“On a Mish” #386 There’s a Hole in My Tent (Part Two). Avoca River / Valley. Craigieburn Forest Park. 4.8.2023. Since 2019 I have spent countless nights in my Marmot tent and the shelter provided has made for many magic missions. Along with my tent another item has become part of my camping package and I wouldn’t head to the hill without him. Together my tent and my dog have become part of my normal camping kit. I never thought that if you put the two together you will have a very intense / funny situation…
After teaming up with the other Jimny’s we had headed west and found ourselves stopped in our tracks by a locked gate. Adam was easily the most puzzled as it was only a couple of weeks before that he had been in the same location, but the gate was definitely not locked. While we worked out our next steps the trampers we had picked up abandoned their free ride up the valley.
We had a hui (the two dogs played around in the pine trees) and like in other situations where we were lost we put up the drone to see if we could find an alternative route. Thankfully the drone revealed a way around the locked gate and once again we were on our way towards the magnificent mountains of the Avoca valley.
We left the locked gate behind us and with ease we found the normal track again, and from here having Adam’s prior knowledge of the area meant we flew up the valley. It didn’t take long for us to catch up to and then pass the trampers who probably thought we had cut our way through the locked gate!
Our drive was at first in the Harper Valley, before we swung left and entered the Avoca Valley. There were a few places where I was puzzled about the tracks that Adam was choosing to follow. On so many missions we have been blindly plotting a course up the valley of our choosing. Knowledge is power, or in our case a faster trip up the valley, and knowing which of the many tracks to follow sped our progress up massively.
With the Birdwood Range to our left and the many bumps of the Thesis Peak massive on our right, we were now deep in mountaintown.
The grandeur turned up in intensity just like the spinning wheels of the three Jimny’s. Huge smiles of five humans. And the wildly wagging tails of two happy doggies! Adam had told me about his previous adventures into this remote valley and I could now see why he was happy to repeat the trip up into the mountains multiple times.
Eventually we made it to our home for the next couple of days, Basins Hut. The fresh snow on the ground made for a scene to sweeten the serenity scenes. Oddly, in the place where Basins Creek meets the Avoca River there are two huts to choose from. One on the true left of Basin Creek and the other over on the true right. The 4wd track leads to the much newer hut (true left), which the team grabbed bunks in. On the other side of the river is the historic (rustic) Old Basins Hut. After a quick look the team decided they were very happy staying in the much new accommodation.
For me and Ernie the decision of where to sleep was made before we even left town. I always planned on using my tent and after many missions Ernie and I had got used to living within the weatherproof fabric of my Marmot Tungsten tent. Little did I know that the tent in question would provide the most intense moments of the entire trip…
