Bushwalk Australia

Hi all,

I have just joined this forum after lurking for quite a while! I am a regular bushwalker in NSW, and mostly walk in the Blue Mountains and Budawangs. Recently I visited Tassie and did the SCT which was great. I would like to go again and am considering either the Frenchman's Cap circuit or the Mt Anne circuit. I walk in a group that doesn't mind scrambling or packhauling and is after a bit more of a challenge (Not an Eastern or Western Arthurs challenge however). We want to walk for 4 - 5 days.

Which walk would be considered more difficult? I am weighing up Shelf Camp/Notch/summit challenges (Mt Anne) vs crossing the Franklin/Mary Creek Plains (Frenchmans). Appreciate people's views!

David

Anne would be much harder, no pack hauling or scrambling on the Frenchmans walk.
Have a search here on the forum for Anne Circuit and you'll find a stack of info & photos.
What time of year are you planning the walk - Anne would be very challenging in winter as discussed elsewhere.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks - great to actually participate. We will not be going till summer so hopefully will avoid the horrors of winter. We actually did the SCT out of peak season and went expecting/prepared for the worst. We ended getting light rain one day and the rest were pretty much blue skys. I read some of the posts on Mt Anne, took particular note of the one describing tents blowing off the shelf camp!

odnuas wrote:(Not an Eastern or Western Arthurs challenge however). We want to walk for 4 - 5 days.
Which walk would be considered more difficult? I am weighing up Shelf Camp/Notch/summit challenges (Mt Anne) vs crossing the Franklin/Mary Creek Plains (Frenchmans). Appreciate people's views!

Hi,

Frenchman's via the standard route is definately the easiest. But only just - take away the notch and the summit climb on Mt Anne and they're pretty comparable.
Things get a bit more interesting when you start comparing the anne circuit to crossing the franklin and mary creek plains.
One you've got some scrambling issues on a well defined track, the other you're talking about an untracked route with indistinct pads and a potentially tricky river crossing.
Depends what you're more confortable with. Its very easy to underestimate the difficulty of off track walking in Tassie. However in this case the Mary Creek Plains route is pretty well described in the SW Tas guidebook.

Cheers

Aaron

Hi,

I haven't done Frenchmans as yet but can thoroughly recommend Mt Anne. Probably the best trip I've done so far in Tassie. It has everything you want in a walk and would make a comfortable 4-5 day walk. I did stay on shelf camp once with a big w dome tent and It stayed in place but I did go and buy a good tent after that. The walk is full of amazing views and some great challenges! Highly recommended.

I have some pics on Flickr from my last trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taspicsvns ... 425564266/

Hi Vern,

thanks for your link to your photos, what a great set! Seems like you had pretty great weather too.

Yeah, I had amazing weather that day. Did it as a day trip so made the most of the sun and calm conditions. First time I went was the oposite though. Snow and really strong winds. Would do this again as a multi day trip. So much to explore on side trails etc. You will love it! That's if you do it

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I'd just slip this in here. Frenchmans Cap in August? Borderline insane? I've got 5 days spare next month and I was tossing up whether to do a mini epic. I noticed the Parks Tas website says a bit of work has been done to the track over last summer. Has this made much of a difference to the difficulty/track/pad of the walk? I'm thinking a 'travelator' hasn't been installed on the Loddons by chance has it?!
Anyway, I'm a pretty organised solo hiker who has quite good gear and I know my limitations. I have my own PLB which is a handy safety net but I have no intention of ever needing to use it!
Any recent trip advice of the walk would be handy to know. I have a week to make up my mind

Do you prefer your mud thigh deep or waist deep?

JamesMc

Having recently (may) done mt Anne and spending the night at shelf camp , i would highly recommend the curcuit. shelf camp is indeed a spectacular camp spot, but very exposed. if the weather is fine, then there's no problem. we got caught in a serious storm from the west and by morning were a little damp and not well rested needless to say. though, will do it again, fantastic walk, just not when a weather front is passing above us!!!!!