Table of contents for Issue 154, Jul-Aug 2016 in Wild

“Western Civilisation is a gun pointed at the head of this planet.” – TERENCE MCKENNA It’s been suggested that, while humans are currently causing the greatest extinction event of the past 60 million years or so, there will be remarkably little of us left behind for future species to investigate in the fossil record. Nothing more than a thin line of carbon and whatever skeletons survive our own activities prior to their mineralisation. While this is may be an illustrative example, it’s not strictly true. In a way, humans are likely to cause one of the single greatest changes to the fossil record imaginable, the question is whether or not anyone will ever be around and capable of identifying it in the future. The quote from writer and philosopher Terence…

When I first saw the Himalayas of Ladakh, I said to my partner, Mark, “How hard can it be? We are looking for a grey cat on reddish stones!” and he just smiled and confidently said, “You wait until you try to find them”. It was my first attempt to see and photograph a snow leopard in the wild. Mark had already been to Ladakh to search for them seven months earlier and had only seen them from a distance. He had visited in September. We were there in April. Frustrated by only distant sightings of leopards on two different trips we decided to try for them during the pit of winter at a time when snow leopards are descending into the valleys to search for food and a mate.…

“I WOULD NEVER DESCRIBE MYSELF AS AN ARTIST COMPARED TO SOME OF THE GREAT BIRD ARTISTS, AND I WOULD CERTAINLY AVOID THE TERM ‘TWITCHER’. IT IS NICE TO SEE A NEW BIRD, BUT I WOULD MUCH RATHER INVEST MY TIME IN STUDYING RARE BIRDS THAT MAY BE IN TROUBLE AS OPPOSED TO CHASING A GLIMPSE OF A SPECIES THAT ACCIDENTALLY TURNED UP ON OUR SHORES.” For Lloyd Nielsen, studying a bird means observing as many aspects of its behaviour as possible – and rendering those details in prose as well as paint. Not only has this practice gained him recognition as a noteworthy ornithologist, his work has potentially saved species from extinction. And, in 2014, Lloyd received the BirdLife Australia John Hobbs Medal, awarded for his outstanding amateur contributions to…

We were barely a quarter of the way up Mount Feathertop when the rumblings began. I hung back to keep him company, allowing the two young gazelles who accompanied us to bound on ahead. I was struggling a bit myself so it suited me to potter along at the back. I didn’t want to blow up too early and it allowed more time for me to take in the scenery and to pace myself so that I’d have the energy to set up camp and make it to the summit that afternoon. I teased and cajoled him but the grumbling continued. Then a confession blurted out – it was his first hike in more than a decade. Not only that, he estimated it had been equally as long since he’d…

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits and reasons why strength training is an absolute must for your outdoor activities, whether you’re out on the walking trails, competing in an ultra or on your first alpine ascent. A stronger you, is a stronger you – but what does this really mean? Strength is a state of mind. To be strong is to be strong in your mind, body in soul. Strength implies resilience, both mentally and physically. Strength is having the mental fortitude to keep going even when things get tough. Strength is being able to cope with the knocks, scrapes and setbacks. Strength is dealing with atrocious conditions and environmental upsets that weren’t part of your original plan. Wilderness and adventure sports and activities have a major difference with…

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THE SUMMIT OF HER AMBITION: THE SPIRITED LIFE OF MARIE BYLES – GUEST BOOK REVIEW BY GEOFF MOSLEY by Anne McLeod (Self published, $39.95) Anne McLeod, a freelance journalist, has produced this long-overdue biography of the remarkable Marie Byles, detailing her many achievements as a pioneer lawyer, women’s rights activist, mountaineer, bushwalker and conservationist. What is doubly remarkable about Marie’s life, as the author shows so well, is how these many diverse activities linked up to deliver benefits to the wider community. Among the lasting memorials to her efforts are the protected areas of Bouddi National Park and the Barren Grounds Nature Reserve. The book deserves a wide readership because the author holds up a looking glass on each of the different phases of Marie’s life and her diverse achievements,…

I have always loved the outdoors my entire life, and it’s one of the things I’m most grateful to my parents for. I have very fond memories of camping, walking, waterskiing as well as converting a van into a campervan with my father and driving from the UK to Paris with the family. As I got older I never let go of my love for the outdoors, and as much as I enjoyed the jobs that I had after university, none of them connected me to being in the outdoors enough. Kris (my partner) and I set up a glamping company in the UK before we moved to Australia, it was hard work but I loved it. For a summer we lived on site, welcomed families, friends and couples who…

Issue 153, May-Jun 2016 LETTER OF THE ISSUE Laurie wins a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Voyager valued at $219.95. A comfortable sleeping mat combining the patent-pending stability of WaveCore™ construction with a reflective ThermaCapture™ layer for added warmth. QUIT CARPING As a bushwalker and recreational angler, I was quite dismayed to read the letter written by Leigh Ackland in issue 153 of Wild with the title “Fishermen Fiends?”. The claims in the letter in my view contain many errors, generalisations and distortions. Leigh firstly claims he ‘often asks rangers in National Parks if it’s OK kill some of the protected wildlife and eat them’. Really? He also claims fishermen ‘kill fish for fun’. According to him, fishermen are cruel, drowning fish in air etc., where in fact the vast majority of thinking…

If you’re an Australian who loves getting outdoors, regardless of whether it’s just for working, bushwalking, bird watching or the occasional holiday, you are probably at risk of being bitten by a tick – and that could have much more dire consequences than you’d expect. Many sufferers of Lyme disease live with the symptoms without knowing they have contracted it, and this situation is exacerbated by the vast majority of health practitioners who don’t recognise its presence or have the ability to diagnose it. Tennille Pooley, an awareness advocate for Lyme disease, is a sufferer; so too are her husband and four children. While unsure of the exact vector, Pooley believes she contracted Lyme via sexual transmission from her husband. Even more concerning is the possibility that each of her…

THE TRANS TARKINE TRACK There have been years of speculation about a walking track through the Tarkine wilds in northwest Tasmania. In 2015 our foundation commissioned track expert Martin Hawes to establish a route through the Tarkine rainforest from just south of Burnie to the old mining village of Corinna which, these days, is a little resort beside the wide and reflective Pieman River. This study was funded by public donations and attended, for Martin, by quite a lot of bush-bashing, shin-skinning, solo nights under the stars and discovery! Martin’s completed track route was made public in June, supported by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, tourism operators and environment groups. It is an audacious proposal. His estimate for the high-grade track is $20 million, including ten raised-platform camping sites with composting…

I’ve been obsessed with K2, the world's second highest mountain, for over 20 years. Many years ago I read the legendary British mountaineer Eric Shipton’s book, Blank on the Map, an account of his mountain journeys in western China. In 1996, while living in Pakistan, I trekked to the K2 base camp. Since then, I dreamed of trekking to the K2 base camp from the Chinese side. The Chinese side of K2 is remote, difficult of access and to my mind, almost unreachable. Fewer than 100 people a year make this trek. Now, approaching 70 years of age, I thought the Chinese side of K2 was out of range, until an experience two years ago in Xinjiang, western China. I was hiking on the lower slopes of 7546 metre Mount…

“Psychology, including fear and loneliness, plays a bigger part in survival than any other factor. It is primarily a mind game," says Mike House, one of Australia's leading survival instructors. Most walkers prepare physically for a big trip by training and many make contingencies for an emergency incident by packing a personal locator beacon (PLB), sat phone or Spot beacon. Can bushwalkers, however, put preparation and planning into the 'mind game', the mental and emotional reactions in the event of an accident or critical incident? Mike believes they can. "The first step to mental preparation in the event of a serious incident or situation is to think about the logistics of the expedition, how long are we going for, who have we notified, what are the back up plans. If…

Yes, you're OK. Just one more metre to the left," our leader calls. We progress another hundred paces and he stops and checks again. "Now we need to be about five metres to the right," comes the command. We are in thick bush, but a few mere metres to our left is an alluring patch of scrub-free button grass. "Can't we walk there?" we plead. "This is the way HG (Herr Gott) went, so I think we should stay on his route," comes his reply. On we trudge with a certain unwillingness in our steps, our chests turned to the prickling, unyielding wall of scrub in reluctant compliance, submitting to the unwritten rules of this game that give the coordinator power of veto. More halts. More minute corrections to our…

A bit like people, plants have different strategies for surviving a tough world: there are ‘specialists’ and ‘jacks of all trades’. I think the specialists are the most interesting because these plants can have some quirky and bizarre methods for dealing with hardship and these can pique our interest and can be a great talking point or distraction while out bush. The plant world abounds in a variety of leaf shapes, sizes and textures, a plethora of different types of hairs (who’d have thought), leaves that move, drop off, stems that can be reduced or enlarged, just to name a few! Paradoxically, these specialisations for hardship in stressful environments actually promote diversity and lead to these unique places being rich in different plants. Specialists are, as the name suggests, capable…

Alpine winter journeys open up a whole new world of food for a bushwalker or ski tourer. Freezing evening temperatures and a surrounding of ice allows one to take foods that may not normally last the distance on a summer walk in the same place. Meats, cheeses and other perishables, if stowed correctly, can last the duration of a short trip, and in some cases even the lengthiest of journeys. Shorter daylight hours mean it is likely you will be cooking in the dark, so simplicity is a consideration most of the time. Additionally, standing around waiting for a lengthy breakfast or lunch to cook usually means cold and uncomfortable feet. There’s also a need to eat more in the bush in winter; the calories burned while pushing through snow…