Table of contents for Issue 183, Autumn 2022 in Wild

[Letter of the Issue] JUST DOING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Hi James, Excellent editorial in Wild #182 about Parks Victoria’s grasping need to make money from national parks and their thin-skinned approach to criticism on social media. As a volunteer worker in parks and other publicly owned land over many years, I’ve come to the conclusion that PV—far from wishing more volunteers to help their admittedly hard-pressed and under funded staff—actually hate and fear volunteers, and would rather be given cash donations to employ commercial operators to do what needs to be done. In the past 3-4 years, we volunteers have been forced to enroll on programs via PV’s dysfunctional and clunky Parkconnect app, have been given a byzantinely complicated ‘Volunteer Manual’ to comply with, and from 2022 all…

Last month Paul and I, following in the footsteps of thousands, struck out for Lake Pedder. We couldn’t, however, find the track where it leaves the Gordon River Road west of Maydena. That’s because it begins on a boggy plain and was probably always shifting pre-1973, when it was thronged with mud-to-the-knees pilgrims on their way to the doomed lake. So we set off for higher ground. We ended up on the handsome Sentinel Range at its South Sentinel (849m), 500m above the road. I have no idea how I got up there as, at 77, this was not on the agenda. But once we started up the ridge, we never stopped, except for a bite to eat on the ridgetop before the final ascent. There was a brief diversion…

As I’ve previously mentioned, cartophiles are mourning the death of Geoscience Australia’s printed topographical map range. What better balm for the pain than to lose oneself in a collection of paper maps that represent not only a valuable resource but also a bona fide work of art? The name Myles Dunphy is legendary in Blue Mountains bushwalking circles. An early exponent of wilderness time as therapy against ‘the shackles of ordered existence’, Dunphy was a conservation powerhouse, campaigning to protect the Blue Gum Forest in the Grose Valley from logging, and helping form the National Parks and Primitive Areas Council in 1933. In the role of secretary, he first proposed the Greater Blue Mountains National Park, forerunner of today’s World Heritage Area. Dunphy’s legacy includes a series of delightful hand-drawn…

Sydney is eerily quiet when I meet Brad McCartney behind the counter at the Macpac store where he works. No hustle. No bustle. No people at all. And definitely no customers in need of outdoor adventure equipment. The locked-down city of skyscrapers is as desolate as the isolated North American pine forests Brad knows so well. Bushfires, severe flooding and COVID-19 have left many would-be adventurers cooped up in their houses during 2020 and 2021. Brad’s shoulders droop as he talks of the painful missed opportunities of lockdown. “I’ve thought about putting my pack on and just going and finding somewhere to camp, but I know I’m not meant to,” he says. Outwardly, Brad looks like an ordinary middle-aged Australian. His hair is in a neat, shoulder-length ponytail tracing the…

Titanium spork—check. Carbon fibre walking poles—check. Digital mapping—check. When prepping for a week-long wilderness hike, I’ll always root out my lightest, most sophisticated gear, with each item serving as many functions as possible, and I will still congratulate myself if my pack weighs under 20kg. My companion, however—being fifteen years my junior and sporting the physique of a greyhound crossed with a tramp—has no interest in such a considered packing methodology. Even so, it wasn’t until the evening before departure that I realised quite how different Evan Howard’s approach would be. As the other two team members went through last minute culling decisions, I watched him lay out his kit. Flannel shirt—check. Homemade 10oz canvas gaiters—check. Five-kilogram inflatable watercraft—check. Despite owning and running Australia’s largest and most esteemed one-man ultralight…

There was a crack and a bang followed by the sound of a tree crashing to the ground. Either side of the stock route taking us through the parched, scrubby cattle stations between Nebo and St Lawrence was on fire. One of the property owners’ burn-offs had clearly gotten away from him. We’d passed him earlier in the day, cuppa in one hand, bickie in the other. “She’ll be right,” he’d assured us. Clearly it no longer was. “Aimee, you have to cover your mouth.” I repositioned the wet cloth over my two-year-old’s mouth and nose, but she shoved it aside, laughing. Try explaining the dangers of smoke inhalation to a toddler. The farmer had estimated that the fire was burning over a 10km range. If we hiked at our…

“There is often a point during a bushwalk when one reconsiders their route choice. This was that moment on the Stirling Range. After a slow morning breaking camp, we climbed out of the Third Arrow cave and then over the Second and First Arrows, before finally getting glimpses of the ridgeline and route ahead. It revealed more steep climbs, rocky descents, and exposed cliffs. Our morale had followed a similar course. A brief respite was needed, one consisting of pep talks, snacks, encouragements, and more pep talks. Although an escape route off the range existed, it wasn’t any shorter or easier than pushing on towards Bluff Knoll. With that in mind, we set off with our spirits slowly improving. This photo was taken shortly after from a switchback on the…

Over the last few years I’ve done a lot of trail running, by my standards anyway. First it was a fast way to get fit for an overseas trek, and then I began wondering: Could I do an ultramarathon? Soon I’d bought a running pack, some fluoro shoes and signed up for the UTA 50, a 50km event through the hilliest bits of the Blue Mountains. The event was postponed a couple of times, and I finally ran it in May 2021. I loved it—the camaraderie of it all, powering up and down endless steps, taking in the views, linking the Blueys together into a mental map that actually kind of makes sense. During the 18 months of stop/start training, running changed from something I had to do into something…

With much of the country having been hammered recently by deluges of biblical proportions, it seems fitting that this instalment of our new beginner-friendly section "Getting Started" gives tips on how to deal with rain. Wild Earth Ambassador Nathan McNeil shares his knowledge. What great story starts with, “The conditions were perfect for our hike”? No, instead you’ll find me (along with everyone else), ears pricked and eyes wide, hanging off the every word of the little ol’ lady at the campfire who starts her story with, “So it was Day Five, yet another evil storm was brewing, I had one dry shirt left, and I’d just torn open my Gore-Tex jacket as it snagged on a tree branch.” It’s no secret that misadventures leave you with solid stories and…

“What makes it a real winner is its ability to be finely adjusted to suit different body shapes.” NEED TO KNOW Product class: Multi-day hiking pack Volume: 65L Weight (as tested): 2190g (S/M) RRP: $479.95 More info: osprey.com TEST OSPREY ATMOS AG 65 The 2022 update of Osprey’s Goldilocks, not-too-big, not-too-small pack which adjusts to suit nearly everyone. WHEN MY GRAND PLANS for a summer of Tassie bushwalking derailed thanks to that which shall not be named, a northern-NSW road trip beckoned as a more-than-suitable replacement. But this drastic change in destination meant that my previously scheduled 7+ day bushwalks in Tas would now be no more than 3-4 days at a time, and that realisation introduced a dilemma: What pack should I take? My lightweight 40L pack that I…

“Day trip or overnighter?” In my mind, this is a common question when I’m planning a short adventure. Regretfully, in some ways, the outcome is more commonly the former. Yes, life gets busy, and for sure an overnighter takes more organisation and you must carry a heavier pack, but in terms of a break, there’s no argument that the latter wins. Of course, the rewards are even greater when you’re out for multiple nights. In my mind, the greatest reward of going out overnight is finding a special place to not only experience the waking of a new day but, more profoundly and substantially, to enjoy the magical time between late afternoon and dusk. I’m unsure if it’s just my perception, but the special light of dawn is fleeting in…

Wild is no ordinary magazine. Since its establishment in 1981, Wild has been the inspiring voice of the Australian outdoors. It is a magazine of self-reliance and challenge and sometimes doing it tough. While it is not necessarily hard-core, what it certainly is not is soft-core. It is not glamping. It is not about being pampered while experiencing the outdoors. Wild does not speak down to experienced adventurers. And Wild does not look on conservation as a mere marketing tool. For nearly four decades, Wild has actively and fiercely fought for the environment. Campaigning to protect our wild places is part of our DNA. Show that you care about stories that matter by subscribing to Wild. Better yet, subscribe to Wild yourself and tell your friends and family how great…

As outdoor enthusiasts, Wild readers know how critical it is that we—as individuals, communities, and countries—work together to fight the devastating impacts of climate change. Outdoors People for Climate is a grassroots community organisation trying to pull Australia’s adventure community together to do what it can to positively influence action on climate change. Wild speaks with Kristen Perry about OPC and its operations. WILD: When did Outdoors People for Climate come into being, and what’s its genesis? KP: Outdoors People for Climate was started up by outdoors educator and bushwalking guide Vicki Adams, who became concerned about the climate crisis after witnessing the impacts of the 2019/20 Black Summer fires on national parks across the country. WILD: Did Vicki, or anyone else for that matter, have a background in the…

(Unless images credited otherwise) “What a beautiful place to die,” I thought. I lay on red rocks, surrounded by an ancient stone gorge with a fierce river cutting through it. I knew there were blue freshwater pools just a few hundred metres from where I lay, and giant boab trees reaching into the star-filled sky. I could hear the sound of huge waterfalls nearby, but the sun had already set on the scenery. Only a handful of people had ever seen this place before, deep in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The utter remoteness of this land was part of the appeal for a whitewater rafting adventure. But now I knew that it might also cost me my life. THE BITE February 19, 2021. Right now we are on…

THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF TASMANIA include Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair and Walls of Jerusalem National Parks. The major features of both parks have been created by geologically recent glaciation, which has scoured bowls in the rock to create lakes, and scraped the sides of peaks to leave sheer cliffs. While created by similar forces, the two parks’ topographies are remarkably different. Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair NP has numerous deep valleys and isolated peaks, while much of the Walls of Jerusalem is a relatively level plateau, covered with numerous lakes. The diversity of vegetation is astonishing: There are upland moors, deciduous fagus forests, buttongrass plains and alpine herbfields. Snowgums, myrtle beech, King Billy pines, alpine ash and more thrive here. The area is a walker’s paradise, with…

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