The Hiking Thread

[Hawg73]

Nice, Tip. Thanks. Hope you're enjoying Austrailia.

While suffering is usually a great way to remember a hike, it isn't necessary for us to end up half dead at the end of the trail tp have a great day. They almost always are as long as you get a good sweat going and nobody gets hurt.

I went out the day after Thanksgiving to Wrentham St. Forest just down the road from Gillette. I didn't know the place at all, but it's bigger than I thought and we ended up doing 9.8 miles. I figured the trails would be packed, but we hardly saw anybody. Not a bad way to burn off some extra carbs.

 

[John Locke]

I don't hike etc. I think I need a safe space and a bottle to recover from this thread.

 

[Big/Sky/Fly]

Here's a shot from the Grinnell Glacier Trail in Glacier NP, we hiked it last September. Probably the most scenic hike I have ever done. 12 miles round trip, but so, so, worth it!

That area kicks ass!

 

[TipRoast]

We went hiking in the Adelaide Hills today, at a place called Morialta Falls. Unfortunately, it's the dry season now, so the falls were barely a trickle.

Here's a picture I found on the web that shows what they look like during other times of the year:



We plan on going back when there's a lot more water around.

Because it's really dry, there was not a lot of wildlife around. However, we did see a koala, and also a splendid fairywren:

 

[Big/Sky/Fly]

We went hiking in the Adelaide Hills today, at a place called Morialta Falls. Unfortunately, it's the dry season now, so the falls were barely a trickle.

Here's a picture I found on the web that shows what they look like during other times of the year:

View attachment 1372

We plan on going back when there's a lot more water around.

Because it's really dry, there was not a lot of wildlife around. However, we did see a koala, and also a splendid fairywren:

View attachment 1371

Waterfalls are the best!

 

[Undertaker #59*]

We went hiking in the Adelaide Hills today, at a place called Morialta Falls. Unfortunately, it's the dry season now, so the falls were barely a trickle.

Here's a picture I found on the web that shows what they look like during other times of the year:

View attachment 1372

We plan on going back when there's a lot more water around.

Because it's really dry, there was not a lot of wildlife around. However, we did see a koala, and also a splendid fairywren:

View attachment 1371

Thats beautiful.

I wonder how many plants and animals you passed that want to kill you?

 

[BostonTim]

Thats beautiful.

I wonder how many plants and animals you passed that want to kill you?

It was fifty years ago that I went hiking outside of Sydney. Had no idea back then that Australia was the deadliest place on the planet. Luckily I seem to have survived,


Cheers

 

[spacecrime]

Thats beautiful.

I wonder how many plants and animals you passed that want to kill you?

You must have read Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country"

 

[BostonTim]

You must have read Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country"

He is an excellent reader and he has done all (I think) for the audio editions, all of which I have listened to.

 

[TipRoast]

Just finished up a trip to the Flinders Ranges, which is in South Australia.

South Australia is not the biggest state in Australia, but it's still pretty big - about the size of two Californias and a Pennsylvania. So the Flinders Ranges, while in the southern part of the state, are still pretty far from Adelaide, which is on the coast.

We started our trip on a Friday afternoon and drove up through the Clare Valley, a wine-making region that specializes in Rieslings. We spent the night a local hotel and the next morning we drove up to Wilpena Resort, a camping area that's within Wilpena Pound, a formation that resembles a large bowl with an opening at one end. On the drive up we passed through a town named Wirrabara, where we saw this example of silo art (it's more impressive in person):

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On Saturday afternoon we did an 8 km (5 mile) hike into and out of Bunyeroo Gorge. It's a well-marked trail and is a geology walk - many of the trail markers have a little blurb about a mineral deposit that can be found nearby and the approximate age of the rocks (about 400-500 million years). I took the picture below because I see a frowny face in the rock formation:

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On Sunday we did a long hike. First, St Mary's Peak Outer Trail, which is 6 km trail that leads to the Tanderra Saddle. The Saddle is where the Outer Trail meets the St. Mary's Peak Inner Trail, which is a 12 km trail that leads back from the Saddle to the Wilpena campsite. From the Saddle it's a little over 1 km to the summit, which is sacred to the indigenous people, who request that hikers refrain from visiting. Some do, some do not. We chose not to go to the summit, and instead returned on the Inner Trail.

I know there are some folks that read this thread who know the White Mountains in New Hampshire very well. The Outer Trail is very similar to the Flume Slide Trail on Mt. Liberty (except it's a lot drier). It wraps gently around the mountain in a counter-clockwise direction for most of its length, then gets pretty vertical for the last stretch, where one is using hands and feet and keeping one's stomach pretty close to the rocks. The Inner Trail is very gentle in terms of steepness; it's a little rocky in a few place in its upper regions, but then widens out and is just packed dirt. Both trails combined made for an 18 km hike, which we did in about 7.5 hours (which includes stopping for meals and chatting with fellow hikers). We didn't set any records, but as senior citizens we felt pretty good about what we accomplished.

I don't have many pictures of this part of the hike, as I was having cell-phone power problems. But here's one of Mrs. TR that I took from a perch a little bit above her:




If you search for St. Mary's Peak on the web you can find many pictures, some that are pretty spectacular.

On the way up, we met a couple coming down. It was still early in the day, so we were surprised to see someone headed in that direction. They said they had started at 3:00 am and got to the summit, and then watched the sun rise over the Ranges. They recommended it highly. It was an almost full moon that night, and with that kind of lighting and head lamps, they said they had no problems with the terrain. They were also about 40 years younger than me, so I think that is one adventure that won't make it onto my bucket list.

 

[Hawg73]

You must have read Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country"

I did. Great book. My niece did a semester in Sydney and I made sure to tell her that just about every creature in Australia is loaded with deadly toxins and wants to kill you. The one that sticks out in my mind is the jellyfish that has a sting so potent that you immediately go unconscious from the pain, but keep screaming.

Oh, and well done, Tip. I love reading your stuff. Your writing is very descriptive and helps me live vicariously through your experiences.

 

[deec77]

Ok Tip where are we going today...this is fantastic thanks so much for sharing!
~Dee~

 

[TipRoast]

Ok Tip where are we going today...this is fantastic thanks so much for sharing!
~Dee~

We're back in Adelaide today, and my work schedule is pretty intense from now until the end of June. So we don't have any immediate plans for more South Australia trips, but are looking at visiting Kangaroo Island in the spring, which here in the southern hemisphere means September - November.

We also plan to visit New Zealand around that time - no itinerary yet, but we know we'll be doing some hiking, possibly The Milford Track.

 

[deec77]

Well have an amazing time! My son spent his honeymoon in New Zealand he said it was amazing.

Cant wait to see more.

~Dee~

 

[TipRoast]

We took a long weekend and drove up to Mt. Remarkable National Park. We started our drive on Saturday morning, checked into our cabin at Melrose Caravan Park at around 2:30 pm, and then checked out the "Nature Walk" - about a 6 km hike that stretched our legs after the long car ride.

On Saturday, we did the Mt. Remarkable Summit loop. We ascended on the North side. Here's a shot from the beginning of the hike, where we're crossing a large scree field. We crossed several of these, most of them from much higher.

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Here's shot from about half-way up, looking south.

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Here's a shot looking down one of the scree fields. You can see the remains of an airplane that crashed on the mountain about 10 years ago.

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And we did make it to the top:



We descended via the South trail - I have no pictures from that part of the hike, as the views down the scree fields are very similar no matter what part of the mountain you're on. All told, the complete summit loop is about 15 km (9 miles). We did it about 7 hours, which includes a 30 minute lunch break on top, and 15 minutes chatting with some locals in the caravan park just before we got back to our cabin.

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The next day (Monday) we drove up to Alligator Gorge, which is the primary attraction at the National Park. It was a cloudy day, which means the pictures are a little subdued. We still were astounded by the scenery, and can only imagine what it must be like on a warm, clear spring day.






The last shot is looking down into the gorge from a vantage point about 250 m from the parking lot, which is high above the gorge.

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The National Park is about a 3.25 hour drive from where we live, if driven non-stop. That's not the way we roll these days - we stopped for coffee (cappuccinos) and pastries on the way up, and on the way back stopped for lunch and later for coffee (we shared a flat white, which is similar to a latte).

The Aussies do a fair dinkum job on coffee and pastries.

 

[Hawg73]

Thanks, Tip. Another fine, wonderfully descriptive, well-illustrated post.

I'm glad you mentioned "crossing" the scree fields, because when I saw the shot looking straight up a steep one all I could think of is what a brutal
uphill that would be, not to mention an ankle-breaker.

Alligator gorge, eh? That looks like the last place in the world where you would see one, but I can't be sure. Must be a little Aussie humor is my
guess.

I appreciate you letting us tag along.

 

[BostonTim]

We took a long weekend and drove up to Mt. Remarkable National Park. We started our drive on Saturday morning, checked into our cabin at Melrose Caravan Park at around 2:30 pm, and then checked out the "Nature Walk" - about a 6 km hike that stretched our legs after the long car ride.

On Saturday, we did the Mt. Remarkable Summit loop. We ascended on the North side. Here's a shot from the beginning of the hike, where we're crossing a large scree field. We crossed several of these, most of them from much higher.

View attachment 4093

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Here's shot from about half-way up, looking south.

View attachment 4094

---

Here's a shot looking down one of the scree fields. You can see the remains of an airplane that crashed on the mountain about 10 years ago.

View attachment 4095

---

And we did make it to the top:

View attachment 4096

We descended via the South trail - I have no pictures from that part of the hike, as the views down the scree fields are very similar no matter what part of the mountain you're on. All told, the complete summit loop is about 15 km (9 miles). We did it about 7 hours, which includes a 30 minute lunch break on top, and 15 minutes chatting with some locals in the caravan park just before we got back to our cabin.

---

The next day (Monday) we drove up to Alligator Gorge, which is the primary attraction at the National Park. It was a cloudy day, which means the pictures are a little subdued. We still were astounded by the scenery, and can only imagine what it must be like on a warm, clear spring day.

View attachment 4097

View attachment 4098
View attachment 4099

The last shot is looking down into the gorge from a vantage point about 250 m from the parking lot, which is high above the gorge.

View attachment 4100

---

The National Park is about a 3.25 hour drive from where we live, if driven non-stop. That's not the way we roll these days - we stopped for coffee (cappuchinos) and pastries on the way up, and on the way back stopped for lunch and later for coffee (we shared a flat white, which is similar to a latte).

The Aussies do a fair dinkum job on coffee and pastries.

Seems a remarkable walkabout.

Cheers

 

[TipRoast]

Thanks, Tip. Another fine, wonderfully descriptive, well-illustrated post.

I'm glad you mentioned "crossing" the scree fields, because when I saw the shot looking straight up a steep one all I could think of is what a brutal
uphill that would be, not to mention an ankle-breaker.

Alligator gorge, eh? That looks like the last place in the world where you would see one, but I can't be sure. Must be a little Aussie humor is my
guess.

I appreciate you letting us tag along.

You're most welcome, Hawg. The pandemic has been easy to weather here in Australia - we've been subject to very few restrictions compared to the US.

Now that restrictions are easing up in the US, I am hopeful that people will start getting out again and doing all of the activities they used to enjoy pre-COVID.

And maybe one of those activities will be hiking, and maybe some of those hikers will be Planeteers.

And maybe some of those hiking Planeteers will tell us about their outings in this thread.

 

[TipRoast]

We visited the Limestone Coast last week. It's the southeast corner of South Australia, near the border with Victoria. The largest city there is Mt. Gambier, the second largest city in South Australia (but still a fairly small city). It's about halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne - a four-hour drive from where we live.

We left on a Friday, and stayed that night at Coonawarra Bush Park, in an inflatable dome tent.




We did a little hiking that day in Bool Lagoon. Here are a couple of shots from the web of what the lagoon looks like during the wet season. That's not what we saw, as we were there at the end of summer.




The next day, Saturday, we had a nice Aussie full brekky, and then visited a wool museum (really, there is one). We then did a little caving at Naracoorte Caves National Park: Naracoorte Caves National Park - Wikipedia. Here's a shot I took on my phone, but pictures only tell a little bit of the story. There's the feel of the air, and the quiet, and the sense of antiquity when viewing these formations - none of that is captured in a photo.



The Coonawarra region is heavily agricultural - it's quite beautiful, and there are large expanses of grazing areas for sheep and cattle. And lots and lots of vineyards. We spent part of Saturday afternoon at Wynns Coonawarra Estate, and took advantage of their complimentary tasting to sample some of their wares. Our traveling companions bought four bottles of chardonnay. We also indulged a little bit and picked up this item - an excellent tawny port:



We spent the next morning (Sunday) walking around the two crater lakes at the top of Mt. Gambier (Big Blue Lake and Little Blue Lake). I have some shots on my phone, but the ones on the web are better. Big Blue Lake is the water supply for Mt. Gambier, so access is limited. Little Blue Lake allows recreational activities (boating and swimming). It took us about an hour to walk the complete circle on the crater rim around Big Blue Lake.



I'll add a little bit more in the next post (there's a limit of 10 attachments per post).

​

 

[TipRoast]

On Sunday afternoon, we visited one of the sinkholes that are scattered around the city. This one is named the Umpherston sinkhole:



And we finished up our hiking later that day by climbing Mt. Schank. Here's a shot from the web:



We decided not hike around the rim - it's a fairly steep climb to get to the top, and there's no water in the crater. But from the top you can see all the way to the southern coast of Australia (about 25 km away).

On Monday, we just took a leisurely drive back to Adelaide, stopping for coffee and meat pies and pasties along the way.