7 Days through WOJ - Planning and Water

[johnw]

Leaving for Tassie end of next week . This is our first multi-day trip to the Walls (have previously walked to Dixons Kingdom as a day trip). Two of us will be dropped off at the main carpark mid-afternoon on day one. Currently my approximate plan is:

Day 1: To Wild Dog Creek overnight.
Day 2: Full day exploring around the central Walls area. Wild Dog Creek overnight.
Day 3: Possibly an extra day/night around central Walls, or walk to either Lake Ball or Lake Adelaide.
Day 4: Walk to Lake Meston.
Day 5: Walk to Lake Mytrle.
Day 6: Explore Mt Rogoona.
Day 7: Walk out via Lake Myrtle Track to rendevous with pre-arranged transport about 2pm.

What else we do as side trips etc on days 3 to 6 is flexible. Obviously weather could play a part in our plans.
I've been studying BWT, relevant maps and John Chapman's book, but any comments or suggestions are welcome .

Re water supplies. I know there's plenty of it up there, and have heard that some of it is supposed to be the purest on earth. In practice though, how safe is it to drink as is? I noticed in the topic below that Wild Dog Creek sounds OK. Is it safe to drink from there and other locations untreated? Any preferred sources or any to avoid?

I'll be taking some iodine tabs but I don't think I have enough left for a week (and trying to avoid buying more). Will boil anyway for meals and coffee, it's only drinking water that concerns me. I'm probably a bit paranoid, as a lot of water sources around home are very suspect.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1394&p=11968#p11766

[wobbly]

John

I've done the Walls and the Walls to Junction Lake walks and never had or heard of a problem with water quality. And I've never worried about iodine or boiling water in either area. Theres so much around that if something does look suss just walk 3 feet. I do remember scooping up a cup of water at the end of Lake Adelaide that had a small leech in it but the water itself was delicious!

Have a great trip.

cheers

[crazyone]

Yeah, you should be pretty right with the water up there. The only suggestion i could add to your list is the possibility of walking to junction lake from meston. the view of the lake and the mountains of jupiter is awesome, its a pretty easy walk, you just need to be careful in mayfield flats as it is easy to lose the track ( but easy to find the leechs!)

Dave

[corvus]

John,
I have been in this area several times and provided you are selective as to where you source your water you should not need to boil or use iodine tabs.
Enjoy you walk and dont forget to post lots of pics.

[Nuts]

and there has been lot's of recent rain, so the water should still be flowing.

[Son of a Beach]

Sounds like a great itinerary to me. Most days the actual planned walking is not terribly long, so you should have plenty of time to take is slow and explore a bit on some of those days.

Water should be no problem. Always collect it upstream from camp sites or other well used areas just to be on the safe side.

[walkinTas]

Leaving for Tassie end of next week . ...Day 3: Possibly an extra day/night around central Walls, or walk to either Lake Ball or Lake Adelaide.

I headed down towards Lake Ball from Dixon Kingdom, and the pad I followed took me into the middle of the Pencil Pines. I was actual camped near Dixon Kingdom and just photographing wild-flowers. I met a couple who'd just come up from the Lake Adelaide track along the northern edge of Lake Ball. They said there was no real track and finding their way hadn't been easy. Others who have been all the way might be able to give you some pointers. It would be certainly a lot shorter route to Lake Adelaide than walking back out the WOJ track and then down the Adelaide/Meston track.

[johnw]

Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like not too much to worry about with the water but yes, I'd always collect from areas upstream of campsites etc.

Dave, Thanks I was thinking about Junction Lake and possibly Lake Artemis, we'll see what happens.

NIk, That's good to know. I'm aiming to keep this trip fairly easy. We pushed it a bit on the OT same time last year. Although we saw a lot, there are quite a few places there I want to return and visit in more detail sometime. So this trip is deliberately a bit laid back to give us more time to explore.

Corvus, Thanks, yes hopefully plenty of pics and gets me back into the photo comp; for a couple of months anyway . You may also be pleased to know that we are taking exclusively BackCountry freeze-dried dinners of various flavours . I bought 16 of them the other week .

Anyway I loaded up my pack tonight to about 20 kg for a day trip tomorrow (umm I mean today...look at the time) to get used to the idea as we haven't done a full pack walk for couple of months. I just shoved in any bushwalking gear I could quickly find, including my entire daypack and contents . Since work's now finished for a few weeks I'll pack it properly on Monday.

[corvus]

Taste test report on Back Country meals will be good because some are Yum and some Um ? (light as tho)

[Iluvtheoutdawz]

John

Have forwarded you a PM with a link to some track notes that may come in handy. Junction Lake would certainly be worth considering if you find you have some time on your hands around Lake Meston Hut. Lake Artemis? Think twice about this, the track is very scrubby, hard going and as a destination Lake Artemis isn't a patch on some of the Lakes in WoJ. There's also a lot of water flowing in the area which makes the river crossing to the start of the track very exciting!
Have a great walk.

[johnw]

I headed down towards Lake Ball from Dixon Kingdom, and the pad I followed took me into the middle of the Pencil Pines. I was actual camped near Dixon Kingdom and just photographing wild-flowers. I met a couple who'd just come up from the Lake Adelaide track along the northern edge of Lake Ball. They said there was no real track and finding their way hadn't been easy. Others who have been all the way might be able to give you some pointers.

Thanks wT. Re the Jaffa Vale route/track to Lake Ball, there's some info in the post below and another one I can't find right now. Also described in the Chapman book.
http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1261&p=11280#p11115

[johnw]

...Have forwarded you a PM with a link to some track notes that may come in handy. Junction Lake would certainly be worth considering if you find you have some time on your hands around Lake Meston Hut. Lake Artemis? Think twice about this, the track is very scrubby, hard going and as a destination Lake Artemis isn't a patch on some of the Lakes in WoJ. There's also a lot of water flowing in the area which makes the river crossing to the start of the track very exciting!...

Thanks for the PM and info Iluvtheoutdawz. Will probably give Artemis a miss but leave Junction Lake on the wish list.

[frank_in_oz]

Hi John,
We were through that area 2 weeks ago heading to the OT.

Don't stress there was water everywhere and all great.

If you have a GPS I have track files etc I am happy to send you. Just PM me your email address. If not, I can send you a graphic of the way into Junction Hut. The track is a bit dodgy there with a couple of fallen trees that obstruct it a bit.

We were there the 2nd or 3rd day of summer. The pics below show our tent and the track in and camping at Junction Lake Hut!