Posted by The rains kept coming all night along with the freezing wind. Rugged up in my quilt and puffy jacket I sleep warm and toasty, dreaming wildly. Through the night I could feel all the aches and pains that come with Day 1 of hiking comforted in the fact that I know these will ease over the coming days as the body kicks into gear for another long hike. I’ve been here before many times. So far, so good, the knee is holding up. Achy but not painful.
As the first light of dawn approached the rains had ceased and I seized my opportunity to get packed up.
The inside of my tent and top of my quilt was damp with condensation. Being a ultralight tent it is made with a single skin instead of your more traditional tents with an inner mesh section and an outer over the top. So without an inner layer moisture builds on the roof as your warm breath condenses. Heavy drops of rain on the outside causing the built up condensation to be knocked off the inside roof down onto me in a fine mist through the night which you don’t feel unless that mist falls on your face. I’m used to this in situations where the tent is secured tight against rain and there is not a lot of opportunity for venting air through the night. I’d find a patch of sun to dry gear out through the day. Although opportunities might be few and far between based on the forecast. More rain throughout the day was likely with a chance of show showers later. Yuck.
I dried the tent as best I could with a shammy cloth and repacked everything for the conditions ahead.
I was away by 7am and headed for Mushroom Rocks. A deep fog blanketed the mountain and didnt offer many views at first. The rain clung to all the vegetation, brushing off onto my lower half as I walked by. It was not cold but I had my rain pants on and the wet vegetation was no problem.
Climbing up towards Mushroom Rocks the vegetation quickly changed from Mountain Ash at the carpark, to mixed species eucalyptus, stands of silver wattle and snow gums.
The massive granite boulders thick with bright mosses clinging to there sides came into view and be a landscape feature that stayed with me through the day. A large dry overhang I’d been to may time before appeared and I though damn I should’ve camped here. I’d always wanted to but had forgotten all about it.
Past the popular mushroom rocks the track quickly turned into a narrow, less manicured footpad, passing through stands or gnarled snowgums, their fresh green bark appearing from behind the long strands of dark red, peeling away for another season. Occasional patches of montane tea-tree thicket were passed through dark and dense with a thick mattings of decaying leaves on the surface floor.
For most of the day the track sat high along the ridges, passing by Mt Erica, Mt Saint Gwinear, Mt Saint Phillack and Mt Whitelaw. Well above the 1500m range with the odd patch of snow still laying in shaded pockets.
The ruins of both Talbot and Whitelaw huts were also passed, their old chimneys the only remnants left, both nice places to camp. These old huts are the relics of the old Warburton Trail that was constructed in the 1930’s to encourage hiking and offered modest means of accommodation for the wary traveller.
From the Whitelaw Hut ruins the track become absolute rubbish for a few kilometres. The path overgrown and the footpad barely discernible through the thick vegetation. Long strands of bark and sticks set traps for stumbling feet, constantly catching around the ankles in an effort to trip me up. In other sections the recent rains had created thick bog holes. Duck boards were in place to protect many of these areas but next to useless as these too were underwater. A wet foot day it was going to be.
Eventually the track lead onto what I think is the boundary of the Thompson Reservoir. Whatever it was it was a huge contrast to the section just traversed. Wide enough for a vehicle and manicured for the most part. Obviously maintained annually. It must by maintained by Melbourne Park as Parks Vic wouldn’t maintain a walking track to this standard.
Down, down, down the manicured track took me, bringing me back through another forest transition from 1500m to 1200m to Stronach.
The rains held off through the day but similar to last night just as I’d set the tent up the rains came down. Heavy, loud rain on the thin walls of my tent. Nothing but a single sheet of nylon shielding me from the wet stuff.
Mick Beckers 