Bushwalk Australia

As some of you are aware, i am planning to do the Overland Trail next year, if i can get time off work, (or the year after if that fails). As i have not done a lot of bushwalking since i left the Army, i have been putting in some training. I am no spring chicken anymore and have started off short and slow. Thanks by the way, to all those who have responded to my myriad of questions about everything, i have made some good choices i believe in regard to what gear to buy and how to put it together.

Now, i am in Victoria and have started on the Warburton Trail ( the old disused railway line that ran from Lilydale to Warburton, some 37kms. It has now been converted to a walking/cycling trail) I live in Mt.Evelyn and have, complete with fully packed backpack, been doing slightly longer walks each week along the trail. i was knocked out with the flu for a while but have since resumed.

Now i did my first "lengthy" walk last week, starting at my place. Plan was to walk for an hour, turn around and come back. As the end of the hour neared, i was pretty close to the next station along the trail (some 6km from my house) so i continued on till i got there. Of course the coffee shop closed 10 minutes before i got there so i turned around and came back.

i had done just on 12kms, full back pack in the late afternoon on a day where the temp reached 35C. i took plenty of water so it wasnt an issue. I did have the "jelly legs" when i got home and thought maybe im not really up to this as 12kms a day is not unrealistic. But then i realised i had done 12kms almost non stop as opposed to doing it over a 12 hour period, which would be much more comfortable.

What is the average distance a novice and experienced walker would do in a day? and how long do you walk before stopping for a cuppa?

I don't usually pay attention to actual distances I walk per day, but keep track more in terms of time. My preferred walking time per day is about 4 hours (I like to take it easy when I can), but on extended walks where it is necessary to cover longer distances, my average is probably somewhere around 6 or 7 hours. I once did a 15 hour day and hope to never do so again (for some reason other member of the group just wanted to get home - I would have preferred to spend another day out bush, as planned).

I've no idea what that equates to in kilometers, but I do the Overland Track in about 4 days (if not stopping for side trips). How long is that? About 70 kms, I think (excluding Lk St Clair section)? So I guess that's about 14kms per day on a relatively flat track (which your railway walk would be). So sounds like you're doing well. Most people (including myself) take 5 or 6 days on the Overland Track and include some side trips, so you shouldn't have too much trouble if you can do 12 kms per day. It's not as flat as a railway track (especially the first day!), but it ain't too bad.

Sounds about right. I walked the Mt. Rufus track last Sunday (week ago) which is 18km. With a couple of long stops (2 hrs +) for photographs it took me about 9hrs.

If you are planning to walk the overland track I guess the next question is how do you feel at the end of a days walk. Are you feeling fit enough to do another days walking? Can you keep it going for 5 to 6 days?

4 kph is an average bushwalking speed with everything in your favour. E.g. Comfortable pack & boots, good health, good track, kind weather easy terrain. Fitness allows some nutters to go faster. Most people will however take it easy and have plenty of breaks.

Even if you drop back to 2 kph (including breaks) you only have to string 8 of these hours together to make it along the longest hop between huts (16km Windermere to Pelion I think). Some of the hut hops are shorter than this (e.g. Waterfall to Windermere).

The times on the brochure TasAdam pointed out generally work out between 2 and 4 kph.

I've walked some of the rail trails around Warby and like any normal railway, they have very gradual slopes. The overland track will certainly have more dramatic ups and downs although one section (Lake Holmes to Pelion Hut) actually follows a railway survey and is quite gentle. Your speed in kph becomes irrelevant on some of the steep bits.

Here's a few rough elevations along the track (including common side trips - day pack for these bits!):
Ronny Creek 900m (Start)
Cradle Plateau & Cirques 1200m (Day 1)
Cradle Mt 1545m (side trip)
Waterfall and Windermere 900m (Huts 1 & 2)
Frog Flats 750m (Middle Day 3)
Pelion 850m (Hut3)
Pelion Gap 1100m (Day 4)
Mt Ossa 1617m (side trip)
Kia Ora 850m (Hut 4)
Mersey waterfalls 750m (side trip)
Du Cane Gap 1000m (Day 5)
Windy Ridge 800m (Hut 5)
Lake St Clair 740m (End)

Frequency of breaks and what you do in your break is a very personal thing and makes for interesting debate on a group walk. As with walking speed, this will vary a lot. Sometimes 5 or 10 minutes of break time each hour is fine. Sometimes on a steep bit, 5 minutes climbing then 5 minutes resting is quite respectable.

Scubabob mentions stopping for a cuppa. This makes me think of an old-timer, Dick Reed, that sadly passed away before I got to meet him. I have seen some old sketch maps he did of the Mersey high country long before topographic maps were widely available. On his sketches, he had boil up spots marked on the steep sections. This is where he stopped, made a fire and boiled the billy on each walk. Some hills near the Overland Track had 3 or 4 boil ups marked.

Incidentally (and I'm a lttle of topic now), Dick would burn exactly the correct amount of fallen timber to boil the billy, no more, no less. This is a skill that has all but disappeared in this age of fuel stove only areas.

All the best for your walk, scubabob! I can't wait to read your review afterwards.

When I do day walks I tend to not stop much and if I do it is for only a short period. On the flip side if I am doing a multi day/overnight hike I tend to pace it out more, stopping more frequently and for longer periods at meal times. This is mainly to conserve energy and allow time to cover the terrain properly and reduce the chance of injury.

With a full pack I think around 12 km is fine on an average track. If it is completely flat I can comfortably do another few kms.

We are planning to walk part of the Larapinta trail (NT) next year and are planning to cover 60km in 5 days. The part we are walking is hilly the first 2 days and fairly flat after that. This should not be too much of a challenge however our packs will be a bit heavier than usual given the need to carry a bit more water.

walkinTas wrote:If you are planning to walk the overland track I guess the next question is how do you feel at the end of a days walk. Are you feeling fit enough to do another days walking? Can you keep it going for 5 to 6 days?

Or perhaps, more importantly, how do you feel the next day?
When we did the Frenchmans circuit we took our time did 7 days. The first was probably the longest, walking to Vera hut, about 16km I think. At the end of a day like that you feel stuffed, well I did carrying the weight I had and with the notorious mud, and you wonder how you will go on the next day.
When you wake up, it amazes me how the body can recover, ready to go again. You do seem to get fitter as a multi-day walk progresses.

We did the Overland track in winter, took 9 days.
Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley
to Windemere hut
to New Pelion hut with a side trip to old Pelion hut (a long day)
to Mt Ossa, return to New Pelion
to Mt Oakleigh inc summit, return to New Pelion
to Kia Ora, side trip to Hartnett falls (top)
to Windy Ridge hut
to Narcissus with extra walking toward Lake Marion before track became intolerable
Then to the Lake St Clair car park. This was another long day.

I don't know the distances, but for us it was about taking our time and enjoying it, and taking lots of photos. We had over 9kg's of camera gear with us so wanted to use it.
I suppose the longest day's walking I have done in recent times would be about 17km. You can see from my Overland example, that the average is somewhat less. I guess my priority has shifted somewhat and it is now more about enjoying where I am, rather than having goals about completing long distances in minimal time.

I agree with the comments made about walking speed around 4km/hr under ideal conditions, as shown by our GPS. But hills and mountains change that. As do cameras, mud, snow, food, side trips, foul weather, bush bashing, river crossing, rest stops, etc.......

As has been said, the distances you are going to cover in a day will be spanned out across that day. Specifically about the Overland track, my interpretation would be that any reasonably fit self sufficient walker shouldn't have too much trouble. There are good tracks and we didn't encounter anything that would class as mud (this means "less than ankle deep").

I agree with Son of a Beach, it is the number of hours in a day spent walking rather than the distance. Toughest day for me so far is Moss Ridge, comming down, as I have a rubbery knee it took me over six hours to go 2 km and I felt wrecked the next day. Friends of mine, who are very fit, took all day to go under 1km near Bob's Nobs.

Over teh weekend did Lake Mackenzie to ironstone hut to Lake Weston (camped) to Lady lake and then return to Mackenzie. Great Walk.

if you walk the overland track without side trips the days are not hard.
In the context of multiday walking in Tassie none of the days are very hard.
I find the Overland track very hard on my knees and feet. All the track hardening and boardwalk is like walking on roads.
Last two times I have done the Cuvier Valley instead of around the lake and I would recommend this to anyone who has some bushwalking experience. Its a great way to finish the walk. Love camping at Petrarch.

Roger

tasadam wrote:We did the Overland track in winter, took 9 days.

That's a great way to walk. I did the Overland Track in winter in 8 days once, and it was so enjoyable to walk for shorter times each day, and appreciate the stops more.

We carried cross-country skis, which was a little awkward, and started off at the south end and caught the ferry at the beginning.

The ferry trip was great... nearly didn't get one because they need 4 people to make it worthwhile to them in winter, but two other tourists came along at exactly the right moment. At the end of the ferry trip, she took the boat right up the Narcissus river at full speed, then turned hard at Narcissus hut, and drove it right up in between two large gum trees right in front of the hut. Made me want to change jobs. Next time your there, look for the two big trees just down the hill from the hut towards the river. That's how high the river was.

I recently discovered that in Devonport a well know backpacker's supplier hires out Yowie Showshoes. I'm surprised that more people don't wear snowshoes and walk on top of the snow in winter. Walking in winter is wonderful if you take the right precautions but walking knee deep in snow is just too hard.

A little disclaimer: Visitors should always be mindful that weather conditions in Tasmania high country can change rapidly.

I have a set of Yowies and can recommend them to all , just remember if you buy them to get the extra cleats as they wear out quite quickly when you get shallow snow.
( oh shi* I am a gear freak)
And Cathy can fit you out
corvus

I was given some second-hand snow shoes several years ago. I've only used them once, and was very glad to have them. Certainly walked a lot faster than the rest of the party on the deep snow sections of that trip! And although they're large, they weigh very little. I've done a couple of walks where there was more snow that expected, and wished I'd carried them.

We are spending 9 days on the track in Jan as we did last year. It gives us more time to explore aother sections such as pine valley.

Only drawback is the extra food you have to take.

We are tossing up whether to 'boat it' out or walk around the lake. Last year we took the boat back from narcissus as some people told us the walk around the lake was difficult and not scenic. Has anyone walk the full route out to lake st clair visitor centre?

Sarge if you dont go around the Lake you will miss out on the Magnificent Echo Point Beach with white silica sand nice camping a magic little Hut and the walk takes in trees you normally only see in Rain Forest on the West Coast.
corvus

Sarge
A couple of years ago, 2 of us walked from windy ridge hut to Cynthia Bay via Echo Point (about 26 kms)after 3 previous days of hard walking.
The forest walk along Lake St. Claire does get a bit tedious if you are tired, and travelling to arrive, rather than travelling for the joy of it.
We did enjoy it all the same, and as Corvus said, Echo Point is special as is the view of Mt. Ida.
On the topic of distance, we are not really fit ,nor young,(about 58 at the time ) nor even really regular walkers,but if you really need to make a long way in a day it's surprising what you can sometimes manage.
Good walkin'
John

Sarge we always camp overnight at Echo Point especially if you are coming from Pine Valley (bypass Narcissus) this would be prudent ,if the weather is kind to you a swim in the Lakeat Echo is excellent provided you dont go beond the white sandy bottom
corvus

My vote is for going over Byron Gap and down the Cuvier Valley. It is much more scenic than around the lake.
Lake Petrarch has a nice camping spot at the southern end. Also the lake is fairly warm for a swim.

Roger

sarge wrote:We are spending 9 days on the track in Jan as we did last year. It gives us more time to explore aother sections such as pine valley.

Only drawback is the extra food you have to take.

We are tossing up whether to 'boat it' out or walk around the lake. Last year we took the boat back from narcissus as some people told us the walk around the lake was difficult and not scenic. Has anyone walk the full route out to lake st clair visitor centre?

Links below are different photos.
I agree in part with what has been said about the last day - it does get a bit tedious - but that's because we just spent 9 days walking around 100 km in total. So it was expected.
Although it is not an easy day because it is long and you are probably tired by now, it is scenic in the sense that you are in a wonderful rainforest, there were black cockatoos at several points along the way when we did it, and there are places including Echo Point where you see the lake.
But to me, I found the nicer area of rainforest was between Narcissus and Echo point, particularly around the Byron Gap turnoff.
There were lots of little mushies (some were different colours) and lichens and other fungus and mosses to see, and the big drawcard - you haven't completed the "full" overland track until you've done it, if you are into putting ticks in boxes so to speak.
Yes I would do it again. But I have never done Cuvier valley so I would probably go that way next time. Only time I take the boat is so I can get to the Labyrinth quicker.

Here's a link that might help.

Thanks - we have decided to do the 'full' walk via echo point to cyncthia bay. Taking 9 days is a great idea becuase it also means we can spend a day at pine valley in addition.

Yes, Pine Valley is nice. Make sure you go the few minutes further on to the falls... Really pretty spot.

I did do a NZ walk of 120 Km in 3.5 days last summer. Most of the walk was on stream beds and with no track. We climbed over a snow pass (in runners and I was scared as I really needed crampons) and crossed rivers about 20 times. At the end of each day I was buggered as I was not really fit enough.

Glad you were using runners otherwise it may have taken you 7 days in boots and and you may have gotten crampin your legs

I have never been very fit - just rather dogged

hmm

I have day walked from Fortescue Bay to the Lufra Hotel - but I think I would rather poke my eyes out than do it again (next day was hitch a lift back as I was rather sore)

Also I did Waterfall Valley Hut to Frog Flats - needless to say next day was a hobble to Old Pelion Hut for a rest day!

Last day of the same trip I remember doing Windy Ridge Hut (I think) all the way back to the Visators Centre (no boat) - on the promise of a shower, food and a possible bus out that day - but I was only carrying about 9 kg that day so it was breezy!

For me - thats a long way!