Thursday, November 10, 2016 - 18.38 km I got an early start this morning. Though it seems heretical, I'm getting used to waking up at 5:30 and actually like it. The morning is a pleasant time to walk and the day seems longer. https://www.flickr.com/photos/186593395@N08/49470431961/in/dateposted-public/ Passing Norton Summit, I entered Giles Conservation Park. The creek was …
Tag: LASHing
The Heysen 64: Secretly Switchbacking
Wednesday, November 09, 2016 - 25.38 km Today's hike began with a beautiful walk through Montacute Conservation Park and alongside Sixth Creek. Then came an absurd hill that made me try to remember high school geometry and how to calculate the average angle of ascent. Who would have thought that I would ever need high …
The Heysen 63: Detours
Tuesday, November 08, 2016 - 21 km In accordance with the highly questionable 'maybe the Friends have an agreement with the Crawford Forest Reserve since the Scotts closure isn't noted on the Heysen website' reasoning, I decided to complete the 2-3 km forest walk this morning. I must not have been very convinced of my …
The Heysen 62: Uh Oh
Monday, November 07, 2016 - 20.27 km I had another choice in route this morning: the longer official hike past Chalks Campground, or the shorter walk past the Crawford Forest Reserve Info Centre. I chose the Chalks hike and found the route pretty, though not spectacular. The campground is forested and lovely with covered picnic …
The Heysen 61: Gambol
Sunday, November 06, 2016 - 20 km Visibility was only 10-15 metres when I woke up this morning, but the fog was dissipating by the time I left the hut around 8:00 AM. I had two route options: the higher official route, or the alternate route (about 1 km from the main trail) on which …
The Heysen 60: Nature
Saturday, November 05, 2016 - 12.44 km I woke up early today, but the next campsite (Rossiters Hut) is only 12 km from Tanunda, so I lingered in the caravan park to update this journal and charge my phone. The lounge area had a claw crane. I've never played a crane game before and believe …
The Heysen 59: Sexy Date Clothes
Friday, November 04, 2016 I took a rest day in Tanunda today. I didn't need one, but the next leg will be six days and the trail will be getting hillier too. The Heysen never gains too much elevation, but when it goes up and down, it usually goes straight up and down. My understanding …
The Heysen 58: Scary Barking Dog
Thursday, November 03, 2016 - 12.34 km The walk from Greenock to Tanunda is short, flat and over roads through a populated area. While I was walking past a house, a pitbull came bounding out through the gate, no leash, barking furiously. I'm afraid of dogs (I was bitten by one when I was young, …
The Heysen 57: Showy Flowers
Wednesday, November 02, 2016 - 17.53 km A loud, obnoxious sound like a vacuum cleaner undergoing a violent death woke me up early this morning, and I was sluggish when I got on the trail. Just out of Kapunda, the HT passed the old Kapunda copper mine, which visitors can walk around. I was tempted …
The Heysen 56: Laundry Soap
Tuesday, November 01, 2016 https://www.flickr.com/photos/186593395@N08/49470374346/in/dateposted-public/ Zero in Kapunda. I lazed around in the morning, then went to the laundromat (there's a laundromat!) only to discover that it had no detergent dispensers. Searching for small quantities of detergent at the grocery store, I bought a 4-pack of 'laundry soap', assuming that soap = detergent. No, it's …
The Heysen 55: Hello Hallo
Monday, October 31, 2016 - 15 km https://www.flickr.com/photos/186593395@N08/49469878948/in/dateposted-public/ I packed up and began walking early this morning, passing into cattle territory. I was wary of the cows since in the Marschalls Hut logbook some hikers mentioned being chased uphill, but when I came near a group of cows on a road, they ran away. Then …
The Heysen 54: Kool-Aid?
Sunday, October 30, 2016 - 20 km The distance from Marschalls Hut to Kapunda is 35 km. Though my foot has done well over the past few days, I decided to split the section into a ~20 km day and a ~15 km day by camping somewhere around Lights Hummocks (the distance is convenient and …
The Heysen 53: Beware the Possums
Saturday, October 29, 2016 - 27.76 km Another long day today, but a nice one. Everything seems nice after the Melrose to Hallett leg. https://www.flickr.com/photos/186593395@N08/49470585707/in/dateposted-public/ The only less pleasant section was a long plod along Tarnma Road to Marrabel, which the Heysen passes directly through. https://www.flickr.com/photos/186593395@N08/49469873343/in/dateposted-public/ Statue in Marrabel The pub has good food according …
The Heysen 52: Not a Soulcrushing Horror
Friday, October 28, 2016 - 29.46 km I made a big error this morning. Shortly after leaving Huppatz Hut, the Heysen signage directed me to walk up the hillside beside a field, so I walked to the end of the path between the field and a fence. In retrospect, I think that I must have …
The Heysen 51: Killing Yucky Insects
Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 19.79 km I was skeptical about the Heysen's route today since it employs a roundabout road walk from World's End rather than cutting through Hopkins Creek Conservation Park, but the trail passed through a conservation area not marked on the map. On my way there, I met a driver heading …
The Heysen 50: Worlds End
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 - 24.62 km After a rest in Burra that I'm going to skip over (I was lazy, ate ice cream, blah blah), I'm back on the trail and attempting to reach Kapunda by Halloween. Halloween isn't a major holiday in Australia, but Kapunda is known as the 'most haunted town in …
The Heysen 48: Korea in Australia
Saturday, October 22, 2016 - 16.53 Tent warming achieved! Getting up wasn't painful this morning! I had slept late again and just as I was packing up the last of my gear, a group of day hikers arrived. We exchanged greetings but didn't talk further, which was fine with me. I've been experiencing a trend …
The Heysen 47: Trees and Shrubs and Hills
Friday, October 21, 2016 - 15 km Brief thunderstorm overnight. My tent dried afterwards in the wind, so when it began sprinkling again early this morning, I quickly took down my tent and moved all of my gear to the shelter. A downpour began and continued for 1.5 hours while I waited lamely for it …
The Heysen 46: Tourilie Gorge
Thursday, October 20, 2016 - 16.42 km Another scenic day as the HT passed into Caroona Creek Conservation Park. With its hard spinifex, the scenery reminded me of what I had seen hundreds of kilometres further north. Tourilie Gorge was beautiful and dramatic, but easier walking than the gorges near Quorn since an obvious trail …
The Heysen 44: The White Truck
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - 21.92 km https://www.flickr.com/photos/186593395@N08/49465488293/in/dateposted-public/ Today began with another road walk. I kept seeing white trucks and only white trucks. After awhile I started thinking that they were all the same white truck going back and forth, and that even when it came from the same direction twice in a row, it …
BANE OF THE TRAIL 