Overland in a Day

[rhyso]

well i have just returned from completing the overland track in a day...
my friend and i set off at 4:30 from lake st clair and ended up getting out at cradle at 11:30 that evening, 19hrs of straight walking!!!
it has been a bit of a personal goal of mine to see if i could do it in a day and i was extremely proud of myself for completing it...even though i couldn't really walk the last 500 meters.
the weather we had was quite warm but with only 7kg day packs we were able to maintain a decent pace throughout the entire track.
I felt i was a little unprepared for the walk and felt i could have gone quicker as i waited quite regularly for my friend sometimes up to 15-20 minutes, that really put the dampners on my pace setting...
all in all it was a lovely day and i may even plan to head back the other way next time just to see how quick i can do it with a bit of training under my belt.
anyway, happy walking all
take care, cheers
rhys

[Ent]

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[corvus]

That would have to be the fastest over hundred dollar track fee spend in a while. No mean feet um? feat.

Cheers Brett

Dont want to cast aspersions or verbal anyone however perhaps starting at 4:30 am and finishing at 11:30 pm the permit was ovelooked
corvus

[Robbo]

Does south to north incur a fee? When does the 'peak' time begin? - I just checked, Nov 1.

set off at 4:30 from lake st clair

TR

[ILUVSWTAS]

I actually didnt think you were "allowed"to walk South to North in peak period

[jwalker]

Nice work Rhys!

This has been one of my long standing goals too. I've always figured I'd be happy if I could make it in sub 20 hours. I imagined it myself with a 12am start at Cradle, aiming to make Cynthia Bay before sunset. Did you have any breaks along the way or just snack on the go? How was the body over the last quarter of the trip? Anything else of note? What's next????

Now back to my knee exercises....

[Erica]

Yeah, you're not actually "allowed" to walk S-N during permit season, but pretty sure any ranger that you met out there doing something like that would've just thought you were mad...!

Awesome work, and you actually walked it, not running?

~ Erica

[rhyso]

hey thanks jwalker and erica
we made 3 'real' breaks of about 15mins during the day and i practically lived off those power bars and gel, i had 3 of each but also took 3 sandwiches, lollies and chocolate. at every break i had a gel/bar and a sandwich and this seemed to last me for up to 2.5 hrs and then i would have to supplement it with lollies or another gel...
the lowest point for me was walking from windamere to waterfall valley as the sun was going down and my body was really starting to stop working effectively. on saying this, had my last sandwich and gel and powered up the climb out of waterfall valley meaning i could see cradle very closely silhouetted in the dark, this gave me the energy to push onto kitchen hut where i dropped my bundle and stopped working all together...it was a long stumble down into the carpark from there.
i walked all of it and didnt run at all, we really strode it out around the lake and got to narcissus in about 2.5 - 3hrs, and yes the rangers we saw did think we were stupid!!! but seemed to understand that we were a couple of locals that would be out of their hair before 12:00 that evening. very nice of them indeed!
things i would do differently next time would be to strap problem spots before i set out, i.e. prevention of blisters and ankle injuries. go the other way Nth to Sth as i rekon you could make some great time heading from windamere down to frogs flats!!! and probably go solo as i could go at my own pace without having to wait for partners to catch up or have them wait for you.
At the end of the season i think i would love to do cradle to st clair, just to see the time difference...all in all i really enjoy seeing what i can get out of my body, they are an amazing piece of engineering and its great to see how they cope under the stressors of 80km in a day, i really dont know how those ultra marathon runners do it though...
cheers all
rhyso

[jwalker]

Thanks for the personal insights and once again congratulations! Can't wait to give it a crack once I'm up to match fitness!!

[crazyone]

That is some good work! I have often contemplated having a crack at it myself, dont think i could manage it tho. Probably would be easier to walk it north south imho.