Matt Down Under

Route: Pine Valley Hut - The Acropolis - Pine Valley Hut

I hardly got any sleep in the hut. I always need a few days before I can sleep well on my hiking mattress. But what was worse, during the night a mouse ate a hole into my food bag. For some reason I had assumed it was safe to place the bag just next to my mattress, instead of storing it inside my backpack like I normally do. I’m still wondering how I didn’t notice the mouse so close to where I slept, since I had probably been awake for most of the night. This means that after having my previous food bag destroyed by animals in the South West last year, I can now buy my third one before I go hiking again.

Around 9am I left with a group of three others to climb the Acropolis. It looked like a fine day, and one of them had actually climbed it before, so I felt much more comfortable than by climbing up there alone. I was also glad they were walking rather slowly — I’m usually walking as fast as possible even though I’m trying not to.

The track quickly turned into a very steep climb up to the exposed ridge — very tiring first hour. Once at the top, we were exposed to all the wind and weather. We stayed there only for a few minutes to enjoy the view, then we quickly walked on towards the Acropolis. The track was mostly well prepared and once it continued East of the Acropolis, we were protected from the wind completely. By looking ahead and watching the clouds moving quickly over the top of the mountain however, it was clear that we could expect a lot of wind at the summit.

The closer to the top, the more difficult the track became. Sections of the track were quite steep and dangerous — on a scale from easy to difficult, and compared to other mountains I have climbed in Tasmania, I would probably rate it ‘difficult’. There were two situations where we needed to climb up large boulders and I probably would have returned if walking alone. It’s definitely helpful to walk in a group where you can help each other.

At the second difficult situation, my three walking buddies decided not to walk on. It seemed feasible to climb up, but we were worried about safely getting back down later. They told me they would wait for me if I wanted to give it a go, and that gave me the confidence I needed to climb up. Without someone waiting there to help me down later, I wouldn’t have tried it. So I climbed up and from there it was only 5min until I reached the summit. I walked back to tell the others and ask them if they wanted my assistance in climbing up, but they were going to stay put.

The view was outstanding. It was cold and windy, but I got some great photos from up there. I was really glad the others gave me the opportunity to climb to the summit. It’s very spectacular to be up there, you can look down onto the whole Labyrinth area. After half an hour or so, I walked back. I found one of my walking buddies had also climbed up to the summit in the meantime.

Just when we left the Acropolis, the weather got worse. We were lucky to have left so early in the morning. On the way back to the hut I felt exhausted, I didn’t carry enough water. Normally my bottle is enough for a day trip, but this time I felt dehydrated, so I was pretty tired when we arrived back at the hut, after a fantastic 6.5h trip.

During the course of the evening, more and more people arrived at Pine Valley Hut. It got really crowded and I was glad to have finished all my dinner cooking early. The hut was filled with people, and it started to rain outside. I was looking forward to the Labyrinth the following day, someone mentioned the weather forecast looked good. But then, a weather forecast in the highlands is next to useless.

Early in the night I woke up to some noise. It sounded like a possum fell from a tree onto the hut and rolling down the roof. It still makes me giggle when I think about it. Also a group of rock climbers arrived back at the hut long after darkness set in, they had really scared us by arriving back so late.