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Frenchmans Cap
Tue 25 Jun, 2013 11:07 am
Hi all,
The partner and I both had the weekend off this past weekend, so with the promise of a good forecast we decided to give Frenchmans Cap a go. We had been wanting to do so for quite a while, with a couple of other proposed trips being canned due to work, study etc, so we were very excited that it might actually work out for once!
Being that we only had the weekend, we knew it was going to be a tough walk for us, especially considering that neither of us have really been super active of late. Still, it was worth it. We ended up also having a friend of a friend tag along, down from the US and keen to get a taste of Tassie walking, so we figured this was probably as good a trip as any to work out whether he liked it or not!
Set off on Friday afternoon after work/uni, with dinner at the Tarraleah pub. Parmies weren't bad, even if the desserts were very small! Had stupidly thought that we would be able to pitch a tent in what I assumed would be a dirt carpark, so you can imagine how impressed we were to find out that it was in fact quite a bit harder... So we just put a tarp down in the information shelter and slept under there instead
. Just lucky the weather played along!
Up and at 'em early the next morning, leaving by about 7am. 4.5 hours to Lake Vera for a 40 minute lunch break, and then the long awaited climb up to Barron Pass... Which wasn't as bad as it could have been! But still fairly tough for the unfit.
Lovely views of White needle though:
Arrived at Lake Tahune about 3.5 hours after leaving Lake Vera. The lake was beautiful and still, and with not a cloud in the sky, and no mist in sight, the view up to Frenchmans was magnificent:
Being that it was about 1530 by the time we arrived at Tahune, we had to decide whether or not to attempt to summit that afternoon. After a bit of deliberating (really just an excuse to rest!) we decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, being slowed down by the significant amount of ice on the track, we only made it about halfway up before deciding it was best we turn around, but we were still treated to a magnificent sunset!
We headed back down to share the hut with 4 others, including one interloper from NZ. Up early again the next morning to get to the top of the Cap, making up in around an hour after leaving at 8am. Amazing views, with nary a cloud to be seen! Apparently some had read that article on summit poses recently posted here:
Back down in around another hour, and left Tahune at about 11:30 after a quick lunch. Fairly slow on the way out, especially in the last half, simply due to sore and tired legs, as well as flagging blood sugar levels! Eventually made it out by about 7pm, making for a fantastic weekend full of walking
The partner and I both had the weekend off this past weekend, so with the promise of a good forecast we decided to give Frenchmans Cap a go. We had been wanting to do so for quite a while, with a couple of other proposed trips being canned due to work, study etc, so we were very excited that it might actually work out for once!
Being that we only had the weekend, we knew it was going to be a tough walk for us, especially considering that neither of us have really been super active of late. Still, it was worth it. We ended up also having a friend of a friend tag along, down from the US and keen to get a taste of Tassie walking, so we figured this was probably as good a trip as any to work out whether he liked it or not!
Set off on Friday afternoon after work/uni, with dinner at the Tarraleah pub. Parmies weren't bad, even if the desserts were very small! Had stupidly thought that we would be able to pitch a tent in what I assumed would be a dirt carpark, so you can imagine how impressed we were to find out that it was in fact quite a bit harder... So we just put a tarp down in the information shelter and slept under there instead
. Just lucky the weather played along!Up and at 'em early the next morning, leaving by about 7am. 4.5 hours to Lake Vera for a 40 minute lunch break, and then the long awaited climb up to Barron Pass... Which wasn't as bad as it could have been! But still fairly tough for the unfit.
Lovely views of White needle though:
Arrived at Lake Tahune about 3.5 hours after leaving Lake Vera. The lake was beautiful and still, and with not a cloud in the sky, and no mist in sight, the view up to Frenchmans was magnificent:
Being that it was about 1530 by the time we arrived at Tahune, we had to decide whether or not to attempt to summit that afternoon. After a bit of deliberating (really just an excuse to rest!) we decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, being slowed down by the significant amount of ice on the track, we only made it about halfway up before deciding it was best we turn around, but we were still treated to a magnificent sunset!
We headed back down to share the hut with 4 others, including one interloper from NZ. Up early again the next morning to get to the top of the Cap, making up in around an hour after leaving at 8am. Amazing views, with nary a cloud to be seen! Apparently some had read that article on summit poses recently posted here:
Back down in around another hour, and left Tahune at about 11:30 after a quick lunch. Fairly slow on the way out, especially in the last half, simply due to sore and tired legs, as well as flagging blood sugar levels! Eventually made it out by about 7pm, making for a fantastic weekend full of walking
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Tue 25 Jun, 2013 12:00 pm
Great trip report and photos. Did the ice make the climb summit much harder?
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Tue 25 Jun, 2013 12:44 pm
Nice one, thanks for the share.
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Tue 25 Jun, 2013 1:39 pm
tigercat wrote:Great trip report and photos. Did the ice make the climb summit much harder?
Thankfully there wasn't much ice on the few scrambling bits that there
were, but the steps up from Tahune to the base of the summit block were very icy and took a lot longer than
they would have otherwise. Bumsliding on the way down! Worth it though
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Tue 25 Jun, 2013 4:32 pm
good shots
Well done using the weather window to get some walking done in the middle of winter
Well done using the weather window to get some walking done in the middle of winter
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Tue 25 Jun, 2013 5:27 pm
Sounds like a great workout and a clear summit to boot. Well done and thanks for the great photos......nice summit pose 
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Thu 29 Aug, 2013 10:09 pm
epiccc!! I only just found this. I wanna check it out again in the snow!! it is capped well n true at the moment. also keen to try out that new track!! cool shots BB!!
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Fri 30 Aug, 2013 11:47 am
I just noticed this too! As I was there a coupla days before you I will add some pics to show how amazing the weather was in early winter in Tasmania 
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Fri 30 Aug, 2013 12:05 pm
- Frenchmans shadow over Barron Pass (pm)
- m_050.jpg (347.23 KiB) Viewed 10529 times
- Frenchmans shadow over Macquarie Harbour (am)
- m_087.jpg (193.4 KiB) Viewed 10529 times
- Artichoke valley
- m_128.jpg (384.27 KiB) Viewed 10529 times
- Mounts Darwin and Sorrel from the summit
- m_090.jpg (131.71 KiB) Viewed 10529 times
- Looking to the familiar peak of Cradle Mountain NP
- m_073.jpg (193.61 KiB) Viewed 10529 times
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Fri 30 Aug, 2013 12:20 pm
Nice doogs (drool!)
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Fri 30 Aug, 2013 1:19 pm
Really nice additions.
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Fri 30 Aug, 2013 3:58 pm
Nice Doogs! We really got lucky that week eh, some of the best weather I've had. Glad it wasn't just me that got to enjoy it
Re: Frenchmans Cap
Sat 31 Aug, 2013 5:50 pm
Got as far as Barron Pass this Wednesday (28 Aug). A beautiful blue sky day. Frenchmans Cap was well and truly snow-capped. I spoke to a party of two who had tried to summit that morning and found chest deep snow on their ascent too hard to grapple with and abandoned the attempt.
The walk in - from just north of Mount Mullens and then all the way to the Pass - has a lot of damaged timber over the track - we did some "gardening" along the way. Their must have been some ferocious weather last week. The track was quite soggy and much of the new work is a long way off being hardened.
The walk in - from just north of Mount Mullens and then all the way to the Pass - has a lot of damaged timber over the track - we did some "gardening" along the way. Their must have been some ferocious weather last week. The track was quite soggy and much of the new work is a long way off being hardened.
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