[Cameron]

Hi,

I'm planning a 6-7 day hike from Mayo Hut to Parachilna Gorge. Looking to find out about the availability of water in tanks along the route. I will ring the national parks but I was wondering if the Friends had any information on the availability of water at:

• Mayo Hut
  
• Red Range Campsite
  
• Wilpena (are there taps/tanks we can fill up at without having to be staying in the campsite there?)
  
• Yanyanna Hut
  
• Middlesight Water Hut
  
• Trezona Campground
  
• Aroona

We'll be going in mid april, just after the end of fire danger season. Hoping for some rain before then so it's a bit greener and the tanks are more reliable :)
Currently the plan is:

• Main Road - Mayo Hut 9km
  
• Mayo Hut - Red Range = 15km
  
• Red Range - just over Bridle Gap = 16km
  
• Bridle Gap - wilpena for lunch + shower, then onwards for a few k's to shorten the next day = 14 (10+4)
  
• Nth of Wilpena - Yanyanna Hut = 18.5km
  
• Yanyanna hut - Red hill (between Trezona and Aroona) = 19.5 (9+1.5+9)
  
• Red Hill - Parachilna Gorge = 21.5 (4.5+17)

(Distances approximate.)

Yes, some of the places we're staying are not designated campsites. We will be using fuel stoves and taking all rubbish with us, not lighting bonfires and leaving a trail of plastic bags behind us.

Any other hints or tips?
_________________
Cameron
SA Rovers

[Julian]

Cameron,
We haven't had a chnace to survey the huts and tanks so far this year.
Your best bet would be to call the rangers at Wilpena and see if they know the tank status, closer to the date.
Mayo Hut, you could contact the owner of Wonoka Station, Peter ???
Red Range ?
Wilpena no problem.
Yanyanna ?
Middlesight water?
Trezona ?
Arooona no problem-spring fed
Pidgeon Bore should be OK-has hand pump
_________________
Julian Monfries
Friends of the Heysen Trail

[Cameron]

I would hypothesise that the campsites which are only accessible to hikers would have the same amount of water as they did at the end of the season last year, assuming nobody has been tramping around in the middle of summer.

I rang the owners of Wonoka and they were very helpful - said they would check the tank and get back to me in a week or so. The owners of Arkaba (the property where Red Range campsite is) said they didn't know if there was any water at Red Range, but it was quite unlikely and not to rely on it.

The person working in the Wilpena National parks office is new and said she'd get a ranger to ring me back next week regarding the availability of water in the park.

Current plan is to drop water at Moralana Scenic Drive, and depending on other tanks, Yanyanna hut and near Trezona.

Thus the longest we will travel without water is 1.5 days between Mayo Hut and Moralana scenic drive.
_________________
Cameron
SA Rovers

[Julian]

We had to fix the tank at Red Range last year. Prop it up.
That was about June or July as I recall.
It was half full then.
Not sure what rain since
cheers
_________________
Julian Monfries
Friends of the Heysen Trail

[Cameron]

I rang the national parks again. They don't monitor the tanks or tell you how much water is in them because it only takes one person to leave the tap on and then you rock up to an empty tank, die of thirst and then the NP gets sued.

Well that's not exactly what they said, but that's the general gist of it.

So I guess I'll just drop water everywhere anyway.

My next question was about the property owners along the trail. I'd like to know who owns each bit of the Heysen trail and their contact phone number. The hypothetical situation is a member of the party has a non-life threatening injury but we are unable to continue (done a hamstring, broken leg, whatever) and we want to get a 4wd to the party (or to the nearest track.) I'd like our support crew (who will be staying in Blinman) to be able to ring the property owners and ask their permission, and also about locked gates or other obstacles not indicated on the map.

Would it be possible to get this information?

I already know the contact phone numbers for Wonoka and Arkaba, but don't know where the properties' boundaries are. I'm not sure if there's anything between Arkaba and the NP (Rawnsley Park?) Obviously contacting the NP people for anything in the NP. North of Aroona is it Gum Creek?
_________________
Cameron
SA Rovers

[Julian]

The only owners I am aware of iare Wonoka and Arkaba stations.
Rawnsley Park is just to the east of the trail near Black Gap.
The Trail tho is still on Arkaba.
Then it's the NP once you reach Bridle Gap.
North of Wilpena it is Gum Creek and Alpana.
The section leader for Alpana is John Henery the owner of Alpana. he would know if there are other stations the trail crosses
_________________
Julian Monfries
Friends of the Heysen Trail

[Cameron]

Some news from my walk:
Everything went off without a hitch, weather was great and everyone had a great time.

I have already posted information on the status of water tanks and other information about the campsites along the way - see the accomodation options section of the website: Mayo Hut, Red Range Campsite, Bridle Gap campsite, Wilpena Caravan Park, Yanyanna Hut, Middlesight Water Hut, Trezona Campground and Aroona Hut/Campground.

In addition to those notes, we can report that the hand pump at pigeon bore is working correctly, but the tap on the tank at the Parachilna Gorge trailhead is not. The tank was half full.

At some places along the trail we noticed that the metal signs had fallen off the wooden marker posts. It appears that the wood had split (due to heat? expansion/contraction?) and sometimes we were able to find the nails on the ground (and hammer them back in with a nearby rock.) Perhaps screws could be utilised, or maybe some sort of glue to repair them. I didn't make a note of every one we saw, but I think there were a fair number during the ascent into bridle gap.

The trail was a bit indistinct in some areas behind Red Range and between Aroona and and Parachilna Gorge, nothing devastating, just keep that range on your left and that range on your right and there's no problem. Not at all worrying for us (makes it a bit more fun really) but perhaps for beginners it might be something to be aware of.

A long report including photos will be available shortly for anyone who might want to read it. I will also be including a GPS log of our trip, which can be overlaid with the one downloaded from the website to show where we had trouble following the trail.

On behalf of our party, I would like to extend our thanks to the Friends for providing and maintaining the trail. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and will certainly be walking more of the Heysen in the future.
_________________
Cameron
SA Rovers

[Cameron]

For anyone who might be interested, the report for my ramble is available from my website at http://justcameron.com/rovers/bp/ramblers

Yes it is quite long, but it has pretty pictures too :D

If the friends want to use any of the photos that were taken by me (most but not all the ones in the report. If the filename doesn't have "kate" or "anton" in it then I took it) tell me which ones and I'll provide higher resolutions, full details of the location, names of those photographed, etc.
_________________
Cameron
SA Rovers