Day 4 - Mt Skene then Hitch hiked to Jamieson

So the final instalment of our 4 day adventure was going to be less eventful than the 3 days already travelled.  Wake up, climb from Rumpff Saddle along the Barkly Jeep Track to the Jamieson-Licola Rd and just keep walking till about 3pm when our ride come past.

Tim & I were both keen to get started in the morning for a couple reasons.  We had eaten 3.5 days worth of food so our packs were a couple kilo lighter than when we started, so that was pretty exciting.  We were going to see our wives and kids, so that was also very exciting.

We set out about 8am with a real energy to see the end of the trail.  We started our day with a 400m ascent out of Rumpff Saddle, over 2-3 km or so.  We didn't really mind it, we knew it was the only challenge for the day so we got stuck into it.  From Rumpff Saddle to Mt Skene is a wonderful summit of Ghost gum swept hill sides.  As we near the the Jamieson-Licola Road we can hear a car coming up the track.

We meet Bernie, Warwick and Dave who have been hiking together for 30 years and are coming back to do the final stages of the AAWT from Rumpff Saddle to Walhalla.  They had done the balance a couple years ago but fell short of Walhalla on their end to end attempt so have come back to finish the job.

They have been hiking through this area for years mind you and had done these sections previously.  When we spoke of our ordeal from yesterday, of black river and the 7hrs of bush bashing, Bernie's comment was that it was the hardest section of track he had done in his 30 years on the trails.

In hind sight this made both Tim & I feel good.  It reassured us that as a Team we could take on the AAWT end to end, and enjoy it.  As we left & the guys drove off, Bernie stopped and yelled out that he had a pecan danish .... with 20 kilos on my back I still broke the Olympic 100m dash record getting that danish out of his hands before he finished his sentence.  Ahhh, fresh food.

The next 5 hours are walked along the gravel road.  We had 2 or 3 vehicles go past us in the opposite direction.... oh how we were hoping someone would be coming our way.  We walked past a hunter that had about 6 hounds in the back of his truck, and a nice buck on his roof.  He was waiting for his last dog to come home.  He was parked there as his dog was trained to return to the stop he left the car.  We then had 3 dirt bikes pass us.  How our hearts raced when we heard then, hoping they were cars but as they came around the corners we were disappointed.  There were 2 topics that had Tim & I walking at about 5km per hour (up from about 3km previously), TGIF restaurant and our wives and kids.  About 1 hour into this combined conversation we got the map out and Tim noticed we had knocked off some major kilometers.

Finally at 2pm, 3 four wheel drives drove past.  The first 2 went on past but the last vehicle stopped.  New Zealand John drove us down to Jamieson and let us off at the Brewery bridge.  If was nice to get out of the direct sun and the look of the Thompson River was too good to pass up.

Shortly after having a pie from the local milk bar, Kaziah came past and gave us stinky fellas a ride home..... she was lucky she didn't smell us before the river dip!

Hiking Hygiene

So lets make a quick list of everything you use at home to keep yourself squeaky clean and looking/smelling good and hygienic.

  

Some of us do not require a brush or comb by default!

• Shampoo/conditioners
• Face wash
• Moisturiser
• Toothpaste
• Floss
• Mouthwash
• Shaver
• Shaving cream
• Body wash/soap
• Antiperspirant/deodorant 
• Hand wash/sanitizer 
• Toenail clippers
• Hand Nail clippers
• Emery board 
• Nose hair trimmer/ tweezers
• Flannel for washing
• Toilet paper 
• Q tips/ ear buds
• Brush/ combs
• Hair dryers/ curler
• Cologne/ perfume

So lets get real about what that would weigh.  Even if you used your shampoo as a body wash, face wash, moisturiser, shaving cream, hand wash/sanitizer you are still carrying some real weight!

When Tim & I head out for our 40 days in the Australian Alps we want to be carrying around 42kilos combined so we need to be really mindful of how much pack weight we are willing to allocate to hygiene.

We are hoping to have a river bath every couple of days when the opportunity presents itself but to be honest we are going to smell.  We will have one change of clothes for each weather type ( hot or cold) so even if we are smelling like fresh mountain water from the river, our clothes are going to be putrid.  After the first week Tim & I won't probably be able to smell ourselves anymore, the only way we will really know how bad we smell is by the speed in which all manner of living creature tried to flee our presents in the bush.

Lets cross off the easy to eliminate from the above list....remembering I have no hair & Tim will be getting a good trim before leaving.  Lets remove shampoo/conditioner, face wash, moisturiser, mouthwash, shaver and shaving cream, toe and hand nail clippers, emery board, nose hair trimmers, Q tips, brush/comb, hair dryer or curler and cologne.  Those were easy, no real sacrifices made..... but now we start having to think a little deeper.

Flannel is light weight and can be stuffed into almost any air gap in the pack but surely using my hand to scrub up in the river will do, Okay lets drop the flannel.

Floss is small, light weight and crucial to keeping my dentist happy..... but based on the idea that we will have 1 rest day on day 11 our wives and kids, we will let them bring the hygienic extras and forgo good dental hygiene on the trail.

Antiperspirant/deodorant is not small but it is light, it may make that first 20 minutes of every morning bearable..... but of course the lovely fragrance emitted by these products will disappear 20 minutes down the trail so it really isn't going to effect our overall sanity...... its out!

Lets move onto the keepers then.  Toothpaste & toothbrush and body wash/soap, have both made the final 4 with very little surprises there but lets talk about the hand sanitizer.... necessary?  A small bottle is going to be one of my luxury inclusions in my pack.  I have read a number of article from various sources who have been through these areas and some have found the water made them sick, some found that if they drank the water after washing their hands the water was fine.... expecting the individuals got sick from the germs on their hands not the water source.  Its a easy insurance policy I think.  Nothing will be more shattering then getting into the trip and having to pull out and go home due to illness.

So item number 4 on my list of hygiene must brings...... of course toilet paper.  I am not as hard core as the guys in the below video clip!  I do however believe I will use some of their tips to reduce the amount of paper I will bring.

I will not be scrapping my ass with a rock, or bark, or a fern.  We are roughing it but some things I am happy to add pack weight for.  A small travel pack of inter-folding toilet paper will not break my back.  That being said I am converted to the outdoor baday, great idea and highly hygienic.

I'll be interested in everyones comments of further hygiene tips while on the trail, so please make comments in the field provided below.

Day 3 - BASHED & LOST

We start the day retracing our steps from the error we made the night before, (see article Day 2 - Hills, Views and an Alpine Tiger Snake)  After crossing Black River we started our 2.8km bush bash northward  to a point in dense brush where we are meant to find a cairn which will indicate for us to change to a northeast direction for another 2.8km of bush bashing across a saddle and then up Mt Shillinglaw, Chapman's book says to expect 3-5 hours of bush bashing.

After 3 hours we were frustrated but happy to see a burnt out marker on a tree as well as a couple other signs that other groups had seen this mess we were in as well.  Above the words What Trak were some other descriptive words which I won't relay.

We knew the cairn we were looking for as a direction changer was at the summit of the ridge we were following and my Suunto watch came in handy with constant elevation checks but after another 2 hours we could tell we still had a some elevation to climb and we were desperate to see any new signs of track confirmation.  None came.

We had a bearings some what as we could see Mt Shillinglaw from time to time when the scrub cleared and could also see a logging trail which we believed met up with the Jamieson-licola Rd we expected to be at by now!

Things were not working right for about an hour now, Tim & I took off our packs and got out all the assets we brought with us.  Map, compass, GPS and a couple of prayers!  We had something to eat and drink and assessed that we had now indeed passed our turn off and return in the direction we came from.  Within 10 metres of turning around Tim notices a white drink bottle on the ground, it was mine from when we had walked through there 10 minutes ago!  The forest was not only interrupting our progress it was stealing from me too........

It had been about 20 minutes of bashing when when Tim almost said "lets have another look at the maps" when I yelled out those marvellous words which would dominate our afternoon for the next 2 hours.  PINK PAINT!

Look closely, wasn't easy to spot on the day either

Thank you to whoever had done the trail and marked the scrub with pink paint.  We were like fat kids in the candy shop!  There was laughter and dancing, I think Tim & I almost hugged at one point!  We had the trail....... but 10 metres later....... where did it go.  Tim & I would split up and walk about 15 metres and one of us would yell out "Pink Paint" the other would then bush bash back to the trail and start the process again.  The below images shows how dense the scrub is, top photo of my back from about 3 metres in front of Tim.  I took a small step, 300mm step and this is the result in the picture below, gone!

4:30pm we had made it out of the scrub having left at about 9am from Black river camping ground to McMillan track a massive distance of....... 5km!  This is 1 of 3 sections with this difficulty on the whole Australian Alps Walking Track.  We were happy to see the McMillan marks but we were down to about 500ml of water each and were about 8km from a reliable water source ( as shown on the map) we decided to make it a long day and get to Rumpff saddle as quick as we could, picking up water on the Barkly Jeep Track so we could avoid headaches from dehydration.

When we saw the water some 3 km's down the road, it made it worth the effort.  Fresh, cold, mountain fresh flowing water.  Although we had been filtering the water over the past couple days we didn't even bother with this spot.  The whole time we were filling up and downing some fresh stuff right off the rocks I was thinking of my father.  Along the Appalachian Trail Dad & his brothers used to swoon over the natural water springs pouring out of the mountain face.  Its Dad's favourite brew, ice cold mountain water.  This photo is for you Dad.....soak in that image!

Well 8pm we set up camp after skipping like school girls from the water source to Rumpff saddle.  Tents, then food.  We had rehydrated pasta and veggies and Tim had brought some bags of Tuna to add to the mix...... wow... what a feed.  The perfect meal to reward our days work.  We washed up and hit the tents about 9:30pm.  A belly full of food, well hydrated and the knowledge of knowing we just tackled one of the more difficult sections of the AAWT and conquered.  We slept well.




.

Little more training

Friday night is meant to be 80% chance of thunder storms and heavy rain, again.  So like the past 3 times I have been camping I thought why not, lets do sleep in a storm!  A group of 6 guys, ranging from 18 yrs old to around 50 yrs old all departed for an overnighter in Blackwood VIC.

Sorry - no pictures.

After staying up till 1 am around the fire we woke this morning at 7am, had bacon, eggs & toast over the fire whilst the rain bucketed down.  I had brought a large shelter tent so we stayed dry while we ate.   By the time we had packed all the tents up, and made our way to the start of the trail it was about 9:10am.  The rain had stopped....for now.

We took a combination of tracks through the Blackwood area which totalled 13km's of varying inclines & declines and a couple river crossing.  A very brisk 3 hour hike including some jogging on flats to challenge ourselves and have a little fun.  Although the daily km's is much less than we expect to do on the Australian Alps walking track and I had no pack on it was still good to get out in the pounding rain and do some km's.  It was less pressure on the body but a good mind tester to see how excited I would be if it rained all day & still had to press on.

i wouldn't want 2 or 3 days in a row like that when we go away next year.  

Day 2 - Hills, Views & an Alpine Tiger Snake

We started our day a little wet as mentioned in 'Come on Honey its only a 2 hour drive!" Tim had his powdered milk & 4 WheatBix and I got stuck into 2 hot cinnamon and brown sugar oatmeal.  We packed up and were on our way by 8am.  There was little point hanging around camp with the sun rising at 6:30am and well, we were damp so it wasn't that relaxing anyways.

I must say though that despite all the nights drama's we both seemed to get an okay sleep.  I found packing on this morning to be exciting.  We were about to do our first full day hiking together and really get stuck into the Australian Alps walking Track, very exciting.  I knew we would be climbing first thing this morning as track notes from John Chapman's book indicated so I really wanted my pack to be compact and packed well.  I still couldn't fit my tent inside so it was still tied to my pack, I hope to resolve this before our end to end adventure.



We made good time out of Red Jacket and headed North/east towards Mt Victor and then onto Mount Singleton.  We took a couple a breaks along the way to test out our morning snacks which included Mixed nuts and a dehydrated fruit mix of Kiwi, Banana, Strawberries, and Apples.  We will definitely continue to bring those items on the main trip.  The fruit is so light and full of energy, I'd bring less mixed nuts next time mind you as they are heavy and dry, salty so it really made me thirsty.
On our way we passed the Historical Survey sign which everyone gets a photo with, too bad some desecrated the original behind it on the tree.  The climb from Red Jacket to Mt Singleton was a healthy mix of visible walking tracks and gravel roads with a couple 4x4 tracks thrown in to give some relief to the feet.

As we approached the summit of Mt Singleton the locals must have heard we were coming an they sent out the welcome party.  He was a 3 foot Alpine Tiger snake and as we were talking away I just didn't see it there and as I was stepping down with my right foot, on a small incline I just saw it.  I hadn't the time to stop myself from stepping down, but thankfully missed stepping on its tail by about a inch!  With 23.1kilos on my back I jumped like a wild man with rabies about 3 feet off the ground and yelled out "SNAKE!"... "TIM SNAKE!"  

We avoided this little fella with Tim having to do some bush bashing to get around him as he wasn't moving.  Ends up being lucky for tim as the trail hairpins about 100 metres up the trail and comes out on the open field where Tim was standing anyways.....should have followed.  Sounded like a nice place to have lunch, so we took out the offcuts of under floor insulation we had brought to give some comfort between us and the grass and chowed down.  We had about 60grams of Pepperini Salami, 60grams of American (orange) cheddar cheese with an assortment of crackers.  Doesn't sound like much but what a pick me up.  In the bush, hiking, mostly with my mouth open.... huffing and puffing up the hills, your taste buds are stale so the taste of salami, cheese and crackers is so exciting.  Its a real energy hit and motivator.  I'm gonna need to try different crackers on the big hike as these ones weren't my thing!

We made or way for a couple km's along Mt Selma Rd until it had a road closed sign so had to take an alternate route along Champion Spur Track.  Its an old Jeep track which took us from an altitude of about 1200m down to about 500m.  There came a time where Tim and I were just thinking the fastest way to camp would be to just fall.  let gravity do its thing.

Looking back up at Tim

It will all be worth wild at the bottom as Black River, our destination for camp tonight is at the bottom which we reached around 5pm.  We just need to cross the river, find the track, find the camp site.  It took us about 45-55 minutes to find our way 300m down the river and confirm the track entry on that side of the river.  We kept jumping in the river, dressed in our jocks, finding the river was too deep not to get our packs wet, bush bash till we could get to shallow water again, jump back in and repeat!  Bush bashing in my jocks was not very exciting..... some deep cuts in places we won't mention.  

Now we have been climbing for about 10 minutes and Tim says "this doesn't look flat enough for a camp site, you sure its on this side of the river"  I proceeded to get John Chapman's book out which we had not looked at for a while and figured out the camp is back past where we arrived at the river....tears..... almost, more jocks only bush bashing through the scrub and river which was easier as we were on the trail longer this time.  Back in the camp.  Set up tents at about 7:30pm and had a great bath in the Black River.  Ate dinner and were in bed at 9pm.  What a day, without checking my notes it was about 21km not including our 2km of searching for the river exit.

Our camp site on Black River

The Personal Trainer’s perspective

With any fitness program we need to look at the fitness components required, is it speed, agility, power, endurance (muscular/aerobic) or strength.

Now as John’s preparing for a 35 day hike he’ll need to improve on his aerobic endurance, and there’s no better way for him to prepare than actually getting out there and hiking, the only problem being is that there are plenty of other factors to consider. Factors that need to be taken into consideration are work, wife, social life and 2 and a half children, and this can take up a bit of time.

My role as his strength and fitness coach is to continue to build on his overall body strength, core strength and muscular endurance, ensure his progressing whilst maintaining perfect posture and technique, and whilst outside of our time together ensure he works on improving his aerobic endurance, as he doesn’t require me to go hiking with him.

Within the 3 fitness components that John and I will be working on, I need to develop a program which looks at his training history and skill level, any relevant injuries that may impede specific exercises and of course, his goals.

John will be spending his days hiking on uneven surfaces and climbing up and down difficult terrain, meaning part of his program in the gym will involve performing strength exercises that will be unbalanced and also on an unstable surface, this is to improve his core stability and also his proprioception. Other exercises I need to focus on need to be functional (replicating movements that will be performed 100 times a day) and balanced, i.e. not ignoring muscle groups.

With any program written, the key is to keep it varied and challenging so John doesn’t get stale or bored with what his doing, and as he’s 12 months out from the hike beginning I won’t be looking at getting 100% specific with his program until 3-6 months remaining, having said that it will only be tweaked here and there as November 2012 draws closer.

What I do expect from John over the next 12 months (whilst remaining married and in work) is to be hiking every 4-8 weeks for varying lengths of time, to experience and see how he copes with different terrain, different weather conditions, to get a greater understanding of what foods he can consume as some food may not necessarily agree with him, he needs to know how much food he will need to take before reaching the next food drop, how much fluid he requires both in hotter and cooler weather, if his equipment will do the job, if he’s lacking certain equipment, or if he’s carrying too much. This all comes down to preparation and planning, and having trained John for nearly a year now, I think a lot of his enjoyment will come from preparing his body for the hike and planning the 30 odd days that it will take him.

The hike will throw up some unexpected events and if we can reduce as many unknowns as possible and prepare the best he can, then it will make for a more enjoyable and successful journey.

Marcus Bourne

M-Power Personal Fitness