Tuesday April 25, 22.3mi/35.9km

Due west of Canyonlands Overlook (53.0/4390ft) to Rustler Canyon (73.0/4240ft) (UT) +1.8mi bonus looking for Lockhart Cliffs shortcut +0.5mi water

I woke to a nice cool cloudy morning, and the temperatures were perfect. I was on the dirt road for an hour.

I could see across the Colorado River where the Sun was poking through the clouds.

After an hour on the road I came to the Lockhart cliffs. There is an alternate route that weaves directly through the cliffs, rather than going around them.

I spent an hour attempting to find my way through the maze of cliffs, but the GPS track was just a little off, and without photos or a text description, it was going to be nearly impossible to find the way down. For precision navigation like that it really is best to have a good written description. Oh well. I went back up to the dirt road and continued onward.

It’s springtime in the desert! All the flowers are out.

After a couple miles on that dirt road I turned off and headed downhill into a wash.

There was even some water! But I could tell from all the white minerals surrounding the pools, that the water was probably alkaline. It tasted funny too.

I came to the base of the cliff that I had attempted to scramble down earlier. Theoretically there is a route that starts at the top left and finishes on the bottom right of the photo.

I have been seeing hoof prints for the last hour, and I found more evidence of cows…

I departed the wash, and meandered around canyons, staying up on a plateau.

There was all sorts of interesting things up here. A random cairn!

A huge paw print!

And a Patagonia jacket!?

I picked up the jacket and strapped it to my backpack. I’d rather not carry extra weight, but can’t leave litter in the wilderness. I’ll bring it to the Canyonlands NP office for its owner to retrieve it. I left the plateau and headed down it into another wash, which I followed down to the Lockhart Canyon Road. It was another remote dirt road with no cars, but it did have a water source!

This water looked and tasted less alkaline then the previous source, so I filled up a bottle and filtered it.

I walked up the road for an hour, which was really pleasant with all the beautiful scenery distracting me.

There was even a tiny little arch in this cliff!

Eventually I left the road and began my descent into Rustler Canyon. It started off as a narrow rocky watercourse.

Eventually it became a wider sandy Canyon bottom.

There were so many springtime flowers blooming down here in the sandy canyon! I don’t know any of their names, but they came in so many colors. Red!

Purple!

White!

Yellow!

I hiked most of the way down the canyon, and stopped at little early at 4:30. My GPS told me I had already hiked 20 miles today, and I’m trying take it slow starting out, to avoid overuse injury. I setup my tent well above the bottom of the wash, in case there’s any rain during the night.

By 5:30 I had already completely setup and had dinner, so I read my book for a couple hours before falling asleep at sunset.

Monday April 24, 19.2mi/30.9km

Ledge A Campground (35.0/4140ft) to Due west of Canyonlands Overlook (53.0/4390ft) (UT) +1.2mi water

I was awake at 6:30 and saw one of the coolest sunrises. The tops of the cliffs were shadowed by cloud, with the middle part illuminated by the rising sun.

Most of today was roadwalking on 4wd roads. I started walking at 7 a.m. and within a mile I had my first obstacle. These remote dirt roads don’t have bridges you just drive directly through the creeks, which are dry most of the year. But not today!

I skirted around one of the edges and kept my feet dry. The middle part must be deeper than I thought since there was a small graveyard to lost front license plates.

I hiked another hour and a half, passing a few junctions and getting views along the way.

I took a break at the top of Hurrah Pass, which had views in all directions.

I met a mountain biker named Jake, he just rode some cool 3 day loop in this area. And I met 3 guys in jeeps, they were just finishing a trip, and offered me their extra water.

It was fun to meet so many adventure-minded people in such a random place. The view to the northwest from the pass looked like the horizon was curved. Its not just the photo!

I hiked down the pass for about an hour, and came to this place in the middle of nowhere.

I think this is where many of the vehicles were heading, since after this point I saw much fewer jeep traffic. The roadwalking was nice and peaceful.

I stopped for lunch under the shade of one of the only trees I had seen all day. From this point I could also access the Colorado River so I strolled over to refill some of my water. It was a nasty silty brown, and smelled strangely, so I double filtered it.

After lunch I hit a junction where I turned left, and pretty much all the remaining ATV and Jeep traffic turned right. It was a narrow steep wash.

There must have been water in here at some point, I saw a bunch of wildflowers including this paintbrush.

Not all traffic had turned right at the junction. This poor Jeep was stuck, high-centered on some rocks. I offered to help but there wasn’t much I could do.

The rough dirt road climbed higher and gained the top of a shelf, which it followed all afternoon.

Eventually by 2pm it had become too hot to hike, so I hid in the shade of some rocks and had a nap.

It was a nice relaxing afternoon of quiet roadwalking, which basically feels like a wide trail. At the top of this little pass I met another mountain biker on a 3 day loop, and he was debating whether to go back for water or go forward to the next (potentially dry) water source.

We talked for half an hour at that little pass, I think it was a tough decision for him to turn around…. but always better to play it safe and not run out of water in the desert. I continued onward for another 30 minutes before I stopped to setup camp. It was only 5pm, but I had already done 19 miles, and I don’t want to push hard early on and then get injured. I had a very interesting sunset, which was partially obscured by a wave of thunderclouds moving through.

Sunday April 23, 17.3mi/27.8km

Lower Courthouse Wash (19.7/4060ft) to Ledge A Campground (35.0/4140ft) (UT) +2.0mi thru Moab

I slept really well and actually didn’t wake up until 7am. My tent was wet with condensation, as I figured might happen….I was camped on grass and not under any tree cover. Oops. I toweled off the inside walls, packed up, and hiked out by 8am. The stream crossing routine continued today, as the trail switched sides of the valley frequently. The crossings were made much easier by these beaver dams. Why are there beavers in Utah? And in the desert?!

I hiked down the lower Courthouse wash for 3 miles / 2 hours, which was mostly enjoyable and entertaining.

The morning light on the red cliffs and green trees looked amazing.

I exited the wash and was on the main highway to Moab. I noticed it was only 10am, so I stopped to view some nearby rocks with pictographs. Cool.

There was a new-ish pedestrian bridge over the Colorado river, which felt much safer than taking the highway.

Sometimes sign graffiti is both funny and accurate.

I walked the 3 miles into town on the bike path, and stopped into a Wendy’s at 11am to charge my phone, battery, etc. I couldn’t resist a Frosty while I was there either! After an hour there, I walked 10 minutes down to the City Market to resupply. I had some snacks left, but needed meals for the next 4 days. I think there should be a hiker Olympics event for fastest resupply, I was done in less than 10 minutes! Ha. I went down the street to get a shower at one of the local outfitters, it was $5 well spent. By the time I left town it was 2pm, and I began the hot roadwalk heading south. Pretty soon I came to the Colorado River.

The road followed it for a couple of miles.

I stopped at the Moonflower Canyon area to have a snack at one of the picnic tables, and noticed some more pictographs!

I hiked on, and in another hour I found the water source I was looking for. Kane springs! It was just dripping out of a horizontal crack on the roadside.

As I hiked further, the canyon became wider and less deep, and I had longer views of the terrain ahead.

Around 6:30 I decided I was ready to be done for the day, so I pulled into one of the many BLM campgrounds along Kane Creek Road.

It was an easy day of mostly roadwalking, hopefully tomorrow is more interesting.

Saturday April 22, 22.0mi/35.4km

Devil’s Garden Backcountry campsite (11.1/5320ft) to Lower Courthouse Wash (33.1/4060ft) (UT)

I was awake a little later than usual, at 7am. I think it will take me a couple days to get back into a routine. I had breakfast with a view, as my campsite was perched on a fin of slickrock. It was a cold morning, so I was hiking in a few layers, but after 20 minutes I dropped some layers when I arrived at my first arch, Double-O arch.

I saw two people at the arch, which was pretty surprising since it was only 8am and I was a couple hours from the trailhead. The next arch was Black Arch overlook.

I didn’t see an arch there but I think it might have collapsed, as they all will eventually.

I loved hiking across the fins of slickrock, it’s easy walking and you get a view.

I saw a few more people at Partition Arch, and one of them took my photo. Probably one of the few times on the Hayduke when l can get my photo taken.

Just around the corner was Navajo Arch.

Sometimes the trail squeezed through these little slots between the rocks.

I hiked on another 10 minutes and then started seeing dozens and dozens of people. But I came around the corner and thought Landscape Arch, probably the most photographed arch in Utah. It’s huge!

There were two more arches that I don’t remember the names of.

I arrived at the trailhead and parking lot shortly after, where I saw hundreds of cars. Yuck. I refilled my water bottles, emptied my trash, used the bathroom, and then continued on. I walked the road for about a mile and then turned off to follow a gas pipeline route cross-country.

It was actually really scenic, and nice to be away from all the people and cars. After an hour of that I came to a fenceline, which was the boundary of Arches National park.

I made a hard left and followed the fence for a couple miles. It was easy walking, but there was one spot where I was “caught between a rock and a sharp place”, ha!

The rest of the day I spent walking down a wash or stream, which I really enjoyed. It started off sandy and wide.

Some places were narrow and rocky, with these little eroded out potholes that I had to navigate around.

I even found a spring, the first natural water I’ve seen on trail.

More rocky wash with eroded potholes.

After about an hour, the wash I was hiking down joined the much larger Courthouse wash. This is where I started finding quicksand. Neat!

From this point onwards the wash was wide and vegetated, so it was much easier to walk through the very shallow water than try to bushwhack through the bushes and weeds.

As I got lower down, the cliffs got much taller.

Apparently some very large bird lives down here!

It was a great afternoon of wading through Courthouse wash. Eventually the water mostly disappeared and I was hiking on dry land.

I started seeing prickly pear cactus!

I crossed under the bridge for the Park road, and entered Lower Courthouse wash. Down here the wash was less wide, and the stream was really deep. I stayed on dry land, but had to keep crossing and recrossing the stream as it meandered back and forth within the canyon.

At one point it became shallower as it dropped over a small waterfall, and into a pond.

A mile later, I was at my assigned campsite, which was perched up on a flat sandy bench. It’s always better to camp up high, away from water and the valley bottom…less condensation. Very nice spot!

These first two nights my camping locations are dictated by my permit from Arches national park. For most of the hayduke though, I will just be camping wherever I decide. Tomorrow I’ll pass through Moab again, before I enter some really remote terrain for a week!

Friday April 21, 11.1mi/17.9km

Eastern Terminus/Hwy 191 (0.0/4520ft) to Devil’s Garden Backcountry campsite (11.1/5320ft) (UT)

I woke up at my campsite just north of Moab, and drove my van to the storage place south of town. They’ll be storing my vehicle for two months while I hike this trail! The owner, Don, was very nice and gave me a ride into downtown. I was planning on hitching to the start of the trail, but I got a nice surprise. A friend from the PCT, whom I hadn’t seen since 2015, was in town! Julia saw my Instagram post tagged in Moab, and messaged me, and we ended up having coffee, and later grabbed lunch.
The coffee was DIY, but I had help, haha.

She very generously gave me a ride to the trail, and we even had some 80s music to sing along to, I’m sure all the nearby pedestrians were jealous. After a couple photos at the start, we parted ways and I was off.

I’m calling the 2nd one the terminus monument, ha! I think it was just an old piece of railroad equipment.

I hiked cross-country for a couple miles, leaving the highway behind.

After following a dirt road briefly, I crossed into Arches NP.

The rock formations began to appear.

This one was called Parallel Arch.

And the main attraction in this part was Tower Arch.

Looking back thru tower arch.

I had a snack break and met another hiker sitting there. Jake was from the Pittsburgh area, and had most recently lived in the climbing town of Fayetteville WV. Turns out that we had been to the same climbing event last May, and had probably already met before…. amazingly small world. Two surprise meetups today!

I departed the Tower Arch and marveled at the random rock formations. The trail went thru a wide crack!

This formation was called Marching Men.

Looking north at the sandstone cliff bands.

The trail ended at a gravel parking area, and I had a short 1 mile roadwalk.

And then a mile-long cross-country section thru short bushes, followed by scrambling up a short cliff. The view from the top was great, the setting sun was even shining thru the thick clouds.

I heard a noise, and saw a herd of…deer?

The last rock formation of the day was Dark Angel.

I watched the sunset, and then hiked another 30 minutes to my assigned campsite, and setup my tent in the deepening darkness. A great first day!

Tuesday April 18 – Thursday April 20

I had a couple days of cross-country driving before getting to Moab, UT, the town at the start of the trail. I entertained myself with a few brief stops along the way, including a visit to Indiana Dunes National Park.

Of course, when I saw a Culver’s I had to stop and get a milkshake and a meal.

The drive thru Iowa and Nebraska was, as usual, completely boring and useless. But then I finally arrived in Utah!

I camped outside of town Wednesday night, and spent most of the day Thursday doing town chores – sorting and mailing resupply packages to 3 “towns”, buying a few small pieces of gear specific to this trail (extra water bladder, thin rope/cord for lowering my pack down cliffs), and a grocery store trip.

There are tons of local outdoor gear stores in Moab, I walked into Gearheads since it was nearby.

They had an amazing water filling station, which was perfect timing, as I was wondering how I was going to fill all my water containers.

I spent a few hours studying my maps and planning the details of my first 2 weeks on trail. It was hard to not be distracted by the beautiful scenery all around me. I think these are the La Sal mountains to the east.

Tonight I will camp in my van at a spot just north of town, and then tomorrow drop off my vehicle in storage and hitch to the start of the trail in Arches NP !

Let the adventure begin…..wheeeee

Australia Summary and Advice

Australia is a huge country, about the size of the contiguous USA, and there is a huge diversity in its landscapes. I explored only 3 of it’s 8 states/territories, namely Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Tasmania. I’ll describe each of these in detail, but before that I’ll give advice for Australia generally.

Traveling/Living in Australia

By far, the most expensive part of this trip was the flights. Getting to australia was just under $1000 in September 2022, which is the best that I could find on momondo.com. For Americans, flights will generally connect thru either LAX, SFO, or SEA, and then land in Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane. The flights within Australia are mostly operated by Qantas or Virgin, and I didn’t notice that either was better/worse than the other. Every time I got on a plane, I had both a carryon bag (my backpack) and a small checked bag. For the checked bag, I picked up a cheap duffel bag at thrift stores (called op-shops in Australia), and put in the items that are not allowed on the plane. Specifically, my swiss army knife, hiking poles, tent stakes, and poop trowel. When I got to my destination, I would donate the duffel bag, since I can’t carry it while hiking.

To get into Australia as a US citizen, a passport and (as of December 2022) an approved travel visa are required. The passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months after you enter Australia, and the visa is obtained through the “Australian ETA” smartphone app. After downloading the app, I entered my information, including Covid-19 vaccination information, and received an approval 48 hours later. Citizens of NZ and UK usually have more lenient requirements for entry, and probably some other countries too.

To live in a foreign country, I made sure I could spend money without hassle. Before I left, I did a currency exchange at my local bank (which took 4-5 days) and brought A$250 (Australian Dollars, AUD). In my 3 months in the country, I only spent about $100 of it, since 99% of places accepted credit cards. Mostly my cash was used at laundromats, unstaffed pay campgrounds, and to offer drivers gas money when I was hitchhiking. I opened a credit card that had no foreign transaction fees, as many US credit cards have these fees by default, and they add up quickly. I used Nerdwallet to find a no-fee credit card, in my case it was a CapitalOne Quicksilver card.

Another aspect of living abroad is having a working cell phone. In Australia, the 3 main phone carriers are Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone. I chose Telstra, since it had the best rural signal coverage, and I chose a $30/month plan which gave me 40GB of data, and voice and texting. A local explained the 3 carriers to me this way: “Telstra works in the mountains, Optus works in the towns and cities, and Vodafone works….in theory”. Ha! It was also very convenient to have a local phone number, since I could text with hikers I met, and get text alerts for buses, hotels, flights, ferries, and rental cars. I picked up a SIM card for my Android phone at the airport, since that was the most convenient place to buy one. Before I left home, I made sure my phone would work in Australia, which uses the 4G LTE channels: 1, 3, 5, 7, 28, 40. Most modern smartphones should work on at least some of these channels, but you can verify that here.

Bringing a phone and other electronics (battery bank, headlamp, Garmin InReach) requires a way to charge them. Fortunately, the world has standardized on the USB-C connector, and so I was able to bring only 2 cables (USB-A to -C, and USB-C-to-C) for everything. I had my wall brick from a previous trip to New Zealand, which uses the same 240-volt electrical system as Australia. It’s a dual USB plug that is designed for Australia’s electrical system. 

When I had a rental car, I was able to simply plug the USB cable into the dashboard, since most modern cars have a USB port.

Finally, I downloaded some smartphone apps that would improve my communication with the locals as well as any foreign visitors that I met. Australians of course speak english (or some form of it, haha), but I met several German, Dutch, and French hikers where my Google Translate app was handy. I also had a currency app that would calculate the exchange rate, though eventually I just estimated it as 2/3rds of the AUD price (In December 2022, $1 AUD = $0.66 USD). And finally I had a metric conversion app, since the US is stubbornly/stupidly the only country remaining that still uses the imperial measurement system. After a couple weeks I didn’t need conversions anymore, as I learned that 20C was shorts weather, 10C was fleece jacket weather, it took 13 minutes to walk a kilometer, and 500g (1 lb) was the perfect amount of cheese.

For food in Australia, the grocery stores seemed pretty similar to ones in the US. There are three nationwide chains, Woolworths, Coles, and the smaller IGAs. Resupply for hiking was basically the same, though it was oddly difficult to find tuna packets; most IGAs had them but only some Woolworths did.  In Australian restaurants, there were some slight differences. The tax is included in the price on the menu, and there is no tipping. So while the menu prices might initially appear expensive, they’re actually cheaper because those two items are included in the price. Also, restaurants have a weird stinginess with ketchup, and I always had to specially ask for it, and they would only reluctantly give out 2 or 3 packets. Some places even charged 50 cents per packet! Eventually I just bought a bottle of ketchup at the grocery store ($2) and kept it in the car, when I had a car.

Northern Territory (NT) / Outback Desert

I traveled here first, since I wanted to hike in the desert before it got too hot. In early October, it’s still spring but the temperatures were already 25C/77F. I flew into Alice Springs, and called for a taxi. There is a shuttle to/from the airport, but it only runs three times per day, and I arrived after the last shuttle had departed. The shuttle must be booked in advance and is only $19.  The airport is 15km/15 minutes from Alice Springs, so it’s too far to walk, and there are also some crime issues to deter this approach. I stayed at the YHA, which was a nice hostel, and very close to everything. The entire CBD is only 4 blocks long/wide, so it’s an easily walkable city. To get on the Larapinta Trail, there were 2 options: Hike out of Alice springs, heading west, finish on Mt. Sonder, and hitchhike back to Alice; or hitchhike to Mt Sonder, and hike east to finish in Alice. I chose the latter, to have more control over my own destiny. If I didn’t get a hitchhike heading to Mt Sonder, at least I would be in a town; if I took the first option and didn’t get a hitchhike, I could get very hungry! Ultimately, it took 2 hitches to get to the Redbank Carpark (western terminus of the Larapinta), and the entire process took about 4 hours. The actual driving took about 2 hours / 150km. Once I started the Larapinta hike, it took me 9 days, hiking about 30km per day, with the first and last days being only 15km. I carried all 9 days of food, which was a little brutal the first couple of days; if I were to do it again, I would drop off food at 1 of the 3 official food drop locations (Ellery Creek South, Serpentine Gorge, Ormiston Gorge). For water and camping, there are shelters about every 15km along the trail with water tanks; some even have solar USB chargers. There was one notable 30km gap between Ellery Gorge and Serpentine Chalet Dam, so I carried more water that day. Starting in 2022, there is a $25/day fee to walk the Larapinta trail, up to a maximum of $125. You can make a booking on the NT Parks website, this isn’t well known or publicized, and I only became aware of this halfway thru my hike. In addition to my usual hiking gear, I carried a few items to protect me from the harsh sun and climate of the Outback desert: chrome umbrella, sunshirt with hood, headnet (for flies), sunglasses (for sun and flies). I also brought cash/cards to purchase food at the two tourist spots I would pass thru, Ellery Gorge and Standley Chasm. Those are also the only two spots with showers, though there were plenty of swimming holes to rinse off along the way. After 9 days of hiking, I was back in Alice Springs, and my first shower at the YHA felt so wonderful. While I was in the NT, I also did some tourist trips, which I recommend: a bus tour to Uluru, and a trip to Kings Canyon. Both are full-day trips, and often they can be combined into a 3-day loop. To depart Alice Springs, I used the shuttle to the airport, and then flew to Western Australia (Perth).

Western Australia (WA)

I spent the longest time here, hiking the Bibbulmun Track south from Perth to Albany, away from the approaching heat of summer. It’s a 1000km track which took me 29 days, but I think 40 days is more typical. I also hiked the 130km Cape-to-Cape Track, which took 5 days. The Bibbulmun Track is very well established, and it has published guidebooks and maps, and there is even a Guthook app for it. The Bibb is designed so that hikers walk through the towns, so there is no hitchhiking required, and the towns are spaced about 100km (3-4 days) apart. There are 11 towns on the Bibbulmun, here is the resupply strategy that I used:

• Kalamunda (Woolworths, 7 days)
• Dwellingup (IGA, 3 days)
• Collie (Woolworths, 3 days)
• Balingup (skipped)
• Donnelly River Village* (mailed a box, 3 days)
• Pemberton (IGA, 2 days)
• Northcliffe (mailed a box, 4 days)
• Walpole (IGA, 2 days)
• Peaceful Bay Caravan Park* (mailed a box, 5 days)
• Denmark (skipped)
• Albany (IGA) (Finish)
  • *(not really a town, just a caravan park / campground)

The trail is also easy to do in sections, or bail out at almost any point, as TransWA buses serve 9 of the 11 towns. After I finished, I took the bus from Albany to Augusta, which is close to the start of the Cape-to-Cape Track.

For the C2C Track, I hitched the 8km from Augusta to the C2C trailhead, which was the only time I hitched in WA. I decided to hike the trail northbound, to keep the prevailing wind at my back. I didn’t buy a guidebook or map, I just used the Guthook app. Navigation was fairly easy, as the trail seems to have undergone big maintenance project recently, as there are tons of new-looking markers at pretty much every turn and fork in the trail. Plus, as a northbound hiker, keeping the ocean on my left was a good overall principle. It’s a short trail, so there are no food resupplies, though there are a couple of campgrounds that had a cafe, which was a special treat. There are only 4 “official” campsites on the trail, though they’re oddly spaced and I camped at random spots all 4 nights on the trail. Interestingly, I had to pay more attention to water sources, and not skip any opportunities to refill. I usually passed by 2 good water sources per day, and another 2-3 bad sources (salty/brackish) per day. I finished at the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse and paid $10 to take the 30-minute tour, which I thought was worth it. From the lighthouse, it’s 13km to Dunsborough and the TransWA bus stop. I walked the first 3km, and as soon as I turned onto the main road I easily hitched a ride for the last 10km.

I spent a few days in Perth, the most isolated capital city in the world. It’s a big city of 2 million people, and I found plenty to do there. I stayed at a hostel near the CBD and walked to shops and restaurants, and I spent a day visiting nearby Rottnest Island. There are many ferry operators that go to Rottnest, I used SeaLink. To fully explore Rottnest Island, a bike hire is necessary. When I departed Perth, I rode the *brand new* AirportLine subway from the CBD directly to my airport terminal. 

Tasmania (TAS)

In hindsight, I arrived to Tasmania a couple weeks too early, as the weather hadn’t settled yet. It was still late spring, which tends to be rainy and cool (10C/50F). By mid-december, the weather was more reliable, though Tasmania is known for rain year-round. I spent 30 days in Tasmania, hiking 8 trails and attempting 2 more.

Overland Track: The longest hike I did in Tasmania was the Overland Track, which I took a leisurely 5 days to complete, and requires a $200 advance booking. The Overland Track is a very luxurious backcountry experience, with large (34-person) modern semi-heated huts every 10-15km, and extensive boardwalks for easy walking. The Guthook maps that I had downloaded went unused on this easy-to-navigate trail. The OT itself is only 76km long, but the beauty of the area is really seen from the many side-trips that can be taken. I did trips up Cradle Mountain, Mt. Ossa (highest point in TAS), Hartnett Falls, and Pine Valley/Acropolis. Due to weather, I skipped Barn Bluff, Lake Will, and Mt Pelion East. Many (most?) hikers also skip the last 16km of the Overland Track by taking a paid ferry across the lake. I hiked this section, which was in a beautiful gum forest along the lakeshore, so it had a different feel than the rest of the trail. When I finished the trail, I had lunch at cafe inside the Lake St Clair Lodge, and then stayed at the Drumlin Hostel, a 5-minute walk from the end of the trail. The next day, I booked at spot on the 2:30pm bus to Hobart, which arrived around 5pm. 

South Coast Track: After the Overland Track, I saw a good weather window, and decided to try the South Coast Track. This is an 88km rugged track along the often-rainy south coast of Tasmania. It’s so remote, the only way to get to the start of the track is to either 1) get dropped off by a cessna plane, or 2) hike the Port Davey track for 4-5 days. I chose the plane option, which is offered by Par Avion for $325. I tried to contact them on the phone, but had no luck, so I just showed up in their office the next morning. I was packed and ready to go, and to my happy surprise, they had 1 spot available for that afternoon! For this hike, I downloaded the Guthook app for my map, though I never needed it for navigation, as the track was easy to follow. It was more of a “are we there yet” GPS tool. The track is 88km long, but the first 10km and last 10km are mostly on boardwalks and very easy to hike. The middle 68km is where things get rough, steep, muddy, and just plain interesting. In this middle section, there is also one massive 900m climb up and over the Ironbound Range, which is a high-effort and low-distance day for most people. There are no huts or shelters on the track, though some of the campsites have toilets which could serve as emergency shelter. There are several short beach sections, which are spectacular walking, though swimming isn’t safely possible given the strong ocean currents. I completed the trail in 4 days, though I think most hikers would do it in 5-6 days. The track finishes in Cockle Creek, which is also the end of the southernmost road in Australia. There is a company that provides transport from this remote campground back to Hobart, but they also require a minimum of 4 people. I wasn’t going to pay for 4 seats ($450!) so instead I hitchhiked 65km to Geeveston, where I caught a bus for $7 for the final 60km to Hobart.

The remaining 6 tracks that I hiked in Tasmania were:

• Three Capes Track
• Frenchmans Cap
• Tarn Shelf & Mt. Field
• Walls of Jerusalem
• Maria Island
• Freycinet Circuit

All of these were short, 1-night camping trips. None required bookings or additional payment, though the ferry to Maria Island did cost $62. All of the hikes I did in Tasmania were in a National Park, so I needed a Parks Pass. The best deal is the 2-month “Holiday Pass” for $41 per person (or $82 per vehicle). There were also 3 hikes I attempted, but had to turn around due to conditions:

• Western Arthur Traverse (79km, 5-8 days) – hypothermia rain
• Lake Rhona (34km, 2 days) – flooded river crossing
• Mt. Anne circuit (34km, 2 days) – illness

I’ll have to return for these someday!

 

More Resources:

Guidebooks: John Chapman’s Tasmania Books (South West, Cradle Mountain)

Tide Charts: WillyWeather

Weather: Bureau of Meterology

Weather app: BOM

Car Campsite app: CamperMate

Guthook navigation app: Guthook (Larapinta, Bibbulmun, Cape-to-Cape, Overland, South Coast, Three Capes)

General navigation app: Backcountry Navigator Pro (everything else)

 

Tuesday December 20, 0.0km/0.0mi

Hobart Airport to Sydney Airport to Island Bend Campground (NSW)

I caught an early shuttle bus to the airport for my 9:45am flight to Sydney, which was a little turbulent but I napped anyway.

I landed in Sydney at 11:30, and rode the subway a couple stops to pickup my rental car. This one was quite a bit more modern than the 2012 Hyundai that I had in Tasmania, and I took advantage of the Bluetooth for navigation and phone calls.

I drove the 5 hours to Kosciuszko National Park, which included a stop at Lake George for some photos and stretching the legs.

Halfway thru, I stopped by Canberra for an early dinner and to pickup a map from Paddy Pallin (outdoor outfitter here). The other half of the drive was more scenic, and I did the last 15 minutes in the dark. All the Australian animals seem to be nocturnal and love to cross the roads, so it was a slow last 15 minutes.

I setup my tent at the Island Bend Campground, which was a nice secluded primitive spot above the Snowy River. It was very quiet, except for the sounds of hopping animals nearby.

Wednesday December 21, 22.1km/13.7mi

Charlotte Pass Trailhead (0.0/1840m) to Charlotte Pass Trailhead (22.1/1840m) (NSW)

I enjoyed my last night camping in Australia, and I woke to blue sunny skies and more hopping animals.

I think these are either Pademelons or Wallabies.

It was a 25 minute drive to the Charlotte pass trailhead, and along the way I stopped by the Perisher Valley visitor center (and ski resort) to get a parking pass.

The road ends at the Charlotte Pass trailhead, which is very small. Most of the cars were parked along the road, so I had to walk for a couple minutes to get to the official start of the loop I would be hiking.

My plan was to hike a 22km loop counterclockwise, going over the summit of Mt Kosciuszko (2228m/7310ft) along the way. Mt. Kosciuszko is the highest point on the Australian continent, and one of the “7 Summits”. The highpoints on the other six continents are much more difficult.

I could tell this trail was very well traveled, since it was so wide and paved with bricks!

I descended to the Snowy River, about 100m below the trailhead.

The river was wide, but the crossing was actually very easy on many large & well-placed boulders.

As I re-ascended out of the river valley, I started seeing some snow patches. The temperature was 15C/60F, so it was really more like slush.

The little creeks were raging with snowmelt.

The top of the climb up to the ridge, the trail split. It was a short 1km spur down to Blue Lake, which I skipped. I had a very good view of the lake from the junction, and since it was too cold to go swimming I didn’t see the point in doing the side trip.

The rest of the day was traversing along a ridge. There were some short sections of traversing snow, and I actually use my microspikes. They weren’t really necessary but it was much more efficient to hike with them on, since I wasn’t slipping with every step.

I loved the ridgewalk, as it was a completely alpine hike, which I saw very little of in Australia.

Blue skies!

Sometimes the trail would become very snowy, and disappear under a large snowdrift.

But mostly I was hiking through the grassy alpine terrain.

One particular section was on a raised metal walkway over 1km long, which seemed very out of place in the wilderness. The sign said it was to protect the environment from being trampled so I guess that makes sense.

I was so tempted to try to go swimming in all the little alpine tarns that I saw along the way.

As I crossed a short snowfield, I was shocked to see what appeared to be a very tiny crevasse. I knew this was not a glacier, and I probed probed the tiny crevasse and discovered it was only 1.5m/5ft deep, ha!

The trail was on a plastic grid material, which prevented it from getting muddy and eroded.

After hiking 12.5km, I arrived to the summit just before noon, and read the history of Mt Kosciuszko.

There were at least a dozen people on the summit at any given time, so any sense of solitude was lost.

I found some type of summit marker.

But this other summit marker was higher and looked more official.

I took my turn standing on the stone summit monument and asked another hiker to take my photo. She wasn’t very good with the camera but I kinda liked the strange angle of the photo.

I relaxed on the summit for almost an hour before finally departing. This section of trail was on an old road, and the 10km only took me 2 hours to get back to the car.

Along the way I came upon an old hut, called Seamans Hut. There were three rooms inside, with some benches and tables. It looked like a pretty nice spot to wait out a storm.

There were distance markers counting down the kilometers to the trailhead. 1km to go! The carpark (CP) was close.

When I returned to the trailhead, I explored the short Snow Gum (type of tree) trail. It was an easy 500m walk on a boardwalk and there were tons of these cool looking trees.

It was 4pm and I got in the car and drove straight to Canberra to get dinner. The Capital Brewing company (Canberra is the national capital of Australia) was a nice spot to grab a drink and a fish and chips.

I drove another hour and half to a free camping area called Daly’s Clearing. I have been using the Campermate app to find campsites all over Australia, it’s pretty great! It was almost dark so I set up my tent right next to the car. As I was taking off my shoes I noticed how they were about to fall apart. Good thing today was my very last day of hiking in Australia!

Tomorrow I will do some touristy things around downtown Sydney, and I have a hotel booked for tomorrow night.

Thursday December 22, 0.0km/0.0mi

Daly’s Clearing Camping Area to Sydney CBD (NSW)

I drove an hour and a half back to Sydney, and went directly to Bondi Beach. Even at 8:30am, there were plenty of people walking around.

The beach is famous for its surfing.

It’s a beautiful white sand beach, and only 20 minutes from downtown!

After a couple hours at the beach, I drove back to the airport and dropped off the rental car. I used the subway to get downtown, which was a very nice modern train system.

It was before noon and too early to check into my hotel, but they allowed me to drop off my backpack in their luggage room. The hotel was right next to this beautiful little urban park.

I walked 10 minutes over to the SeaLife Aquarium, and spent a couple hours exploring all the exhibits and cool marine animals.

The Dugong was very special, I think he’s the only one in a zoo anywhere in the world.

Rays!

My next stop was the Sydney Tower Eye. It looks like Seattle’s space needle, except it’s almost twice as tall.

There was a long-ish elevator ride to the top of the tower, which is 268m high.

After getting my fix for heights, I rode the elevator back down and hurried over to the Sydney opera house where I had reserved tickets for a 4:30pm tour.

I had trouble finding the entrance since most of the doors were locked. Eventually I figured out how to get under the stairs and met the tour guide on the ground floor.

He was a very thorough guide, and we heard explanations for many of the artworks and architectural features throughout the building.

This sounds strange, but the tiles that make up the outside of the shells of the Opera House were surprisingly….soft.

We were able to get a tour of one of the four theatres, since it was empty. (If a theater is currently hosting a production, it’s closed to tours to protect the IP of the production company).

The tour ended at 5:30, and I hungry for dinner, so I walked through the CBD and browsed restaurant menus as I passed by.

I was almost back to my hotel when the menu for “Next Door restaurant” caught my eye. It was a tiny place that seated maybe 25 people, and it served gourmet pizzas and quirky cocktails, with special prices for happy hour! Sold.

After dinner, I made my way to the Occidental Hotel and checked in. I spent an hour getting ready and packing for my flight back to the USA tomorrow morning.

It’s so strange that my Australia trip is now really coming to an end. I’m excited to be home for the holidays and to go back to work in January, but I know I will miss all this once I leave. And I’m definitely coming back to Tasmania someday to finish the hikes I could not complete due to bad weather. See you later, Australia!

Monday December 19, 25.5km/15.8mi

Hazards Beach Campsite (9.2/5m) to Wineglass Bay Trailhead (31.8/35m) (TAS) +2.9km Cooks Beach Hut

It was a warm morning, and for the first time in awhile I could hike in shorts! The trail was mostly in the forest today, with a couple of short beach walks.

I crossed probably a dozen tiny streams, and they all had a little pile of foam. There must be something dissolved in the water here, it’s very unusual.

I came to a trail junction for Cooks Beach, and decided to investigate the beach. It’s a short 1.5km side-hike, and ends at the Cooks Beach Hut. There were lots of footprints on the beach, and they all led to the Hut and campground area.

The hut was a very old stone structure, which gave a better first impression than it’s actual condition.

The hut’s inside was nice enough, I sat and had a snack at the table, and got some water from the tank. There were 2 other rooms, but I didn’t go in those due to spiderwebs and rotting floorboards.

It was a little after 9am and there were still 5 or 6 groups packing up their campsites. I’m always amazed how late some people start their day … they’re missing the best part of the day for hiking! I hiked the 1.5km back to the main trail, and found this enormous starfish along the beach. It was like 1.5 shoes in diameter!

Back on the main trail, it climbed up a few hundred meters toward Mt Freycinet. There must’ve been a recent storm, as there were fallen trees everywhere for over a kilometer. It was slow hiking and scrambling over all the blowdowns.

When I got to the saddle between Mt Freycinet and Mt. Graham, the trail split. Apparently Mt Freycinet is an optional side-hike, but there was no way I was skipping the trail’s namesake mountain! It started off at a reasonable climbing grade…

And within minutes, became quite steep. I was glad to have a light pack and no hiking poles!

At the summit of Mt Freycinet (629m), I initially didn’t have much of a view, as a random cloud had moved in.

I could tell the cloud wasn’t big, so I waited for the fog to burn off….

And it did burn off 10 minutes later. I could see Hazards Beach (left) where I hiked yesterday, and Wineglass Bay (right).

A closer look at Hazards Beach.

To my south, I could see the rest of the peninsula. There aren’t any trails down there, I think just a couple small beaches that boats can access.

Looking over to Mt. Graham, I could tell the clouds had mostly moved away, as I had visibility for a long distance.

I hiked off Mt Freycinet, rejoining the main trail, and climbed up Mt Graham. The skies were really clearing now, it was looking blue everywhere.

From the top of Mt Graham (el. 579m), I could see back to the summit of Mt. Freycinet, which by now was clear of clouds.

As I descended Mt Graham, I could see down to Wineglass Bay, where I would be in a couple of hours.

Back in the forest, it seemed much greener on this side of the mountain.

This little waterfall was surprisingly loud!

Wineglass Bay getting closer….

I descended all the way down to the Beach at Wineglass Bay. The waves were definitely bigger on this side of the peninsula.

It was a very enjoyable hour walking along the beach.

Looking out to the turquoise colored water.

More Wineglass Bay amazing-ness.

After 3km of beach walking, I was back in the forest, it was time to climb some stairs over a pass!

The view from the lookout at the top of the pass was unreal.

Even better views were around the corner! The clouds seem to be perched atop Mt Freycinet, ha!

This part of the trail was clearly much more popular, as I passed dozens of dayhikers on my way to the car. I finished at 4pm, and started the drive to Hobart. But I was soon distracted by ice cream!

So many flavors, it was hard to choose. I restrained myself to picking only 4 flavors.

The wildlife signs in Tasmania are top-notch. So detailed!

I arrived back in Hobart at 7pm, dropped off the rental car, and walked a short distance to my hotel. And with that, my Tasmania hiking is complete!

I’ll have to return someday to hike the Western Arthurs circuit, and the Lake Rhona trail, which I couldn’t complete due to weather. Until next time, see ya Tassie!

Sunday December 18, 25.8km/16.0mi

Darlington Campground (16.6/10m) to Wineglass Bay Trailhead (0.0/35m) to Hazards Beach Campsite (9.2/5m) (TAS)

I slept great under my little copse of trees, and awoke to a beautiful blue sky morning. I walked over to the meal pavilion, where I grabbed my food out of the lockers (required by the park), and enjoyed a walking meal. Much of the trail system on this island is old roads, it seems.

There was a little old house by the water, and I had to go explore inside. It had many used over the years, but one of them was a radio equipment building. And the radio was powered by pedaling a sort of bicycle contraption. Neat!

The Painted cliffs were a short 2km walk along the coast. I knew what to expect from photos, but it was even more amazing in person. I think they are caused by mineral water dripping out of the cliff, combined with erosion.

So cool.

The patterns were incredible!

It was almost 9am and somehow I had this place all to myself.

For the walk back, I opted for the beach option. It was only 5 minutes before I rejoined the trail on land, but I’m always looking for sea life.

Back at the campground, I grabbed my backpack, hat and sunglasses from my tent. I threw in some snacks and water too, since this next hike would be about 4 hours long. Like the other trails, it started off flat and easy.

After only 2km, I had crossed the width of the island, and I had a view of my destination. Bishop and Clerk and the bumps on the left side of the ridge.

Getting closer! The photos don’t really show how much elevation gain happened along the grassy section, it was a couple hundred meters. The trail follows near the cliff edge, which felt far enough away to be safe. But then I saw people on bicycles, speeding downhill, and they didn’t have as much room for error!

Looking back at what I had just hiked up.

About halfway up, I entered the forest, which was full of these cool gum trees.

The forest only lasted 30 minutes, and then it was time for the final bit of climbing to the top. Climbing up thru a talus field!

The trail actually switchbacked its way thru the talus, with rock steps at every turn, it was pretty nice! I got a little confused at the very top, as the trail weaved thru some massive boulders, but I found the way eventually. There was an older couple up there who were enjoying their lunch, and they took a bunch of photos for me. She used to be a magazine photographer before she retired, I think she was enjoying it, ha!

View to the north, where I had just hiked from.

As I ate my lunch on the warm summit, some more families showed up.

There was a very steep drop down the other side, opposite of where I had hiked up from.

Looking south, towards Mt. Maria.

I stayed on the summit for awhile, and I left as more people were coming up, so they would have room. It was an easy hike down, and 1.5 hours later I was back near the Darlington village. I hadn’t noticed this old building on the way up, so I had to explore it.

It was a huge old brick structure, historically used to house engine equipment.

The Wombats were out in force to do their part in keeping the grass short!

I returned to the campground at 1:30pm, and had everything packed up quickly. It felt nice hiking all morning with an almost empty backpack! I strolled over to the ferry docks at 2pm, plenty of time before the 2:30 ferry departure. I boarded a half-full ferry and was back at my car just after 3pm. I had planned to start my final hike tonight, the Freycinet Circuit. It was an hour and a half drive, so I didn’t waste any time! Along the way, I passed thru a small town with some Christmas decorations… except Santa’s sleigh was being pulled by kangaroos instead of reindeer!

I arrived to Freycinet National Park just before 5pm. I grabbed some food from the trunk, re-packed my backpack, and was ready to go 15 minutes later. I love resupplying from my trunk, it’s so much easier, haha. This map at the trailhead was a good illustration of the 2-day hike, I’m doing the loop counterclockwise.

I started off just after 5pm, and saw only a couple of hikers.

The first part of the loop is in the forest.

And sometimes I would get a view of the sea before returning to the deeper forest.

These spindly little trees were everywhere on this section of the trail, it made for a wonderfully open forest floor.

After 6km, I emerged into Hazards Beach.

I think it was low tide, because the beach was really wide and easy to walk on the nice hard sand.

I came across one of the biggest seashells I have ever seen in the wild. Huge!

The waves on this side of the peninsula were pretty gentle, so I could walk right next to the water.

These birds must’ve had a nest here, because they went crazy when I got close, and after I walked by they refused to leave the area. Sorry for the disturbance, bird friends!

I hiked to the end of Hazards Beach, to the official campsite tucked away in the forest. As I was setting up my tent for the night, I witnessed this bird swimming along the shore. I think it was fishing! It had a huge long beak, and kept plunging its head in the water.

This is my final campsite in Tasmania, and it was a great one! Perfect weather and amazing sunset views.

Tomorrow I will finish the other half of the Freycinet Circuit, and then drive back to Hobart.