Thread: My last two trips

My last two trips out have been to the same place checking out some local tops country not in the National Parks 1080 zones. The first trip was my first time in the area, I left home in daylight and drove up to a high carpark. Shouldering the pack I set off, the track is steep straight from the car but soon enters into a rolling grassy set of flats.

Being new to this area I had a good poke around then carried on, the next part is all rocky but you get good views across the major gully to the prominent knob, I spied a what I’m sure was a goat but by the time I got the binos out it was gone. It was way too far anyway, by now the wind was howling and swirling around, eventually I reached a cairned route off the main track sort of in the direction I wanted to go so took it. The route goes trough some bushy areas before popping out on a ridge where I came across a couple of fire rings where somebody has obviously been camping. I pushed on a few more minutes and then stopped for lunch, as I was finishing up the wind picked up even more and the snow set in reducing visibility to maybe 100m max so I turned around with nothing else seen although I did hear bleating in an area totally inaccessible.

A month later with a better forecast (not always right) I tried again, this time I followed the main track up to the tops and then explored all the guts, there was plenty of new growth but the only animal seen was a single hare. I carried on hoping to at least see some sign as yet again the wind roared in, as I was climbing back out of a stream way after refilling my bottle I found some deer poo maybe a day old and a single deer print. So the sum total of two trips.

Heard a goat
Saw a hare
Found some poo
Found a sinlge deer print

Will I go back there probably not, its great looking country but game seems very scarce, am I looking for where to try next yes I am, have I been successful this year not really.

Cheers HJ

Good on you for giving it a go look, you never know until you check it out. Hi

A walk in the hills is never wasted time enjoy the challenge

At least YOU know whats there, rather than listening to someone elses advice

Find some green grass near bush edge near yr deer prints.Camp for the night,watch evening and early morning,sit and watch.

There is deer in there but they stick to a couple of areas pretty specifically.
I used to ring the airport to find out what the wind is doing at 1000m the afternoon before heading up there and would go or not based on that....now I have windy app.
Being a pretty popular tramping spot makes it more important to be Johnny on the spot at dawn dusk.

NLNP eastern half with Sabine river as the boundry was Arial 1080d not long ago but as far as I know the western half has not been done and there is plenty of deer in there.

Thanks Cam just waiting on a decent weather window, next week not looking good so far either

Dawn n dusk is key.