Heysen Trail: Return from Egypt
We'd only just finished our 'short' Lawson to Goulburn: October-November 2020 hike, and we realised that we really wanted, if not needed, a longer hike that was more like a holiday.
The Heysen Trail is what we've chosen.
It's interesting, when we'd finished The Bibbulmun Track we knew of The Heysen Trail, but disregarded it for some reason. After spending quite a bit of time reading up on the Heysen, we are very excited to be doing it.
Return from Egypt
We're tagging this hike 'Return from Egypt' and will be walking it under the patronage of St. Joseph, Pillar of families, Terror of demons and Protector of Holy Church.
Giovanni Baglione sketched the following Return of the Holy Family from Egypt (c1599/1600), which seems to sum up the earthly and heavenly protection of the Holy Family. We trust we will walk with the same companions.
The above graphic was taken from Wikipedia (copyrighted, dedicated to the public domain by copyright holder).
Why Return from Egypt?
I've now taken the above graphic and mashed it with the Heysen logo to produce our 'Return from Egypt' logo (read more here).
We're walking North to South, from semi-arid to Mediterranean-like landscapes, which reminded me of the Holy Family's return from Egypt. Possibly that thought was prompted by this year being dedicated to St. Joseph, who is Head of the Holy Family (among other things), and maybe once that domino fell, things like Mary MacKillop starting her order in South Australia and our local parish being dedicated to St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop was a bit too much to ignore…
Overview
The Friends of The Heysen say that the whole trail, end-to-end, is 1,200 km. But this must include every possible spur track, as our walk is 1,149 km (and we're doing a few spur tracks as well). Of course, I'm using my tailor-made spreadsheet to plan the endeavour, and at this stage the weekly itinerary looks like this (see Version 7 for the current version):
Week | From | Name | To | Name | Hours | Walk Days | Rest Days | Km | Ascend | Descend |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6/08/2021 | Parachilna Gorge Trailhead | 12/08/2121 | Mt Elm Campsite | 49 | 7 | 136 | 2,425 | 2,314 | |
2 | 13/08/2121 | Mt Elm Campsite | 19/08/2121 | Pichi Richi Park | 42 | 6 | 1 | 116 | 2,667 | 2,711 |
3 | 20/08/2121 | Pichi Richi Park | 26/08/2121 | Grays Hut Campsite | 31 | 5 | 2 | 90 | 2,781 | 2,590 |
4 | 27/08/2021 | Grays Hut Campsite | 2/09/2121 | Curnows Hut Campsite | 50 | 7 | 150 | 3,255 | 3,366 | |
5 | 3.09/2121 | Curnows Hut Campsite | 9/09/2121 | Caroona Creek Shelter | 37 | 6 | 1 | 114 | 1,704 | 1,884 |
6 | 10/09/2121 | Caroona Creek Shelter | 16/09/2121 | Smith Hill Campsite | 39 | 7 | 122 | 2,310 | 2,052 | |
7 | 17/09/2121 | Smith Hill Campsite | 23/09/2121 | Rocky Paddock Campsite | 44 | 7 | 136 | 2,177 | 2,313 | |
8 | 24/009/2121 | Rocky Paddock Campsite | 30/09/2121 | Mt Compass Caravan Park | 51 | 7 | 155 | 4,609 | 4,526 | |
9 | 1/102121 | Mt Compass Caravan Park | 7/10/2121 | Tapanappa Campsite | 37 | 6 | 1 | 100 | 3,013 | 3,026 |
10 | 8/10/2121 | Tapanappa Campsite | 9/10/2121 | Cape Jervis Trailhead | 13 | 2 | 32 | 1,097 | 1,193 | |
Totals | 391 | 60 | 5 | 1,149 | 26,038 | 25,975 |
Ongoing Planning
So, what's taking up my time you ask?
Although the spreadsheet does a great job in calculating and aggregating all sorts of stuff from an estimate of where we'll be when to our food requirements, it takes quite a deal of tweaking to make sure everything is as it should be. After all, Lawson to Goulburn: October-November 2020 proved how average things can be when I don't get to 'polish' my spreadsheet.
So this 'polishing' involves:
- Tweaking the itinerary by adding / removing the breaks and over-nights
- Adding rest days
- Defining the menu (a little more complex this time around as I'm on Keto and Sandi is on high carbs)
- Allocating the food usage (the aim is to not lose too much weight)
Once the spreadsheet is mature enough, it will then:
- Email off Accommodation Requests
- Print off the shopping list
- Generate the Food Drop Packing List
- Generate various web content, such as Itineraries and weather URLs
…ok, back to the spit and polish.
2 comments
Comment from: Andy Visitor
Comment from: scribbly Member
What a lovely job you’ve done of this Perry.
And this is only the beginning! I think it’s keeping me sane (and probably driving Sandi insane :) )
This is what’s totally exciting though: mitupela.net/hike/ht/w/ (a countdown timer before the walk, and weather during the walk). Mind you, the seconds are going way too slowly for my liking…
What a lovely job you’ve done of this Perry.
Andy