Australian Hiker

There were a number of reasons that I chose to walk the Heysen Trail at the end of July. First and foremost the cooler weather was my main reason but water availability was also a major consideration. Given that on average both the northern and southern sections of the trail travel through areas relatively low in rainfall. Then on top of that the southern area of South Australia tends to be a Mediterranean climate with most of the rainfall (about 2/3) falling during the cooler months from May-September. What this means in practice is that the water tanks provided along the trail are more likely to contain water at my proposed time of travel having usually had decent rainfalls over the previous few months.

The Heysen Trail website identifies 70 public water sources long the trail, not including towns, but water supplies can be unreliable, particularly in the north.

In my last post I talked about one of my navigation options being the Guthook app and a big bonus of this are the water reports posted by hikers as they go. The Heysen Trail website also contains water information but internet access may not always be available. The thing I like about Guthook is that you can check the water history going back a few months to see what the pattern of water use is as well as recommendations about where you should be picking up water. One of the jobs still left to do is to make a list of water resupply points and identify sections I may have to carry extra, just in case.

Over the past year I have shifted to an MSR Thrulink inline water filter so if worst comes to worst and I have to drink farm water (including sheep and cattle saliva), I’m prepared. I will also always carry a small supply of water purification tablets as a back up just in case although I have never had to use these.