Three weeks of walking today! Time is flying but a bit over four more weeks to go! 😬😬 We went to bed last night after a few warm pleasant hours sitting by a roaring fire. After arriving at the hut, I dragged a huge gum log to the hut to leave for the next overnighters. It was long and heavy and took me forever but I like to replace the wood I use. There is plenty of kindling near the hut but you have to walk some ways, >300m, to find wood of any size. The big logs are really what makes a nice fire. I’ve been running a maintenance survey along the trail, documenting maintenance issues as I go. It’s easy - snap a photo and I have both a visual reminder and GPS coordinates. In the huts, I check the fire extinguisher and test the fire alarms. In Huppatz, someone has taken down the alarm and disabled it. When I leave the fire to go to my sleeping bag on the sleeping platform, I see why. The entire rear of the hut is smoky from our fire. Not unbearable but certainly noticeable. I wonder if the chimney needs some sort of maintenance? Geert and I have a slow morning as we only have ~20 kms to walk today. Finally, we scatter the fire coals, replenish the kindling and sweep the hut and we are off up THE BIG HILL! It’s in shade but I appreciate the climb as it warms me up. One we crest the ridge, we see roos on the rocks ahead. We walk into the sunshine and enjoy the stunning views and realise it’s a nice day! It becomes a really nice walking day as Geert and I traverse down the ridge and across the long agricultural valley. It’s become more arid than lush and the fields are littered with stones turned up by the plough. Geert and I have very different walking speeds so I often walk on ahead and periodically wait for him to catch up and we take breaks together. It’s a nice change to have company rather than my usual solo walking. We cross the water pipelines that I think run from the Murray River to Whyalla. Then it’s back up the other side of the valley, following the same straight fence kind that we’ve followed all morning for kilometres. We walk under some high voltage towers and I can hear the electricity crackling loudly above our heads. Eventually, after walking straight fence lines for nearly ten kilometres, we wind up forested valleys and gum lined creek beds of Hopkins Creek Conservation Park. We have a bit of a climb but I really like this walking as the landscape is forested, remote and beautiful. We cross into World’s End Conservation Park and the landscape becomes a bit more arid but still lovely. We follow a winding creek bed, picturesque with outcrop sides and easy gravel base footing. It’s an enjoyable section to walk. We come to an area of bluestone cliffs that looks quarried, right angle cuts where blocks were removed probably to make some of the area’s historic homes. Finally, we walk out to the Burra Highway and have to road walk along the bitumen for several kilometres. There are few cars and less road kill than last year. The trail then cuts back toward the ranges, following the Burra Creek which is lined by massive gum trees. This area looks and feels like the Flinders Ranges. At the end is Burra Gorge World’s End campsite which is popular with Rv’ers and Grey Nomads. No water is available here so we walk on parallel to the range for a kilometre or so until we come to the more spartan World’s End hiker walk-in campsite. Not much here other than a water tank and a tree and shallow gully to serve as a windbreak. We pitch our tents and boil a jug for coffee. A group walks by and says hello. The two guys, Mark and Les stop to chat. Turns out they started at Huppatz Hut a few hours after us for a day walk (they are car shuffling). They saw our names in the hut logbook but never caught us. Geert and I eat early and turn in at dark. It promises to be near freezing tonight so I put on my long john bottoms for the first time and I’m also sleeping with my water filter, Deloris, to keep it from freezing and being ruined. Tomorrow is a >20 km, mostly boring walk into Burra. The reward is seeing Lisa, Shaz and Cubes, a much needed shower after five days on trail, laundry and a cracking good dinner out! Ah, the glamping life for me! Carl / Pilgrim ——— Weather: cold morning (ice in sheep water troughs) but turning into sunny 13 deg day where I was able to comfortably walk in shirt sleeves Calories burnt: 2271

Hiking/Backpacking

Heysen Trail, South Australia

The Regional Council of Goyder, South Australia, Australia

time : Jul 8, 2020 8:18 AM

duration : 9h 3m 39s

distance : 20.8 km

total_ascent : 292 m

highest_point : 625 m

avg_speed : 4.0 km/h

user_id : gstreet

user_firstname : Carl

user_lastname : Greenstreet

Three weeks of walking today! Time is flying but a bit over four more weeks to go! 😬😬 We went to bed last night after a few warm pleasant hours sitting by a roaring fire. After arriving at the hut, I dragged a huge gum log to the hut to leave for the next overnighters. It was long and heavy and took me forever but I like to replace the wood I use. There is plenty of kindling near the hut but you have to walk some ways, >300m, to find wood of any size. The big logs are really what makes a nice fire. I’ve been running a maintenance survey along the trail, documenting maintenance issues as I go. It’s easy - snap a photo and I have both a visual reminder and GPS coordinates. In the huts, I check the fire extinguisher and test the fire alarms. In Huppatz, someone has taken down the alarm and disabled it. When I leave the fire to go to my sleeping bag on the sleeping platform, I see why. The entire rear of the hut is smoky from our fire. Not unbearable but certainly noticeable. I wonder if the chimney needs some sort of maintenance? Geert and I have a slow morning as we only have ~20 kms to walk today. Finally, we scatter the fire coals, replenish the kindling and sweep the hut and we are off up THE BIG HILL! It’s in shade but I appreciate the climb as it warms me up. One we crest the ridge, we see roos on the rocks ahead. We walk into the sunshine and enjoy the stunning views and realise it’s a nice day! It becomes a really nice walking day as Geert and I traverse down the ridge and across the long agricultural valley. It’s become more arid than lush and the fields are littered with stones turned up by the plough. Geert and I have very different walking speeds so I often walk on ahead and periodically wait for him to catch up and we take breaks together. It’s a nice change to have company rather than my usual solo walking. We cross the water pipelines that I think run from the Murray River to Whyalla. Then it’s back up the other side of the valley, following the same straight fence kind that we’ve followed all morning for kilometres. We walk under some high voltage towers and I can hear the electricity crackling loudly above our heads. Eventually, after walking straight fence lines for nearly ten kilometres, we wind up forested valleys and gum lined creek beds of Hopkins Creek Conservation Park. We have a bit of a climb but I really like this walking as the landscape is forested, remote and beautiful. We cross into World’s End Conservation Park and the landscape becomes a bit more arid but still lovely. We follow a winding creek bed, picturesque with outcrop sides and easy gravel base footing. It’s an enjoyable section to walk. We come to an area of bluestone cliffs that looks quarried, right angle cuts where blocks were removed probably to make some of the area’s historic homes. Finally, we walk out to the Burra Highway and have to road walk along the bitumen for several kilometres. There are few cars and less road kill than last year. The trail then cuts back toward the ranges, following the Burra Creek which is lined by massive gum trees. This area looks and feels like the Flinders Ranges. At the end is Burra Gorge World’s End campsite which is popular with Rv’ers and Grey Nomads. No water is available here so we walk on parallel to the range for a kilometre or so until we come to the more spartan World’s End hiker walk-in campsite. Not much here other than a water tank and a tree and shallow gully to serve as a windbreak. We pitch our tents and boil a jug for coffee. A group walks by and says hello. The two guys, Mark and Les stop to chat. Turns out they started at Huppatz Hut a few hours after us for a day walk (they are car shuffling). They saw our names in the hut logbook but never caught us. Geert and I eat early and turn in at dark. It promises to be near freezing tonight so I put on my long john bottoms for the first time and I’m also sleeping with my water filter, Deloris, to keep it from freezing and being ruined. Tomorrow is a >20 km, mostly boring walk into Burra. The reward is seeing Lisa, Shaz and Cubes, a much needed shower after five days on trail, laundry and a cracking good dinner out! Ah, the glamping life for me! Carl / Pilgrim ——— Weather: cold morning (ice in sheep water troughs) but turning into sunny 13 deg day where I was able to comfortably walk in shirt sleeves Calories burnt: 2271