Table of contents for Issue 182, Summer 2021 in Wild

Regular readers of Wild know well our stance on privatising national parks. Public parks are exactly that—public. They belong to, and are for, the people. They should not have sections excised for private use or profit. Note, this does not preclude all business activities—guided groups and tours are valid users of national park lands; it does, however, mean that businesses using national parks shouldn't exclude other users, nor should they occupy park lands by building private structures on them. Unfortunately, however, the problem of reduced access to parks goes further than privatisation. Lately, government entities have been jumping in on the act. Look at the fees, for instance, being charged to camp on the newly opened 160km Grampians Peaks Trail: $47 a night. Good luck staying at the GPT’s 11…

Western Australia’s unique northern jarrah forest and wandoo woodlands of the Darling Range, on the fringes of the Perth metropolitan area, have long been the go-to destinations for locals seeking traditional bushwalking opportunities within easy distance of home. The beauty and amazing diversity of the flowering shrubs rewards the visitor with a great array of wildflowers in springtime. The mostly light and open forests and woodlands are ideal for minimal impact, off-track bushwalking. ‘Bush-bashing’ is not required to walk cross-country through these forests! Yet one after another, customary routes long favoured by bushwalkers are disappearing. Over the course of the next forty-or-so years, at least thirty known bushwalking areas will be—or have already been—diminished, ranging from Bannister Hill and Mount Solus in the south, to the Manns Gully-Chinamans Gully and…

Imagine what would happen if the internet disappeared. Without warning, the place we go to research, learn, connect, understand, ask questions and discover—all gone. No more searching for the best knots to tighten a tarp, shave three grams off your pack weight or find a pattern for DIY gaiters. No more places to go searching for the best recipe for dehydrated chilli con carne, to research the Franklin Dam or Pedder protests, to track down the passes of Narrowneck or the history of Myles Dunphy. The knowledge of all things still exists, it is just that the conduit, the channel, has disappeared. It is now held within the minds of storytellers, of wise ones; of those who have walked, cooked, built, made, studied, protested, lived, loved, healed or journeyed before…

“There are plenty of tamed wonders for all to goggle at through vehicle windows—we must also retain our wilderness areas where nature can develop in its own calm way, and where only those humans who are prepared to walk and sweat a little qualify to go.”Sir Edmund Hillary, Nothing Venture, Nothing Win We were trudging uphill through cold, dense fog on Day Three of a five-day journey in the Paparoa Range when suddenly, and for only a brief moment, the clouds parted and as far as we could see, jagged peaks marched across the landscape like an army of battle-worn, wind-swept giants. What we glimpsed before the storm closed back in was but a small section of a 100km-long mountain range. The Paparoa Range runs from Westport to just north…

The first time I visited New Zealand, I was four years old. My first multi-day walk—the Queen Charlotte Walkway—heralded the beginning of a love affair with the South Island. Twenty years later, I returned for my tenth visit, a month long one, but this time for a different kind of romance. On the trip’s fourth day, I proposed to my partner, Martine, in true adventure fashion—on a mountain. (You may recall our piece on ‘Engagement Peak’ in Wild #179). Fortunately, she said “Yes!”; the next four weeks together might’ve been awkward otherwise. With our rental car—which we affectionately named ‘Lamby’; it wouldn’t be an NZ trip without a sheep gag—we had the flexibility to avoid New Zealand’s typically unpredictable weather. Our goal was to chase the sunshine, but equally to…

DAY 1 Jindabyne to Mackays Hut 89km; 1923m ascent Today is the longest day of the trip, so get an early start. Commencing from the Jindabyne Bowling Club, head south between it and the lake before immediately swinging right, up to Banjo Paterson Crescent and heading southeast. After a couple of hundred metres take the first left down Townsend St, then the first right on Cobbon Crescent. Less than 100m down, you’ll see a signpost on the left announcing the start of the singletrack. This is Copper Tom Trail. It runs for 2.6km around the lake, twisting smoothly alongside Lake Jindabyne, through grasslands and stands of deciduous trees and radiata pine. When you pop out of it, head across the dam wall, and immediately commence Mill Creek Trail. A switchbacking…

“Using drones and A.I. to analyse large areas of the national park, caring for complex, widespread issues on Country became streamlined.” Indigenous people have nurtured our ecosystems for thousands of years. But as these natural systems become threatened, looking after Country presents new challenges for Traditional Custodians. North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA) has supported the development of Traditional Owner-led approaches to land and sea management for over 20 years. This year, NAILSMA partnered with Traditional Owners, CSIRO, the Telstra Foundation and Microsoft, in a world-first program, Healthy Country AI. Healthy Country AI enables people like Kadeem May, Larrakia man and Cultural Heritage Officer for Kakadu National Park, to care for the land using both his “knowledge and new learnings”. In 2019, Indigenous rangers in Kakadu NP…

“Storytelling is … among the biggest and most beguiling industries of this shoreline,” says David Gange of the Orkney Islands in The Frayed Atlantic Edge. The same can be said of nature, with a bounty of its narratives captured in this collection of recently published nature writing. Gange also says humans have “constructed a separation of people from nature from which our current eco-crises emanate.” This is an echo from oh-so-many years ago when the environmental seer Rachel Carson observed that “man is part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.” The interconnectedness of nature, and humanity’s dependence on it for its own survival, is a theme of this Top 10. Arguably, perhaps, it is the single-most important element in all nature writing. Do…

There was a moment of silence hidden in the chaos; a calm before the storm, the moment before true violence. I had just watched my friends narrowly escape the hands of an ominous Tasmanian swell. One at a time, they carefully tip-toed and navigated their way through a minefield of white water, currents and foam. Bullet-proof walls of opal green formed a final adversary before the apparent safety of deep water. For the entire night, we heard the swell steadily building, the thud of each crashing wave deepening into the early hours of the morning. And when we packed our tents under a judgemental, sullen sky, it was almost as if we were being blamed when the sun had forgotten to rise. There was a nervous energy on the beach;…

What began in darkness ended in darkness. And between these gloomy mantles of pre-dawn and dusk were four days bathed in conditions as benign as you could hope for in the Australian Alps. Just as well. Because having to battle extreme weather while unlocking the mysteries of Grey Hills and Whiterock Falls, or balancing across the giddy exposure of West Peak and Howman Falls, or traversing what I like to call the Hills of Doom, well, that would have been a stretch too far. Previous attempts to complete this 75km loop of Mt Bogong, the northern Bogong High Plains, and their connecting spurs and ridges, had been scuttled by fire, snow and COVID. Blessed are the patient. And blessed are those fortunate to inverse freefall into these alpine Elysian Fields,…

Sea To Summit Airlight Towel (Small): This is the lightest microfibre towel I’ve found at 12g, and it packs to the size of half a thumb. From drying off after a summer lake swim, cleaning muddy feet, or wiping tent condensation, I’ve found this glorified rag an excellent addition to my pack both summer and winter. The thin material dries quickly yet will continue to sop up moisture while damp. It’s 36x36cm size isn’t enough to change under, though, so BYO shrub to change behind. Shaun Mittwollen Tyvek Ground Sheet: More commonly found as home insulation (or those annoying paper wristbands at festivals that won’t tear off), a humble sheet of (formerly white) Tyvek has been my go-to groundsheet for the last five years. Super lightweight, waterproof, tough and washable, Tyvek can…

I am allergic to having a public opinion. Why would I blaze away on a bunch of people I’ve never met, will likely never meet, and who can’t respond in a face-to-face volley over too much beer? I much prefer enlightening the person opposite me about the treason of Melbourne train tickets expiring after four years, or wine snobs being wankers of the highest order. I feel strongly about such things, but wouldn’t dare divulge such thinkings to the published world of paper and internet. I’d rather not waste time debating someone I can’t smell. I much prefer digging actual holes, or drinking the cheapest wine I can find. An opinion seems like hard work in the public realm, after which a whole bunch of time is spent sparring with…

“Between 1975 and 1985, the hardest grade at Arapiles (and in Australia) jumped from 22 to 32, from where it’s barely budged since.” Mount Arapiles is golden, in my mind at least, with walls of beautiful orange sandstone rising above the flat fields of Victoria’s Wimmera. There’s a holiday atmosphere of excitement and possibility; the campsite is filled with the music of magpies and trad climbing racks. And it’s in the middle of nowhere, with crap phone reception, so you can forget the rest of your life and pretend that it’s all this simple. That’s without mentioning the awesome, diverse, user-friendly climbing: more than 3,000 routes over 3.5km of cliffline, with three-star classics ranging from doddles to desperate, from 20m pumpfests to 120m adventures. With minimal walk-ins, solid rock, and…

(Warning: This piece discusses suicide.) I took off my hiking boot and examined my big toe. The nail was too long and pushing up hard inside the footwear. I had nothing to cut it with. Small discomfort compared to what Dan’s going through, I reminded myself. I swigged water and let my foot air. From the jagged ridgeline of the Crosscut Saw, I gazed northeast into a geographic depression called the Terrible Hollow. Other names in this part of Victoria’s High Country were similarly menacing: Devil’s Staircase, Mt Buggery, Horrible Gap, Mt Despair, Hellfire Creek … It was as though the first Europeans here, or the chartists, had been hysterical about the threat to their survival in these rugged and remote parts. But these early European ‘trailblazers’—often just following ancient…

This is undoubtedly one of the best bikepacking routes Oz has on offer; a 270+km loop through Kosciuszko National Park that takes you to the roof of the country and deep into the Jagungal Wilderness. While Australia has loads of options for gravel and fire road bikepacking, routes involving substantial amounts of quality singletrack are rare indeed. But this loop (a bespoke circuit, one that’s perhaps never been ridden before, let alone publicised; some of the track didn’t exist until recently) takes in 70km of epic singletrack, loads more doubletrack, and also a chance to climb mighty Mt Jagungal itself. On the way, you’ll ride through open, alpine plains, flower-filled meadows, and forests of gnarled snowgums and soaring alpine ash. Panoramic vistas of Australia’s highest peaks abound, as do myriad…

In my past life, prior to becoming editor of Wild, I was a pro adventure photographer. It was a great gig. Except when it came to the weight of my overnight pack. My camera gear alone usually started at 7kg, and went up from there. Throw in a week’s worth of food, plus all kinds of random camp thingymajiggies, and the packs I carried were preposterously heavy. Trying to reduce the load, I often looked to my shelter; few pieces of kit weigh more. I tried bivvy bags as a solution. But if it rained, I wanted a tarp anyway, and weight-wise—if you marry a tarp and a bivvy bag—you’re not far off carrying a tent. As a result, I’ve been a big believer in often heading out—especially when I’m…