A Mad Mud Rush to the Top of the Cap

If you want to do lots of walking in Oz, then Tassie is the place to be. I was fortunate enough to have my good mate Dan go there with his brother, and invite me along.

I arrived 2 days before Dan and Mike, and made a beeline for Frenchmans Cap, which is about 30km from the turn off the Lake St Clair, and about that again from the west coast town of Queenstown. Another friend of mine had done this walk in 2 days, which is a basic out and back walk, with one night in a hut.

After crashing at my mate's mate's place in Hobart (I think I left my pack towel there - oh well, I have another and don't really use it that much anyway), I drove out to the Frenchmans Cap car park (which has warnings about vandals stomping on cars for no apparent reason - crazy inbreds), starting the walk around 10:30. The first few km are very pleasant, crossing the Franklin river, and then towards the Lodden River. The track is well formed, and despite a touch of rain, the going was easy. But that's where the fun started. Welcome the the Lodden Plains.

Sodden Loddens

Now for the next 5km or so, this flat and boggy area can be either incredibly draining, as you tackle what seems like and endless series of mud holes, or fun, if you, well, like puddles and puddles of mud (or, if you lucky, after very dry periods, you may be fortunate enough to walk on a thin layer of dried mud, and get through the plains generally unscathed). I really enjoyed, the mud, probably because:
a) I had never done anything like it before (even though i had traversed the Arthur plains - see previous bracket)
b) I like walking through nature plains, where you can see everything (unlike many Blueys areas)

Using my natural "mud" high, I raced through the Sodden Lodden, overtaking a couple of parties on the way. The plains eventually ended (aftrer about 5km and 2.5 hours), and after 5hours of walking since the car, I reached the first hut. Boy, what a nice hut. Pity I wasn't staying there (it had heaps of room, and a nice big stove).

Mossy Bastards

I pressed on, passing a pretty lake just after the hut, but by now, my natural high had started to wane. I was now hopping over damp and mossy logs and roots, and it wasn't the easiest. I was also starting to tire, and had a big hill to climb after reaching the end of the lake. The slippery bastard logs and roots didn't stop.

However, if you go up, it generally means you will get some place high, which generally means you will get to some place with a good view, and eventually I got there. The nice high views also often mean cold winds, and I got both.

Fortuantely, I had done most of the climbing for the day, and the rest of the day's walk had pretty good views (especially over lakes - I like looking over lakes). The hut I was staying in was next to another pretty lake, and although slightly smaller than the previous hut, it had mattresses on the bunk beds, and only 2 other occupants. Mattresses, and fuel, in a remote hut - how good is that! I slept well that night.

The Cap

I awoke for an almost early start, to head up to the Frenchmans Cap summit. If I awoke earlier, I would have got a whole lot more than the partial views I actually got from the summit. I could see the lakes below me, but not the horizon. Damn - I had heard stories of others who had summited several times without ever getting a view. At least I could see plenty from just below the summit.
My side trip to the Cap and back took about 2 hours, including farn-arkle time. But I still had another full days walk ahead of me.

Of the other parties on the track, I was the only one doing the trip in 2 days. Most were walking for either 3 or 4 days, and were surpised I was doing it in only 2. The weekend was also a long one in Hobart, so that may have added slightly to the numbers, not tht tthere were that many people on the track.

I enjoyed better weather on the way back, running into all the people I met previously, plus a few more. Everyone seemed to be well prepared for Tassie bushwalking, including the Austrians I met. I spent a very relaxing 45 min lying in the sun for lunch, but somehow the mud wasn't as enjoyable as the day before. I guess a) was no longer relevant.

Mud Walking Techniques

1. When you start walking in the mud, you try to avoid all of it
2. When you realise how much there is, you start to walk in some of it
3. When you are pretty dirty, you start walking throuigh it
4. When you step in a really deep section of mud, and it takes you some time to retrieve your foor, you start from step 2 again

Boots with gaiters are essential for easy mud walking. Waterproof long pants also help a lot. Plastic bags as gaiters don't work too well, nor do bare feet (note for dumb arse Dutchies).

Idiots

Just before I got back to the car, I ran into one last party - two Dutchies on an Aussie Adventure. They had been walking for only a few km, and hadn't yet reached the mud. They had obviously heard about "the mud", and asked me if they had been through the worst of it, holding up a muddy plastic bad which must have been used as some sort of make shift gaiter. I must have looked puzzled, as I didn't even remember any mud in that section (there was a tiny bit there, though). Their packs were overloaded with orange cordial and nice clothes, and had obviously heard about the "free" huts in south west Tassie. A 10km walk to the first hut, is not an easy walk! She even asked me if I thought she could walk through the muddy sections in bare feet. I replied "No". Repeatedly. Stupid people. I don't think they even had proper maps. Maybe they got buried in the mud...

Back at my undamaged rental car, I calculated I had been going for 8 hours on Saturday, and 11 hours on Sunday. I had taken me 1 hour extra from the hut on Sunday - as I was quite exhausted. An enjoyable weekend trip.

The "Sodden Loddens" - 5km of mud bashing.	The Lake near Frenchmans Cap.

Frenchmans Cap 

Top of the long, mossy, rooty hill 

Kanagra - Kowmung - Church Creek Trip Report

So, first on the agenda was a weekend walk. I wanted to return to the Kowmung area, in the Kanagra Boyd National Park, as I hadn't been there for some time, but knew the area quite well. Two good friends, Grace and Dunk, were joining me for their first experience of the Kanagra wilderness. Excellent.

I planned to camp at Church Creek, on the Kowmung River, which I later worked out I had camped their about 7 times previously. No doubt because it is a nice spot, and not far from the Church Creek caves, which are easy to explore. I also planned to camp the first night at the Coal Seam Cave, which meant we had about an hour's worth of night time walking - which makes navigation a whole lot more difficult.

So, after getting picked up by Dunk outside work (a first, since Dunk never used to have a car), we were soon on our way. We arrived at the empty car park well after nightfall. I was expecting others to be in the car park, but Summer mustn't be the most popular time for over night walks around there. In fact, it was my first summer walk there, even though I have camped there many times in Spring, Winter and Autumn.

Setting Out

Anyway, we set off in the dark, and tried to imagine what the views were like from Kanagra Walls. You could make out some features, like the basic shape of the Thurat Spires, but it was a dark night, so it was something the Kanagra Virgins had to imagine. Despite a lack of light, it was very warm, and I managed to lead us through the maze of tracks and rock platforms to the right direction. It is amazing how indistinct the track becomes at night, especially since how much of a no brainer it is during the day. Probably because there are no trees around this section, just rocky areas and heath, and it is quite easy to miss the track when on the rock platforms.

Once the taller trees arrived, the track was much more distinct, but it was still tricky walking. I found I had to concentrate on walking when I was a the front of the group, but could day dream when I was at the back. We arrived at Coal Seam cave just after an hour of walking, and quickly setup before heading off to sleep.

Camp Caves

Now, if you have ever camped in a cave - a camp cave - which are more like overhangs at the base of a cliff with large flat areas to sleep on, you'll know how easy it is. No tent or tent fly to setup, and heaps of room to chuck all your stuff. If it rains - you don't get wet, and even your fire remains dry. I introduced another of my mates to camp caves, and he couldn't get enough of them - he always asked if there was a camp cave wherever we were going,

This cave had all the qualities of a good camp cave, and this particular night, it was also very warm. I almost didn;t have to get into my sleeping bag (this despite being at an elevation of about 900m).

We awoke the next morning to the cries of many birds - or one lyre bird. I made a fire for my porridge, and after a bit of farn-arkling about, we set off at a very relaxed hour, bumping into Mr Lyre Bird on the way.

Cottage Rock

Our first stop, after less than 1lm, was cottage rock, which sticks above the trees, giving you fantastic views down towards the Kowmung River. You can usually trace your route for your walk from here, which we did. We also pratised a bit of navigation, taking bearings and workiing out where we were by surronding features.

After almost heading down the Gingra track, we found Bullhead Ridge, and proceeded down it. At a spot just before Cambage Spire (a steep section, where once I was walking down there in a group with this girl who was afraid of heights. We all tramped down there with not much concern, but she burst into tears half way down. I couldn't really understand why, nor could I summon any encouragement - I just didn't get it...), yes, at this spot just before the cliffy bit, we turned off the main ridge, and bush bashed down to th creek. I was glad to get to the creek, as the steep sections were getting a bit tiresome.

The Creek

The canyon, or it is really a creek with some steep sides in places, was very very warm. When you stick your feet in most mountain creeks, you have to think about it, or look for an alternative (even if your feet are already wet). This was way too warm for that. Both air and water temps were probably around 30. By now, I had changed into some volleys, the number one shoe for walking in wet areas with (very grippy, even when wet, and the water exits your shoe just as easily as it enters). The local lizards were enjoying the warm weather, sunning themselves like lazy poms at the beach (although not quite as red). The local red bellied black snakes were also enjoying the warm weather, and proabaly also the lizards. We saw about 7 of these as we meandered down the creek, most of them were swimming, and they seemed quite adept in the water. I guess the tadpoles also had to watch out.

One section of the canyon was narrow enough to require a trickly climb around, although I ended up swimming it as well (just because I could). After lunch, we collided with Chrisy's Creek, just before hitting the majesy of the Kowmung River (HRH). We went to cool off in its waters, but we also happened to hit some shallow rapids just after a wide (say 20m) and shallow (knee high) and long (500m) section of the river. This all added upo to a very warm dip - never was it really quite refreshing, although it was fun to sit in the water.

The Kowmung

I managed to teach a lizard to swim whilst here, but we soon headed a few kilometres upstream to our campsite. Interestingly, a few sections on the river seem to have been home to a few very violent wind storms - most, or sometimes all of the trees (mainly casurinas) had been blown over, leaving us to jump the logs (and avoid black snakes).

After many pleasant river crossings (I kept on remembering when I did a walk here in the middle of winter, when you wanted to stay dry for as long as possible, and even when your feet were already wet, you didn't want to get them wet again), we made it to a nice clearing, beside the dry Church Creek (and wet and warm Kowmung River). We setup camp, jumped inthe river again (it was a bit cooler here), but that was not the end of our day's walking...

Church Creek Caves

After a scrummy meal, my plan was to find and explore the nearby Church Creek caves. The caves are about 1km up the dry creek bed, past a clearing, and not far from where the map indicates it is. Of course, finding a small hole in the dark from a 1:25000 map aint the easiest, even though I had done it before (except for the dark thingo). In fact, I have been to these caves 3 times before, and I have had trouble finding the entrance each time (except the first time, when someone else was leading).

Last time I went up, there was a big cairn in the middle of the dry creek bed, pointing to a tarak up towards the cave entrance. The time before that, I noted a big boulder, that looked like a brick (ie a square corner) next to the way up to the hole. This time, I found neither. We hunted around for half an hour or so, but if you ever get the chance to bush bash at night, one thing you will realise is that it is very hard - you can barely see 5m in front, let alone plan any significant way. Disappointedly, we trudged back to the camp site, and I eventually fell asleep in just my sleeping bag liner.

Next morning, with the enthusiasm of exploring unfound passages, we set off again to look for the caves. This time, after a few false starts (there are a number of holes up around there that don't lead to anything), we found the right passage, although I had to go down a fair way before I realised that it was "the one". (it was near a boulder that looks like a brick, only the boulder looks like a brick when you look at it from upstream, and there was no cairn, although we did add a hefty one when we left). (O, and there was a track up to a different hole, but if you head if to the false hole, then head back towards the clearing, for 10m you should be able to find the right place).

So, down Dunk and I climbed - Grace was to keep watch up top, on the lookout for melanomas, no doubt (i'm sure she would have slipped, slopped and slapped). Now, this cave system takes about an hour to explore (from my perspective), and it doesn't require ropes, so it is perfect for a side trip for those on a bushwalk. And it's cool in summer, and warm in winter. I hunted for invertebrates in it on the Great Kowmung walk of 94 or 95, but we din't find anything. I had also heard it contained a sump, with access to yet more caverns, but I had yet to see this. Dunk, having caved with ropes and all that, was keen to lead the trip.

We started heading up the creek (the system basically follows an underground creek), as I knew this path shouldn't take too long. We returned via a slighlty different way, passed the way back up to the surface, and then found the missing sump (although we didn't try swimming it). We continued on downstream - I was remembering some parts of it, but not all. The ground was quite dirty, but there were still many clean features to be had - flowstones, stalagmites and tites, glistening shit and the like - ask a sproglodyte for proper names. There were a few alternate paths to follow - all good fun. We eventually came to the tradition end of the cavern, but this time, Dunk found a passageway that continued on further, which I had never seen before. It looked like with all the dry weather we had been having, the creek had dried up a bit, leaving a very low (commando crawl territory) passage way to somehwere,. As we had been down for almost an hour, and we still had to walk up a very big hill, we piked on the mysterious, uncharted passage way, and found ourselves some proper photons. I think we were under for an hour ten.

Climbing Back

Reunited with Grace, we headed back to our packs to start the return journey, which was the same way we came (after deciding it was the quickest way back, since our caving took a bit longer than it should have). Except, of course, we didn't go up the canyon/creek, but stuck to the track. But it still meant we had a big hill to climb, complete with Cambage Spire (the crying girl cliff), which Grace made up with much poise, and, er Grace. We spied a pair of Red tailed cockatoos on the way back, and they must have had a nest nearby, as they didn't run too far from us. We managed to watch them for a few minutes, even after trying to scare them...

Back up to the tops (Kanangra), we found ourselves in some clouds. And with the fading light (actually, I think it was just the cloads that made it dark), no views were to be had. This was a bit of a disappointment for Grace and Dunk, as they never got a really good view from the walls. I guess they will have to return.

Dunk and Grace on top of Cottage Rock. "You can see everything from here!" 

The morning after a very pleasant night spent in Coal Seam Cave. 

Walking 100km

I've entered the Melbourne Trailwalker, a 100km walk around the outskirts of Melbourne, with my good friends Tanya and Ian from Perth (whom I met in Canada, not having been to Perth yet), and one of Tanya's colleagues. It's organised by Oxfam, and its intention is to raise money, probably for the Tsunami, but whatever it is, it'll be for someone in need.

We all have to walk the 100km, and we have to do it in under 48 hours. I hope to finish it by dusk on the second day, but I'd really like to finish it without sleeping. Tanya is organising it (thanks honey!), and her work is putting up some of the costs for us (travel and accomodation - thanks MinProc).

I intend to use this blog as a place to put my training walks, much like I did with the Ironman. Hope things work out!

Well, it's been a while since my last post, but I'm back! (maybe not with any vengenance, though). Anyway, after a year in Canada avoiding work (the wages are too low) and realising that Canadians can't run too fast (6th in the Victoria Half Marathon, in a time 1 minute slower than what I did in Sydney one year, but with more competitors), the reality of work is back. So too are the small stress fractures in both legs (last had them before I went to Maui for the Xterra Worlds). Anyway, I hope to put them behind me, as I get back into training, albeit gradually. I just have to make some time...

Hmm, I'm in Seattle, now, and I am not very impressed. But on a better note, I have been climbining in Squamish, and got back into triathlon training. All I need now is a racer and my wetsuit to arrive - hopefully before this weekends Squamish triathlon