I'm really liking these little posts, knocking out a post after work as I watch the 7:30 Report is about right I reckon. It's leaving me a bit of time for those other pesky chores like work and sleep, not to mention heading bush on more little adventures, maybe I've got the balance right now? Having said that this post will be particularly thin, I've only got a couple of old photos to cover the whole day and we didn't actually walk a huge distance.
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| I think that this is Mt Oakleigh..... but it could be Mt Geryon from Windy Ridge? |
Todays walk was basically an easy climb from Pelion Hut over Pelion Gap and then down Pinestone Valley to Kia Ora Hut. I'll get to the kilometres walked later but needless to say it wasn't an epic. For the first time on our Overland Track walk we set off without snow on the ground, the snowless conditions didn't last long though as we slowly climbed towards Pelion Gap, by the time we reached the gap we were once again walking through patches of snow. Normally Pelion Gap marks the spot to stash your packs and head off on the side trip to Mt Ossa or Mt Pelion East, but today as the peaks were still covered in cloud we were happy to just take in the scenery from the valley floor.
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Mt Pelion East and Mt Ossa were still covered in cloud when we got to Pelion Gap.
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| The author at Pelion Gap tucking into some scroggin. |
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Leaving Pelion Gap The Overland Track heads down through the very picturesque Pinestone Valley, a lot of the walking down here was on very old duck boards, their weathered appearance adding to the character of the walk. After a while the track leaves the open swampy country of Pinestone Valley and starts descending a little more steeply through the trees down to
Kia Ora Hut. We once again shared the hut within one other walker, so again overcrowding wasn't an issue. The bloke we shared with was a train driver from NSW, who by the sounds of it had made walking The Overland Track his annual pilgrimage, judging by the heat he was stoking the coal fired heater up to in the hut I reckon he may of been a steam train driver. Over the years I've met a few people like this bloke, they've done a walk that they've liked that much that they keep doing it over and over again, strangely (for me) they don't feel the need to check out any other walks. Anyway, he was a nice guy and we had a pleasant night getting all our wet clothes dry.
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| Mt Pelion East from Pinestone Valley, ironically the cloud had cleared now that we had decided not to climb. |
The Dirt.
Alright, are you ready for this, we walked 8.2 kilometres today, I told you it wasn't a hardcore days walking! Today was also another fairly easy days walking when it came to track conditions, with the damp sections of the track all covered by duck boards and both the climbs and descents fairly gentle. The two side trips today are Mt Ossa and Mt Pelion East, both are good but on this walk we didn't attempt the cloudy snow covered summits, both these side trips require a little scrambling, with the scrambling on Mt Pelion East a little more exposed (at the very top) than Mt Ossa.
Relevant Posts.
The Overland Track 2003
Day 1 of this walk.
Day 2 of this walk.
Day 3 of this walk.
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| Patting Black Pete at Kia Ora Hut, the hut was around thirty degrees inside so we were sitting around in our thermals. Check out my head torch! |
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