddenly turns off to follow the longer sides. Why? Perhaps a psychologist designed this as an experiment to gather post-doc data? I reckon it’s to differentiate between 1) those “good enough” types who would ignore this trail detour and continue on the country road to save themselves three kilometres of unnecessary walking from people like me- 2) Type A, anal obsessive- compulsive driven blokes who if they decide to walk the Heysen Trail, they are going to walk *every damn step of it!* I’m still left wondering why this detour as the landscape, although pretty, was unremarkable. Finally, I reached the edge of Crystal Brook. I had just entered the town when a bloke stopped his Ute in front of me and got out to talk with me. After chatting awhile, he asked what work I did to allow me to walk for 52 days. When he heard I was semi-retired (maybe fully retired now?) after 20 years with Santos, he asked if I knew Ian Pedler. Small world! Ian is an old colleague of mine - we worked together closely and served on the same leadership teams. In fact, our daughter Jess is good mates with Ian’s daughter Hailey; they both work at Woodside in Perth and hang out together. This chap, Roger Jones, happened to be a mate of Ian’s. Small world! I make it a habit when I hit a trail town to get a coffee and a cake. There are no calorie guilt when you walk all day, every day. I might even finish this hike with a flat belly! Something that I haven’t achieved for 20 years despite a routine and regimented workout regime. Diet (and alcohol) always trumps exercise - unless you are walking 50+ days, 6-8 hours a day with a heavy pack on your back! After my coffee and brownie, I walked across the street and got a room in the Crystal Brook Hotel, a 2-story country pub. Rooms are basic and not heated (bed has heat pad) with ablutions down the hall but it feels like luxury after tent and huts! The town of Crystal Brook is great. Quite small but with a historic centre right beside active railway tracks (I wonder if I’ll regret this tonight?). After showering (yay!) and washing out my fragrant clothes in the sink, I went out to resupply. The Foodland was excellent, wide variety of food choices and ver reasonable prices. I picked up some camel & rosemary sausages to add to my ramen. I had a nibble- they are excellent and dirt cheap! I explored the shops and historic buildings along the Main Street. I came across a hairdresser but the shop was locked and empty despite an open sig out front. I walked another 10 metres when I spotted a lady walking towards me with an apron on. I asked her if she was the hair dresser and if I could get my hair buzzed. She said she was but she had a 3pm appointment (it was 5 till) and was booked out. I pleaded that I wanted only a quick #2 buzz all over and she relented. Seven minutes later, my head was freshly buzzed and she was done before her next client showed up. All for $10! I normally wear my hair longer but nothing beats a buzz cut when you are lucky to get a shower once a week! At camp, I run a wet chux through my hair and it feels like a shower. Hiking certainly drives function over fashion! The town has free wifi- amazing for such a small regional town! I took advantage of this to FaceTime my brother Tim from one of the park benches in the town centre. So nice to catch up. My upstairs room in the pub had the dimmest lightbulb I’ve ever experienced. I literally had to wear my camp headlamp on the bed so I could see what I was doing as I repackaged my food into backpack ready ziplocks for each day. I’ve got a system that is working well. I eventually went downstairs and had a few beers and dinner at the pub. I was able to walk outside and FT Lisa and Drew which was nice. Now it’s nearly 9 pm, hiker’s midnight. A comfy bed tonight and another walk tomorrow. Weather forecast says a bit of rain in the morning and cold nights. I have three tent camps in front of me heading into Melrose which will throw up a few challenges with managing a condensation wet tent! I’m looking forward to Melrose as I’m taking a rest day there. Let’s go!

Hiking/Backpacking

Northern Areas Council, South Australia, Australia
gstreet photo
time : Jun 17, 2019 8:19 AM
duration : 4h 59m 51s
distance : 20.1 km
total_ascent : 238 m
highest_point : 284 m
avg_speed : 4.8 km/h
user_id : gstreet
user_firstname : Carl
user_lastname : Greenstreet
=========================== I’m still having minor issues with ramblr but I think I figured it out. It seems to truncate when I use Apple emoticons, so I’ll try to avoid them going forward. Please let me know if text is missing or you can’t view photos =========================== —————————————————— TL;DR Lots of fence walking he first half and country road walking the second half of my 20 km journey into Crystal Brook. It’s nice to stop early, resupply and enjoy a pub meal and accommodation. —————————————————— Extended version: The silence of the lambs? Bah! (Or should that be Baaa)? Who thought that falsehood up? I awoke to a fine day after a rather loud night from the many sheep on the hills around me calling to their lambs and the lambs calling back. Don’t they ever sleep? Maybe they have become nocturnal? Sleeping in the day where they can lie in the sun since they must be shivering all night...? Hiskey’s hut is a nice stone hut. Reading the logbook, apparently it had fallen into a state of disrepair four or five years back, and vermin seriously moved in. The roof had holes in it so pigeons nested inside the hut and there was literally pigeon shit everywhere. As one hiker put it, “It was better than a tent in the wind and rain. Just!” FOHT (Friends of HT) to the rescue! They spent many days here sealing up the hut and trying to make it vermin proof. They’ve more recently planted a heap of trees to the west which, if they survive will make a nice wind break in coming years not to mention another source of firewood from downed branches. Big shout out to FOHT; I’m so impressed with their work with minimal resources. Okay, enough lily gagging around. Time to get walking! I’ve got a pub stay in only an easy 20 kms! Ah, the glamping life for me! Later: The walk started out with a heap of fence following but the landscape was green and rolling. I only had 20 kilometres to walk today which is a welcome break from my usual 30 kilometres. At the 10 kilometres mark, I emerged from the fields and started following tracks, then country roads. Mind numbing monotony but easy fast walking. Short day, why do my feet hurt? WTF? When you about five kilometres from Crystal Brook, the trail suddenly turns off on a sand track *in the wrong direction!* Even worse, it climbs a hill! Why?! Picture this: you are walking along the hypotenuse of an right triangle heading precisely where you want to go, when the trail suddenly turns off to follow the longer sides. Why? Perhaps a psychologist designed this as an experiment to gather post-doc data? I reckon it’s to differentiate between 1) those “good enough” types who would ignore this trail detour and continue on the country road to save themselves three kilometres of unnecessary walking from people like me- 2) Type A, anal obsessive- compulsive driven blokes who if they decide to walk the Heysen Trail, they are going to walk *every damn step of it!* I’m still left wondering why this detour as the landscape, although pretty, was unremarkable. Finally, I reached the edge of Crystal Brook. I had just entered the town when a bloke stopped his Ute in front of me and got out to talk with me. After chatting awhile, he asked what work I did to allow me to walk for 52 days. When he heard I was semi-retired (maybe fully retired now?) after 20 years with Santos, he asked if I knew Ian Pedler. Small world! Ian is an old colleague of mine - we worked together closely and served on the same leadership teams. In fact, our daughter Jess is good mates with Ian’s daughter Hailey; they both work at Woodside in Perth and hang out together. This chap, Roger Jones, happened to be a mate of Ian’s. Small world! I make it a habit when I hit a trail town to get a coffee and a cake. There are no calorie guilt when you walk all day, every day. I might even finish this hike with a flat belly! Something that I haven’t achieved for 20 years despite a routine and regimented workout regime. Diet (and alcohol) always trumps exercise - unless you are walking 50+ days, 6-8 hours a day with a heavy pack on your back! After my coffee and brownie, I walked across the street and got a room in the Crystal Brook Hotel, a 2-story country pub. Rooms are basic and not heated (bed has heat pad) with ablutions down the hall but it feels like luxury after tent and huts! The town of Crystal Brook is great. Quite small but with a historic centre right beside active railway tracks (I wonder if I’ll regret this tonight?). After showering (yay!) and washing out my fragrant clothes in the sink, I went out to resupply. The Foodland was excellent, wide variety of food choices and ver reasonable prices. I picked up some camel & rosemary sausages to add to my ramen. I had a nibble- they are excellent and dirt cheap! I explored the shops and historic buildings along the Main Street. I came across a hairdresser but the shop was locked and empty despite an open sig out front. I walked another 10 metres when I spotted a lady walking towards me with an apron on. I asked her if she was the hair dresser and if I could get my hair buzzed. She said she was but she had a 3pm appointment (it was 5 till) and was booked out. I pleaded that I wanted only a quick #2 buzz all over and she relented. Seven minutes later, my head was freshly buzzed and she was done before her next client showed up. All for $10! I normally wear my hair longer but nothing beats a buzz cut when you are lucky to get a shower once a week! At camp, I run a wet chux through my hair and it feels like a shower. Hiking certainly drives function over fashion! The town has free wifi- amazing for such a small regional town! I took advantage of this to FaceTime my brother Tim from one of the park benches in the town centre. So nice to catch up. My upstairs room in the pub had the dimmest lightbulb I’ve ever experienced. I literally had to wear my camp headlamp on the bed so I could see what I was doing as I repackaged my food into backpack ready ziplocks for each day. I’ve got a system that is working well. I eventually went downstairs and had a few beers and dinner at the pub. I was able to walk outside and FT Lisa and Drew which was nice. Now it’s nearly 9 pm, hiker’s midnight. A comfy bed tonight and another walk tomorrow. Weather forecast says a bit of rain in the morning and cold nights. I have three tent camps in front of me heading into Melrose which will throw up a few challenges with managing a condensation wet tent! I’m looking forward to Melrose as I’m taking a rest day there. Let’s go!
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