One of the things that surprised me during our recent 24-day walk along California’s John Muir Trail was how popular the instant (dehydrated or freeze-dried) food pouches are in the United States. We saw a lot of people at various campsites along the way and I can’t think of seeing anyone cooking in a… Continue reading Food For Thought
Author: Glenn Tempest
Glenn is an accomplished adventure writer and photographer and has authored a number of popular bushwalking and rockclimbing guidebooks. Glenn is the big kahuna at Open Spaces and lives in Natimuk (next to Mt Arapiles and the Grampians) with his partner Karen and two Burmese cats, Sushi and Pinot.
John Muir Trail
I’ve finally uploaded some of my images from our recent walk across California’s John Muir Trail. The walk links Yosemite Valley and Mt Whitney and took us 24 days to complete. I’ve started captioning the images but it will be a few weeks before they are all completed. [smugmug url=”http://openspaces.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=18989698_ZjMNpc&format=rss200″ imagecount=”24″ start=”1″ num=”100″ thumbsize=”Th”… Continue reading John Muir Trail
SolarMio. Power on the Move
Our recent trip to the United States to do the John Muir Trail was the perfect opportunity for me to try out my latest gizmo, a SolarMio 3 lightweight solar panel. We planned to do the walk over 24 days and I wanted to take along my Apple iPhone. I was hoping the SolarMio… Continue reading SolarMio. Power on the Move
The John Muir Trail
Karen and I just got back from walking the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, USA. The John Muir Trail is one of the most spectacular hiking trails in the world and is regarded as the most scenic in the United States. The trail begins in Yosemite National Park and continues… Continue reading The John Muir Trail
Ninety Nine Years Around Powelltown
Each spring I set aside a day to walk the remarkable tramways that weave through the forested hills surrounding Poweltown in the upper reaches of the Yarra Ranges. In 1912 Poweltown was born when the Powell Wood Processing Company opened a large mill on the banks of the Little Yarra River. The steam train had… Continue reading Ninety Nine Years Around Powelltown
Mt Beckworth Walking Trails
We visited Mt Blackwood Scenic Reserve last weekend to check out the local walks and finalise the relevant GPS data and details. We are featuring one of the park’s walks in our forthcoming walking guide to The Goldfields. The park has only recently reopened after the storm damage that occurred in January 2011 and Parks… Continue reading Mt Beckworth Walking Trails
Werribee Gorge – Halfway a Park
Greg and I took advantage of a perfect mid-winter Saturday and descended into Werribee Gorge via Western Bluff and Needles Ridge, one of my favourite daywalks close to Melbourne. This excellent walking trail into the gorge is arguably the most spectacular in the park. I use the word ‘arguably’ since this ridge is in fact on… Continue reading Werribee Gorge – Halfway a Park
Goldfield Chimneys
Over the last few months I’ve been spending quite a bit of time in the bush checking details for our forthcoming walking guide, The Goldfields. Having now walked several hundred kilometres of trails I’ve become increasingly fascinated by the 150-year-old stone chimneys which litter much of the region. These crumbling structures appear in the most… Continue reading Goldfield Chimneys
Three Lost Children Walk
One of the walks we are writing up for our forthcoming walking guide to the Goldfields is the route followed by three children that went missing from Daylesford on the on the last day of June in 1867. William Graham (6), his brother Thomas (4) and Alfred Burman (5) decided to look for wild goats… Continue reading Three Lost Children Walk
Why is the Anakie Gorge Walk Closed?
The January 2011 rains did a considerable amount of damage across the state and Parks Victoria (and other public land managers) correctly responded by limiting access to a number of parks and reserves while risk assessments were carried out. In some cases parks were closed in their entirety (You Yangs Regional Park and Mount Beckworth… Continue reading Why is the Anakie Gorge Walk Closed?