Finishing off the Great South West Walk

I may have previously said some evil things about this walk, I take all those things back. Having now completed the 250km trail, it is, upon reflection of its entirety, the Great South West Walk is a fantastic trail. It is spectacular, with good facilities and well maintained.

Great South West Walk, Discovery Bay Conservation Park and Coboboonee Forest

We walked the eastern 100km back in Easter, and have just walked the remaining 150km western section. At Easter we walked from Moleside, down the Glenelg River to Nelson, then along the beaches to Mt Richmond. This time we walked from Mt Richmond, along the coastal cliffs and headlands to Portland, then through the forest back to Moleside.



The coastal section here is spectacular. The coastal section from Nelson to Mt Richmond had been dominated by long walks on the beach, perhaps that sounds like something from a dating website, but about half of the beach is avoidable with alternative inland routes. This trip's section was dominated by clifftop walking along headlands, and short beach sections in small bays. It is spectacular. A narrow national park follows much of the coastline. The waves pound at the base of the cliffs, so there is always something good to watch with awe-filled eyes, until a general giddiness and and lack of head-for-heights drags you back from the cliff edge. Much of this area has been formed by volcanic action, so there are different rock types which add much interest.

Our first campsite, at The Springs on Cape Bridgewater, provided a fascinating insight into local geology. Where were the springs, I wondered. The last place I expected! The fresh water is to be found on the large rock platforms a little above where the waves crash, at the base of the coastal cliffs. Yep! I did wonder how the water got that high. Freshwater seaps out of the cliff onto the rock platforms, some of the volcanic rocks is impenetrable, so it flows out horizontally to the cliff edges.

There are many wind turbines along this coast, but on the upside, and much to Graham's disappointment, popular opinion sees them as better to look at than a coal plant. If you are a bit down on not seeing a coal plant though, take heart, walking into Portland you walk three sides of a large aluminium smelter. Curiously, who knew this, depending on where you read though, this single smelter uses 18-25% of Victoria's electricity. It looms large on the horizon, quite why it is sits on a prominent headland I'm not sure, but clearly it needs to be close to the port facilities of Portland, and the large conveyor belt disguised as a massive pipeline from the port to the smelter gives a few clues as to why I suppose. Don't be discouraged though, it is only seen for one day, and if you pivot your head to the right the coastline is still spectacular, the first half of the walk out of Mallee campsite is stunning, you hardly notice the plant. And it's not like we don't all use aluminium, at the very least much of our hiking gear is made of it.

The track is well maintained. We met quite a few locals who knew someone who got out and maintained the trail. Much of the trail in this area needs to be mowed, yes, that will sound strange to a South Australian, but indeed it is mowed, and foliage cut back. The trail is well signposted, we had no trouble following it. There are many interpretive signs along the way, I really appreciated these, so many fascinating things to learn.

A good map, better than the map on the Great South West Walk website, is the map produced by Cartographics and Meridian Maps. It's 1:50 000 scale, topographic, recent, and very accurate with lots of good info marked. It can be purchased online or locally at Portland at the Portland Visitor Information Centre or Davis Newsagency.

Hikers will be pleased to hear there are two cafes along this coastline, which is not bad for a four day section. One is at the beach and carpark called Cape Bridgewater, and another at the Cape Nelson lighthouse. Yum yum, no objections to supplementing our hiking rations here. The guys out at Cape Nelson lighthouse were so friendly and welcoming to us, even offering to top up our water supplies. Such a hiker-friendly attitude is so rarely seen!

The campsites were superbly set up. Each of the six campsites we stayed at, and the three we walked through, had a good size shelter with table and bench, picnic table in the open (for the sunny days), water tank, fire pit and toilet. Some were grassy, some had plenty of shade and protection from the elements, some tent pads, and one with a coastal viewing platform. Each of the campsites came equipped with several others hikers, which was good, I quite like that feature. It was good to chat to others hiking the trail, some were walking in the same direction, others the opposite, some for four or so days, some the complete trail. For the seven days on the trail we chased someone around the trail, but failed to ever catch them as they were walking super fast it seemed. From what I have read every campsite is being upgraded with shelter installations like these, certainly even back in Easter only half of these campsites were listed as having shelters.

We stayed at a motel in Portland, cheap at $100 per night. The Admella motel was good, it had a catchy tagline emphasing how cheap it was, it was clean and neat and had been renovated. Once again, a friendly crowd. A local told us that Mac's was good to stay at for trail hikers cheap at $70 a night for the older rooms in the motel behind the main pub. On the main esplanade too just off the trail, good if you are walking in from the south, and close to take-away foodies.

Google Map of the recent 7-day walk

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Google Map of the whole Great South West Walk hiking trail

View in full screen format

Download the GPS map files for the Great South West Walk hiking trail

Load the GPX files onto your handheld GPS unit to hike the Great South West Walk. Download the KML files to view the trail in Google Earth.

Download all files:

• Download single GPX file with 19 tracks and 16 campsites (load GPX file onto your GPS unit)


• Download all KML files in a single KML ZIP file

Or, download individual track files:

GSWW 01	Portland to Cubbys Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 02	Cubbys Camp to Cut out Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 03	Cut out Camp to Cobboboonee Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 04	Cobboboonee Camp to Fitzroy Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 05	Fitzroy Camp to Moleside Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 06	Moleside Camp to Post and Rail Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 07	Post and Rail Camp to Pattersons Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 08	Pattersons Camp to Simsons Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 09	Simsons Camp to White Sands Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 10a	White Sands Camp to Monibeong Camp via inland route	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 10b	White Sands Camp to Monibeong Camp via beach	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 11	Monibeong Camp to Swan Lake Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 12a	Swan Lake Camp to Tarragal Camp via Mt Richmond	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 12b	Swan Lake Camp to The Springs Camp via beach	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 13	Tarragal Camp to The Springs Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 14	The Springs Camp to Trewalla Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 15	Trewalla Camp to Mallee Camp	GPX file	KML file
GSWW 16	Mallee Camp to Portland	GPX file	KML file

Or, download just the 16 hike-in campsites along the Great South West Walk:

• GPX file


• KML file

Stats	Great South West Walk - eastern half
	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
	26/12/11	27/12/11	28/12/11	29/12/11	30/12/11	31/12/11	1/1/12
	Mt Richmond to The Springs campsite	The Springs campsite to Trewalla campsite	Trewalla campsite to Mallee campsite	Mallee campsite to Portland	Portland to Cubbys campsite	Cubbys campsite to Cobbo-boonee campsite	Cobbo-boonee campsite to Moleside
Distance	20.58km	17.43km	17.22km*	23.47km**	21.48km	25.56km	32.66km
Start Time	1.07pm	8.37am	8.16am	7.30am	7.43am	7.52am	7.36am
End Time	6.37pm	2.29pm	2.02pm	2.04pm	1.24pm	2.56pm	4.38pm
Moving Duration	4h02m	3h40m	4h00m	4h39m	4h10m	5h03m	6h25m
Stationary Duration	1h25m	2h12m	1h46m	1h59m	1h29m	1h59m	2h32m
Moving Average	5.1km/h	4.7km/h	4.3km/h	5.0km/h	5.1km/h	5.1km/h	5.1km/h
Overall Average	3.8km/h	3.0km/h	3.0km/h	3.6km/h	3.8km/h	3.6km/h	3.6km/h
Oodometer	20.58km	38.0km	55.3km	78.8km	100.3km	126.0km	158.7km

* Due to the GPS unit being inside at the cafe at Cape Nelson, this figure is probably 1km too high
** This is to our motel in Portland, not the Portland trailhead. The following day we walked back from the motel to the trailhead.
These three things are not corrected for in the above mileage figures. The Google Map and GPS file downloads are corrected.

More info:

• Official Great South West Walk website: www.greatsouthwestwalk.com


• Great South West Walk Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/Great-South-West-Walk-Portland-Vic/192714714081671


• The guys at www.southwestadventures.com.au can be booked for a transfer shuttle if need be

Hiking Mt Sonder - the proper true summit

When I first did the Mt Sonder hike back in August last year, when I reached the top I discovered - much to my horror - that the trail lead to a false summit, not the true summit of Mt Sonder. Initially I figured it was for safety reasons, but later people replied to my blog, informing me that the Arrernte People had special beleifs about Rwetyepme (Mt Sonder), and that was the reason the trail did not reach the true summit.

Mount Sonder (proper), West MacDonnell National Park, Northern Territory

At Glen Helen a few days ago, having traipsed across the countryside for three days in search of Mt Zeil, I had flicked through a collection of newspaper articles in the cafe. I stumbled upon one from the Sydney Morning Herald from back in 2005, when a reporter did a story on the Mt Sonder hike. He had fished around, suspicious of the story of the false summit trail. Interviewing a park ranger, James Pratt, "he shattered one illusion when he explained that the supposed Aboriginal legend was 'just an urban myth'. ... He also confirmed that the official summit was not the real one. 'It was a decision made for safety.'" They held beliefs of the mountain, just not the one that is being thrown around, and it was not the reason the trail did not go to the true summit.



Enough said, I was convinced. We were off to reach the real summit. The newspaper article referenced a Norwegian professor, Petter E. Bjorstad (referenced below). He had climbed many mountains around the world, including the true summit of Mt Sonder. He had some track notes, we were set.

At the campsite on the dry sandy banks of Redbank Gorge the night before our hike, we met Jas and Kev, from Parkham in Melbourne. They had just completed 19 days on the Larapinta Trail, hiking out from Alice Springs. The wildfires had chased them down the trail. They had one final section left, the climb up to Mt Sonder. They were keen to reach the true summit. We shared our track notes.

The next we saw of them was when Graham and myself reached the false summit early the following morning. Off on the distant true summit, we could see a couple of silhouetted people wandering around the summit cairn. They were only about 750m away across the rocky cliff-sided saddle, but we could hear their voices. They had risen at 4.30am, so they could enjoy watching the sunrise from the false summit. We didn't care for the early rise and hike in darkness.

Reaching the false summit is easy, a 7.5km track along the rocky spur from Redbank Gorge. Reaching the true summit was another matter. We headed back along the track, down from the false summit cairn, then headed north to the cliff edge. From here we surveyed possible routes down. The Norwegian professor included a photo of possible routes down from the false summit peak to the saddle below. From there crossing the saddle and then climbing the true summit was straight-forward. We were watching Jas and Kev return down the true summit. We thought we might wait it out for their advice since they had just made the crossing. We shouted out our hellos, and they soon shouted back their directions.

We climbed down the steep slope along the rock strata, heading for the top of the steep gully. Halfway down, we met up. They looked maggotted. Truly. The steep gully was tough work, returning later to make the ascent was even tougher. This was the hardest bit of the climb from the false to the true summit. Having reached the bottom, we contoured around to a small saddle at the base of the true summit, then climbed the rock 'staircase' to the true summit.

Jas was right, it was glorious and well worth the hike over. There was more to see, and unlike the view from the false summit, no thumping big mountain in the way of a 360 degree panorama. We could see wide wildfires burning on the western horizon.

We did a few laps of the stone cairn searching out the illusive logbook. We kept up the search, there must be one. Then I caught a glint of plastic, there, buried deep from the top of the cairn was the logbook. Placed there in 1965, in quite a rustic steel container, we found lots of pieces of paper, no book as such.

Leafing through the papers, I was surprised to find none from this century. That's right, not this decade, but this century. Not for a moment do I think we were the first people up there in 12 years, I mean Jas and Kev had been here moments before. I think it was more a matter that the logbook had been lost deep in the cairn for a number of years. I really was eager to find it, you see, I knew there had to be one lurking around somewhere. The Larapinta Trail was opened in 2002, which would have included that trail up to the false summit. The number of people reaching the true summit probably would have dropped around then, but the sheer number of people who reached the true summit in the '90s was proof enough that many people would have been up here since then.

References:
• It's a Tall Story, Sydney Morning Herald, 22/10/05
• Petter E. Bjorstad's track notes

• Have you hiked up to the true summit of Mt Sonder? What route did you take?
  
• Did you find and sign the logbook?
  

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

View full hike from Redbank Gorge to Mt Sonder South (the false summit) and onto the true Mt Sonder summit in full screen format Download full hike in GPX file - for use as a navigational aid in a GPS unit Download full hike in KML file - view in Google Earth

TRACKNOTES - Mt Sonder

Proceed back down the marked trail some 180 metres from the cairn on the false summit. The ridge is wider, the track having just come off from steep north-south cliffs facing the east. There is a number of small paths leading off the north (GR528901), some no doubt in part to take in the view of Mt Sonder proper. A number of rock stratems lead downwards to the west. 50m to the east there are three pines on the east facing cliff edge mentioned before. Study Petter E. Bjorstad's photo of possible routes, taken from the true Mt Sonder, looking back to the false Mt Sonder summit. It is easy enough to use his red marked route, you can ignore the blue rope-using route. Walking down the steep strata, proceed down the steep gully. Careful, there are lots of loose rocks on the slippery surface, plenty of spinifix and other hostile bushes you will need to be friendly with (they don't really want to be your friends.) The grid reference around this steep gully is 529 903. From the base of the steep gully, contour around to a small saddle at grid reference 533 904. From here, climb the rocky 'staircase' to the true summit. Return by the same path, being careful to pick out the right steep gully to climb. It took us 2.5 hours to hike from the false summit to the true summit, and return again. It is 2km return. I wouldn't tackle this section unless it is in the morning, without a breeze it can be insatiably hot climbing the steep gully with the northern sun.

Stats	Mt Sonder (proper)
	Saturday
	27/8/2011
	Redbank Gorge to Mt Sonder South, then onto Mt Sonder proper
Distance	17.3km
Start Time	6.30am
End Time	12.50pm
Moving Duration	4h26m
Stationary Duration	1h47m
Moving Average	3.9km/h
Overall Average	2.8km/h

Hiking Mt Giles, Ormiston Pound

With four sets of track notes we were almost assured of success in our plan to climb Mt Giles. The NT's third highest mountain, and as Wild magazine puts it, "For such a prominent peak, with relatively easy access and the best views in the MacDonnell Ranges, it was surprisingly little visited. Not being on the Larapinta Trail had, to a great degree, kept its secrets hidden."

Mount Giles, West MacDonnell National Park, Northern Territory

Over the last two summers it has rained an awful lot out here, unusually so. The rains here come in summer, not winter, the rain from the left-over tropical cyclones from the north. Ormiston Gorge was flooded, people wanting to walk the 7km/3hr Pound Circuit would be rewarded with a very cool swim through the gorge. I gather not many people took that reward, opting to hike in halfway along the circuit, into the pound, then return the same way.

We hiked in halfway, and as the track veered north-east we veered off the track. With Mt Giles in our sights, we trekked across the pound floor, which was by no means flat or easy going. We hopped over rocks, between spinifex and around other more deadly bushes, seeking shade under the occasional tree or, if we were super lucky, stand of trees in a dry creek bed.



Approaching the main Ormiston Creek, which we had not seen up close since our shortcut across the pound, I saw what looked like shimmering water. The mind plays funny tricks, I thought. I gather Graham may have been thinking similar things, neither of us confident enough of our own eyes to make a call about water. Just as I convinced myself the appearance of water was caused by a strange mix of shiny rocks and grasses, a bird landed on this strange surface and caused ripples across it. Strange rocks indeed. We couldn't believe it, none of the track notes we were armed with mentioned water in the creek, quite the opposite, they all mentioned the lack of it. Making a bee-line for the water, we were rewarded with what seemed like endless pools of water. We wouldn't need to search out the illusive springs on the side of Mt Giles, or any lingering pools elsewhere.

Following the creek upstream we got wet, muddy boots, most unexpected. We even caught sight of some fresh foot prints, there were others out here recently. Having chosen a nice campsite out of the hot sun, on the sandy banks of Ormiston Creek, aroundabouts where the national park people recommended you camp (there are no formal campsites out here in the pound), it seems we had lucked on the exact spot specified in the main track notes we were using. With a couple of nice pools of water, we relaxed in the late afternoon shade and contemplated the madness of climbing Mt Giles which dominated the view before us.

The following day, somewhat before sunrise and when it was still cold, we headed off carefully following a set of track notes.We sidled up to the mountain base, and sure enough the spur ahead of us looked like a good option. Up we went, it was very steep to start with, almost scarily so, but the hardest bit was this first section, each higher section was gradually flatter until we eventually came upon the false summit, large and rounded. Now Mt Giles and it's distinct tin-on-a-pole cairn visible in the distance, we strolled along the ridges and saddles and made the final climb up to the summit.



From the top we looked around in every direction, generally ignorant of what we were seeing. I spotted a few landmarks, Mt Sonder, that so illusive Mt Zeil and Gooses Bluff in the distance. Scanning through the logbook, we were only the sixth party up here this season (there seemed to be seven to 11 parties each year), we noticed the many references to the south spur route up. People had been making some pretty quick times up. We had followed John & Lyn Daly's notes, from Take a Walk in Northern Territory's National Parks (referenced below), which could very well be the same route described by John Chapman in his Bushwalking in Australia book, although scanning through the book back in Alice we could find no mention of Mt Giles. A Wild magazine article from last year mentioned a quick, direct route up, but was lacking any good directions to find the base of the spur. Up here though, it seemed all to obvious, so down we went. Indeed it was quick and direct, the grade was steady and unrelenting, but easy enough. Both spurs offer numerous routes forward of each step, but the route up involved quite a few grade changes, flat spots, a false summit and much ridge walking. This southern spur was direct, constant and only 1.45km long (the route up was 2.2km). The grid reference for the base of the quick spur is 793827, for the longer spur 786827, check out the track notes on the topo map below.

Back at our previous night's campsite at lunchtime, Graham didn't take much persuading to convince him of the benefits of laying low in the cool shade under one of the big gums lining Ormiston Creek. So instead of hiking out, or over to Bowmans Gap in the other corner of the pound, we sat and read the afternoon away.

The third day, once again setting off super early, we made excellent time in the cool of the morning and were soon back at the car.

The sun had been bloody hot, the shade refreshingly cool, sometime positively cold. Hiking in the mornings had been a good thing. It seems only too evident now that last time I was here hiking the Larapinta Trail, I had benefited from the two months in the tropics of the Kimberley and the Top End to acclimatize to the heat. Dropped in here from the cool south's winter seemed to make the afternoon heat just a little too much.

References:

• Overnight Walks or Ormiston Gorge, official national parks leaflet


• Take a Walk in Northern Territory's National Parks, by John & Lyn Daly, Take a Walk Publications 2006, ISBN 0 9577931 5 4. Walk article titled Ormiston Pound, Mt Giles, Bowmans Gap Circuit, pages 224-228


• Wild magazine, issue 119 September-October 2010, pages 24-28, article by Michael Giaometti from a hike on 25/7/07


• Mt Giles deviation in Ormiston Pound, a subsection of the page titled The Larapinta Trail, Central Australia by Roger Caffin

• Have you hiked up Mt Giles? If so, which route did you take?
  
• Where did you find water?
  

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

TRACKNOTES - Mt Giles

The route we took going to the basecamp follows the creek more, this is good for afternoon walking, and to find water.

The route we took returning from basecamp to the carpark is more direct, it is better for the cooler morning as it involves more cross country ups and downs, and less shade.

The down route from Mt Giles to the base is probably the better of the two spur routes to summit the mountain.

Day 1
Ormiston Gorge carpark to Mt Giles basecamp
Waypoint	Comment
1 - Ormiston Gorge carpark	11.20am
2	GR709844 12.30pm/4.3km
3	GR722844 Break (tree) 12.55pm/5.49km
4	GR746843 lunch (trees) 2pm/2.30pm/8.12km
5	GR758842 Ormiston Creek (water pools) 3pm/9.55km
6	GR765831 3.40pm/11.01km
7	GR772822 4.17pm/12.38km
8 - Campsite	National Park recommended campsite Ormiston Creek 4.30pm/12.65km
Day 2
Mt Giles basecamp to Mt Giles summit and return
8 - Campsite	Leave 6.55am with daypack
D2-2	GR783825 7.18am/1.29km
D2-3	Base of mountain and spur GR786827 7.30am/1.72km
Mt Giles summit	9.30am/3.9km
Mt Giles summit	Return downhill, leave 10am
D2-4	Base of direct south spur GR793827 11.20am/5.34km Plenty of suitable campsites here in creek
8 - Campsite	Arrive 12.20pm/7.86km
Day 3
Mt Giles basecamp to Ormiston Gorge carpark
8 - Campsite	Leave at 7.15am
D3-1	GR765829 Fence 7.45am/1.41km
D3-2	GR757836 8.05am/2.58km
D3-3	GR747843 8.30am/4km
2	9.15am/7.8km
Ormiston Gorge carpark	10.50am/12.07km

GPS Stats	Mt Giles
	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
	24/8/2010	25/8/2010	26/8/2010
	Ormiston Gorge carpark to Mt Giles basecamp	Mt Giles basecamp to Mt Giles summit and return	Mt Giles basecamp to Ormiston Gorge carpark
Distance	12.65km	7.86km	12.07km
Start Time	9.07am	6.46am	7.13am
End Time	4.32pm	12.23pm	10.53pm
Moving Duration	3h15m	3h14m	2h51m
Stationary Duration	2h00m	2h21m	44m
Moving Average	3.9km/h	2.4km/h	4.2km/h
Overall Average	2.4km/h	1.4km/h	3.4km/h
Oodometer	12.65km	20.5km	32.6km

Hiking Mt Zeil, one of the State 8

The wildfires were burning on the Larapinta, even the reopened sections of burnt out, smoke smelling bush didn't seem too attractive to hike. We opted for Plan B. Hike Mt Zeil, maybe Mt Giles and then some more.

Mt Zeil, MacDonnell Ranges National Park, Northern Territory

This blog post is about an unsuccessful climb of Mt Zeil.
I've since made a successful climb,
refer to this July 2012 post.

I have planned to tackle Mt Zeil for a couple of years now. It's in the State 8 - NT's highest peak, the State 8 being the highest peak in each of Australia's states and territories. I was up here this time last year, but I was all lonesome, and that's no condition to set out off the track for a couple of days.

With Graham beside me, Mt Zeil presented a very viable option. Most people used to access the mount from the northern side, driving a 4WD - or a few brave souls 2WDs - along the Tanami Track, then along some isolated bore access roads until they or their cars could drive no more. From here it was a short 6km up to the summit. That route is no longer an option, that pastoral station on that northern side has closed that access route off.

I hadn't yet contacted the ranger here at West MacDonnell National Park, he is widely held to have the access info from Redbank Gorge, I had planned to do that later this year in preparation for a tackling of the summit next year. Plan B was enacted just a day before we left for Alice, so there was no time to contact him then. I had already thought a walk in from Redbank Gorge seemed a much better option than hiring a 4WD and tackling the Tanami Track and bore roads.

We parked our hire car in Redbank Gorge, possibly the world's smallest car, and our packs full of weighty water, we set off through the gorge. Our base load was 11kg each, but adding 9 litre of water too that hefted that weight up somewhat.

Redbank Gorge posed our first problem. It is a narrow gorge, full of water. So we hiked up and around it, quite an adventure in itself, all to avoid getting a bit wet. Next time I thought - why would there be a next time - we should float our packs through and swim for our dear little lives. Surely a refreshing swim in water that never sees the sun, perhaps three or four degrees, would be pleasant enough compared to hiking up a scandalously steep gorge?



Safely through over to the other side, I surveyed the scene before us. Mt Zeil lay well off to the north-west horizon, much as expected, and a series of creek fed into Redbank Gorge. It was crucial we set off up the right one, but really that was a matter of choosing the one that seemed the biggest (it really wasn't that hard.)

Heading upstream, we experimented a little with walking along the grassy banks, which sounds nice enough was seemed fraught with danger. Rock hopping along, we set off to our major creek junction at GR468942. Ahead of me I soon spied what seemed to be water, was it a cesspool full of half dead-fish? The closer I got the less likely that seemed, we were soon upon an expensive pool of lovely clean water. Or course we would have to share it with those ducks, but I think we could deal with that. Walking further upstream towards that before mentioned junction, we came across a few small pools, and another large pool.

These all abruptly ended, perhaps they are semi-permanent, but all much too close to Redbank Gorge to be of that much water resource use for our hike. The creek became wide and flat, much like the super creeks of our homestate Flinders Ranges.

Once we reached the important creek junction, we began following the north-western creek. The hills to the right looked more direct, and we were overcome with temptation to take a shortcut. The scrub was freshly burnt out, it seemed like a good idea at the time. It soon turned outright miserable, as we followed the landscape from one saddle to another, eventually emerging not that far where we would have passed on the longer creek-following route. Lesson learnt, we stuck to our creeks from there on.

It soon became all too apparent though, this was a dismal plan. Our speed was slow, the terrain tough. I'm not sure at our current rate we would make it around to the northern side of Mt Zeil, the best place to attempt a summit from. Enraged with summit fever, or just the sheer stupidity of many "best-laid-plans", a shorter and more viable day's hike to the south-eastern base of the mountain seemed like a viable idea. The summit was still achievable, or so I convinced myself while carefully looking over the broad empty contours of the 1:250 000 topographic map. For you novices back at home, a 1:250 000 doesn't show much, indeed for the most part it allows the cartographer to do some very sloppy work. In an afternoon they could map out much of Australia with a few squiggly lines here and there for the biggest of the mountains. I pity those cartographers assigned to drawing up the 1:50 000 topo maps, they're going to spend the rest of their lives steeped in detail of every hill from here to, well, not Timbuktu but somewhere equally remote in this vast country of ours.

We soon broke out of the creeks, the terrain was flatter and broader now, so we set our sights on distance features and made straight lines to them - thankfully, or we would never have got that bloody far from Redbank Gorge.

The sun setting on our hard day's hike, we set up camp in our dry creekbed. Unbeknownst to us, we were camped within a couple hundred metres of the Tropic of Capricorn, who could imagine that just over that imaginary line lay the glorious wet tropics of our country's north. I guess it doesn't really work like that, and I already knew that.

The followed day we set off on our mad plan, neither of us any the wiser to the madness of it all. Atop the first saddle I was little dismayed to see a few more hills than I expected. On we went, eventually realising our plan was right royally stuffed. The summit cairn of Mt Zeil was clearly visible, but oh so long away. We had to give up, we had three days water with us on this trip, scantly that, stretching it out to cover four days in this heat was just bloody stupid.



A little bit inside me was relieved, managing our water stocks was somewhat stressful anyway. Back at camp we threw everything back in our packs, and set off in the direction of Redbank Gorge, out destination for tonight's campsite would be one of the two major waterholes we found this side of Redbank Gorge.

Dodging enraged bulls and their fellow cattle, we headed back to our creek system, there would be no shortcuts this time. We discovered these cattle form their own little trails which look every bit like trails designed for people, most are strangely many kilometres long, slowing wandering along creek banks.

We climbed over the fence back into the national park, safe from the crazy bulls, over a somewhat strangely placed chair aside the fence. We weren't the first people to cross here, that much was certain.

That night we were much pleased to reach the first waterhole before sunset, setting up camp after refilling our water bottles. Nine litres each had just got us back here. Sitting back relaxing the local birds put on a show for us, dancing across the surface of the water catching insects, and a couple of willy wagtails doing some kind of foreplay with each other.

Sitting under the cool verandah at Glen Helen Resort, just a few short kilometres drive away, sampling every cool drink we could lay our hands on, we pondered the madness that our scheme was. For one, I really did need to contact the park ranger's name I had been given for Mt Zeil info, there must be water out there somewhere. For one thing, those cattle need to drink something. Being well trained off-track hikers, driving into Glen Helen Resort we spied a small helicopter plying tourists for scenic flights, oh yes, here was another viable option of reaching Mt Zeil at some point in the future. We could charter it to drop us and a whole heap of water out on the northern base of the mountain, summit the mountain on the first day, and enjoy a pleasant day and half's walk back to Redbank Gorge.

Well our reconnaissance to Mt Zeil involved some walking, alas, but many an off-track mountain requires more than one attempt. We are now set to tackle it again with sensible, realistic and achievable plans - a plan that is not the least bit mad.

• Have you climbed Mt Zeil? Let us know how.
  
• Have you swam through Redbank Gorge? If so, tell us some info, is it narrow? Too cold? How long?
  

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TRACKNOTES - Mt Zeil

The return route is the better of the two routes to follow, no bad shortcuts, follows creekbanks rather than creekbeds.

Waypoint	Comment
Day 1
Redbank Gorge carpark to Mt Zeil base
Redbank Gorge	8.30am
Halfway across above gorge	GR469914 9.00am
1	In Redbank Creek having crossed above gorge 9.10am
1-1	First waterhole GR469921 9.50am
1-2	Second waterhole GR467935 10.42am
1-3	Major river junction GR468942 11.00am/5.58km
1-4	First saddle on questionable shortcut 12.00pm
1-5	Lunch on creek GR448975 12.45pm/10.2km
1-6	Open country GR428010 2.45pm/15.25km
1-7	Cattle country GR409032 3.40pm/18.37km
1-8 - base campsite	GR394049 4.45pm/21.4km 5.5+2.5 hrs
Day 2
Mt Zeil base, attempt on Mt Zeil, return to second waterhole
8 - campsite	Leave 6.45am
2-1	GR377067 7.41am/3km
2-2	GR371071 8.07am
2-3	Turn around 8.20am/4.14km
8/2-4	Back at base camp 10.02am/8.85km
2-5	GR423014 12.00pm/14.24km
2-6
2-7	GR744996 1.21pm/17.77km
2-8	GR441965 3pm/21.3km
2-9	4pm
2-10	4.20pm
2/2-11	GR467935 Back at 2nd waterhole for campsite 4.40pm/26.3km
Day 3
2nd Waterhole to Redbank Gorge
2/2-11	Leave campsite at 7.25am
Redbank Gorge carpark	9.05am/3.97km

GPS Stats	Mt Zeil attempted summit
	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
	21/8/2011	22/8/2011	23/8/2011
	Redbank Gorge carpark to Mt Zeil base	Mt Zeil base to summit attempt, return to 2nd waterhole	2nd waterhole to Redbank Gorge carpark
Distance	21.42km	26.35km	3.97km
Start Time	8.03am	6.45am	7.19am
End Time	4.48pm	4.36pm	9.06pm
Moving Duration	5h38m	6h38m	1h24m
Stationary Duration	2h37m	3h05m	18m
Moving Average	3.8km/h	4.0km/h	2.8km/h
Overall Average	2.6km/h	2.7km/h	2.3km/h
Oodometer	21.5km	47.8km	51.8km

Unfinished Business

We had unfinished business with Mt Aleck, an attempt to summit it in 2009 had failed.

Mt Aleck, Elders Range, Flinders Ranges

Back in 2009, it was a hot October day, over 30 degrees. Today it was cool, sunny winter’s day. Ideal hiking weather.

Back in 2009, we undertook the hike as a day hike. Leaving the car at 7.30am, we gave up on summiting around 1pm, realising we would run out of time. Today we set out from an elevation of 645 metres, yesterday afternoon we hiked up from 385 metres where the car was to our campsite at 645 metres – with plenty of time allocated to do so. Today we set out at 7.30am from our campsite, we summitted by 10.20am in the cool of the day. As the weather warmed we returned to the car, back by 3.15pm.

Back in 2009, we ran very short on water. This time we took extra water and left it under a tree on the flats, there as a contingency for camping a second night.

Back in 2009 we used a Wild article as a route plan. This time we used that as a broad guideline, and interpreting the contours on the topographic map made our own route plan, shorter and easier.



It’s arguable that 2009 was a reconnaissance trip for today’s hike, what we learned from that we put into a carefully calculated plan with a number of contingencies. We didn’t need to use any of the contingencies, the excellent weather lent itself to pulling the plan off within the allocated timeframes.

By continuing due west from the Umberutna ruins rather than skirting around to the north, we saved some distance in exchange for a short, steep - but quite manageable - climb. This led to a valley in which we selected the best creek to climb from, south of the first saddle. Back in 2009 we had gone up a very steep creek to the north of the first saddle. It had been tough climbing, there couldn’t have been a greater contrast with the creek we went up this time.



We had left Adelaide early Friday morning. Our afternoon plan was to climb that 260 metres above the plains to our chosen campsite. It was cool and windy. In Hawker it had been cold, I feared we would have a miserable night at such an elevation, but we had a fire on the sheltered side of the hill. We could have camped higher, on the first saddle, but it would have been very tough climbing up there each carrying out pack with a tent, sleeping bag and food. Light as they were – around 15kg - it would have been tough. Our campsite had a stunning setting. Behind us lay the sawtooth escarpment cliffs of the Elder Range, before us the valleys between the Elder Range and Wilpena Pound. We were treated to a spectacular sunset, and an equally spectacular sunrise the following morning, albeit after a very cold night.



Early the following morning, with the whole day before us, we started the steep climb, following an escarpment cliff, to the first saddle. In only 20 minutes we were on the saddle, this route was so much quicker than our route of 2009. From here, we climbed and descended each ridge along the sawtooth escarpment, sticking closely to the escarpment edge. We had learned only too well back in 2009 that it was much easier to stick to the open rocky escarpment edge, rising up and down the sawtooth profile, than to try the flatter route contouring around each peak. The vegetation makes it slow going, the spinifex made it quite unpleasant. The vegetation was considerably denser this time compared to 2009, since then there had been two wet summers. Last time there was very little shade on the ridges, this time there was plenty provided by the two to three metre shrubs.

By the time we reached the third saddle, we had spotted a cairn looking structure atop what might be the summit of Mt Aleck. It seemed impossible that the summit was that close. It was a little askew, so we weren't certain it was a summit cairn. However after another tough climb, we could see the unmistakable cairn ahead, and it was an easy to matter to close off that last distance. The cairn was indeed an interesting one, carefully perched atop the highest point of the mountain.

Leafing through the summit logbook, we were only the second group on the summit this year (2011). The previous year, 2010, saw no visitors, and 2009 just one. Yes, there was a pencil in the logbook container.

Our hike times had been perfect to the plan. There were a couple of sections along the sawtooth ridge that were particularly tough, dense vegetation with no escarpment route. We tried one shortcut, but it was woefully time consuming.

We retraced our steps back to the campsite. Even though we summitted by 11am, it was quickly getting warm. Yesterday had been a cloudy day, with strong wind and a few drops of rain. Today had been glorious, clear skies and warm sun, a thankful relief from the winds of the previous day and the cold night. From our campsite we descended back down the steep line to a saddle, down a steep creek onto the flats to collect our water drop. We walked back to Umberutna ruins, and along the Heysen Trail to the car, and on to the pub at Hawker for a celebratory beer and meal.

1st August: Some hikers have since told me of an easier route. Proceed up either of the scree chutes close to the summit. We debated doing this, but we never got close enough to the bottom of the chute to see how it started. It's steep, but quick.

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Track as displayed in map above: • Download GPX file • Download KML file Track consolidated into best route: • Download GPX file • Download KML file Use the GPX file as a navigational aid in a GPS unit Use the KML file to view in Google Earth

Download route marked on topo map, including times: PDF map

* The stats for the second day are divided into the ascent and descent.

Stats	Mt Aleck
	Friday	Saturday	Saturday
	15/7/2011	16/7/2011	16/7/2011
	Moralana Scenic Drive up to campsite	campsite up to Mt Aleck summit	Mt Aleck summit down to Moralana Scenic Drive
Start Elevation	385m	645m	1095m
End Elevation	645m	1095m	385m
Distance	7.45km	2.9km	10.49km
Start Time	12.25pm	7.30am	10.50am
End Time	3.15pm	10.20am	3.15pm
Moving Duration	1h51m	1h41m	3h19m
Stationary Duration	59m	1h12m	2h08m
Moving Average	4.0km/h	1.7km/h	3.1km/h
Overall Average	2.6km/h	1.0km/h	1.9km/h
Oodometer	7.45km	10.4km	20.8km

Three lil' hikes

Three lil' hikes - with steep hills - led by Simon

Three recent afternoon hikes which Simon led, we enjoyed some sunshine and rain and exploring some of the hills, and, of course, some tough hills.

Sturt Gorge

Sunday 19 June 2011

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Cleland Conservation Park

Sunday 26 June 2011
Found a tough new hill.

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Gandys Gully

Saturday 11 July 2011

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Swimming strokes through the scrub

In the words of our leader Mark, we swam through the dense scrub of Wilpena Pound. Whatever your technique, breaststroke or freestyle, we pushed our way through the scrubby bushes from Rawnsley Bluff to Moonarie Gap, and out to Bridle Gap.

Rawnsley Park Station and Wilpena Pound

Mark from Canada remarked on how well marked the trail from Rawnsley Park Station up to Rawnsley Bluff was, a clear made trail with markers every 100 metres, noting the distance from each end of the trail. Well, was this typical of Australian trails, he asked. Mmm. Well, no. After lunching beside the old survey cairn at Rawnsley Bluff, we started those swimming strokes through the scrub, along the ridge to the north into Moonarie Gap. In the Gap we eventually decided to set down our packs and split up, four to go get water, two to continue to look for the illusive sandy campsites Mark, our leader, had seen on Google Earth, the same that I recalled seeing on a hike up to Iluka Peak a couple of years ago. It took Dave and I just three minutes to find the first of the sandy areas and select a suitable campsite. The following day, hiking up to the base of Iluka Peak, we came across the actual site we both knew of, broad and sandy in the upper reaches of the the Gap.

This was another Adelaide Bushwalkers hike, a trip up to the Flinders. There were three groups, in my group there were six of us - Mark our leader, Trevor, Dave, Mark - recently from Canada, Ben and myself. A great group, sharing leading the way through the scrub bashing, and had no trouble walking together.

Sunday morning we set out to the north, leaving our heavy packs behind, to try Point Bonney. I think we all knew we would did not have the necessary time to reach the summit and return, but hoped we would be able to at least achieve Iluka Peak. Defeated once before, back in 2009, due to a rather half-hearted effort - we were awaiting updated road reports to travel further north to hike - and slow progress. We took a different approach route this time, last time we went west from the Pound rim, following a terrace up to climb over the hill between Moonarie Gap and Iluka Peak. This time we climbed but not as much, following the contour around the rim face into the next saddle. Approaching the saddle a strong wind picked up behind us, warm air being sucked in from the valley floor up to the summits of Iluka Peak and Point Bonney, a fierce cold wind forming dense foggy clouds above us. Although slowly the clouds retreated upwards, revealing the summit of Iluka Peak, we soon realised we had insufficient time to even achieve Iluka Peak. Instead we climbed the hill upon which we had given up our Iluka Peak ascent last time. Unnamed, we decided to name the peak Mark's Nob after our leader. There's a few nobs around the Pound. Although the cloud was slowly receding, we could see new cloud being constantly formed just east of the peaks.



Grabbing our packs from Moonarie Gap, we followed the creek down to Wilpena South Creek. Plenty of water around at the moment, slowly the creek opened up with less dense scrub and the occasional native pine tree. Out on the Pound floor, we strode out to meet up with the Heysen Trail near Bridle Gap, before ascending Dick Nob. We raced the sun down from the Pound rim along the Heysen Trail to Black Gap - the sun won btw, we came a close second. From here Davo was waiting, rather patiently it would seem, with his van to take us back to our campsite. Black Gap is on Arkaba Station, the station was sold a couple of years ago. The new owners have set up a new venture, a luxury top-end resort with luxury safari hikes. There have been a number of changes with the new owner; camping is no longer permitted along Moralana Scenic Drive; the Heysen Trail's Red Range campsite has been moved out of sight of the luxury hikers; bushwalkers are not permitted to camp anywhere on the Arkaba Station property, outside of the Red Range campsite on the Heysen Trail. I can't say I agree with Arkaba's stance. It is a pastoral lease rather than freehold, so they are stakeholder in the property - no doubt though a very important stakeholder. I think it is a loss to the community that camping is no longer permitted on the property. That said though, they are making a good innovative go of turning the property into a profitable one. Its history as a pastoral property has long since shifted to providing tourist accommodation, the new owners have taken that to luxury stance. Make no mistake, accommodation here is luxury with a matching pricetag, on a par with Kangaroo Island's Southern Ocean Lodge. However, they are generous stakeholders in the Heysen Trail, as quite a distance of it traverses their property from north of Hawker to Wilpena Pound.

Next morning Davo dropped us back, and we set off to complete our circuit back to Rawnsley Park. Following the valley between Wilpena Pound and the much smaller Ulowdna Range we strode across the open plains, finishing our hike by mid-morning. A fantastic weekend.

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Stats	Wilpena Pound
	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
	11/06/2011	12/06/2011	13/06/2011
	Rawnsley Station to Moonarie Gap	Moonarie Gap to Black Gap	Black Gap to Rawnsley Station
Distance	12.55km	18.94km	8.86km
Start Time	8.36am	8.08am	8.12am
End Time	4.11pm	5.39pm	10.44am
Moving Duration	4h10m	6h11m	1h57m
Stationary Duration	3h26m	3h24m	35m
Moving Average	3.0km/h	3.1km/h	4.5km/h
Overall Average	1.6km/h	2.0km/h	3.5km/h
Oodometer	12.5km	31.5km	40.3km