Today was an early start as I tried to get away at 7:00am and ended up leaving not long after with one hiker leaving before me and one leaving after. A much cooler night last night and when I woke up I had ice on the roof of the tent inner from my breath when I woke up my hands were freezing as I packed my tent away but that didn’t last long. I did however have a good nights sleep, in blocks as usual because I was in my sleeping bag for over 10 hours.
Another great day as fast as weather in concerned which looks like continuing for the next week. And still not hot and while I don’t know what the actual temperatures are until I get to Wilpena Pound it’s definitely under 20 degrees Celsius.
i start the day with a walk up a hill and then make my way around the adjacent hills and valleys. The trail is so narrow in places that I have one tracking pole down the slope and one up because they won’t fit on the trail. In a couple of places I wouldn’t have wanted to slip as there was a drop off that would have resulted in serious damage if you went over. Eventually this narrow track defended down into a creek bed which I followers for a while before heading back up the hill again through the sparse bushland.
Once I cleared the hills it was walking through the Ilkara-Flinders Nationl Park which also included passing the Ediacaran Global boundary which is a geologically significant location. From the it was lunch at the Tremont Campsite where I came across two cyclists riding the Mawson Trail. One thing that it’s worth noting is that the signage changes in the national park and while it’s a bit understated it still works.
This pattern continued on for the day until I eventually came out onto hard packed road before walking about 1km to Yanyanna Hut. I don’t know what it is about me but I keep on getting asked by drivers if I need a lift or some water. It happened on the Bibbulmun and now the Heysen!
As far as wildlife goes another emu and other assorted birds, oh and a small lizard but nothing else. Flora wise the plants are heading towards flowering and apart from the ever present Hop Bushes there isn’t a lot of other flowers our and about but in looking at a lot of the plants it won’t be to long.
I made it into Yanyanna Hut at just on 4:00pm and given the distance my travelling speed is now 3.2 km/hour. Slow compared of what I used to do and slower than others on the track but I expect this to pick up as my fitness improves and I loose some weight.
Yanyanna Hut is a simple metal shed with a wooden platform outside where we all cooked dinner. All 3 of us slept inside which meant that we didn’t have to pack up a wet tent the next day. We all took precautions with our packs/food just in case of rodents but the only one I saw was out in the fields.
Another early night after a warm meal!
One thing that I do on my long distance hikes is share my location through Garmin Mapshare. Through this online map you will be able to see where I am, with a time delay built in, and how I’m progressing. If you are out on-trail and have internet access to be able to use this map, say hi if I’m nearby. The farther apart the pins, the faster I am moving! In addition if you zoom in you can see the terrain from close up however it doesn’t really reflect the lush state of this area at this stage. On occasion I am taking a rest day so if I don’t appear to be moving then that’s where I’ll be.
You can see where I will be able to see where I’m at the following link:
https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/HeysentrailAH
If you have any questions about my journey drop me an email at info@australianhiker.com.au and I will reply when I can within the whims of the internet signal which will be erratic on the northern end of the trail so it may be several days before I can respond.
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Previous Post Today was an early start as I tried to get away at 7:00am and ended up leaving not long after with one hiker leaving before me and one leaving after. A much cooler night last night and when I woke up I had ice on the roof of the tent inner from my […]
