Bushwalk Australia

Ok. So here we can dream, plot & scheme our 'to-do' list, or as such or dreams list in the outdoor field.
International, Mainland Australia and even Tassie.

Here is some of my more major expedition dreams

Kayak Whitsundsays
Trek Patagonia
Climb a 6000m Himalaya peak
Traverse the Eldon Range to Lake St Claire
Walk the lenght of California via the Pacific Crest Trail
Walk from Melaleuca to Macquarie Harbour
Trek Ethopian Highlands

OK, well the imagination can run riot here I guess :

For starters:

• Everest Base Camp trek
• Climb one of the Himalayan "trekking peaks" (am I even physiologically capable of doing any of this?)
• Macchu Picchu
• A lot of NZ stuff (never been there), probably starting with Milford track
• Wilsons Promontory
• Victorian High Country. Heaps of possibilities. Only visited Mt Buffalo to date.
• Some multi-day walks in NSW Snowy Mountains. Have done a lot of day trips there but nothing longer. Maybe Jagungal to start with.
• Budawangs in NSW. We climbed Pigeon House Mountain on the way home from Tasmania in May and looking out over them inspired me.
• A multi-day trip through Walls of Jerusalem NP
• Revisit Pine Valley/Labyrinth area for a few days
• Cross the Traveller Range
• A leisurely return to the Overland Track and do more side trips

Many other Tassie day trips and longer on the To Do List including those I didn't finish on previous attempts:

• Re-attempt Black Bluff
• Stacks Bluff
• Drys Bluff
• Projection Bluff (how many bluffs are there?)
• Mt Field beyond Tarn Shelf and Mt Field East
• Mt Claude and Mt Van Dyke on Roland plateau
• Meander Falls
• Mt Snowy
• Tasman Peninsula
• Lake Bill, Myrtle, Mt Roogoona

Too many more to list...

Closer to home the list goes on and on...

Nice thread well mine would be:

- Denison, spires, prince of wales ranges
- West Coast (from cockle creek to strahan)
- Eldons (from lake barrington to lake st clair)

and seen as though I just bought a sea kayak I'd love to paddle bathurst habour/port davey region.

Michael.

johnw wrote:[*]Some multi-day walks in NSW Snowy Mountains. Have done a lot of day trips there but nothing longer. Maybe Jagungal to start with.
[*]Budawangs in NSW. We climbed Pigeon House Mountain on the way home from Tasmania in May and looking out over them inspired me.

The Jagungal wilderness is a beautiful area (I have numerous photos including my avatar), I walk there annually in December. I would love to have seen it before the fires. Be sure to stop in a Valentine Falls when you go. There is a nice hut at the top of the falls and a number of pools worthy of a short dip at the base. The water is freezing though, even on the hot summer days. Grey Mare Hut is also a must. I recently read that a number of years ago ('03) walking off track was prohibited to allow regeneration from extensive fires through the region (this included Jagungal). I'm not sure if this still stands or not, however, there is certainly a track up the mountain its just not marked or as wide as the other ones in the area.

I've also climbed the Pigeon House, and the nearby Castle. Both have great views. I'd love to do some multi-day walks in there though I'm not sure that you can camp in the monolith valley anymore, which would have been the ideal spot.

Anyway, back on topic, other tracks/places I'd like to walk are:
Overseas:
• Everest Base Camp
• Kilimanjaro
• Milford Track
• Inca Trail
• Mt McKinley
• Pyrenees and/or French Alps
- combined with some Tour de France watching
• Trek through Sierra Nevada
• Grand Canyon (some of the more secluded parts)
• Trek through the redwoods of California

Australia (not NSW):
• Wilsons Prom
- Try and combine it with some Australian Open watching while I'm there
• Larapinta Trail (or parts of)
• Overland Track
- Booked in to do that this summer.
• Some or all of the Australian Alpine Walking Track

NSW:
• K to K in a day (this summer. Just finished the 3 day version)
• More walking in the Grose Valley and Wild Dog mountains
• Trek Wollemi National park
• Some or all of the Great North Walk

A lot of walking there, but I'm still fairly young so hopefully I'll knock a fair few of them over. I'm from Sydney so it will be nice to see some of tassie. I've only just stumbled across these forums and it seems there is a wealth of information. How I wish there was a NSW version.

Hi Ephebus,
It sounds like we've probably crossed paths at some point!

Ephebus wrote:The Jagungal wilderness is a beautiful area. I would love to have seen it before the fires.I recently read that a number of years ago ('03) walking off track was prohibited to allow regeneration from extensive fires through the region (this included Jagungal). I'm not sure if this still stands or not, however, there is certainly a track up the mountain its just not marked or as wide as the other ones in the area.

I'm pretty sure it's OK now. About 12 months after the fires we walked from Guthega Dam up as far as Schlink Pass planning to walk off track to Mt Gungartan. That side of the road had been declared OK and we had permission from one of the rangers at Jindabyne, however when I saw the condition of the ground I couldn't continue in good conscience. It was still RS IMHO. So we turned around and returned via Disappointment Spur.

Ephebus wrote:I've also climbed the Pigeon House, and the nearby Castle. Both have great views. I'd love to do some multi-day walks in there though I'm not sure that you can camp in the monolith valley anymore, which would have been the ideal spot.

Yes, I believe there have been major changes to where you can camp due to overuse of the wilderness area. There are also issues with unexploded ordinance in some places.

Ephebus wrote:• Overland Track
- Booked in to do that this summer.

We did it last summer. Take as many days as you can manage and do the side trips.

Ephebus wrote:NSW:
• K to K in a day (this summer. Just finished the 3 day version)
• More walking in the Grose Valley and Wild Dog mountains
• Trek Wollemi National park
• Some or all of the Great North Walk

We've done some overnight walks in Grose Valley, Wild Dog Mtns and Wollemi NP including:
• Evans Lookout, Horse Track, Acacia Flat/Blue Gum Forest, Perrys Lookdown, Pulpit Rock, Evans L.
• Carlons to Mobbs Swamp and Splendour Rock via Black Horse Ridge
• Carlons Creek, Breakfast Creek, Coxs River, Ironpot Mountain
• Newnes to Glen Davis
• Mountain Lagoon to Colo Meroo
and numerous day trips all over the place. Amongst other things we've been doing sections of the Great North Walk as day trips from time to time. Cowan to Taffys Rock is an interesting variation on one of those.

Ephebus wrote:A lot of walking there, but I'm still fairly young so hopefully I'll knock a fair few of them over.

I recently turned 54 and still consider myself fairly young

Ephebus wrote:I'm from Sydney so it will be nice to see some of tassie. I've only just stumbled across these forums and it seems there is a wealth of information. How I wish there was a NSW version.

These forums are great and there's no shortage of things to see in Tassie in my experience . The only similar forum covering NSW is unmoderated, and has sadly been trashed in recent times, but is at http://groups.google.com.au/group/aus.bushwalking/topics?hl=en&gvc=2

Having a well-run moderated forum like this is great resource, although I'm sure it creates a lot of work for Nik.

It will take a lot of time and money but I hope to one day complete the 7 Summits.
First I need to start on some easier stuff to get in shape! I hope to do this within the next ten years though.

The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven continents.
Kilimanjaro (Africa)
Vinson Massif (Antarctica)
Kosciuszko (Aus) / Carstensz Pyramid (NG)
Everest (Asia)
Elbrus (Europe)
Mount McKinley (North America)
Aconcagua (South America)

Other walks I'd love to one day do:
K2
The Inca Trail
The Great Wall (only part section)
Milford Track
North Pole
South Pole

Back in Tassie:
Overland Track
Southwest Track
Heaps more!

I just re-read my post, it sounds like I'm a little crazy. Maybe a little too optimistic, but we'll see.

Steve wrote: I just re-read my post, it sounds like I'm a little crazy. Maybe a little too optimistic, but we'll see.

Maybe just a little Steve, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of craziness and optimism in your ambitions. Much better than having no plans!
Not too sure about K2 though, think this week's sad disaster there could be a bit off-putting.
Good luck with the next 10 years of adventures, but remember that many of us can still have wonderful experiences even after turning 30.

Well, you can see my todo list here. But that's just a very short list of realistic Tassie walks.

I guess I should fess up with my list of walks that seem just that little bit out of reach!

In order of preference:

- Machu Picchu
- Kilimanjaro
- The Milford Track
- Kokoda
- Great Wall of China

Chris wrote:Good luck with the next 10 years of adventures, but remember that many of us can still have wonderful experiences even after turning 30.

Very true, I'd like to have attempted them sooner rather than later, so if it was over a longer period it wouldn't matter. Got another 60 or so years of adventuring to go!

Oh how could I forget Kokoda, thanks Specs!

Kokoda... Well checkout http://www.salvos.org.au/INVESTATREKS for a great package.

Ephebus wrote:NSW:
• K to K in a day (this summer. Just finished the 3 day version)
• More walking in the Grose Valley and Wild Dog mountains
• Trek Wollemi National park
• Some or all of the Great North Walk
.

Ephebus, some good ones there which mirror some of mine. I'd recommend K to K in a day (assume you mean Kanangra to Katoomba, rather than Kiandra to Kosciusko ?). I did it a few years ago, around 17 hours. Great fun, some really good country.

I really want to use my packraft and go Wolgan - Junction - Colo - Putty Road, and a few walk / fish trips with the packraft.

This is an exellent topic.
Every bodys DREAM, all what we need is a GOOD HEALTH and loads of MONEY ,(the expeditions are expensive), keep fit and have a great spirit and WISH list can come true.
I started with Kakoda-achived June08, kilimanjaro - planning on 20.02.09 and maybe next year Mt Everest-base camp.
My wish list would go up and up..... But...Work and wish list have to combine to together.
Let's hope are WISH lists will be achive by the time we die.And that is a big task.
well dipence what is your wish list.???

My current wishlist:
1-- I know it isn't Int'l, but I'd love to complete the South Coast after two weather-thwarted attempts
2-- Patagonia
3-- Annapurna or another Himalayan trek
4-- Klondike Trail, Alaska/Canada
5-- Wonderland circuit, Mt Rainier
6-- Pyranees Mts
7-- The Dusky Track & anywhere else I haven't been in NZ
8-- (another national one) Bibbulmun Track

patagonia!

Well some of my wishes are coming true, I'm off in 6 weeks, back to Nepal, my second visit.
I will be attempting a 6000m peak, Island Peak, which is one of the easiest and most well known trekking peaks in Nepal, but I'm very much looking forward to the experience.
Also, I'll be trekking in the Everest region for 25 days, in the Langtang Region for 12 days and spending 12 days rafting on the Karnali & Bhote Kosi rivers. All it took was a full season of guiding, a bank loan, a credit card and a job without any real commitments.

YAY

Too many to mention in Tassie, Larapinta & Kakadu in NT,The entire Bibbulmun Track(I've done bits'n' pieces), NZ, Kamchatka and I saw some pics of Heard Island the other day(wow), BTW, Australia's highest mountain is on Heard Island which also has our only Volcano!

Oh...and the rest, enjoy Nepal NickD, make sure you post some pics, Cheers

Overseas:

Mustang (Nepal)
Amazon (Brazil)
Borneo (Indonesia)
Sumatra (Indonesia)
Western Sahara (Morocco)
Khao Sok (Thailand)
Silk Route (China, Central Asia)
Langtang (Nepal)
Everest Base Camp (Tibetan Side)
Tigers Nest (Bhutan)
Inca Trail (Peru)

.... So many more!

Nationally:

Kakadu
Blue Mountains
Kimberlys
East Gippsland

Tassie:

Tarkine Falls
Reynolds Falls
South Coast Track
Western Arthurs
Florentine
Mount Donaldson

Everywhere.

And another 100 years of reasonably fit-and-active life in which to do it . . .

scavenger wrote:Everywhere.

And another 100 years of reasonably fit-and-active life in which to do it . . .

Don't forget an endless supply of cash to get to these places lol!!

Cash? As in money? That'd be harder to arrange than the time.

Hehe yeh several lifetimes of a millionaire would be nice...

Well for me it's all about Tassie! I have no real interest to travel elsewhere, I just love it here so much!!

My dream trips would be

1st One that im doing in Feb - Spires/POW
2nd Raft the Franklin
3rd Fedders
4th Franklin Range
5th Eldons
6th Walk the West coast (Macqaurie to Melaleuca)
7th Finish the peakbaggers list..

This is my wishlist:

The Overland Track in summer, The Overland Track in Winter, The South West, Wineglass Bay, Bay of Fires and some walks up on Mount Wellington
Mount Kosciuszko
The Milford Track, The Routeburn Track, The Kepler Track and Tongariro Alpine Crossing in NZ
Lord Howe Island (up Mount Gower and numerous other walks)
Mount Blanc loop and maybe Switzerland as well
Machu Picchu
Patagonia
Nepal
Scotland
The Grand Canyon
Yosemite
Litchfield National Park (The Tabletop Track)
a trip to Antarctica and Macquarie Island

That lot will probably take me 30 years.

For me there was generally lots of inspiration on David Noble's website http://www.david-noble.net/index.html.

I left Italy, or, more specifically, the Amalfi Coast and knew I'd missed out on something. It wasn't until I got home that I found out what it was - Santiero degli Dei - the Path of the Gods. It stuck in the back of my mind and gnawed at me.
How lucky I was to return to the area last year and fulfill my dream of the path. Okay, it's not Everest, Macchu Picchu or Kokoda but, hey, I had no pain, only pleasure, for over 4 hours. I'll leave you with these pics.

Wow, awesome shots!

Some great lists there and has certainly gotten my mind going at the prospect.

So, in no real order;

Torres Del Paine
Annapurna
Yosemite (snow shoeing)
Hotham to Bogong
Climb Mt Rainier
Kepler Track
Overland Track
German/Austrian Alps
Mt Fuji
Climb Mont Blanc

A few of these are somewhat in motion in terms of planning, booking, etc., but putting in down like this might be a nice prod to not be too lax.

kepler is pretty short, if you're going to new zealand put some more tracks in. cascae saddle. dart, routeburn,
it's possible to tramp most of the way to te anau to teh kepler if you're really keen donwn the greenstone and Mavora

What about crossing Greenland on skis, or the Patagonian Ice Caps?
Symphony on Skis (NZ)

Federation Peak
Great Ocean Walk
K to K

The Kepler is on the list for personal reasons, Wayno. It's a long and old story but it comes down to something that needs to be done.

the Kepler an awesome trip, i'm going to do my second one in a couple of weeks, hope you have good weather.. some of the best views you will ever see...

Kepler...it's alright and like most things, nicer in winter.
I don't remember seeing a single person out there once I got to the snow line.

This is one for those who want to push a long day walk as most of it is below tree line and pretty flat, no navigation...saves carrying gear.


Pretty much anything in Fiordland has good views on good wx days.