Overland Track Day 2: Waterfall Valley to Lake Windermere

The only hut we came to with an active park ranger was this first Waterfall Valley hut. He explained to us that part of his job was to ensure everyone was fully prepared for the next six days of wilderness hiking. He also needed to decide if anyone needed to be sent back to the start line. He gave an example of some hikers with backpacks full of instant noodles and nothing else. They weren’t permitted to proceed. We were very well prepared with dehydrated dinners and water filters and purifiers for use with the pristine rivers and lakes along the way. And we had all the proper gear for the week. It helped that some in our group had done the hike before.

After a nice rest at the Waterfall Valley Hut camping area, where we got our lesson on how to leave no trace for the rest of the Overland Track hike – which even went as far as providing strict instructions on where to spit our toothpaste so it could be helicoptered out of this pristine environment with the other camp waste. Day 2 seemed to be a much more relaxing hike and included an easy side trip to Lake Will, where we stopped for lunch. Overall, 7.8 km, taking 2.5-3.5 hours.

There were a number of side trips Overland Hikers could do along the main trail. Some were easier than others. We decided to do the easier Lake Will side trip for a bit of a lunch break. It was only 3 km round trip off the main trail. There were places where hikers could rest their full backpacks and just take day packs for these side hikes. The ranger warned us about very smart thieves that might get into our packs. The thieves weren’t human; they were very smart birds who could unzip zippers to reach the contents of your pack, so we had to make sure all the zippers were hidden.

After our day of hiking in beautiful weather, we arrived at the Lake Windermere campsite. We stumbled across a spotted quoll lurking beneath our tent platform, but he was too quick for my camera. We pitched our tents on platforms, ditched our packs, and made our way down to nearby Lake Windermere to cool off by its pristine waters.