Overland Track... part 2 of 3

...continued...

After 2 glorious days of full sunshine, we had a colder morning, but it really never rained on us. Day 3 was a longer hike (10 miles) to the next hut, New Pelion. The hike was mostly flat, went through some dense forests (the type where you wouldn't have been surprised to see elves running around).



Boardwalk...


No boardwalk... we're beginning to see what the $$$ is for.


In running up Mt. Oakleigh, I ran past the first group of guided trekkers we've seen. The overland track allows 60 hikers a day, 34 individual, and the rest are guided. Some of the guided groups camp out in the "group camp"… but the "Chardonnay Tour" sleeps in their own private huts. Alps-stylee with cooks, wine, guides making you tea, carrying most of your gear etc… at 2500$/person. The only prob I had was that these private huts were built by the government and run by a private company… I sure hope a lot of the $ goes to the NPS… and can pay for maintenance. Anyway, I'd have hated to been in this group… I took off at 3:15, passed them at 4 pm, got back to the hut at 5, and they didn't get back til 8… I heard they left at 12pm… wow.


Definitely the least maintained side-track... lots of muddy trails, and parts of the track was basically climbing tree roots up the cliff side in a jungle. I felt like I was back climbing volcanoes in Central America.


There's a great view from the New Pelion Hut (my favorite... also the largest one) off of the wrap around balcony.


At the "secret" waterfall next to the ranger's hut. Kim with Tadashi, a great Japanese hiker we met a few days back. He's been in Aussie for a while and was his first time backpacking for sure... pretty heavy bag.


Later that night, I went out to the helipad to stare at the beautiful stars. Must've seen a 100 shooting stars, and couldn't get myself to go back in. While staring at the stars with a big grin and my bottle of whiskey, a spotted quoll jumped in my lap scaring me enough to almost spill the precious spirits. He just stared at me for a moment, realized I didn't have food and trotted off...

The next day was a long one... First we went up a pass where the popular side trip of Mt. Ossa begins. Since Kim's knee wasn't feeling so good, we decided that I'd run up them, and she'd press on to the next hut. And since Mt. Ossa was in the clouds, I went up Pelion West first.

Summit shot on Mt. Pelion West


Back to the trail junction...


I ran back to the backpack, where I found Kim still there! Talking to other hikers, and told her to get moving. I grabbed another water bottle, and started running up towards Ossa. Looking back at Mt. Pelion West... that one took a little under an hour...


Mt. Ossa is Tassie's highest peak… it was a lot of fun to scramble up, but it's small. It's like scrambling up a mountain ½ the size of Tallac… a little more technical, but from the main trail it took me under 1 hour to and fro… the guidebook says 5 hrs… It was in the clouds so I decided to Mt. Pelion West first... but it stayed in the clouds by the time I got up there.



The top of Mt. Ossa... you can make cell phone calls... as well as drink fresh water from this little pond. Great hike too. All of these peaks require a bit of a scramble. The mountains here look like decomposed Devil's Tower, and I'm sure there are 1000s of routes to be done... but you'd have to be out here many months as the weather is so bad.


After running back to the pass, I started off the trail to try to catch up to Kimbo. I scared this Echidna along the way, which was happily walking on the trail. The male Echidna... like the male Platypus has a venomous claw...


After having lunch at Kia Ora... we had a decision to make. We knew that weather was coming in, so we decided to go another 10 km to the next hut. So off we went...

On the southern section of the trail, there are sections where you have to walk over "the tree roots of death," as one hiker called them. These roots were very tricky to walk on, and caused numerous twisted ankle injuries... I luckily escaped unharmed (Kim using her ninja skillz had no problem).


There are two side trips to waterfalls on this section of the hike... well worth it. BIG waterfalls with beautiful views.


If you look carefully... you'll see Kimbo at the top of this waterfall...


Got to the New Windy Ridge hut around 7 pm after 19 km on the trail, and 15 km of side trails... a long, wonderful day after summiting 2 peaks, and passing 4 waterfalls.

More wildflowers... (bonuses for those who can ID these...)






P.S.... my favorite southern constellation?... gotta be the ship argo, which carried the Argonauts... Consisting of four parts (the stern, the keel, the sails, and my favorite part of the favorite constellation... the compass).