Bushwalk Australia

A mate and I are heading down to Tassie in November for our first experience on the Overland Track. We are both very fit walkers, and we are (or I am at least) keen to pack our 6 day adventure with lots of peaks. I have made an itinerary for peaks to climb each day and am looking for feedback. If my plans are too ambitious for any given day, let me know. Otherwise, I am open to suggestions on how I can improve this peak-bagging adventure, including peaks I shouldn't miss or peaks I should miss in order to fit a more spectacular climb in. Actually, recommendations for any side trips will be appreciated, not just peaks, although they are priority. The itinerary is below:


DAY ONE:
Ronny Creek - Waterfall Valley Hut

-Cradle Mountain


DAY TWO:
Waterfall Valley Hut - Windermere Hut

-Barn Bluff (backtrack)


DAY THREE:
Windermere Hut - New Pelion Hut

-Mount Pelion West

-Mount Oakleigh evening stroll?


DAY FOUR:
New Pelion Hut - Kia Ora Hut

-Mount Ossa


DAY FIVE:
Kia Ora Hut - Windy Ridge Hut

Suggestions?


DAY SIX:
Windy Ridge Hut - Lake St. Clair

-No side trips


Thanks,
Sam.

You might be lacking motivation for Oakleigh, but if determined you could do it.
On your Ossa day you could also climb Pelion East quite comfortably.
From Windy Fridge sidetrip options are off track. Falling Mountain/Castle Crag(west), Gatepost/Travellers(East). You must be prepared for that stuff.
Also a big day could see you bypass Windy Ridge and head to Pine Valley for your last night, bagging the Acropolis or Parthenon before walking out(I did this once, it's a long day).

Really depends on how fit you are, and how fast you move.

I've done Ronny Creek to Waterfall via Cradle and Barn Summits in a day.

It's a big day, but it saves a couple of hours backtracking on day 2.

Pelion West and Oakleigh in a day is mad. Infinitely harder than Cradle + Barn.

If you could knock out Cradle + Barn on day 1, then on day two head past Windermere (it's only a 2-3 hour stroll to there) and keep going to Pelion West. Night 2 you could camp at Pelion Creek or Frog Flats, then day 3 continue on to Pelion and do the Oakleigh summit return.

Day 4 Pelion to Kia Ora via Ossa and Pelion East.

Day 5 Kia Ora to Pine Valley via waterfalls (it's a short day to Bert Nichols).

Day 6 early Acropolis or Labyrinth, then out to the afternoon ferry from Narcissus to Cynthia Bay.

As I said before, it really depends on your fitness. No point destroying yourself just to try and get one more summit. Take some time to smell the roses.

And if you are a really fast mover, remember the best laid plans won't all happen. Even in summer, you could find long 3 or 4 day stretches of unsuitable weather for summits.

Hey Sam,

Glad you're coming to Tassie for a taste of this amazing state of ours!

Not sure if you'd have enough daylight in November for both Cradle and Barn, but if you can start early and keep up the pace, it'd be a great use of time.

My personal priority of summits would be Cradle, Pelion West, Ossa, Oakleigh, Acropolis.

Both Cradle and Barn are doable as day walks on your next trip if you miss out because of time / nasty weather. The ones around Pelion are doable as day walks from a base there, via the Arm River Track next time. Pine Valley should be visited again anyway for more peaks. The Labyrinth you can visit en route to others next time, whereas the Acropolis is usually done on its own, so I'd pick that first. Pretty speckie! Oakleigh is just lovely, looking down on the spires and the little rock gardens in them, and the layers of mountains, valleys and plains. Make sure you bag the actual peak while you're there, in case you start counting points.

Pelion West is one of my favourites, though it was a long day to and from Frog Flats for a tortoise. Slow going on the boulders, several conflicting sets of cairns etc.

I can see you doing the Ducane Traverse at some stage in the future (including Falling Mountain etc)- but better to work up to that with easier on- and off-track Tassie experience first.

Have fun!

If you're fit and carrying a tent try this:
Day1. Cradle/Barn. Waterfall valley
Day2. Pelion West. Camp Frog Flats
Day3. Oakleigh, Ossa and Pelion East. Pelion Hut.
Day4. No Peaks. Windy Fridge.
Day5. Acropolis. Pine Valley
Day6. Walk out or catch Ferry

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions and information everyone! It gives us a lot to think about. I'll let you all know which peaks we end up doing. I think I'll have less flexibility with our 'schedule' since I am walking with another person but hopefully we can integrate a few of these great ideas.

Thanks again,
Sam.

I ended up bagging a few peaks over the course of the adventure, and got Mount Campbell in the day before I started.

Day 1: Cradle
Day 2: Barn
Day 3: PW (didn't quite summit)
Day 4: Ossa
Day 5: None
Day 6: None

Thanks to all who helped with the itinerary suggestions.

Explorer_Sam wrote:I ended up bagging a few peaks over the course of the adventure, and got Mount Campbell in the day before I started.

Day 1: Cradle
Day 2: Barn
Day 3: PW (didn't quite summit)
Day 4: Ossa
Day 5: None
Day 6: None

Thanks to all who helped with the itinerary suggestions.

Hey Sam,

Good to hear. I'm guessing you enjoyed it.
Not many people I know got to climb them all first time around. You just gotta come back for more.

Hey Sam,

I'm planning on doing much the same in a couple of weeks (But going to try and get Oakleigh in as well).

Having already done Cradle, Barn, and Oakleigh once and Ossa a couple of times, I'm really interested in getting PW in - do you have any helpful hints or tips for that one?

Thanks.

Cam.

campearce wrote:... I'm really interested in getting PW in - do you have any helpful hints or tips for that one?

There is an unmarked track that leads you up to the start of the boulder field on PW. It starts between two large fallen tree trunks just south of the creek crossing (the one with the platform). Keep a careful eye out on the right hand side of the OT and you'll see it.
Be careful once the track ends. There are at least three different sets of cairns up there and none of them is entirely reliable to get you to the summit. It's a tricky route up top and you need to be very careful - there are some very big rocks up there with even bigger gaps between and below them.

Try this link for PW
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=16380&p=236190&hilit=pelion+west#p236190

north-north-west wrote:

campearce wrote:... I'm really interested in getting PW in - do you have any helpful hints or tips for that one?

There is an unmarked track that leads you up to the start of the boulder field on PW. It starts between two large fallen tree trunks just south of the creek crossing (the one with the platform). Keep a careful eye out on the right hand side of the OT and you'll see it.

Maybe a couple of hundred metres past the creek, iirc. It looked like this a couple of years ago:

The PW track is marked on OSM maps if you have a GPS.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

I guess PWS thought it a bit of a step up for average Overland walkers (and management) (which it is), to leave from maps, not that I recall it ever marked?