55.6 km / 34.5 Miles
Another Mountain Day! But also BLISTER day 🙁 Ouch!
I have blisters on both little toes and big toe! And cracked heels. My feet weren’t feeling too good. Walking today wasn’t going to be fun.
The walk today was 17km to Pelion Hut. I was glad to be in the hut last night as everyone who was camping woke up with frost on their tents! It was still cold in the hut – but I was happy not to be packing up a frozen tent. I had breakfast just after 7am, and was up and ready to set off by 8!
The elevation wasn’t too bad today, my feet were very glad of this! There was a dip down and back up towards the Forth River more at the end of the day but other than that relatively flat. There weren’t really any side trips other than a ‘Forth Valley Lookout’ at 4km which was a few minutes detour – still a nice quick break from carrying the pack though. The walk today was very much just through trees and in the shade – thankful with the sun shining brightly today.
I arrived at Pelion Hut just before 1, so the 5 hour estimate was pretty spot on. Their time frames on the walks seem to be pretty accurate for walking with a pack. At Pelion I set my tent up on the grass hoping that as the weather has been great today and is suppose to be good tomorrow we would be in for a warmer night! This hut was huge and pretty busy – Full of day hikers coming in from a side trail to climb Mt Ossa. The hike in was from the Arms River Trail which you can hike in a half day, then camp at Pelion and do the mountains the next day before hiking back out – a fun weekend trip for sure. So along with the group I started with their were some others from the day after, and lots of new faces! All ages and abilities… which was awesome to see and get amongst.
Mount Oakleigh (1286m)
After setting my tent up and making a quick lunch I head up Mount Oakleigh! It was 7km to the summit. My feet and my blisters were not happy with me for more walking today, but this was my only chance to climb Mt Oakleigh and I was taking in. I have no shame in saying I was a peak-bagger this trip!!
Initially the trail started on duckboards and a small bridge over a stream (this was gonna be a refreshing dip later on on the way back) Then you hit the forest and its just straight up the tree roots. The trail is okay and well marked but you do need to keep an eye out for markers, and you can sure wander off quite easily if you aren’t paying attention. The hike was hard in parts because of the steepness and my poor little short legs struggled up some of the ‘steps’. I was glad to have my hiking poles with me on this mountain. After about an hour and half up you emerge out of the trees onto the rocks, and with a bit of hop, skipping and jumping you arrive at the summit! The sun was shining and you could see for miles. You could see Cradle and Barn Bluff in the distance behind and then the amazing wilderness that was still ahead of us and that we were gonna walk through. The view was just incredible from up there.
Surprisingly the walk down seemed a little easier, partly because I chose to run the hard bit with the big ‘steps’ and the tree roots. Within about 20 minutes I was done with the worst bit and then back to walking through the rest of the forest towards the hut. My feet are on fire at this point! My poor toes needed some cold water to numb the pain! I was pretty slow by this point and hobbled my way to the stream and the bridge at the bottom to get some relief for my feet. Way too cold to have an actual soak in the stream – I’m happy with just my feet and legs. It’s only day 3 anyway, I don’t need an actual wash yet 😉
Back at the hut I hang out on the veranda with everyone for a bit, and then head back to my tent to cook up some dehydrated cottage pie meal for dinner Yummmm! Instant Mash potato has never tasted so good… really! I was starving.
After dinner, the sun was going down and I head out onto the heli pad with my camera to watch the sun set just to the west of Mount Oakleigh. The mountain turned a little red which was beautiful and the sky slowly went dark! This place, these mountain… My soul is so happy right here.
Tomorrow is MOUNTAINS day! Mt Ossa and Pelion East! Wrapped up in a few layers, and ready to get some good sleep. I need some energy for tomorrow.
“And at the end of the day you feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling“