STYX VALLEY - ARAHURA TRACK
Tramp : Styx Valley - Arahura Track
It was another clear skied wednesday on the coast, fresh morning chill and the barbara was cranking through the valley. The group was doing the final prep for the tramp and amping on the spot to get into it. After much time and effort ensuring we had packed everything we headed off on our 3 day adventure.
DAY 1
Start : Dorothy Falls
Finish : Grassy Flat
Map : J33
Grid Start : 597123
Grid Finish : 705114
Distance : 12.5 KM
Elevation : 400 M
Travel Speed : 3 KMP/H
Time : 5 Hours
After a massive day walking we finally made it to the Grassy Flat Hut which was our camp for the night, we had been overconfident in how long the tramp was going to take us, we had not counted each persons fitness and previous injury's. After turning up at camp we realised how worth the walk was, the scenery was mind blowing.
DAY 2
Start : Grassy Flat
Finish : Lower Arahura Hut
Map : J33
Grid Start : 705114
Grid Finish : 712152
Distance : 16.3 KM
Elevation : 340 M
Travel Speed : 3 KMP/H
Time : 7.5 Hours
Day Two we had a little more to look at, there was a lot more natural scenery, the track had a steep incline to start the day along with a river crossing five minutes after leaving camp. We made our way up the steep gradient, looking back down the valley every chance we could. At the top we reached Styx Saddle and pinpointed ourselves on the map.
DAY 3
Start : Lower Arahura Hut
Finish : Milltown Road Bridge
Map : J33
Grid Start : 712152
Grid Finish : 657186
Distance : 8.8 KM
Elevation : 120 M
Travel Speed : 3 KMP/H
Time : 4 Hours
The last day we had a slight sleep in, seeing as we only had four kilometres of tramping to be done, on the way we stopped off at Cesspit, and passed Cesspool, too amazing looking kayak runs. This area was completely surrounded by huge steep walls on either side, we made it too the end of Cesspool and relatively near the end of our trip, we crossed the swing bridge and stopped off for a swim down the bottom of the kayak run, where it mellowed out into a nice deep, slow moving pool.
Stillwater Forestry
22 / 06 / 2013
On Saturday the 22, Mike, Nathanael and myself decided to go for a drive out the back of Stillwater. We reached our destination of the forestry tracks and decided to go for a wander in the bush to scope out some potential areas for hunting. We walked down a ridge and back up looking for any signs that may have been left behind. After finding a few area's we walked back to the truck and drove out, amping for another day up in the bush.
Time
Start - 9:00am
Finish - 2:00pm
Murchison - Ella Range
23 - 26 July
Time : 4 Days / 3 Nights
Location : Murchison, Ella Range
DAY 1
Well it was an early morning meet at the gear shed, all of COE arrived on time, some not excited for the experience ahead. We were all prepped to go, with vans packed and all the gear needed for 4 solid days in the bush. We arrived, with strapped ankles, and plenty of warm gear. As we set off the first day involved following a river up through the valley to our campsite. It rained continuously all day. We made camp just on dark and set up a fly and tents pretty sharply to get some food and hot drinks on the go! After everyone was well feed and stoked with themselves we all slowly peeled off to bed to call it a night.
DAY 2
We awoke to sun shining onto the ridges above, this made everyone smile and appreciate the area they were surrounded by. We packed up and had a great feed, leaving no trace, we all had a quick stretching session. We set off crossing the first river within 5 minutes, "Got to love those wet Feet!" With the group all in high spirits we gained fantastic ground and covered a lot of area throughout the day. We covered some good height as well continuing to move up onto the 'brink' of the bushline! As we made our way walking into the night, we continued to walk, as the team slowly began to turn to zombies, we kept taking that next step towards camp. After hours of walking we found a 'flat-enough' spot to park up and make camp for the night!
DAY 3
After waking up to frozen boots and laces, and ice on the buckles of our packs, we munched down some porridge and hit the track! After 2 hours of walking we hit the end of the bushline and we were in snow. Without knowing how much distance we covered the previous day, we had hit the top of the snow line, and made our way through the untouched landscape up onto, Mole Saddle. We continued to walk and made our way to bottom of Mole Tops, where we sat at the bottom of the saddle peering up at the summit. We pondered, then decided lets summit the beast. We walked brutally through some rough terrain to the top. After finding some nice powder we made our way to the top, and by far was it worth it, what a view!
DAY 4
After spending a night in the snow, we woke up to a wintery paradise and spent the morning packing up and, well, what a surprise eating porridge again. We began walking, and we went directly off track and relied souly on the navigation of each other. We followed a bearing for a long time and were taking back bearings every 20 meters to stay on track. We eventually reached the marked track again, and from here on we cruised down a river valley that carved its way through the range to take out where the vans were waiting.
Survival - Arahura Valley
14 - 16 April
Time : 2 Days
Location : Arahura Valley
The first night we spent creating a group shelter within the small area we were allowed, we created a solid fire and a staunch shelter that was going to contain our warmth for the remainder of the night. As we woke up we packed down the shelter and we were shown to our designated spots for the rest of the time we had to spend in the valley. We each built a shelter and also a fire that would be able to keep us warm for the night until the next morning. We each had a visit from Dave Williams to check on our individual progress for that day.
