DAY THREE

Lake Windermere hut to Pelion hut – 16.8 km

The weather was better today, but we did start out with our rain jackets on (lesson learnt from yesterday!). We strolled across heathland and moorland and the first 4 km’s passed by really quickly. There were so many changes in scenery it never got dull and it was a really lovely section of the walk. Even when we hit sections of ‘track’ that looked more like ponds our mood wasn’t dampened, even though the path certainly was.

Again we were hit with some amazing views. This track really delivers in that regard, and I had to stop every 10 minutes or so just to take in the sights.

We hit our first big section of rainforest and it was beautiful. But with that beauty comes mud and tree roots. Lots of mud. We had an unsatisfactory lunch of Clif bars, snickers and Nutella at Pelion creek then continued our decent through the muddy forest. The afternoon traipsing down to Frog Flats was not that fun to be honest, though we all had a laugh when Ellie discovered an innocent looking puddle that got mud halfway up her shin.

It was a relief when we finally got to Frog Flats and the forest opened up to give us more stunning views. That relief was short lived though, as we had a big climb to get to the hut. On the A.T. I remember one hiker referring to climbs to campgrounds as “EoDM’s” which stands for End of Day Motherfu**ers. A very fitting term to this bastard climb, which was pretty damn arduous.

Later that evening, as I scanned the guidebook, I noticed that it described this climb as ‘gradual’. To my horror climbs over the next two days were also described as ‘gradual’. Yo guidebook writer. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

The girls did great, and powered ahead of me and my breathless swearing. When we finally got to the top of the ‘gradual’ climb the path opened up onto a button grass moorland with Mt. Oakleigh towering nearby. And honestly it made the climb worthwhile. If I had any breath left, it would have been taken away.

We were about 10 minutes from the hut when the rain started hammering down. Ah well, at least we were close to the hut.

Pelion hut is huge and has a wraparound veranda that has stunning views of Mt. Oakleigh. It was, as my old uncle Phil would say in his gravelly Scottish accent “quite nice, quite nice”.

I hung out all our wet things (which was almost everything) in the vain hope that something would dry, then got to working on dinner. I am a little envious of the kids when we get to the huts. Penny helps set up the beds, but then she and Ellie chill while I get water and sort out dinner and wash the plates etc. I was too tired to fight with them about chores and it was just easier to do them myself.

Note to self: Next time sort out the camp chores before we leave, so the kids know what is expected of them.

Thankfully dinner was great and felt well earned. We had the chicken tikka masala from Back Country, which was pretty damn tasty and got our vote for the best meal so far. The serving was a little on the small side though, the hiker hunger is definitely kicking in.

There is a family of wallabies that live under the hut, they are different to the ones on the mainland and are quite used to people and their favourite spot to hang out was on the paths to the toilets and the water tanks. They were not as picky as a Hippogriff, but they only responded to polite requests to let you pass. Ellie was thrilled with them and grabbed my phone and took a multitude of blurry pictures.

My highlight of the evening was finally getting to sleep on a bottom bunk! The last few nights had proved challenging to get aching legs down the ladder at night. On that note, Ellie has given me the new trail name of ‘Stiff legs’. It seems apt, and I think it fits a little better than Scotty Roo (sorry Jodie and K2 J).

Alas, it was not a great night’s sleep. Ellie woke up a few times so we had to make the night time dash to the loo, being careful not to trip over wallabies.

Note to self: One set of clothes for hiking and one for camp is fine for me, not the kids. Next time bring more clothes.