Overland Track April 2015

[DanShell]

Thanks guys...woo hoo a subscriber!! That, along with the 20 views I've had ill have to set up ads and get rich I know my videos are boring because only 30% of viewers actually watch them until the end

Anyway heres Day 2 for those that can allow another 20 minutes or so out of their life! And the good news is that day 3, even though one of the longest on the track is shaping up to be one of the shortest videos.

[weeds]

Thanks Dan.......have watch both through to the end.......

[Jeffoir1]

Nice work Dan,
Thanks for all your hard work in preparing the pics and videos, and then sharing with us. A great record of your trip. You can really get a sense of the chill on that morning at Waterfall Valley!
Best wishes,
Jeffoir

[Stocky]

Hey Dan, great post. Sure does bring back memories, the Overland sure is an awesome hike.
It was great to see a fellow Tarptent Notch user. I noticed you have a piece of Tyvek, does it cover the base of your tent as well as the vestibule or just the vestibule?

[DanShell]

Hey Dan, great post. Sure does bring back memories, the Overland sure is an awesome hike.
It was great to see a fellow Tarptent Notch user. I noticed you have a piece of Tyvek, does it cover the base of your tent as well as the vestibule or just the vestibule?

Hi Stocky
Sorry for the late reply. On this trip I just used a piece for the vestibule but I also have a sheet for under the whole thing if I think the ground is going to be harsh on my tent base.
Mines a Stratospire

[skog]

awesome read Dan

I was surprised not to see you with a selfie stick lol

[Travis22]

Great trip report and photos Dan, really enjoyable read and viewing.

Travis.

[DanShell]

Thanks Gents. Smog, my wife and daughter have a selfie stick!

[DanShell]

Day 3 finally done if you want to lose 20 mins or so from your life

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

I definitely want to lose 20mins of my life to watch your next video, they've been great!

Beats staring at the wall in the Melbourne lounge, that's for sure!

[weeds]

Thanks Dan.......every installment get me more excited about our trip.

[Travis22]

Loved the videos Dan, watch the 3 days that are up and im eagerly awaiting the remaining days!

Two that stood out to me so far were the amount of board walks and your the helicopters. Are there really helicopters buzzing around every day on the OLT?

Any idea how much of the walk now is on boardwalks, if you had to guess do you think its say 10%, 20% or more?

thanks again for sharing your trip report, photos and videos with us.

Travis.

[DanShell]

Loved the videos Dan, watch the 3 days that are up and im eagerly awaiting the remaining days!

Two that stood out to me so far were the amount of board walks and your the helicopters. Are there really helicopters buzzing around every day on the OLT?

Any idea how much of the walk now is on boardwalks, if you had to guess do you think its say 10%, 20% or more?

thanks again for sharing your trip report, photos and videos with us.

Travis.

Thanks. The helicopters are mainly around the Cradle area, I didn't really find them that much of an issue. I don't recall seeing one after the second day.

The walk is approximately half natural terrain and the rest various man made surfaces but don't quote me on those figures its just a rough guess. Id imagine there are some places that would have been really deep mud at some stage in the not too distant past but they are slowly but surely putting more board walk type structures down to protect the environment. Its amazing how quick the track widens when there is a little bit of water and mud around..theres no way would some of the private hut people I saw with their beautifully washed hair and perfect make up be getting their boots dirty...no disrespect to the private hut people of course

[Travis22]

Wow, half half! Thats unfortunate but it is what it is.

((Jeepers sorry for the awful typos and jibberish in my last post! Im struggling today but i didnt think i was that off!)) lol.

Your post here has really inspired me to give the OLT more thought, but again the two major concerns ive formed from your video report thus far were the choppers and boardwalks. This private hut stuff is a but concerning too! But you only mentioned it in your last video, are their private huts out there at the end of each standard day!?

Did you specifically choose your footwear to suit the boardwalks etc? Would you change your footwear in hindsite?

Travis.

[GPSGuided]

50:50? Not sure of the northern sections of the OLT, but I'd say it's way lower than that for the last two sections of the OLT (Pine Valley turn off to Lake St Clair).

[DanShell]

Wow, half half! Thats unfortunate but it is what it is.

((Jeepers sorry for the awful typos and jibberish in my last post! Im struggling today but i didnt think i was that off!)) lol.

Your post here has really inspired me to give the OLT more thought, but again the two major concerns ive formed from your video report thus far were the choppers and boardwalks. This private hut stuff is a but concerning too! But you only mentioned it in your last video, are their private huts out there at the end of each standard day!?

Did you specifically choose your footwear to suit the boardwalks etc? Would you change your footwear in hindsite?

Travis.

The private huts people and their huts are no issue at all. Sure I kept running into them along the way but only briefly and they were all nice enough people. As for their huts, you wouldn't even know they were there, they are well hidden.

Board walks can be a welcome relief at times. I don't choose my footwear based on the terrain. I am not a wealthy person so I only have one pair (well a couple but for the sake of this conversation) of boots that I wear for all occasions.
I am happy to have inspired someone

[DanShell]

50:50? Not sure of the northern sections of the OLT, but I'd say it's way lower than that for the last two sections of the OLT (Pine Valley turn off to Lake St Clair).

Yeh sure, Pine Valley turn off to Lake st Claire has very little. From narcissus hut out to lake st clair is a less used section I would have thought.

My 50/50 guestimation may be totally off, I am of course taking a wild punt!

[Strider]

Track makeup figures here

viewtopic.php?t=16212

[DanShell]

Track makeup figures here

viewtopic.php?t=16212

There you go they are of course continually improving so that may be a little inaccurate by now but close I'd imagine

[GPSGuided]

Well, you walked the full length. I noticed that your video tends to have boards (assume they are mostly into and out of huts) while your stills tend to not have boards. Influencing our impression?

[DanShell]

Well, you walked the full length. I noticed that your video tends to have boards (assume they are mostly into and out of huts) while your stills tend to not have boards. Influencing our impression?

No deliberate attempt to influence the impression of the terrain I guess i did video most days as I was leaving and approaching huts so it may appear as though there is more board walk that there actually is.

To be honest I didn't mind it. Spending a day on roots and rocks etc is taxing on my knees and feet so I find the mix quite good.

Last edited by DanShell on Tue 19 May, 2015 1:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Travis22]

Thanks Dan. Your guess re: the track makeup is good enough for me, the link by Strider shows it sure is approaching a 60/40split so if it felt like 50/50 then thats a fair guide for me.

Ive only got one pair of hiking boots too and they are for off track hiking, anything else and i really struggle in them. Hence my immediate concern seeing the boardwalks dominating in your videos thus far. (Iwas thinking id have to take a pair of runners too - or buy some lighter weight boots)..

Travis.

[north-north-west]

The spread of duckboarding is unfortunate (noticed recently that the ancient cording around Pelion Plains has all been boarded over; almost had me in tears) but essential given the use the track gets and the propensity of people to avoid mud. The worst of it is the there are so many idiots who don't even check how bad a wet patch is, they just try to dodge it automatically - and end up getting wetter and dirtier than if they'd gone right through the middle. A great deal of the wet and muddy looking bits on natural ground are just very thin layers over a hard surface.

[DanShell]

No problems Travis. My walking shoes are not heavy boots, they are closer to a trail runner than a heavy duty boot.
I like freezing cold water to run out of my boots as quick as it ran in

[Travis22]

Hey Dan, not to rush you

But hows day 4's video coming along wink wink!

Travis.

[weeds]

Hey Dan, not to rush you

But hows day 4's video coming along wink wink!

Travis.

Second that

[DanShell]

Hey Dan, not to rush you

But hows day 4's video coming along wink wink!

Travis.

Hopefully I'll get it finished this weekend. There's a few audio issues with day 4 because I had the under water cover on the gopro so it sounds like I am under water with a fish bowl on my head! Luckily I noticed how bad it was and used the proper cover for the rest of the days.

[DanShell]

Day 4 is finished. Again, sorry about the audio in this one, I had the under water cover on the go pro and didn't realise how bad it was until later that night when I was checking out some of the footage in my tent. I didn't use that cover again for the following days.
Day 5 is shaping up to be a real cracker, my best video yet in my opinion.....yes I know they can only get better

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Another great instalment - thanks for sharing.

As someone who has done a couple of trip reports on here, I can say it takes a lot of time and dedication to put a report together - and that's just text with photos.

Your video logs which involve hours of video editing and design are another whole world above that. I think I speak for everyone when I say keep up the good work - great videos and an excellent learning tool for newbies who haven't been down the OT before.

One very minor point, it's still best to use the clivis multrum toilets for numbers 1s. Out on the track just avoid water courses and pick somewhere different each time. But around huts, if lots of people start peeing around the platforms it will start creating a problem.

Keep up the good work (And don't worry too much about the sound, it was pretty good!)

[Travis22]

Thanks for the update Dan, another great video and as SAH said its really appreciated.

Ive just received the Cradle Mountain / Lake St Clare & Walls of Jerusalem NP guide book and plans are afoot!

Cannot wait for Day 5.

Travis.