—————————————————— TL;DR The terrain got steep quickly as I climbed into the southern Flinders and I had a gruelling day of steep ups and downs. My body is up to it now but tiring nevertheless. Camped on a ridge overlooking the Spenser Gulf. Stunning sunset tonight. —————————————————— Extended version: Today I woke to a cacophony of magpies, kookaburras and other birds greeting the sun. When I finally mustered the fortitude to get up (nothing like a short day to drive away any motivation to get moving), I did my usual in-tent camp chores. A bit about camp routines (skip if boring): I’m getting an efficient camp routine. When I make the decision to rise, I open the valve on my inflatable mat under me and I’m past the point of no return as I settle down onto the cold tent floor. Next, I unzip my cushy velour pillow and take my puffy out and put it on. I then turn the pillow inside out as it becomes a DCF dry bag that I’ll put the puffy back in, but only right before walking. I’ll only then get out of my quilt but stay inside the silk liner while I stuff my slightly damp (from condensation around my feet where I touch the tent walls) quilt into my clothing DCF dry pod. I then roll up my inflatable mat towards the valve, squeezing all the air out. I have to fold it in half lengthwise and roll it again to completely get all the air out. I close the valve and I’m amazed how compact it has become! I fold it into a small rectangle as I store it in the water bladder mesh net inside my backpack. I don’t use a bladder and the mat adds padding against my back. Finally, I look around the tent and gather and put away any loose items like my headlamp, sunglasses and battery bank. Only now do I get out of the silk liner and stuff it into its stuff bag which gets crammed in the clothing/ quilt pod. Finally I’m ready to go outside given my bladder is bursting! Still, from experience, it’s too cold to go outside and then come back in to pack up. Outside, it’s a crisp frosty morning. No ice on the tent but plenty of frost around. On go my gloves as aching hands are a daily curse of my mornings. I pack up things i don’t need into my pack, place sleep mat in bladder picket and clothes pod in bottom of pack. Brekkie time now. I eat cold granola with water and milk powder. I fire up the methylated spirits (alcohol) stove to heat water. There is a trick to lighting a metho stove in the cold and fortunately my Pepsi can stove has a small primer tray around the outside where I can pour a little extra metho. Light this and the inside will light in time once the alcohol starts volatilising. I’m confident of this and don’t even wait before the main chamber lights before placing windscreen and pot of water on top to heat. Metho stoves are dead quiet but while I eat (in about seven minutes) my pot starts boiling and I make morning coffee. I use tea bag style instant coffee. Not barista approved but better than powder. I always heat a little extra water and use my half chux cleaning washcloth to tidy up. Then, I brush teeth. I then treat water for the day; I usually carry 1.8 litres in two bottles. Now I’m ready to pack up! The pack is easy to finish: food bag next (heaviest item so second in pack for good centre of gravity, then various stuff sacks and cook kit, ending with puffy dry sack on top where I can get to it quickly. I usually have a decision at this point whether to wait to see if the rising sun will dry my condensation wet tent or just pack it up wet. Have I said before I detest packing a wet tent? :-) The decision usually comes down to whether I need to get moving to cover the trail distance planned that day. Wow! 9:30 am now, my latest start ever! So dear reader, what was the point of all this detail? Well, it might be helpful for some future hiker but actually it kept me entertained on a bloody cold morning while I waited for the tent to dry! OMG! It’s 1:30 pm now, 13 kilometres into my 20 klicks for today and I seriously underestimated the challenge in front of me today. It started well enough with a gradual climb along country road that eventually turned into a fire break. I started to get better and better views down to Port Pirie and the waters of the Spencer Gulf. I eventually reached a point where Mt Remarkable National Park - Napperby Block was directly adjacent to my west. The terrain got very rugged. The relief or elevation changes were amazing. I pictured this being like the highlands of PNG but no doubt PNG is worse! My sunny morning disappeared and a a narrow band of grey dark clouds hung over my mountain path; hell, probably caused by the abrupt rise. I could see sun on the lowlands on either side. It got chilly but exertion kept me warm. In the distance, perhaps only a hill or two over, I could see the Television Tower, the next major milestone on today’s hike. Eventually, it looked like it was on the next hill, but I would climb that hill and not get there. It made no sense. Greatest optical illusion ever, getting there was like trying to drive to the base of a bright rainbow. You never get there... hiker hell. It’s not that I couldn’t physically handle it, I can after all these weeks, but it’s the mind fuck of always finding one more steep drop and climb in front of me when I crest the next rise. Picture this: you lay your hand flat on the table, fingers slightly spread. An ant sees something on the other side of your hand and starts crawling over your fingers, down to the table between each finger, and so on. On top of your fingers, the ant’s destination looks close but it’s all an illusion. I was that ant today! I did see a feral deer. We both froze and I got a blurry pic before the deer ran the other way. When I finally got to the TV Tower, I realised it was a major facility with multiple towers, including the huge TV one, satellite dishes and large buildings with loud engines - cooling electrical equipment? The walk got easier after the television tower, although there were still some climbs. I finally arrived at my destination, Go Cart Shelter in Telowie Gorge Conservation Park. It’s not really a Shelter, more of a roof large surface designed to catch water to fill a fire water tank and a drinking water tank. The surface underneath is sloped dirt and rock. It’s in a pretty spot though, right by the drop-off down to the Spencer Gulf. I could see the lights of Whyalla on the other side. Hiker Family Robinson, did you see me wave at you? I found a level spot to set my tent up, did camp chores, had an obligatory warming fire and ate dinner while talking to Lisa and watching s beautiful sunset. Nice end to a tiring day. I’m two days away from Melrose and my next rest day!

Hiking/Backpacking

Heysen Trail, South Australia

Northern Areas Council, South Australia, Australia

time : Jun 19, 2019 9:32 AM

duration : 8h 17m 29s

distance : 20.2 km

total_ascent : 672 m

highest_point : 730 m

avg_speed : 4.1 km/h

user_id : gstreet

user_firstname : Carl

user_lastname : Greenstreet

—————————————————— TL;DR The terrain got steep quickly as I climbed into the southern Flinders and I had a gruelling day of steep ups and downs. My body is up to it now but tiring nevertheless. Camped on a ridge overlooking the Spenser Gulf. Stunning sunset tonight. —————————————————— Extended version: Today I woke to a cacophony of magpies, kookaburras and other birds greeting the sun. When I finally mustered the fortitude to get up (nothing like a short day to drive away any motivation to get moving), I did my usual in-tent camp chores. A bit about camp routines (skip if boring): I’m getting an efficient camp routine. When I make the decision to rise, I open the valve on my inflatable mat under me and I’m past the point of no return as I settle down onto the cold tent floor. Next, I unzip my cushy velour pillow and take my puffy out and put it on. I then turn the pillow inside out as it becomes a DCF dry bag that I’ll put the puffy back in, but only right before walking. I’ll only then get out of my quilt but stay inside the silk liner while I stuff my slightly damp (from condensation around my feet where I touch the tent walls) quilt into my clothing DCF dry pod. I then roll up my inflatable mat towards the valve, squeezing all the air out. I have to fold it in half lengthwise and roll it again to completely get all the air out. I close the valve and I’m amazed how compact it has become! I fold it into a small rectangle as I store it in the water bladder mesh net inside my backpack. I don’t use a bladder and the mat adds padding against my back. Finally, I look around the tent and gather and put away any loose items like my headlamp, sunglasses and battery bank. Only now do I get out of the silk liner and stuff it into its stuff bag which gets crammed in the clothing/ quilt pod. Finally I’m ready to go outside given my bladder is bursting! Still, from experience, it’s too cold to go outside and then come back in to pack up. Outside, it’s a crisp frosty morning. No ice on the tent but plenty of frost around. On go my gloves as aching hands are a daily curse of my mornings. I pack up things i don’t need into my pack, place sleep mat in bladder picket and clothes pod in bottom of pack. Brekkie time now. I eat cold granola with water and milk powder. I fire up the methylated spirits (alcohol) stove to heat water. There is a trick to lighting a metho stove in the cold and fortunately my Pepsi can stove has a small primer tray around the outside where I can pour a little extra metho. Light this and the inside will light in time once the alcohol starts volatilising. I’m confident of this and don’t even wait before the main chamber lights before placing windscreen and pot of water on top to heat. Metho stoves are dead quiet but while I eat (in about seven minutes) my pot starts boiling and I make morning coffee. I use tea bag style instant coffee. Not barista approved but better than powder. I always heat a little extra water and use my half chux cleaning washcloth to tidy up. Then, I brush teeth. I then treat water for the day; I usually carry 1.8 litres in two bottles. Now I’m ready to pack up! The pack is easy to finish: food bag next (heaviest item so second in pack for good centre of gravity, then various stuff sacks and cook kit, ending with puffy dry sack on top where I can get to it quickly. I usually have a decision at this point whether to wait to see if the rising sun will dry my condensation wet tent or just pack it up wet. Have I said before I detest packing a wet tent? :-) The decision usually comes down to whether I need to get moving to cover the trail distance planned that day. Wow! 9:30 am now, my latest start ever! So dear reader, what was the point of all this detail? Well, it might be helpful for some future hiker but actually it kept me entertained on a bloody cold morning while I waited for the tent to dry! OMG! It’s 1:30 pm now, 13 kilometres into my 20 klicks for today and I seriously underestimated the challenge in front of me today. It started well enough with a gradual climb along country road that eventually turned into a fire break. I started to get better and better views down to Port Pirie and the waters of the Spencer Gulf. I eventually reached a point where Mt Remarkable National Park - Napperby Block was directly adjacent to my west. The terrain got very rugged. The relief or elevation changes were amazing. I pictured this being like the highlands of PNG but no doubt PNG is worse! My sunny morning disappeared and a a narrow band of grey dark clouds hung over my mountain path; hell, probably caused by the abrupt rise. I could see sun on the lowlands on either side. It got chilly but exertion kept me warm. In the distance, perhaps only a hill or two over, I could see the Television Tower, the next major milestone on today’s hike. Eventually, it looked like it was on the next hill, but I would climb that hill and not get there. It made no sense. Greatest optical illusion ever, getting there was like trying to drive to the base of a bright rainbow. You never get there... hiker hell. It’s not that I couldn’t physically handle it, I can after all these weeks, but it’s the mind fuck of always finding one more steep drop and climb in front of me when I crest the next rise. Picture this: you lay your hand flat on the table, fingers slightly spread. An ant sees something on the other side of your hand and starts crawling over your fingers, down to the table between each finger, and so on. On top of your fingers, the ant’s destination looks close but it’s all an illusion. I was that ant today! I did see a feral deer. We both froze and I got a blurry pic before the deer ran the other way. When I finally got to the TV Tower, I realised it was a major facility with multiple towers, including the huge TV one, satellite dishes and large buildings with loud engines - cooling electrical equipment? The walk got easier after the television tower, although there were still some climbs. I finally arrived at my destination, Go Cart Shelter in Telowie Gorge Conservation Park. It’s not really a Shelter, more of a roof large surface designed to catch water to fill a fire water tank and a drinking water tank. The surface underneath is sloped dirt and rock. It’s in a pretty spot though, right by the drop-off down to the Spencer Gulf. I could see the lights of Whyalla on the other side. Hiker Family Robinson, did you see me wave at you? I found a level spot to set my tent up, did camp chores, had an obligatory warming fire and ate dinner while talking to Lisa and watching s beautiful sunset. Nice end to a tiring day. I’m two days away from Melrose and my next rest day!