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Hiking chat


Jolly_F

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Just wanted to start a thread for all things hiking.


A place to share any hikes you have done lately, recommend gear or ask for recommendations, tips and tricks you use. Really just anything hiking.


I spend way too much time on YouTube watching people hike and looking forward to seeing those places one day.

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Ooh, thank you.


I’m only a soft, luxury hiker that my hard core friends don’t consider to be a proper hiker/tramper 🤣


We had a trip to NZ planned for last year but Covid. I would also love to try the Larapinta one day but keep getting scared off about how tough it is.

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You can do lots of sections of the Larapinta trail as day walks - saves carrying heavy packs. We did about five sections of it with our kids when they were younger, it was fabulous. The East MacDonnells are great for walking too.

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Bornagirl

Ooh, love hiking and bushwalking, so joining this so I can live vicariously through your hikes, given my feet are rapidly giving out on me, and four hours at a time is now my limit, down from a full day only five years ago.


We were due to the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage hike in Japan, the main route, the Nakahechi, last April. Not sure my feet will be up for it by the time we are able to do so, but uneven ground is actually far better for my feet than city streets, so who knows? I hope so.


These days it’s just mini ones for me - did a 2.5 hour one at Nitmiluk Gorge last week - would have done longer if it hadn’t been mid 30s. I did go base over apex twice on steep, very small gravel-y sections, but I didn’t damage my new pants, and my knee will recover. :rofl:


Also did a shorter, but much steeper one in high thirties in Geike Gorge near Fitzroy Crossing a few weeks ago - I knew about that one the next day.

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Bornagirl

Born, do you use walking poles? Game changer! I would love to do that pilgrimage, it looks amaing.

 

We would have for that one, yes. Santa brought them the previous Christmas. I joined a Facebook group for the Kumano kodo and they said don’t even think about it without poles.

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DH and I went for a short hike today - climbed up to a gorgeous lookout. It was nice to be out. We might pay for it tomorrow :lol:


Has anyone tried dehydrating their own food for hiking? I am considering giving jerky a go and some meals for longer hikes we have planned. Any tips welcome :)

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We make our own jerky just for snacks. We have a Sunbeam dehydrator which is handy. The results are better than the oven which was too hot and blow-y.


Edited to add link


We just wing it each time we make a batch, roughly following this and the recipe that came with the dehydrator. We also dehydrate our own garlic, onion and chillies instead of using shop bought powders.


https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/beef-jerky/

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May I, a wannabe hiker, join?

 

Absolutely :)


I am just at the beginning of my hiking adventures. Learning as I go.

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What counts as hiking - does it have to be overnight? Or can us softies join?

(Kids are 5 and 8 - would love to get them doing some big walks but it's just not going to happen!

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Also did a shorter, but much steeper one in high thirties in Geike Gorge near Fitzroy Crossing a few weeks ago - I knew about that one the next day.

 

We'll be over there in July - would love the details!

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What counts as hiking - does it have to be overnight? Or can us softies join?

(Kids are 5 and 8 - would love to get them doing some big walks but it's just not going to happen!

 

Definitely doesn’t have to be overnight.


Let’s go with any jaunt into the bush counts :)

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I'd really like to do a week-long solo hike through the Victorian high country.


As long as the button man keeps his distance, I'll be happy.

 

:o


While it would be lovely, I am not sure I am lining up for that one :lol:

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Egg you might be surprised by what kids can do. Ours were walking full day walks (20km+) as preschoolers, and loved it. It's a different pace, of course, as kids want to stop and explore a lot. You need lots of food and snacks at the ready, plus some games for distraction if they get a bit over it, and be prepared to ignore a bit of whinging. Our girls still love multiday pack hikes as young adults, so I don't think they were too traumatised by their early exposure!

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nom_de_plume

DP and I are keen hikers. We actually went hiking on our first date, which in hindsight was maybe not that smartest choice, but it's worked out ok!


We recently stayed with the kids up at Falls Creek and did all the day hikes out of there. We did part of the Two Bays trail today.


Our kids are probably just of an age now where we can do some overnight hikes.

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DaLittleEd

We love hiking. Often do 5-6km bushwalks with our 5yo. Haven't pushed that any longer mainly due to the fact that DH and I have been dealing with sore backs/necks and don't can't face the thought of carrying all the food, water, changes of clothes, spare shoes etc etc that seem to be required (kiddo can not resist an opportunity to get drenched in any water we come across). I reckon we could try longer though.

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SleepyBear

Only doing short day hikes these days using the hiking carrier for the toddler (on DH) and a baby carrier for the 7mo (on me) but my favourite hike we have ever done was the luxury version of the routeburn track in NZ as part of our honeymoon. If we could afford it I would go back and do all of the ones offered by ultimate hikes! Also walking poles for me are a game changer, they make me so much more confident on loose ground, are great if you need to clamber over rocks or on steep paths that I find I can hike for longer, go faster and get less tired when I remember to use them.

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Bornagirl



Also did a shorter, but much steeper one in high thirties in Geike Gorge near Fitzroy Crossing a few weeks ago - I knew about that one the next day.

 

We'll be over there in July - would love the details!

 

Finally back with this.


It's a bit confusing, because in the absence of hiring an off road 4WD, we did Broome - Kununurra with a tour company and things didn't always go to plan. The bloke told us that he had already committed to another group in the afternoon, so he had to hatch together a trip for us, and we didn't do a 'listed' hike, he just picked a spot and said 'we're climbing up here' (and we all said WTF?).


I see that there are National Park cruises that start in May (the gorge is amazing), but we did ours with Bill Aiken, who's known in the area as being 'a bit of a character'. As least with some indigenous heritage his jokes weren't racist, and he was very interesting, and gave great info on indigenous beliefs in the area etc.


This is the national parks boat tour info:

https://www.australiasnorthwest.com/business/tour/danggu-geikie-gorge-boat-tour


This is the one we were with:

https://www.waitoc.com/culture-experiences/tours-experiences/directory/darngku-heritage-cruises


The boat doesn't look anything like the first one. It's pretty much a large tinny with covering from the sun, but good fun, like the one below, but now with shadecloth.


These are the 'official' hikes:

https://www.australiasnorthwest.com/explore/kimberley/fitzroy-crossing/danggu-geikie-gorge-national-park




Will you have an off road car?

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My cousins Hike a lot with kids, I'm always jealous of their photos and similar. Their youngest has been hiking since a baby, he's 7 now and they recently did one up at Thredbo.


For me at the moment, "hiking" pretty much involves walking along the various firebreaks around here...


[mention]egg[/mention] It really depends on where you go and if you are with a group or have your own vehicle. We've done the Bandilngan (Windjana) Gorges posted hikes (gorge walk and the savannah walk). They were lovely and the kids had no problems (they were 8 and 9 at the time). We also did Dimalurru (Tunnel Creek), which is creepy if you go into the cave but the kids had no problems (I refused to go past the half way mark). We also did the Bungu trail at Geikie Gorge because the others were closed when we went. The parks and wildlife website has lots of up to date info: https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/tourism-region/kimberley


We are planning at some point (maybe this year in sept/oct) to to the walks at Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) because it's starkly amazing. You do need a high-clearance 4WD though.

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Bornagirl

My cousins Hike a lot with kids, I'm always jealous of their photos and similar. Their youngest has been hiking since a baby, he's 7 now and they recently did one up at Thredbo.


For me at the moment, "hiking" pretty much involves walking along the various firebreaks around here...


@egg It really depends on where you go and if you are with a group or have your own vehicle. We've done the Bandilngan (Windjana) Gorges posted hikes (gorge walk and the savannah walk). They were lovely and the kids had no problems (they were 8 and 9 at the time). We also did Dimalurru (Tunnel Creek), which is creepy if you go into the cave but the kids had no problems (I refused to go past the half way mark). We also did the Bungu trail at Geikie Gorge because the others were closed when we went. The parks and wildlife website has lots of up to date info: https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/tourism-region/kimberley


We are planning at some point (maybe this year in sept/oct) to to the walks at Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) because it's starkly amazing. You do need a high-clearance 4WD though.

 

We missed the first ones - as you expected the Gibb River road was still closed. :(


I believe the road into Purnululu has been a bit improved in the last few years, but obviously still 4wd. We got breathtakingly lucky - we were flying in from Kununurra, but then required the Savannah lodge vehicles to take us to Cathedral Gorge & Echidna Chasm. Two ranger vehicles and one resort vehicle tried to get in, two got bogged but at least the third was able to tow them out. Given the park was still officially closed (due to the road) they were given permission to helicopter us to the Cathedral gorge carpark, then back to the airstrip where the one vehicle ferried us in small groups to the lodge. Quite a logistical exercise for them. Unable to get to Echidna chasm but thrilled to even get to Cathedral Gorge.




IMG-3337.jpg



This was the road the week we were there. I'm sure you're used to things like this, but both the volume of water AND how fast it dries up was astonishing for us.

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[mention]Bornagirl[/mention] yep it dries up very quickly. 3 years ago we got something like 780mls in the space of 10 days. It had dried up within 3 weeks. The majority of it has dried up within 4 days lol. Sounds like you had an interesting time of it.

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Bornagirl

@Bornagirl yep it dries up very quickly. 3 years ago we got something like 780mls in the space of 10 days. It had dried up within 3 weeks. The majority of it has dried up within 4 days lol. Sounds like you had an interesting time of it.

 

Very interesting! Missing out on the Gibb river road just means I have to come back! The helicopter flight with the doors off was a bonus for this light aircraft fan!

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  • 2 weeks later...

We hiked in the snow on the weekend. It was fun, cold but the view was awesome!


Snacks - what is your favourite to munch on as you walk?

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