Bushwalk Australia

Hi guys (and girls),
I'm planning on heading up to Frenchmans Cap on monday, but since we've had a fair bit of rain here in Melbourne lately, I was wondering if anyone knows how bad Loddon Plains is at the moment??? By the way, if anyone wants to join me, let me know!!!
Thanks!!!

I've been there a couple of times... not sure how much it's been raining on the West Coast, but it's been pretty constant rain in Hobart over the past few weeks.

Expect lots of mud, I'd say.

Very....

Judging by the amount of rain here over spring, and the fact its been pretty horrible most weekends so far.

I wouldn't worry too much... just suck it up. Its certainly not the worst mud I've seen in Tassie.
There was a 5 minute torrential down pour in Hobart earlier this week. (Thursday?)
I reckon most of the creeks and river would be up a bit.

Was up in the Highlands last month and there was ALOT of water
around. Reckon the Lodden will be well and truely sodden! Lotsa water,
lotsa mud Enjoy...

Well, the good news is that the mud might be watery, as opposed to "goopy".

Should make travelling faster.

It has been pretty wet here on the west coast. Had torrential overnight rain a couple of days ago, not too sure if any of it reached the highlands tho.

ollster wrote:Well, the good news is that the mud might be watery, as opposed to "goopy".

Should make travelling faster.

Has anyone ever tried to cross the plains with TEVA's instead of boots. Once my boots get wet...well, it'll take days for them to dry... How about Teva's (maybe with socks against leeches?)???? Or would this be a bad idea for my ankles???
Cheers

Think about what happens if a sandal comes off when you're knee deep in the mud...

Hi Dutchy,
I would think that would be a very uncomfortable idea - I haven't tried bogs with my TEVA's but I have crossed a muddy bottomed river and they filled up with mud and were also very slippery for my foot inside even though they fit quite snugly. The other thing to note is that even with well fitted gaiters and boots you still end up with so much mud in your boots that you think your socks will never recover - admittedly that depends on how sucky, soggy, flooded or wet the plains are. Maybe some people have had a drier crossing but I would think even if you didn't loose them in the bog, you would regret the choice anyway. Save them for the campsite while you attempt to get your socks and boots rinsed, washed, cleaned, wearable again. Enjoy.

How would it be with "Runners" laced up tight and wearing gaiters.

I think it would be a good place to set up a rental for my old Hornes thigh waders
I also have 2 or 3 old sets of chest waders which would do for winter trips.

Flyfisher

With a little luck it will rain a bit more and I can take a 'tinny' across!!!!

corvus wrote:How would it be with "Runners" laced up tight and wearing gaiters.

Interesting thought, Corvus, I reckon that might not be such a bad idea. I haven't crossed the Lodden for a very long time, but the memories are quite clear of being thigh deep in the mud, in the pouring rain. I'm not sure that boots would be any advantage in that situation if you could guarantee runners not coming off. I wonder how snowshoes would go?
Dutchy, as well as whiskeylover's comments, I reckon your feet would freeze!

DA that was said with tongue firmly in cheek

corvus, why does that not surprise me? Still, if you walked across the Loddens in sneakers, you could then do the rest of the trip in drier, more comfortable boots! After all, what do you need boots for in mud that goes to your waist?
Actually, a hovercraft might work well.

Actually...what would work best is for Parks to get off their backside and actually do something about it. After seeing the large boulders that had been dumped over the back of Wellington with canvas helicopter slings...you'd have to wonder why not here.
With the spread of phytophthera so prevalent throughout our forests..surely the track condition at Loddon is aiding and abetting such spread. How much of this mud has found its way into Lake Vera and surrounding waterways.
Keith Lancaster was hired to mark and cut a track across Pickaxe Ridge way back in 1977...after half completing it...it was then dumped the same year. Bureaucracy hasn't changed much even in those years.
There's a good photo in J. Chapmans book..page 205 ...chap pussy footing around the edge.
Maybe Parks should stop the pussy footing and actually fix the problem...or is this a thinly veiled attempt to limit visitor numbers??

I dunno... have you ever been into lake Judd?
I'd been in there probably 3 times during my years as a scout, before my first trip to Frenchmans Cap.
I was expect the loddon to be much worse than it actually was, it was a bit of an anticlimax really.
I really didn't understand what everyone was grizzling about..
Its certainly not the worst, and I always think of the mud as a bit of fun.
Since my first trip I've been back twice, once in summer and the mud had dried out, didn't sink any deeper than my ankles.
Its only a few hours in the mud and then its over.
I'm not sure I'd want to see it change. Its a great walk.
Good point about the phytophora though..

An earlier post here viewtopic.php?f=3&t=973 has a lot of previous discussion and comment about the Loddon's variable "muddiness". " Mud, mud, glorious mud, . . ."

The Loddens are very muddy if it's rained much within the last month or so (which is pretty much always down that neck of the woods). Eg, here's a picture of being assisted out of groin-deep mud in the Loddens:. Last time I went through, some of the worst spots had been duck-boarded, but there are still plenty of opportunities for waist deep bog wallowing. It would certainly keep Flanders and Swan's hippopotamus gloriously happy.

You're a quick one with these esoteric literary/cultural references Nik The "Hippotamus Song" came to mind looking at your photo, as it was sung with gusto last time I tramped through the Loddons in 1996. For those of you in the wrong generation to know of Flanders and Swan, here are some of the chorus lyrics . . . . .

"Mud, mud, glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood
So follow me follow, down to the hollow
And there let me wallow in glorious mud"

. . . . . and the complete rendition can be heard here
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt6xGqk0F0U

The Lodden is pretty muddy and lots of water. Walked it today.
I think there is more water than mud today.

Also there is about 8 base jumpers at Tahune hut, waiting for the right weather so hut space is a bit tight.

Roger

G'Day
Just wondering if anyone has been out there in the last few days. I'm going there next weekend and I was looking for an update. The mud doesn’t worry too much but im interested in the level of the Franklin because I’ve got a bit of a swim on. I know it would change quickly but any info would be great
Thanks
Darren

Me too. Will do it soon. Recently walked in lake Judd area. It was rather muddy and watery. There were few leeches at tentsites.

Closest station is probably Lake St Clair - seems to have been a few days with only light rain - keep your fingers crossed!

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/20090 ... 0901.shtml

A call to Parks last week - work is starting on Dick Smith's boardwalk. Yahoo!
Thanks Dick and godspeed to the work team

They will have to think about how easy they make this track.

Both Vera and Tahune were full on our Jan trip, and there was some angst at Vera about who was going on. We had 24 in the Vera hut and about 8 tenting outside.
Everyone knew that Tahune had only 16 capacity.
It turned out that there were a lot who stayed at Vera, but we still had 16 at Tahune due to climbers staying on and others walking through.

In the end it was a lovely walk, but I would hate to turn up at Tahune with no room and the limited tent sites all taken.

Brian

From an estimate I've heard a million dollars would get approximately 1km of boarding, that spread over the worst parts would make a huge difference.

So, how muddy are the Lodden Plains?

Won't matter soon as a good chuck of the Loddon Plains section is currently being rerouted to a valley to the north, mostly out of the button grass and into forest types.

Walked in a couple of weeks ago. Mud wasn't too bad on way in but a bit of rain on way out had it back to it's best! Workers were in there putting boardwalk down through the worst bits, although they still have a long way to go. Still quiet a few thigh deep mud holes to be found too.