Condition of the track - Overland Track

[tasadam]

Thought I'd start a topic on the condition of the track.
Have you done it / any of it recently?
How did you find the condition of the track, and how was it compared to your expectations?

Since July 09 I have done the part between New Pelion Hut and Pelion Gap twice.
The biggest difference between these two times was the extra number of fallen trees, no doubt from the strong southerly storm we had going back a month or two.
There are at least a couple of places where the track needs to be left in order to get around the obstructions, this is forming new pads. Pretty bad as yesterday marks the start of the paid permits period.
I also noted that there were only two of the toilets at New Pelion hut open. Judging by the amount of gear hanging to dry on the verandah at New Pelion on Friday, there must have been a long queue Saturday morning! Must have been busy there too - couldn't see the railing at all, for clothing, packs etc.

On the track there is no mud to speak of - always less than boot-deep and often a better option to step in it because you know what you are going to get. There are large sections of masses of exposed tree roots, where the soil around them has been compacted / eroded over time and traffic. It's my view that these are becoming a hazard themselves because of the likelyhood of walkers that encounter them are possibly often the type that read the glossy bits about this fantastic Overland Track as a comparitive highway, and perhaps might not be as prepared (mentally / fitness?) for the extra effort and care to negotiate these significant rooted areas. They are of course extremely slippery when wet. I recall a long section of this in the part between Frog Flats and New Pelion hut, last done back in February. Wasn't overly difficult, but I did talk to a few oncoming walkers who were struggling with it.

Going back a while I heard a report where the wire on the boardwalk near Cradle was so bad it pierced the sole of someones boot and stabbed their foot. Quite a number of the old boardwalk boards are loose / rotted away etc, I remember parts along Cradle Cirque where the boards were a hazard to step on.

So, what do we expect the Overland Track to be? Do we want it rough and rugged with some of the authenticity left in, or should it be boardwalk highway all the way?

My views? Authenticity - it shouldn't be "easy" as such, but the bits where you are forced off-track to negotiate should be promptly fixed, and the dangerous bits like the wire and the loose boards should also receive attention. But, it all costs money, doesn't it...
Interested to see what other people think. All opinions are welcome.

[norts]

Toilets, there has been only 2 of the four open at anyone time when I have been on the track.That is at all the huts.
Track conditions, when i was up at Pine Valley in Sep 09 there was quite a few trees down at the turn off from the OT. Only about fifty metres of the Pine Valley track was impassable, not sure how much of the OT was impassable but there was atrees over it as well.

Roger

[tgn]

The variable condition of track is one of the things that makes this walk... for the better IMHO.

I completed the walk on 23/10 and I had the (mis)fortune to speak to a couple who had just come off the walk the day before my group started.

They were complaining about the state and/or lack of boardwalks, roots, mud etc.

But for me, the contrast between the old and new boardwalks (I especially remember the early morning ice crystals on the black, decaying boardwalks), is what makes this walk both challenging and memorable. Roots, mud, rocks just add to the ambience

It's all about nature, renewal, battling the elements etc.

If it was 65km of meshed boardwalk, what a boring walk it would be...

Tasadm, looking for mud ? Try the Mt. Oakleigh side trip... we had people thigh height.

Trevor

[Drifting]

They ought to give out 2-year park passes for free for people who volunteer to spend a weekend fixing a section of the trail. That could help with the worst bits.

Some of the track around Cradle is getting ridiculous- I reckon it's dangerous. But they are fixing it up at least.

[tasadam]

Tasadm, looking for mud ? Try the Mt. Oakleigh side trip... we had people thigh height.

No, not looking for mud; yes - been thigh height on the way to Mt Oakleigh, and Frenchmans, and South Coast track, and Port Davey track, and......
Mt Oakleigh was impossible in July due to the torrent of water coming down from Lake Ayr. No wonder it's boggy!

[tasadam]

Some of the track around Cradle is getting ridiculous- I reckon it's dangerous.

Can you tell us which bits, and why it's dangerous?

[tastrax]

Re most of the toilets - they are "alternating batch toilets". One side of the toilet (2 stalls) are open at any one time and when the holding bins below those two stalls are full then they are shut off and left as fallow piles (hopefully for 12 months) so that the required evaporation and decay can take place before waste is removed.

As for the track...yes some bits are less than the required standard (in my opinion) and unfortunately that applies to much of the cordwood laid in the mid to late eighties. Much of it is getting to the end of its useful life - as for which techniques replaces it...well that is debatable at this stage - maybe gravel? maybe double planking, maybe some local stone? I suspect the windfalls will start being removed when the seasonal track staff commence... usually about this time of the year.

[Drifting]

Well- even right around the Ronnie's Creek stretch- last time I was on the trail there- the end of this Winter- some of the cordwood was just "floating" on mud, so that when you stepped on it, the board sunk into the mud, sometimes by a good bit. It was only in sections, and those were pretty close to the section they've rebuilt and there was timber along the sides where they were continuing the new boardwalk, so maybe it's fixed.

The section heading towards Dove Lake from the Junction there isn't too hot either, from memory.

It'd still be better than sinking thigh deep in mud, which is the other choice I guess.