Walking Poles

I just bought a new hiking pole (left) to replace the Leki pole
I snapped in Tasmania back in the winter of 2007 (middle). I don't normally carry one except on long trips with steep descents or some trips in the snow. Also shown in this shot is a wooden one (right) a friend of mine found and later presented to me complete with artistic carvings. HAHA

Someone asked me about Overland Winter 2007 the other day. Here's Day 1's Diary Entry (explaining how I managed to snap my brand new Leki pole) for those who are interested:

3 August 2007 Friday

Preliminaries

Shortly after entering into the World Heritage listed Cradle Mountain Lake St. Clair National Park, I could see from inside the comfort of the minibus that it was dumping snow outside with a gusty wind. It seemed peculiar to be isolated from the appalling conditions outside, knowing very well that sooner or later we had to get out and brace for the weather.

We arrived at the parks office early in the afternoon where we got out into the horrible weather, bought our park passes and gas canisters and registered our trip intention. I minimized weight as much as possible by depositing all my coins into the donation box in the parks office.

The mini bus managed to negotiate through the continuing snow and dropped us off at the Cradle Mountain Visitor car park at Dove Lake. Two years ago I was greeted with the sight of the majestic Cradle Mountain casting a perfect reflection on the lake under a clear blue sky. This time, visibility was down to 20m in heavy snow and the temperature hovering near 0 degree.

It was decided that with worsening conditions and fading light, it would be suicidal to get to Waterfall Valley Hut via the exposed Marions Lookout. It would be near impossible to stand up there, let alone trek! We would instead take the more sheltered route via Lake Rodway to Scott Kilbert Memorial Hut.

Drama getting to Scott Kilvert

After putting on the full snow weather gear, we started our journey towards the first night’s hut. I got off to the worst possible start while going up the first gentle climb out of Dove Lake. It was not a hard climb on soft snow but I managed to lose my footing and fell backwards after only five minutes of walking. Instinctively, I used my walking pole to break the heavy fall. The brand new Leki pole bore the full load of my weight and my 25kg pack and it snapped at the weakest point near the tip. It was heart breaking at first to see my $90 pole rendered useless after 5 minutes. Keen not to litter, I had to carry the dreaded thing for the next 8 days! Later on, I cheered myself up by thinking I would prefer the pole snapping rather than any of my limbs!

I put the pole snapping incident behind me and concentrated on following the party. The pack was at its heaviest for the trip and fortunately the terrain was not too steep to make the walk too strenuous. The unrelenting snowfall slowed us down considerably and it got dark just after 5pm. I switched on my head torch and put all my faith on Bruce to be able to lead us to Scott Kilvert.

While we were dashing through the quickly disappearing trail in the dark, I kept a constant look at my watch. Time was ticking fast and I wondered whether the first night of this adventure will be spent in the tent.

Bruce ignored one of the signs at one point and relied on his experience in the area to guide us closer to the hut. The snowfall was continuing and visibility was getting worse by the minute. I had little time to think about anything else other than to keep focused and to stay alert on where I placed my feet.

Thankfully, Bruce finally managed to guide the team into Scott Kilvert shortly after 7pm.

Paul had arrived earlier than the rest of us and had started the coal heater. Unlike the other huts in the National Park, this hut has two floors connected by a flight of wooden stairs. The ground floor has the benches and seats with the fireplace. Upstairs is the sleeping area with enough room to fit about 15 people sleeping side by side.

The hut was bursting with activities in no time as all of us started arranging our gear and cooking our first dinner for the trip. It was quickly infused with the different fragrances as the dinners were heated. It was amazing that all these were done under torch light in a crowded hut.

Bruce went out and located the path to the pit toilet through the snow covered forest. It turned out he had to dig out the thick layer of snow that was blocking the door. Later at night when I visited the toilet, I thought it would be impossible for me to find such a tiny structure blanketed in snow in the dark.

I was very excited that night about the trip but I knew I had to get some sleep for tomorrow’s struggle in the snow.