Buller Hut Trail

Overview

The Buller Hut Trail is an advanced hike that starts at the top of Victoria's Mount Buller and does a big loop around the surrounding mountains. I did it over 9 days and with a few detours, hiked 123km. Whilst the distance isn't huge (~13km per day), the killer for this hike is the ascents and descents each day. I summited 11 mountains making up 11.6km of elevation change which averages climbing or descending an average of 1.2km a day. I did no food re-supplies and so carried everything I would need from Day 1. I started the trip with 20.32kg which included 2.7kg worth of camera equipment to film the trip. I finished the trip with 16.45kg of weight.

Last minute change

I was a bit nervous going in as parts of the track are quite dangerous, unmarked, with little access to water and I was doing it solo. Ironically water turned out to be the least of my concerns. Despite starting the trek January 1st at the peak of Australia's summer, the weather was horrendous. I went through 3 big hailstorms, getting soaked by one and managing to stay dry for the other two. Thankfully I spotted the bad weather in the forecasts two days before starting the trip.

To deal with the extreme weather, I made a last minute switch to a hammock setup. By leaving the tent behind, I wouldn't have to worry about it getting wet sitting on the ground each night. I hate carrying wet gear and a wet tent can really take all the fun out of a trip. The problem was, I'd never slept in a hammock before. It's also usually really important for me to be flat to fall sleep. So whilst intellectually I understood it would be the best decision - what if i hated the hammock life!? A bit worried, I delayed the trip a day and slept the night in the hammock by the Howqua River as a test. Thanks to some YouTube videos showing me how to sleep flat in a hammock, it was actually amazing! It's hard to explain the experience after you learn all the tricks to make the hammock comfy. It's like been cradled by a peaceful sleep angel that knows just the way you like to be supported. Sitting here typing this back in my lovely city apartment with a lovely fancy mattress my Chiropractic father bought me a few years back, I have to admit that I honestly miss sleeping in that hammock!? What have I become!? A lot of the youtube videos talk about this happening, I just honestly didn't think I would be that person.

Slow Progress

Between stopping to shelter from the weather, a heavy Day 1 pack, and really unstable terrain, I only hiked half the distance I needed on the first day! Not only did I not make it to camp, but I was left exposed on the ridge line over night as an intense weather system passed through. This is where I was particularly grateful for my hammock. It would have been simply impossible to pitch a tent up there whereas the hammock only required two sturdy trees.

Already behind schedule on the first day, my plan was to quickly smash out what was left of the first day in the morning, then rest up for the afternoon to be ready for the next day. Yet despite my best efforts, it wasn't till 6pm before I made it to the campsite! With the stats for the next days hike looking more daunting than the first day I had already struggled with, I became concerned I'd bitten off more than I could chew.

Achieving 'Peak' Enjoyment

Thankfully the days got easier, my body got in to more of a rhythm, and as I ate more of my food my pack got lighter. As the stress of managing schedules subsided, and the hailstorms passed, the enjoyment meter went up quickly. The views long the alpine trails are incredibly beautiful! And at the time of year the flowers are blooming strong covering the mountains in a spectacle that I don't know how to adequately explain. At times it was like walking through a beautiful garden whilst enjoying breath-taking views with mountain ranges as far as the eye could see. I spent most of the trip filming instead of photography, however I've added a few pics to the bottom of this page.

Starvation

Apart from experimenting with hammock'ry, the second thing I experimented with was food. Normally I take a mix of dehydrated meals, nuts, bars etc. But there were two issues with this plan for this trip.

1. Weight: All the food and the equipment need to cook it takes up a lot of weight if your goal is to take 10 days worth of food.
2. Space: Even if you ignore weight, I couldn't physically fit 10 days worth of food into even my ginormous 75L pack.

To overcome these issues. I chose to trial using a hospital grade meal replacement powder. This product is 'nutritionally complete' and contains everything you need to meet each daily nutrient target. Because it's a powder, it's also incredibly space efficient. And becuase you only need to 'just add water' it meant I didn't need to carry a stove or any cooking implements. My main concern was if I would get sick of drinking the same thing for so many days. Whilst I did start getting sick of the vanilla after a few days. That chocolate flavour never lost its magic! In fact, when I got back home, i was curious to see if I would ever get sick of it so I kept taking it to test my limits. Turns out - I'm pretty sure I could happily drink that for the rest of my life. Let me be clear, I don't want that to be my life haha! But I now know if push came to shove that I could. However, all of this glosses over the real issue I faced - I accidentally malnourished myself!

On the side of the can is a recommended serving. I assumed this was the recommended serving equivalent to replacing one meal. I also checked with a dietician who made the same quick assumption. It turns out this was very incorrect. A few days in to the hike I noticed myself getting extremely hungry. My dietician friend said this might happen because my body is used to expecting solids. I therefore thanked the hunger for letting me know something in my habits had changed, but I reassured it that I had this sorted. I did not have this sorted. A few days and mountains later, I decided it definitely wasn't psychological. It wasn't until the second last day before I got phone reception and shot off a few quick messages to my friend. After she double checked, turns out I had been missing out on more than 90% of the nutrients I needed each day!

So whilst the powder was a good idea in theory, I realised I really needed to figure out how to calculate my nutritional needs for myself and factor that into my meal planning. As soon as my error became clear, I instantly ate everything I had left and shortened my trip heading straight back to Mount Buller. There I downed a few cliff bars before promptly checking myself into a luxury resort, heading straight to the restaurant and eating a burger, a parma, a steak, and two salads! One of the happiest meals of my life! Interestingly, after eating all of that I was still hungry! It But I thought it best to not over eat so I bided my time and went to bed dreaming of parma's for the 6th night in a row.

Overall

Whilst the trip had it's challenges it's one of the most enjoyable hikes I've done and doing it by myself for so long without any food drops has made it the trip I'm so far the proudest of. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested! And I hope you can learn from some of my own experiments both good and bad.