Day 2 – Aroona Ruins to Yanyanna Hut – 25.4km

Total Distance – 42.8km

A Heysen Trail story

What a day.  What a day.  What a day!  Seriously, that was one of the best day walks I have ever done.  EVER!

Once again I was packed up early.  Once again, I was contemplating my dud of a sleeping bag.  I’m not sure what to do about that yet…

I was rather nervous about today’s hike.  25km might have been rather ambitious on the second day.  Now that I was out here.  Combined with that, was the rather steep looking hill that exited the campsite.  My plan was to walk 5km.  Rest.  And repeat.  If I was feeling uninspired, I could make the decision to stop.

Nothing for it but to go.  So up I went.  It wasn’t too bad!  And the higher it got, the better the view got as well.  It was absolutely amazing.  Mountains in a circular panorama.  In hues of red, dark green, and gold.  The colours showing up brilliantly in the overcast light.

It felt a privilege to be there.  To have the opportunity to see this sublime setting.  I have not seen any views in this world that were better than this.  Nature is sometimes just spectacular.

This was just the motivation I needed, and I powered on without really thinking about it.  Before too long I had racked up the first 10km.  And finished all the hill climbs for the day.  I felt very pleased with myself.

Th second section of the day, though just as beautiful scenery wise, was a little more difficult.  The small walking track became a bike path and the wind started to rise.  Cranky and wild, it seemed to want to stifle my progress.  Make me work for my achievement.

And so I did.  It was a blessed relief to finally spot the hut and stagger into camp.  In hindsight, I wasn’t too bad.  Tired feet and legs, but that passed fairly quickly.  No aches from the backpack.  Slightly dehydrated from scurrying along in the gale force winds all afternoon.  Nothing that a night’s rest won’t fix.

The dastardly wind drove me indoors.  The hut was a dark, corrogated iron shelter with a concrete floor, rickety table and a chair that looked ready to collapse if someone sat in it.  I opened the sealed food storage box and found mouse droppings galore inside.  This didn’t bode well.  But neither did the blustery winds.  I decided to set my tent up inside.

Not long after that several things happened.  A couple turned up – the first I had seen “on the track” all day.  They were looking for Dani, a hiker coming northbound from Wilpena Pound.  They had met Dani earlier in the day and decided to come back to see her and offer her a bottle of fresh water.

We got to talking.  Dani hadn’t showed up yet…they didn’t offer the bottle to me.  That’s a joke!  They were very lovely and are almost finished their sectional hike of the Heysen.  And then Dani herself arrived.  Rainbow coloured beanie glistening like a mirrorball in the distance.  And then the couple’s two friends arrived.  And then Dani’s parents arrived.  And by this time I had decided to hightail it out of the hut and set up my tent.  No one wants to hear me screaming at a mouse in the middle of the night.

Dani’s parents stayed for dinner and set a roaring, warm fire in the pit.  They cooked meat and toasted sandwiches on a grill over the fire.  I ate my dehydrated meal.  Again, I joke!  It was really great having some company and talking the trail.  Dani is just a couple of day’s away from completing the whole thing.  And obviously had the time of her life.  It was very inspiring.

The party broke up when it started to rain.  I scrambled to my tent where I sit writing this.  The gusts have died off significantly and the rain is oh so gently pattering on the roof.  I predict a good nights sleep coming up.

Track notes, people and other things.

At Aroona Ruins I also met Dianne.  She is taking her time to walk into Wilpena Pound and then back again.  She very kindly came over this morning and offered to take a couple of photos for me.  It’s tricky when you are by yourself!  So that was very nice of her.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I found all the signage in the initial stages of the walk rather confusing this morning.  There seemed to be Heysen stickers on everything and leading everywhere.  I used Guthooks just to make sure.  Basically follow the road up the hill until you reach the junction at Y5 and then turn off the road.  No further use of Guthooks required for the day.

The other  public service announcement is that if you are walking southbound, do not expect to see the hut appear as a mirage off in the distance encouraging you to walk towards it.  You see the hut when you are bang on it.  And not a moment before.  That whole 25km (if travelling from Aroona) is on you!