Australian Hiker

Having come off the Great South West Walk in early May I certainly feel that I have a good level of fitness using that 250km+ walk as a testing opportunity to see how I would be likely to go on the much longer Heysen Trail. After a few weeks of rest to recovery from that walk , and if I’m honest to catch up on a lot of paperwork, I was back into my fitness training which included lifting weights in the gym, pack training, hill walking, and generally increasing my opportunity to walk whenever I can.  I’m down the last 4 weeks starting walking from the northern trailhead of the Heysen Trail on 22 July and given the time I turn up I only have a very short walk that day to the very first campsite before starting to do some serious distances the next day.

My weekly fitness regime currently includes daily walking around 7km, which I’m increasing in length on a weekly basis, at least one hike of up to around 15+km, three weight sessions and  two cardio sessions, hill walking and pack training. I integrate pack training into the last two months of my preparation and I am now using a pack that is permanently set up and now weighs in at 18.5kg which is around my maximum pack weight for this walk. While this physical training is extremely important, it has an added side effect of preparing me mentally and as a solo hiker this can’t be overlooked.

Over the weekend just gone Gill and I walked the 27km Coast track just south of Sydney and while I was only carrying an 8kg daypack this was the longest distance I had walked in many years which included large elevation changes, both up and down. I certainly felt it at the end of the day but had fully recovered after a very good nights sleep. Even though I wasn’t carrying a fully loaded pack I feel a lot more confidant gaining into the Heysen having done this track.

I originally planned to do the Heysen about 5 years ago but the trail was impacted by COVID and didn’t happen. This time round I have planned this walk at a much slower pace but will play it by ear and if my fitness is up to it I will walk longer days than planned.