Table of contents for Issue 166, July-Aug 2018 in Wild

With our editor, Campbell, currently trekking somewhere over in northern India, I have the pleasure of writing the Editor’s Note for this issue of Wild. For those many new (and existing) Wild readers out there who don’t know the recent history of Wild, I had the good fortune of taking over this magazine just over a year ago. As someone who loves the outdoors, but knew (and still knows) very little about publishing a magazine, the past 12 months has been an epic adventure. I’ve thrown caution to the wind and tried just about everything to turn what was a good magazine into a great magazine. I’ve personally read and answered many of your emails, spoken to many of you on the phone, and more recently toured with the Banff…

OTTER-LIKE WATERPROOFING, MADE TO BEAR IT Best known for developing a range of rugged, outdoor mobile-phone cases, OtterBox has recently launched a new range of soft and hard coolers into the Australian market. The two Trooper soft coolers come in either an 18 (Trooper 20) or 28 litre size (Trooper LT 30), utilise a tough TPU coated nylon waterproof exterior, heavy-duty base, water-resistant exterior pockets, and external mounting brackets. The coolers include a shoulder carry strap or adjustable backpack straps (Trooper LT 30 only). To open or close the cooler, a large plastic snap latch is easy to use one-handed, ensures a watertight seal, and provides a large opening. Internal thermal insulation keeps ice for at least three days and both coolers include a limited lifetime warranty. While the Trooper…

As we left Thredbo resort, Ryley looked back at me and said, ‘it’ll be fine’ as he held the rope up for me and local big mountain rider Ed to slip beneath. I was uneasy about leaving the resort that day, a few adverse weather events followed big snow only a few days later gave me pause. In Colorado, where I grew up, those same weather conditions would make for precarious backcountry travel, and anything except for low angle aspects in the trees would be unskiable. However, this is not Colorado and the snowpack in Australia is unique in its stability. Not being local I trusted my companions judgement as they knew the area well; they knew the snowpack, the terrain and the prevailing weather patterns. Little did I know, I…

The granite mountain range of Wilsons Promontory rises imposingly from the Yanakie plains in South Gippsland, its highest peaks reaching 700_metres above sea level, and overlooking Bass Strait. And while Wilsons Promontory became a National Park in 1908, it has always been an area of unique, Australian wilderness heritage (despite its longstanding popularity with Victorians, especially in summer). Even at that time of year, if you walk just a short distance from Norman Beach and Squeaky Beach, too close to Tidal River’s campsites and cabins, you will marvel at the splendour of its wild landscapes. GETTING THERE Wilsons Promontory is a 2.5-hour drive from Melbourne, in South Gippsland. It’s possible to drive from the city and begin hiking ‘The Prom’ the same day, or stay in Tidal River (book early…

Choosing a headlamp these days is no easy task. Lumens, IPXY, runtime, weight, and price are just some of the factors to consider when trying to work out the right headlamp for your next adventure. I tested the HL40R, one of about eight headlamps available in the Fenix range. The HL40R is an all-round rechargeable rotary focusing headlamp. Rated IP66, the headlamp has a maximum burst output of 600 lumens, and a stated maximum spotlight distance of 147m (I didn’t test these ratings). All the features you’d expect to be in a quality headlamp are available in the HR40R. The headlamp affixes to your head with an overlapping headband and can be tightened for a good fit. the actual lamp can be rotated almost 90 degrees, which is handy while…

You’d be forgiven for thinking that OtterBox was founded as a mobile phone case company. The brand has become synonymous with protecting iPhones, Galaxys and every other screen addict’s best friend. Visit any tech store and the walls are likely lined with a range of OtterBox mobile phone cases. However, this now-multinational company started out like so many other outdoor brands: as an idea, in a garage, in a small town at the base of a mountain. During the early 1990s, Fort Collins (Colorado, USA) resident, Curt Richardson (a plastics manufacturer and toolmaker), was making a range of custom manufactured plastics for the automotive, medical and industrial sectors. However, working on a project-by-project basis, the success of his business was reliant on the financial success of his customers. Not wanting…

STARLIT MILKY WAY Location: Ramshead Range Kosciuszko National Park Photographer: Mike Edmondson Camera used: Nikon D800E Lens settings: Samyang 14mm at F2.8, 15 seconds exposure, three images joined together and adjusted in Lightroom and Photoshop RANDY RABBIT RIDGE Location: Pierces Pass, Blue Mountains, Australia Photographer: Lachlan Gardiner Camera: Canon 5d Mark IV Lens: EF 17-40mm f/4L at 17mm Settings: 1/1600sec at f/8, ISO 800 DANGAR FALLS FIRST DESCENT Location: Dorrigo, Northern NSW Photographer: JACK DAWKINS Date taken: 23rd of March, 2018 Camera OLYMPUS EM-1 F9…

Let me start at the end. In fact, not even the end, but weeks later. When I was back in Sydney, in my inner city suburb of Kings Cross with its high rises and construction, its cement and tar, its clubs and hostels, where the dull hum of traffic and blaring of horns and the screech of raucous drunks float up to and through my windows and can rarely be escaped, day or night. And yet I had. Escaped that is, carried away emotionally from the grit and din of the Cross by the fizz still lingering from four-days’ bikepacking through the Victorian high country. This wasn’t merely a buzz from having traded the big smoke for cathedral stands of mountain ash or for soft meadows of high alpine grasses.…

The Gungarlin River, which really seemed nothing more than a creek in the Snowy Mountains, a tributary to the Snowy River above Jindabyne, had not really come on to my radar in all my years of paddling in the mountains. Little did I realise that it had a lot to offer for the avid creek boater. It was quite few years ago, and I was down in the Snowy Mountains with my brother Robert and father Peter, for some winter skiing. Unusually warm weather had delivered heavy rain fall across the mountains and the Snowy River was running super high, with all the surrounding creeks and tributary’s also running high. Dad suggested we check out the river section below Island Bend pondage, which is where the junction of the Gungarlin…

With hills of sculpted red stone and shady gorges hiding cool water holes, Mutawintji National Park must be outback NSWs best kept secret. Dominated by the rocky Bynguano Range, it boasts a network of excellent walking trails and, most impressively, NSWs best collection of Aboriginal stone etchings. The park also features a declared Wilderness Zone, and for experienced bushwalkers this is one its main draw cards; allowing long, adventurous day walks and overnight off-track explorations into remote semi-arid peaks and valleys. While most visitors to Mutawintji stay just two or three days, as part of a wider outback touring holiday, Craig and I recently spent 10 days in the park exploring every nook and cranny, enjoying an astounding tour with the traditional owners of this ancient meeting place, walking every…

For 40 years the campaign to protect this area has been waged as logging interests continue to eye off the ancient timber within. This year, the Bob Brown Foundation partnered with what some might call an unlikely ally in the clothing brand Patagonia to help drive further awareness for the area’s plight. The resulting film, ‘takayna’ tells the story of Nicole Anderson – a doctor, activist and keen runner – who regularly visits areas of pristine forest currently facing the woodsman’s axe. DRIVING CONSERVATION OUTCOMES THROUGH GLOBAL AWARENESS By raising awareness about it, the initiative hopes to drive signatures from around the world to petition the Tasmanian state premier and Australian national government to nominate takayna/Tarkine as a World Heritage Area. Country Director for Patagonia Australia, Dane O’Shanassy, expressed his…

The Banks Track is a 31-kilometre trail on Banks Peninsula, around 80 kilometres from Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island. While it may lack the fame of some of New Zealand’s great hiking trails, it is walked by around 2000 people each season. It has the distinction of being New Zealand’s first hiking trail exclusively on private land, passing through farmland and a privately-owned nature reserve that grants access to walkers. The trail first opened to walkers in 1990. After 27 years in the same format, one of the farms was withdrawn at the end of the 2016-2017 hiking season. A revised three-day route was launched in October 2017 featuring new sections of track opened to walkers for the first time. The route first crosses the rim of an extinct…

I’d recently relocated from Melbourne to Launceston for a short three-week job. Having finished work on Friday I decided to drive down to Cradle Mountain. Spending the night at Cradle Mountain, I woke early to climb to the summit. After a tough climb I reached the summit, where I set up my camera, tripod and self-timer (I did this hike solo) and took this photo. The views from where I stood were unparalleled and absolutely breathtaking. There you are on the highest point for miles around, and being a relatively clear day you can see miles and miles in every direction. Josh Tagi - VIC Josh wins an Osprey Manta AG 28, valued at $239.95. Designed for lightweight hiking for the day or even overnight. The Manta includes Osprey’s Light-Wire…

It all started on the way home from a great week of backcountry skiing at the Bogong Rover Chalet. We’d taken an alpine tent and spent a night camping out in the snow. And aside from numb toes in the chill of the morning, it was an amazing experience; a way of camping that we’d never experienced before in our previous years of scouting and adventuring. It was the tipping point; the final incentive for us to plan another, and even more exciting, expedition. DAY 1 - THE ADVENTURE BEGINS Two months after our snow camping, Samuel Abdilla, Chris Shaw and I found ourselves back in the town of Mount Beauty, ready to embark on the type of hike we’d been dreaming about for years. The early September weather was…

When we decided to move to Europe from Australia last year, the first thing I did was write ‘the list’. That list consisted of every European outdoor adventure I wanted to go after during our time living here, however long that might be. In the whirlwind of packing it got tucked away and crumpled into one of a thousand boxes amidst bicycles, rock climbing shoes and children’s toys. And so it remained, until the very last box was unpacked and that crumpled piece of paper fell to the floor of our new home in England. I unfolded it and there at the top of the list was my number one; the hike I had wanted to do ever since I had first heard of it many years ago from a…

Also known as ‘slippery’, ‘slimy’ and ‘marbled river cod’, the river blackfish is a freshwater fish endemic to south-eastern Australia. They can be found throughout the Murray-Darling Basin, coastal rivers in southern Victoria and northern Tasmania, as well as parts of south-eastern South Australia. They can be found in still or gently flowing water that contains a large amount of woody debris in the form of fallen trees and sunken logs, and spend their life confined to a small 20-50 metre long home range. River blackfish are nocturnal predator with a diet consisting of crustaceans such as shrimp and yabbies, aquatic insect larvae, terrestrial insects, worms and small fish. Appearances can vary between individuals in both colour and marking. Dark grey, pale brown, olive green and black have been observed…

The star turn of the Warrumbungle National Park is undoubtedly the Breadknife, one of Australia’s most unique and well known natural phenomena. the Breadknife, along with its rugged magma brethren, rises dramatically out of the Warrumbungles, and the collective is serviced by a number of well-marked and – in some sections – zealously paved, staircased and hand-railed walking trails. Partially because of this ‘taming’ of the experience, my suggestion is to include Bluff Mountain in a day walk, rather than stick to the most straightforward of Grand High Tops routes (which takes in the Breadknife et al). This not only provides a section of track that is rougher, more challenging and more fun to experience as a journey, but it also: - introduces the walker to a greater array of…

I swear this photo wasn’t planned. Taking a break while high altitude hiking Africa, I removed my jacket to take a breather, where upon my buddy Christophe pulled off his jacket to reveal the same base layer underneath. With a chuckle, Kim also pulled off her jacket to reveal the same. We had to take a photo. While us all wearing the same gear at the same time was not planned, us all having the same gear while hiking was no coincidence. the team at Wilderness Wear had provided each of us with their MerinoFusion Light 160 base layer to test while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. The MerinoFusion 160 is the lighter of the two MerinoFusion base layers (160gsm and 190gsm). Designed and manufactured in Australia, the 160 incorporates a blend…