Off The Track at Mount Tanglefoot

It was Anzac day, April 25th 2014 in Melbourne, Australia; a national day of remembrance for the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. My brother-in-law Pete and I had been planning an adventurous day-hike for months, hoping to get away from our usual parental responsibilities and off into the untamed wilderness – just man vs wild. The spot we had chosen for this trek, was the Toolangi State Forest just about 50 clicks North-East of Melbourne. Toolangi is a dense temperate rainforest, filled with thickly growing underbrush, tall ferns, and the towering Mountain Ash. It is as spectacular as it is imposing.

  

The state forest encompasses the aptly-named Mount Tanglefoot, and around this are various, overgrown and sparsely maintained tracks cut through the vegetation (Tanglefoot Track, the Myrtlewood Track). These tracks circle the mountain, but none attempt the steep and impenetrable slopes to the summit. Having trekked these routes before, Pete and I had determined to go off the track to climb through the rainforest undergrowth to the top. Previous experience in this forest had taught us to be prepared for leeches. A few years earlier, we had planned to set up camp in the forest for a two-day adventure. As we prepared a rare clear space on the forest floor to set up our tents we noticed armies of leeches crawling their way along the dead vegetation, up our boots, and onto our pants. The prospect of setting up a campfire here and spending the evening fighting off swarms of these sanguineous beasts did not appeal to us, so we hiked the remaining 9-kilometres back to the carpark.

It was a cold but fine day, and this time we had equipped ourselves for the occasion with carefully selected outerwear and a day-pack to survive any eventuation. We wore wet weather clothing, wool underlayers, sturdy cargo pants, shell-rainjackets, gloves, wool beanies and army boots. I also wore gaiters for an extra level of leech protection. I carried a map, compass, 3-litres of water, food for a day+, a survival blanket, first-aid kit, survival tin, iphone, a length of paracord, and of course my trusty ESEE 5 with Molle attachment strapped securely to my waist. Pete also carried a SOGfari machete (he loves ESEE knives but hasn’t got one yet – poor fella). Back at the carpark we had a cooler stashed with cold beer and sausages for a hot BBQ meal on our return. 

We set out along the Tanglefoot track, map in hand, to look for suitable point to veer off into the forest and make our attempt on the mountain. Consulting the map, we determined to try from the South East side. Unbeknownst to us, this side of the mountain has a distinctly different flora – consisting of entangled shrubs about 8-10 feet high intermingled with a vine-like creeping grass that clings to skin and clothing alike. The forest floor is littered with fallen trees to such an extent that a false floor is often formed and when stepped on can give way suddenly underfoot . The gradient was also very steep – a ratio of 2.5m/1m – it was hard going. 

Towards the top we happened upon a clearing which showed promise as a possible future camping spot. After nearly an hour and a half we had travelled 1.6km (nearly a mile) to reach the top. To our disappointment and chargrin, at the top we were met with a radio tower and small building which could be accessed by a 4X4 track on the opposite slope of the mountain. The track was not on the map and probably is official access only, but it took the edge off our previous sense of ‘going where no man has gone before’. 

Being about lunch time, and high time for a hot billy of tea, we found a clear spot out of the wind and away from the radio tower to make a fire. Using my ESEE, I chopped some wood (rather needlessly given the amount of dead timber around but more fun this way). We built a small fire, which took some effort to get going due to the dampness of the timber but we soon had a crackling fire to heat up our water and our food. We amused ourselves by using rocks to build a little oven which I warmed my sandwich on. Using the ESEE as a BBQ tool I toasted my sandwich to perfection! After a satisfying meal we put out the fire and made sure we left no trace of our presence before setting off to descend the other side of the mountain. 

The South-West side of the mountain proved to be a much darker and wetter trek than the ascent, and was characterised by thickly growing ferns. It was beautiful but difficult to navigate in as it was sometimes only possible to see a short distance ahead. With no track to follow, we slipped and slid our way down, climbing over enormous fallen logs and taking in the sights and sounds of the forest. There was evidence of Lyrebirds everywhere - small freshly scratched holes in the soft earth. The Lyrebird is a flightless bird, a relative of the Peacock and is quite incredible at mimicking sounds. They frequently mimic other bird calls but more amusingly they mimic many other sounds they hear, like ringtones and chainsaws. I happened upon a large tail feather which I quickly placed in my pack as a memento of the hike. 

I’m not sure what caused me to check, but after about forty minutes of steady descent, I felt my belt and to my horror, noticed my knife was gone! The sheath was empty. I couldn’t believe it! Thinking back, I realised that I must have failed to secure the clasp when we were eating lunch and could have dropped it at any point during the hike down. Somewhere in the moist darkness of the forest, far from any trail, lay my ESEE 5 where no one would ever find it. Pete immediately proposed that we re-trace our steps and try to find it and although I knew it was futile I agreed to give it a try. 

We began to search the ground very carefully both for signs of our own tracks and for anywhere the knife might have fallen. At times our tracks could be seen clearly, in the form of scuff marks on the soft forest floor, disturbed moss on a log, or broken branches but at other times we lost the trail completely and after searching in vain, had to back-track in the hopes of picking up the trail again. As we searched we pondered the mystery of the fact that God knew exactly when and where I would drop my knife and questioned how exactly such trivial things could be part of a bigger plan? After another 30-40 minutes of tracking our own path back up the mountain, we had really honed our tracking skills and were beginning to quite enjoy the challenge. At this time I came across an extremely large fallen tree, covered in moss which had earlier required me to clamber up and then jump some 7-feet down the other side. I repeated this manoeuvre and searched the ground on the other side. Moving a few dead fern fronds aside , there on the ground in front of me, was the knife. I had found it! In all of this vast, trackless wilderness I had found the needle in the haystack! I couldn’t believe it. Needless to say, I quickly sheathed the blade, clasped it, and did up the sheath tensioner. The remainder of the hike we were glowing with the success of our find. It also made us contemplate how God really does care about even the most trivial things that are important to us. 

We soon found the Tanglefoot track and resumed our journey around the mountain. On returning to the car we lit a fire, BBQd sausages and onion, drank cold beer, and reminisced about our day’s adventure. 

We also found where the leeches had managed to wriggle their way into our clothing and get a feed of their own. In the end I couldn't really begrudge the little buggers their meal – After all, I could appreciate their excitement in stumbling across an incredible find in the forest!