Ducane Traverse October
Posted: Sun 21 Oct, 2012 6:17 pm
I don't often put up trip reports but will post a report on our Ducane Traverse last week when I have the photos (probably in a couple of weeks).
We were blessed with the full variety of Tassie conditions - from marching up the overland track in shorts and t-shirt under a blue sky - to an extra day tent bound at 1300m with snow, ice and wind making safe travel impossible.
Great trip and nothing especially hard about it other than the weather and snow conditions on some days (and the odd misguided 'short cut' though patches of Tassie scrub). We were lucky enough to get some awesome views in places but missed seeing much after Big Gun Pass.
My heroes from the trip:
1) Vapour barriers: We both had RBH Designs calf length vapour barrier socks and these proved superior for maintaining warm feet under constant wet and slushy snow conditions. My feet were in the best condition of any such trip I have done. Whilst normally considered a tool for very cold conditions the concept proved viable for the near to just freezing + sopping wet combination that dominates walks in Tasmania. I also used a vapour barrier in my sleeping bag and whilst temperatures were not particularly cold (i had to vent the sleeping bag a fair bit and sometimes my feet were too hot), it helped with moisture management and my sleeping bag remained well lofted throughout the trip - despite mostly very wet tent nights;
2) GPS: I know real walkers should know how to navigate by map, silva and 'using the force' only but on an unfamiliar track, with visibility at times in the tens of metres, keeping track of where you are on this occasion would challenge most traditionalists. It was actually scary how much we relied on the GPS on some days and whilst if performed flawlessly, we will bring an extra as a backup on similar trips. Yes, we had waterproof topo maps and compasses as backups;
3) Dried coconut cream. Fantastic energy/fat content per gram, some great nutritional features (including lots of potassium) and makes any meal taste better. $1.40 per sachet. Will be on all of my future colder weather trips.
More to come later....
We were blessed with the full variety of Tassie conditions - from marching up the overland track in shorts and t-shirt under a blue sky - to an extra day tent bound at 1300m with snow, ice and wind making safe travel impossible.
Great trip and nothing especially hard about it other than the weather and snow conditions on some days (and the odd misguided 'short cut' though patches of Tassie scrub). We were lucky enough to get some awesome views in places but missed seeing much after Big Gun Pass.
My heroes from the trip:
1) Vapour barriers: We both had RBH Designs calf length vapour barrier socks and these proved superior for maintaining warm feet under constant wet and slushy snow conditions. My feet were in the best condition of any such trip I have done. Whilst normally considered a tool for very cold conditions the concept proved viable for the near to just freezing + sopping wet combination that dominates walks in Tasmania. I also used a vapour barrier in my sleeping bag and whilst temperatures were not particularly cold (i had to vent the sleeping bag a fair bit and sometimes my feet were too hot), it helped with moisture management and my sleeping bag remained well lofted throughout the trip - despite mostly very wet tent nights;
2) GPS: I know real walkers should know how to navigate by map, silva and 'using the force' only but on an unfamiliar track, with visibility at times in the tens of metres, keeping track of where you are on this occasion would challenge most traditionalists. It was actually scary how much we relied on the GPS on some days and whilst if performed flawlessly, we will bring an extra as a backup on similar trips. Yes, we had waterproof topo maps and compasses as backups;
3) Dried coconut cream. Fantastic energy/fat content per gram, some great nutritional features (including lots of potassium) and makes any meal taste better. $1.40 per sachet. Will be on all of my future colder weather trips.
More to come later....