The beauty and challenge of Tasmanian hiking

A group of rural teenagers were able to challenge themselves with an interstate hike thanks to the Dick and Pip Smith Leadership Through Adventure Fund.

Michael Dearing, a Venturer Scout from 1st Byattunga Scout Group (near Lake Macquarie), hiked the Overland Track in Tasmania with five of his Scouting friends for his King’s Scout Award Adventurous Journey in early October.

“I applied to the LTAF because we are all from rural areas; most people in rural areas can’t afford to pay for all the flights and passes etc on top of all the gear and food they need to get,” Michael said.

“I don’t think it’s fair for only people in cities and large metropolitan areas to get opportunities like this. Most of our grant went towards funding flights, passes, transport to and from the hike, and training for the Patrol.”

Michael was joined by Scouts from 1st Ourimbah, 1st Scone and Teralba Sugarloaf Scout Groups and Central Coast Lakes Rover Unit – Lillie, Talia, Andrew (Salty) and Kapua (Stan) – for the experience. As well as meeting the requirements for his Adventurous Journey, the hike also counted towards the Outdoor Adventure Skills progressions for the other Patrol members, but most of all it was fun!

“We chose the Overland Track because it’s both challenging and naturally beautiful, and because it is so cold some members of our Patrol might experience snow for the first time,” Michael said before the trip.

It only took until day two of the trip for snow to make its appearance, with temperatures dropping followed by a flurry of flakes only a few kilometres into the day. Despite losing the track and only being able to follow the trail markers through snow a metre deep, by relying on their skills in navigation and bushwalking the Patrol made it to the Waterfall Valley hut before nightfall, sleeping on the floor of the hut around the fire to stay warm.

While day three started as an easy day, it did not end that way. But thanks to the skills they had learned in Scouts, including first aid and being prepared for unexpected scenarios, they were able to overcome the day’s challenges.

“We walked along to Lake Windermere where we met many other hikers, including a man called Chris who had done the Overland Track as a young adult (decades ago) and invited him to walk to the lake with us for lunch,” Michael said.

“2km from Windermere Stan rolled his ankle walking down a hill and we had to strap it up, with Salty taking his bag most of the way to Windermere before the girls could return from getting him to the hut and help. We then dipped his foot in Lake Windermere and found a paramedic who was walking behind us to help.

“We needed to get rid of food to reduce weight, so we gave a kilo of Milo to random hikers we had become friends with!”

The snow returned on day six, with the Patrol making snowmen at Windy Ridge and making new friends with other hikers.

Michael said the Overland Track lived up to expectations in terms of views, but the weather was worse and the conditions much more challenging than expected.

“My favourite part was either the views or the games we played at the Echo Point hut on day six,” he said.

“We learnt a lot about snow and how it very quickly becomes not very fun to hike through when it is a metre thick and you are constantly sinking in it.

“I’m now going to start planning my Baden-Powell Scout Award Adventurous Journey – hopefully I can one up this one in difficulty and length!”