Yesterday the End-to-End Minus 1 group charged across a raging swollen Stony Creek, north of Melrose, again and again, while walking along the Heysen Trail.

Completing the weekend’s soggy wet walking in the pouring rain, we climbed up and over the wet and rocky Lavender Hill. Saturday was a very wet 26km walk. From Alligator Gorge Road to Grays Hut, then up Mount Remarkable and passing gushing streams, down to Melrose. It rained all night Saturday and the following morning a raging torrent rushed across the campground access ford, by the caravan park, as we left Melrose for the days walk. There were many pools and lakes of water to be seen on our way to the Horrocks Pass walk start.

There is a lot of satisfaction in becoming more involved in walking and we encourage walkers to engage further in the activities of the organisation either as walk leaders or tail-enders.

This Walk Leaders Training Day on Saturday 20 July aims to give interested people the information needed to prepare and lead a walk successfully and goes through how to deal with issues that might arise. Part of the day is spent talking about how the Friends organisation operates and the assistance available to new leaders. The day goes from 9.30am to about 2.00pm and lunch is provided.

There is no charge for this day but you do need to register via the website or office. For more information phone the office or email Arrienne at wynena@ihug.com.au

We’re phasing in a new online walk registration system. When registering for walks online, you will need to log in using your membership account details. The phase-in period, from April 2013, will see each walk grade brought over to the new system.

View full details of new walk registration system.

We’re launching a new online walk registration system. When registering for walks online, people will need to log in with their membership account details.

The phase-in period will see each walk grade brought over to the new system, beginning with the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk on Sunday 14th April.

When registering for walks using the new system:

• you’ll see that your details are already entered in the walk registration form
• you can register anyone within your membership account via any of those logins
• payment for your walk will be via a single page payment gateway, which is considerably easier to use than the existing PayPal payment gateway. Financial transactions will be processed by NAB.
• For security reasons, we do not store credit card details
• You will be able to view your walk registrations
• From July 2013, you may be able to view a list of all walks you have previously participated in.
• You will know when your walk grade has been transferred to the new system, as the registration page will ask you to log in. If you are already logged in, you’ll see that your details are already entered in the walk registration form.

A letter was mailed out this week to active members who have not previously accessed their online membership account.

If you are unsure as to what your login details are, or have lost your password, you can recover your details. If this doesn’t immediately work, a flow chart is available to assist in understanding how to access your login details. Please contact the office for further assistance.

When logging in to the website, you can change your username and password to something meaningful. You can also review your email address, Trailwalker and email subscription options, and renew your account.

The new system will streamline processes for walkers, walk leaders and the office.

We hope you continue to enjoy walking with us, and remember, you can undertake any of the tasks listed above by contacting the office directly.

It’s just 6 days until we launch the Day on the Heysen Trail – the Warren Bonython Memorial Walk event.

We’re launching the event with an art installation this Sunday at Elder Park.

We’ll start taking walk registrations on Sunday, 14th April. The launch this Sunday will be at Elder Park, next to the Festival Centre in Adelaide city, at the Opening of the Walk Season event. The Opening is an event organised by Walking SA, and many bushwalking clubs, to promote the start of the hiking season, now that cooler weather is upon us. The Take a Walk Opening of the Walk Season event is from 10am to 3pm.

So come down to Elder Park to say hi and check out the art installation! It’s got a strong connection to Warren Bonython, who was renowned for wearing his bright yellow shorts.

Remember, from Sunday you can register for the section you want to walk on October 6th. Use our Walk Selector tool to review available sections. Several bushwalking clubs and schools have exclusively booked out some of the 60 sections. Registrations will close in late August.

The event registration fee is $20 per hiker, to cover logistical and insurance costs.

The walk is open to all.

Visit www.heysentrail.asn.au/wb-walk/ for more information.