Here is how Wednesday last week was meant to go. After Judd finished his swimming lessons Megan was going to drive Tim Marsden & myself out to Matlock, Victoria. Google Maps claims it is 2 hrs 40 mins drive from Judd's swimming lessons.
About 2 hours into our trip the GPS still claimed we were 2 hours away and the road had already deteriorated into a logging road full of pot holes that couldn't go 20 metres without changing its mind about what direction it wanted to go. Megan was a trooper and although she was 7 months pregnant reassured me to keep going and that she would be fine returning by herself once she had dropped us off.
She was behind the wheel of the Jeep so I knew "Jeep" would take care of her.
Just outside Matlock was our track junction. The Jericho Track junction is not part of part of the AAWT but is only 5km off the trail so it was good starting point. We left Megan at 1:20pm Wednesday afternoon, we expected to reach Mt Skene around 2pm Saturday afternoon so had carried 4 days worth of gear for a 60 hour period, just incase. We had approximately 40 kilos worth of gear with us and hope to use this trek to refine what is really needed next year and what can be reduced in size or weight or both.
This was the beginning of the adventure for Tim and I, we hoped to work out our individual strengths and weaknesses, get an understanding of each others abilities in the bush and whether we had a team synergy that was going to get us through the journey. Communication will be a key element to getting to Canberra and we also hoped this trip would provide an opportunity for us to work on reading each others moods and emotions so that we can work on how to counter each other to get the best results next year.
Day one is going to easy. As 1:20pm was our start time and we wanted to set up camp & eat at a reasonable hour we chose "Red Jacket" for our camp ground which was only 6km south east along the Jericho Track.
We had started the Jericho Track at around 1068 metres above sea level and descended to Red Jacket located at approximately 520 metres above sea level. We set up camp, had a swim in the river (hoping it had less leaches than Walhalla did 2 weeks ago.
For dinner we rehydrated our rice, broccoli, carrot, peas and chicken mix and followed it up with a cup of hot chocolate before washing up and heading to bed. We were aware from earlier weather reports that we were in for a loud, rainy night. The estimates were 40mm of rain and possible flooding. We chose a camp site about 5 metres above the creek level so we had no concerns with flooding. Or so we thought!
Despite our best attempts at picking a safe location, at about 1am in the rain we had to get our wet weather gear on and move our tents about 40 metres up the hill to a grassy flat as the site was covered in about 5 inches of flood waters. No fun. It was a wet night. Tim got a little more than I did as by the time I exited my tent with gear on the rain had slowed to a trickle. No whinging though, the next morning Tim just got on with the job and dried his gear out whilst hiking by hanging various items out the back of his pack. So in conclusion day 1 was short and sweet but by the next morning we ended up being high and dry!
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