Sodden Loddens No More?

[Son of a Beach]

I just read that the proposed upgrade to the Frenchman's Cap track is going to completely bypass the Lodden Plains. That will be a significant part of Tasmanian bushwalking history slipping away. I wonder if anyone will walk the Loddens after the track goes elsewhere just for the sake of nostalgia?

[north-north-west]

1) It'll be at least ten years before the new track is in place - if ever.

2) Maybe they'll find an even muddier route . . .

[eggs]

Did the report say where it would go?
I always thought over Pickaxe Ridge into Vera would be the way to go?

[Son of a Beach]

No it is mysteriously vague on that point. It was in the Parks and Wildlife Service newsletter, "Buttongrass" which I found in my neighbours' mailbox today. (Yes, I frequently pinch mail from people in my street - keeps them on their toes).

[Taurë-rana]

I wonder if the visitor numbers will increase?

[tasadam]

I wonder if the visitor numbers will increase?

Hit the nail on the head here I reckon!
Better go and take one last (fourth) look before that happens, won't be able to step sideways once the mud's gone - it will be even more popular. Such a pretty place.
Seen the size of the carpark now? I suppose they have to do something to fill it...

[north-north-west]

No it is mysteriously vague on that point. It was in the Parks and Wildlife Service newsletter, "Buttongrass" .

Winter edition isn't online yet.
[off topic]Interesting - in the previous issue they're talking about connecting Cape Raoul to the Pillock/Hauy track. That would be fun.[/off topic]

[photohiker]

No it is mysteriously vague on that point. It was in the Parks and Wildlife Service newsletter, "Buttongrass" which I found in my neighbours' mailbox today. (Yes, I frequently pinch mail from people in my street - keeps them on their toes).

SoB. Can you possibly post an image of the newsletter? I've checked my neighbour's letterbox and he doesn't have one. I suspect the other neighbour has already pinched it.

[Taurë-rana]

Better go and take one last (fourth) look before that happens, won't be able to step sideways once the mud's gone - it will be even more popular. Such a pretty place.

That sounds like a good idea, and probably more sensible for me than going back to Feder which is what I have been thinking about. I haven't been to Frenchman's for about 26 years I reckon, and I always intended to go back.

[north-north-west]

Yes, I might have to schedule a summer ( or at least early autumn) trip next year and do it before the swarms arrive.

[tas-man]

Here is the article mentioned from the latest PWS "Buttongrass" newsletter, about Dick Smith's donation for upgrading the track to Frenchmans. Click on it to read at full size.

[Son of a Beach]

No it is mysteriously vague on that point. It was in the Parks and Wildlife Service newsletter, "Buttongrass" which I found in my neighbours' mailbox today. (Yes, I frequently pinch mail from people in my street - keeps them on their toes).

SoB. Can you possibly post an image of the newsletter? I've checked my neighbour's letterbox and he doesn't have one. I suspect the other neighbour has already pinched it.

ah, tas-man beat me to it (which is just as well, as I would have to go rumaging through my garbage bin to find it again). Do live on the other side of my neighbour?

[tasadam]

They can spin a yarn to make the numbers suit.
Not that I aren't in favour of a few improvements and it's nice to see the department acttually spending money on tracks.
But that article says

The 23 kilometre track from the Lyell Highway to the summit of Frenchmans Cap is used by approximately 1000 walkers each year.

But if you have a look at the Parks statistics for this,
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=11525
2000/01 672
2001/02 685
2002/03 826
2003/04 731
2004/05 621

Their numbers allow for a 90% compliance on log books so the actual number is around 10% more than that.
I guess 1000 flows off the tongue (and the budget book) a bit better.
These numbers could be handy - see how the numbers are in 5 and 10 years, and whether similar increases happen on great unimproved walks.

[photohiker]

Do live on the other side of my neighbour?

I don't think so. That would make you a single mum

[stepbystep]

Not sure if it's a good move or not.
Question is, will they be damaging sensitive areas in order to make the walk a little more comfortable(sterile) to more walkers?
And ultimately will that extra traffic destroy areas that are already teetering on the brink?
As a relative newbie, I was planning a trip this summer and saw the 'soddon loddons' as a rite of passage for Tassie bushwalkers.
At least I will get filthy before the re-route happens

[tasadam]

At least I will get filthy before the re-route happens

Perhaps the problem now is that too many people are doing it without "getting filthy" - dodging the bog...
So the problem becomes worse and worse.
Is it really better to re-route the track completely rather than fix up the worst bits? I don't know. Makes no difference anyhow, I reckon they will do what they want with or without us and our opinions.

Maybe it's part of a master-plan to make another "overland experience". If they market it like the Overland Track, there will be a lot of punters biting off more than they can chew - a lot harder than what the OLT has to offer - going up to Barron Pass or the last half hour or so around Tahune that I seem to "remember".
Just thoughts.

[Taurë-rana]

At least I will get filthy before the re-route happens

Perhaps the problem now is that too many people are doing it without "getting filthy" - dodging the bog...

I'm not sure that there is any way of dodging the bog! My feeling is that once it gets to a certain stage, and it was certainly pretty bad when I went through more than 20 years ago, it doesn't actually get much worse, so re-routing the track would be purely a public relations exercise. The other thing about button grass bogs is that if you leave them alone for a few years, they regenerate so that you can't even tell where the track was - I've seen this happen on the old 4WD track over Black Bluff.

[corvus]

Should you even be driving on the 4WD tracks on Black Bluff now that we are more aware of the degradation that vehicles can cause ?? we have come a long way since the "visit to the Gold Mine " was on every ones agenda,trail bike 4WD, Army Truck et all.
I took a party of Scouts up there on foot many years ago and that IMHO should be the only way to traverse these old tracks now.
Just my opinion.
C

[tasadam]

Corvus I think you will find there are many legitimate 4WD tracks, fire trails and the like.
If they weren't meant to be used they would be blocked off.

[north-north-west]

I'm not sure that there is any way of dodging the bog!

There are always people who will go to any lengths to go around a bog rather than through it, even though it means walking four times the distance. Trying to tell them that they're just making the problem worse doesn't help, either.

[stepbystep]

At least I will get filthy before the re-route happens

Maybe it's part of a master-plan to make another "overland experience".

I have no doubt this is the plan, and give it a few years they will be charging people for the privelige of perhaps not getting too filthy.
And BTW what influence do you think Dick Smith is having on these decisions?
After all it's his $$$ that will be paying fot it.

Also, it seems to me the vast majority of walkers 'dodge the bog' therefore widening tracks, whether it's on the slopes Mt Wellington or deep into the SW.