Overland Track - Day 3: Windermere to Pelion

We're into a good routine of waking up around 6am when daylight starts breaking and today is no different. We've got a 17km hike ahead of us, so we don't want to dilly dally. We have our usual breakfast of freeze dried eggs, beef and hash brown and a coffee. We're carrying gas and a jet boil type contraption which we boil the water for all our food and hot drinks. We repack our bags, don the same damp hiking clothes, wet weather gear and head off.

We get going and Hayden is off and racing ahead before long. We're in the button grass to start with but we quickly end up on what looks like a plateau. Quite exposed and misty rain again. There is a great lookout into the valley 4kms in. But there is nothing to see on a day like today. You are staring into the abyss so we keep on walking.

Then we are into the rain forest, roots and all. It's bloody beautiful and bloody tough. Scrambling upwards across roots and mud. We make a few quick stops on the way to chow down some beef jerky, trail mix and protein bars. Jeff's ankle has been griefing him a bit and he scores a set of hiking poles from some walkers who are on the same trek as us. Absolute game changer. We power on and refill our water from a running a creek. There is rainwater at every hut, which they recommend treating before drinking, in case of dead possums in the tank.

The rain forest is spectacularly muddy and a bit of a trudge after awhile. We eventually burst out of the forest into a clearing and are blessed with some sun and a clear view from Frog Flats of the surrounding mountains.

We make the last push, a sweaty ascent and we've arrived at camp. The sun is still out and we decide to camp in our tent tonight. It's set to be a pretty busy hut tonight, with walkers coming from two directions. Jeff and Hayden meet the leeches and Courts has a faux leech incident. Very dramatic.

The views from the hut balcony are gorgeous. It's the clearest afternoon we've had and sun on the open button grass is brilliant. There is a wombat roaming around, pretty agnostic to humans. And a few wallabies and pademelon.

We have dinner, a gourmet Mediterranean lamb and olive cous cous and play a few rounds of Monopoly Deal with a few of the kids who've taken a liking to Jeff, who've they've renamed Rexy Old Boy. They beat us so we go to bed for our first night in the wilderness (the tent).