Day 4 – Wilpena Pound to Red Hill Camp – 29.72km

Total Distance – 94km

A Heysen Trail story

Epic.  Epic.  Epic.  That’s all you can say about this day.  The distance.  The weather.  The stunning, stunning scenery.  And.  The disaster.

Let’s start with the good stuff.  Last night was very, very chilly.  I left the restaurant amidst steams of fog from my breath.  It was going to be a cold one indeed.  The sleeping bag was up to the job.  I just kept having to wake up every time I turned over to tuck in all the sides.  Luckily, I slept very well.  So it wasn’t too much of an issue.

As I packed up this morning, I had a gentleman approach me.  Asked if I was doing the Heysen.  Made a bit of small talk.  As he left he told me I was very inspirational.  What a nice thing to say!  I don’t feel that way myself…but it certainly made me feel good.  That I might inspire other people just by doing something I love.

I got underway in the chilly morning.  Rain clouds loomed overhead.  It was a quick 8km along flat, blue mallee country to the base of Bridle Gap.  From there, not a difficult couple of kilometers to the gap itself.  On the way it started to rain.  Very quick and feathery.  Like a mist but harder.  The overcast sky puts the splendour of the mountains in sharp relief.

At the gap, I was unsurprised to find two men.  I had been following their footprints all morning.  Sadly, I didn’t catch their names, though it turned out one of them had finished a section hike of the Heysen just two weeks previously.  We admired the view.  Completely epic.  Formation after formation of huge mountains stretching as far as the eye could see.  I grabbed my pack and they offered to take a photo for me.  So very nice of them.  One of them then told me I was very inspirational.  His exact words.  Twice in one morning!  Maybe I AM really trying to do something very special.  You can’t beat that sort of spontaneous sentiment. So kind. And provides much motivation to keep going!

I got going.  A rocky scramble down the mountain followed by walking in the ancient river beds.  The size of the river red gums needs to be seen to be believed.  All the while, the rain continued to fall.

I had left the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park and now entered the Arkaba Wildlife Conservancy. I followed a fence line through lush green paddocks.  Mountains on all sides.  Green in the desert SO ridiculously abundant.  The wind began to pick up, until it was howling with blustery rain.  Nothing for it but to push on.  The amazing scenery a perfect antithesis to the less than perfect weather. 

I reached the range I had viewed this morning from the Gap.  Now, I walked adjacent to it, headed south towards the hut.  The afternoons walk was gently undulating and stunning.  The wind and rain couldn’t put a dampener on it.

Eventually I reached the camp, relieved that the rain seemed to have stopped and the wind died down a little.  I went about unpacking my gear and setting up as per usual.  That is.  Until I got to my tent pole…

Now, I have an MSR Hubba Hubba.  Again, an expensive tent – $900 quid or so.  And this tent has only done about 250km. The MSR Hubba Hubba is built on its “shock proof” poles that can stand up to anything!  Apparently not so.  Must have been this morning, as I was packing up, one of the aluminium sliders that holds the parts of the pole together has fallen off.  Or broken.  Or something.  I have no idea.  I just know that it is not there now.  And I had no idea that it was even missing.  I thought the poles had packed up just fine.  Just the same as normal.

But no.  And now my tent won’t stand up properly.  It looks like Frankenstein.  And silly me – not thinking for a second that it would be the poles that I had a problem with – didn’t pack anything to potentially fix it.  At the moment it’s held up with my Covid facemask.  Yes, you read that right.  My mask is cushioning the problem, so that hopefully my tent fly doesn’t end up with a hole in it from rubbing on the raw metal edge of the pole piece. 

I’m sitting in here now.  Although I feel rather secure at the minute, if it rains or becomes breezy again, things may get a little dicey.  It is currently 4 degrees, and keeping my things dry is the top priority.

So now my plan is to get to Hawker in two days time and think about replacements for BOTH my sleeping bag AND my tent.  I can’t believe it!  I’m holding up my end of the bargain!  I walked close to friggin’ 30km today.  And no worse for wear.  Tiny blister developing.  Legs a little sore.  But nothing major.  Not like my gear.  My supposedly excellent gear that seems determined to make things as difficult as possible for me.  Well I’ve got news for them.  I’ve survived a lot worse than this.  They don’t  know who they’re dealing with if they think gear breakage is going to stop me!  And luckily there is a potential sleeping hut at the next camp site….

It’s also just a real shame that the tent issue overshadowed what was a truely epic day in which I was really proud of myself.  Not only for the distance travelled, but also for the positive frame of mind I had all day under less than favourable weather conditions.  The scenery and the variety of the trail was the absolute winner.