Mistake one

This should have been when we stopped and reconsidered, rather than plowing on. With Calli being a bit slower off-track and the weather packing in it was a bad decision to keep going over the tops. It can be hard in a situation like this because it is painful to turn around and go back on all that hard work up hill. However I have no doubt in my mind now that we should have turned back to Spense Hut.

We eventually made it up and over the ridge. My navigation was off so instead of going over the low saddle we ended up climbing up a significant portion of Mt Spense. As we crept over the top the wind buffeted us, almost blowing us away. We huddle under a rise to catch our breath before finishing our unfortunate and unplanned sally forth into the Telford Valley. We descended down a creek, slipping and sliding down its slopes. The rain poured, dripping down our faces.

We had to grasp tussock to clamber down the cascading slopes of the creek. In the distance we could see the treeline and with it was the hope of a hut. Our smaller creek joined others and slowly became a small river. It was a slow walk to the bushline. The only thing that kept our legs moving was the spark of hope that was the idea of a fire and a warm meal. Unfortunately this dream was altogether shattered when we reached our ‘destination’. The next 2 hours was soul destroying. With my pack on I launched myself on a spirited but totally hopeless search through the bush for this hut. I climbed all the way through the trees, I followed the animal tracks, I hugged the trees, I sniffed the ground. It was all in vain. Darkness was descending as we decided to move downstream. In the bleak twilight, in the miserable rain, we decided to set up camp in the one person tent that Calli had brought.

“Oh I forgot the pegs and poles” — Calli

My mind raced, searching for solutions. Need to set up camp. Need to get dry. Need to get shelter. We laid out the tent fly and started to jerry rig it with tramping poles. We stripped off our wet layers and for a few moments I stood under the rain in the failing light, feeling the water impact on my bare skin. A shiver convulsed through me and we carefully work our way inside our ramshackle shelter. Our dinner consisted of two carrots. That was perhaps one of the longest nights of my life. I listened to the rain on the tent and felt the cold water seep into my sleeping bag by my feet. I was worried that the river would rise and we would get stuck. Thunder boomed overhead. The only solace was that three people in a one person tent is quite cosy. After 2 hours I remembered the survival blanket in the first aid kit. It added a shred of comfort to a night otherwise devoid of anything of the sort.