King William Range Traverse VIDEO PHOTOS

[HitchHiking]

Finaly here is the Video. I hope everyone enjoyes it as much as I did shooting it!
http://www.youtube.com/user/terrarosage ... Lb_PXnytcg


After catching the bus to Derwent bridge I took off walking down the Lyell with my thumb up. I scored a lift although I was now with 800meters of the turn off for the fire trail. Once on the fire trail it was a great hump up to the top of KWI with the 'first day' pack on.

At the top of KWI after passing the fire watching hut (locked) the foot pad peeters out.
I will leave my description vague as there is no tracks and its pretty simple. I traversed the range from north to south hanging slightly west and then on the return slightly to the east.

It was a beautiful area and was great fun attempting to follow slight animal foot pads to avoid the alpine flora.

The weather was very good for the most part. There was some beautiful sunny times and then of course the horozontaly driven rain. The weather would move in overnight and then last untill midday when it would start to weaken.

Now for the pictures.


King William I


Looking down the range




Sunset over Frenchmans



Rest break at a tarn



The top of KWII



some weather moving in on the southern part of the ranges



The top of KWIII




Looking over into the POW range




sun rise at camp in the gap




I then walked back along the Lyell until I hitched a ride to Derwent Bridge where I wasted no time in fetching a sarsaparilla from the hotel. Luckly there was also a bus back to Hobart that evening which avoided a repeat of the Frenchmans trip where I slept in the park

Cheers

Last edited by HitchHiking on Sat 26 Mar, 2011 5:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Well done Evan, I love that range, it offers some of the nicest off track walking you will ever find!!

Unfortunately the video isnt viewable for me, I got this msg....

This video contains content from WMG, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.
Sorry about that.

[HitchHiking]

Well done Evan, I love that range, it offers some of the nicest off track walking you will ever find!!

Unfortunately the video isnt viewable for me, I got this msg....

This video contains content from WMG, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.
Sorry about that.

Thanks and thanks for the heads up ILUVSWTAS

Ah thats bummer. I used a Led Zeppelin song and its only viewable in the USA.

Leave the sound track to me and Ill get the video up over the next day or so!

[vagrom]

It's working okay up here in Adelaide. Another country?

[ILUVSWTAS]

Maybe no-one simply cares what happens over there Vaggers??

[vagrom]

...careful SWT, or we might decide to cut the rope. (The Australian misspelled "Leech", but it's a salient reminder..)

[HitchHiking]

I had a couple of spare days on the flip side of this trip and found myself in the resources room at the Hobart library. I had a flip through a bunch of old books as well as some of the Tasmanian Tramp. If any one is interested there is a good article about the King William Range and the naming of the features. It was a great fluke to find it as I was wondering one evening in the tent why some of the prominent features appeared to to have been named on my TAS maps. I have misplaced the book number but it was from the year 1998. Im sure that narrows it down. My maps of the region look great with all the hand written place names and route of travel on it!

[stepbystep]

Nice trip and a good video, I can never be bothered with the setups and the walk through frame thing, but the framing is nice and it works well. Well done! I should get around to cutting one from my Arthurs trip.
Pics are nice too.
Out of interest which Zeppelin track did you use originally?

[HitchHiking]

Nice trip and a good video, I can never be bothered with the setups and the walk through frame thing, but the framing is nice and it works well. Well done! I should get around to cutting one from my Arthurs trip.
Pics are nice too.
Out of interest which Zeppelin track did you use originally?

Thanks eh.

The track was When the Leeve Breaks.

Love that song

[stepbystep]

Cool will have another watch with that track as the soundtrack

[Nuts]

I guess in such a dramatic world bushwalking vids always seem an anticlimax. I like them though just for look around and do like the soundtrack Did yer mum or gf make you take the helmet

[HitchHiking]

Did yer mum or gf make you take the helmet

haha It was actualy me that decided that one. When Im out alone I take a few extra precautions.

One of the fellas who I walk with in Canada had to be choppered out of a remote canyon in BC a year or two back now. A helmet wouldnt have helped much in that case but I take it along just in case and then its easier to just leave it on instead of switiching between my hat and it when ever I feel its needed. Hence the flat ground not a drop in sight but the helmets on

[Nuts]

Yer, probably not a bad idea on steep pitches.

We were standing in a huddle under some trees last week when we heard a loud crack from above. Realised (likely would have been too late) how many dead limbs were above. Simple mistake, something not given much thought but always gets one or two in the news each year, a helmet could have helped.

[bluewombat]

Nice video HH, atmospheric.
How did you find the traverse between KWII and III, I have heard bad things about the scrub there in the past.
bw

[ILUVSWTAS]

KWII and KWIII is open and easy mr Wombat. It's the HUGE valley between KWI and KWII that demands respect......

[telopea truncata]

nice pics and nice vid , looks like you had a great time , it is one of my fav "secret" tassie places. i spent some time up there in Jan , just lovely didn't see another soul which makes it extra special.

[ollster]

The track was When the Leeve Breaks.

Love that song

Kinda ironic to pull it up on copyright grounds when it's a cover of a 1920s blues song... goddam music companies are such a bunch of...

[HitchHiking]

KWII and KWIII is open and easy mr Wombat. It's the HUGE valley between KWI and KWII that demands respect......

Oh yeah. The bad part of a return trip is that it has to be done TWICE

nice pics and nice vid , looks like you had a great time , it is one of my fav "secret" tassie places. i spent some time up there in Jan , just lovely didn't see another soul which makes it extra special.

Yeah I enjoyed myself and the days flew by. Standing on KWIII I was keen to just keep on heading.................P.O.W.

The track was When the Leeve Breaks.

Love that song

Kinda ironic to pull it up on copyright grounds when it's a cover of a 1920s blues song... goddam music companies are such a bunch of...

Yeah crazy stuff eh.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Yeah I enjoyed myself and the days flew by. Standing on KWIII I was keen to just keep on heading.................P.O.W.

Yeh man I hear ya... had that feeling for a few years now... magnified by the recent trip to the Loddon bluff which was as close as i'd ever been to this mighty range!!

[dplanet]

KWII and KWIII is open and easy mr Wombat. It's the HUGE valley between KWI and KWII that demands respect......

Agree. Spent 3 nights on the range over the new year. The plan was to traverse to Mt KW III; but changed mind at the point just before the descent to Divide Creek due to the scrub and storms typed weather forecast provided by my best and close friend. It was rather good phone reception on the range. The warning was right. I got the worst hit on the last day of the return journey. Was worried that the tent might be blown away and thought of staying there another night (ref. Camp photo). Had to sit sheltering behind scrubs and/or rocks and made only the move if weather permitting. Was about one hour or so sheltering at the corner of one of the two small tower sheds on the summit to wait for mainly the wild winds to calm down and the clouds to lift up. It was only about 10 metres, the pole, the start of the steep descent back to the fire trail I could not see.

Here are some photos taken on the trip:

Attachments

View of Mt KW I from the fire trail on the last day of the last year.
The fire trail provides some great views on fine days including mountains in Cradle-Lake St Clair NP to the North North West.

KW1view.jpg (184.32 KiB) Viewed 17601 times

South-eastern view from the range

se-view.jpg (198.85 KiB) Viewed 17601 times

Look westward on the first day of the new year.

w-view.jpg (151.93 KiB) Viewed 17601 times

Look back to the scrub bashed through. It was not so bad on the descent into the valley. For the return, it took longer.

the scrub.jpg (215.55 KiB) Viewed 17601 times

Look northward from Camp Three with Mt KW I in the distance. It was a very exposed campsite. Some rocks were used to strengthen the tent pegs and the guy ropes.

Camp3.jpg (151.9 KiB) Viewed 17601 times

[HitchHiking]

Some good looking shots there dplanet. A very magical place.
I happend into a copy of the Tasmanian Trap at the Hobart Library and it had a article about the nomenclature of the KWR. I have the article photo copied with a bunch of notes of my own and now my maps area of course scribbled with the names of all the features in the area. I found it after my trip but would have been great to know it before hand. Of course I cant recall what TT edition it was but im sure some one will know. I think it was by Allan Christian.

[telopea truncata]

most under rated walk in tas , love it !!!!