Heysen Trail

5 Ordinary People hiking the Heysen Trail

Posted on

5 Ordinary People hiking the Heysen Trail

A family’s 56-day trek

A family of five, including Eli, 12, Emily, 10, and Noah, 9, will skip Term 2 of school in favour of hiking the Heysen Trail.

There’s so much more to life than just maths and English that kids miss out on, if parents don’t invest time in them.

Along with their parents Luke and Erina, they will be a world away from the classroom routine when they undertake a mission to cover 1,151km on foot over 56 days.
Their trek begins at the northern trailhead at Parachilna Gorge, trekking south through the Flinders Ranges and Adelaide Hills to Cape Jervis.

It’s all part of Erina’s plan to give her children an educational experience of a different kind.

“We want to teach our children the life lessons that, when you’re caught up in the nine to five regime, you just don’t have the time to do,” she says. “There’s so much more to life than just maths and English that kids miss out on, if parents don’t invest time in them.”

Follow @5OrdinaryPeople on Facebook.

Read More at SAkids.com.au

Heysen Trail article in SA Life magazine

Posted on

Walking the Talk - SA Life magazine, February 2015

Check out the article in the latest SA Life magazine, Feb 2015. The story looks at walking the entire 1,200km with one of our End-to-End groups.

View Article

This year we have seven end-to-end groups walking the trail, all of which are open to new members:

Find out more about End-to-End walks

Fire Danger Season Brought Forward 2014/15

Posted on

Fire Danger Season

The dates for the 2014/2015 Fire Danger Season have been brought forward. The Heysen Trail is closed during these high risk times.

Fire Ban District Start Date End Date
Mount Lofty Ranges 1 December 17 November 2014    30 April 2015
Adelaide Metropolitan    1 December 2014 30 April 2015
Mid North 15 November 1 November 2014 30 April 2015
Flinders 1 November 15 October 2014 15 April 2015

Walkers are reminded to be extra vigilant of fire weather conditions in coming months. Check the Fire Danger Rating before setting out on a hike, monitor changing weather conditions, and always have a back-up plan. Download the CFS smartphone app.

Find which Fire Ban District your planned hike is in on our Interactive Map, by turning on the Fire Ban Districts checkbox layer.

Some short sections of the Heysen Trail remain open year round, principally those sections not on private land. These sections include public roads, Conservation Parks and Reserves (closed on days of Total Fire Ban), Forests (closed on days of Total Fire Ban) and vacant land.

View Fire Ban District Boundaries

New Heysen Trail Maps for Sale

Posted on

Heysen Trail new September 2014 map sheets no bgA new series of Heysen Trail maps have been released.

Over the next 12-18 months the Southern and Northern Guidebooks are being gradually replaced with fold-out map sheets.

The first two map sheets are available for purchase now via our online store, for $15 with postage from $1.45.

The maps are double sided and printed on water resistant paper. The maps include elevation profiles with kilometre markers and crossing point names. The new map style allows walkers to gain a “big picture” understanding of where they are on the trail, with a continuous trail line and a constant 3-5km of mapping around the trail.

Remember, you can sign up to receive re-route notifications for your guidebook or map sheet editions. All guidebooks and map sheets published since 2008 are available for notification.

There will be 8 maps in this series:

  • Map 1: Cape Jervis to Kuitpo Forest – available now
  • Map 2: Kuitpo Forest to Tanunda – available now
  • Map 3: Tanunda to Burra – coming soon
  • Map 4: Burra to Spalding – coming soon
  • Map 5: Spalding to Wirrabara Forest – coming soon
  • Map 6: Wirrabara Forest to Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park – coming soon
  • Map 7: Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park to Mernmerna Creek – coming soon
  • Map 8: Mernmerna Creek to Parachilna Gorge – coming soon

Snowfall for End-to-End Minus 1 group

Posted on

Snow on the summit of Mt Bryan, Saturday 28th June 2014

Snow on the summit of Mt Bryan, Saturday 28th June 2014, End-to-End Minus 1The End-to-End ‘Minus 1’ group experienced snow on the summit of Mt Bryan on Saturday.

pCheck out some of the photos at facebook.com/HeysenTrail (no login required).

At 936 metres Mt Bryan, north of Burra, is the highest peak in the Mt Lofty Ranges and occasionally sees a snow fall. The group is spending five days hiking the trail, starting on Saturday in Hallett, and ending two days south of Burra this Friday. Recent rainfall has flooded paddocks and roads, so their walks between Mt Bryan East and Burra have been postponed to another time. Meanwhile they are continuing their journey southwards.

The photos look more like Tasmania, rather than from where they are in the Mid North of South Australia. Keep warm guys!

Thanks for the photos Robert Alcock and Michael Middleton.

Interview between Friends Council and ultra-marathon runner Richard Bowles

Posted on

The Council of the Friends of the Heysen Trail was able to sit down and chat with ultra-marathon runner Richard Bowles, who recently completed his 15-day run of the 1,200 km Heysen Trail.

In the interview he talks about his excellent experience with the Heysen Trail – the scenery, the way marking, the huts, the people. He goes on to describing himself as not a runner or superhuman, yet why he undertakes such runs, talking about headspace and motivation. He talks about food, shoes and why he camped on the trail.

Captions are available in the video.

Transcript:

Richard Bowles >> I’ve ran many trails around the world and if I’m honest this [the Heysen Trail] is the best marked, the best looked after, the huts are amazing, you guys have done a wonderful job. You should give yourselves a round of applause.

Continue reading

Video of Ultra-Marathon Runner Finishing the Heysen Trail

Posted on

Further to yesterday’s email about ultra-marathon runner Richard Bowlescompleting his 15-day run of the Heysen Trail, you can view the Seven News TV video at https://au.news.yahoo.com/sa/video/watch/23626381/run-richard-run/.

Richard ran to promote the work of Red Dust Role Models.

“Health is a basic human right” says Richard. Red Dust state it is essential to the social development of Indigenous people in remote communities.

Health promotion strategies improve and transform lives and have a sustainable impact on social, economic and environmental conditions. Health promotion is a practical approach to achieving greater equality and closing the gap.

You can donate funds to the cause at

1200kms.gofundraise.com.au

Ultra-marathon runner finishes Heysen Trail in 15 days – watch Seven News tonight

Posted on

Ultra-marathon runner finishes Heysen Trail in 15 daysUltra-marathon runner Richard Bowles has completed his run of the Heysen Trail. Finishing this afternoon at Cape Jervis after 14 days, 8 hours and 32 minutes on the trail. He was welcomed by his crew and our President Robert Alcock, who was there with a nice cold beer on hand. Well earnt mate!

He was interviewed at Cape Jervis by Seven News, so you can catch the story on tonight’s news.