Well no-one dibber dobbed, but we did finish off our three day trek hiking up Mt Dib and Mt Dab, and um, Dob, and a little of Deb. Leaving our campsite, we started our summit attempt on Mt Dab, until it became clear it was Deb, or at least not Dib or Dab. Progressing across the saddle to Mt Dab, then onto Mt Dib, which was most certainly Mt Dab... oops. Every time we reached a summmit we saw another, readjusting our minds to exactly which ones were Mt Dib and Mt Dab .
| SUMMARY - Aroona Valley to Blinman Pools, return via Wild Dog Creek | |
| Start | Aroona Valley Campsite |
| End | Aroona Valley Campsite |
| First Night | The Cascades |
| Second Night | Pigeon Bore |
| Time | 3 days |
| Distance | 57km |
When we reached the Cascades mid-afternoon on Saturday, it was clear, even without a vote, that no-one was keen to continue on that afternoon to Blinman Pools. The Cascades were beautiful, it was clear, flowing water, the first water we had seen in a creek. Even more amazing, just a few hundred metres upstream, the creek was dry. The source was a spring - the water was warm, and there was plenty of it. We enjoyed our early camp with a camp fire and salmon and soft cheese crackers. Following the previous night's late arrival by bus, and our day's 20km hike, we retired early, to our already icy tents.
Sunday morning was cold, very cold, minus three. In the cold we set off with our daypacks, armed with Kate's 1:33 333 map and landscape familiarity from a recent rogaine, crossing the countryside to Blinman Pools. There was plenty of water in the pools, a stark contrast to what I saw when I was last here in the drought during 2007 - no horizon pool back then. The large, deep pool was irrestible, Ros and I jumped in for a swim - maybe the wrong verb, it was very cold, an instant brain freeze, so we scrambled out pretty quick.
We returned to our now dry tents, grabbing our packs and trying our hand at some creek navigation, always difficult in the Flinders Ranges. We lunched in a creek bed, each of us with varying degrees of lunch envy, before walking through Wild Dog Creek and onto the Heysen Trail, wandering south to Pigeon Bore. We made it in late, just after sunset, just managing to set up our tents before seeking out our torches.
We joined two other ABW groups around the fire, sharing our last rations of alcohol and chocolate.
Early on Monday, five dedicated walkers of the 12 strong group tackled Dib and Dab. We were rewarded with spectacular views of the Heysen Range, Wilpena Pound, and the landscape east all the way to Patawarta, all soaked in the early morning sun.
Maybe some more photos to come soon...
| View in full screen format Download GPX file - for use as a navigational aid in a GPS unit Download KML file - view in Google Earth |
| Stats | Aroona Valley to Blinman Pools and return via Wild Dog Creek | |||
| Saturday | Sunday | Sunday | Monday | |
| 09/06/2012 | 10/06/2012 | 10/06/2012 | 11/06/2012 | |
| Aroona Valley campsite to the Cascades | The Cascades to Blinman Pools and return | The Cascades to Pigeon Bore | Pigeon Bore to Mt Dib and Mt Dab, return to Pigeon Bore then to Aroona Valley campsite | |
| Distance | 19.9km | 8.33km | 18.93km (total 27.26km Sun) | 9.51km |
| Start Time | 8.43am | 8.08am | 11.33am | 10.04am |
| End Time | 2.37pm | 10.45am | 5.33pm | 11.05am |
| Moving Duration | 4h04m | 2h0m | 4h19m | 2h31m |
| Stationary Duration | 1h34m | 1h01m | 2h09m | 36m |
| Moving Average | 4.9km/h | 4.4km/h | 3.8km/h | |
| Overall Average | 3.4km/h | 3.1km/h | 3.1km/h | |
| Oodometer | 19.9km | 28.23km | 47.2km | 56.9km |
| TRACK NOTES - Aroona Valley to Blinman Pools and return via Wild Dog Creek | ||||
 Download larger version of track notes |
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