Mt Ramsay

[rohjoe]

Hi all,
Does anyone have any recent experience climbing Mt Ramsay? I'm planning a trip there next week. The intention is to approach from the north using an old vehicle track off the Savage River Rd, camping overnight somewhere along the road. Any advice appreciated.
Cheers,
Rohan

[doogs]

MJD had an exploratory wander out that way a couple of years ago..I think..PM him and he may be able to help
*and there are a couple of fires in the vicinity at the mo - http://www.fire.tas.gov.au/Show?pageId=colGMapBushfires

[rohjoe]

Thanks Doogs! I'll drop MJD a line. I appreciate the fire info. A little bird tells me that there might be a bit of bauera to contend with, but that's probably par for the course in this area. Unless another fire has been through.

[tastrekker]

I headed in along 4WD track from Corinna Rd 3 years ago. A lovely walk as described on pages 160-166 in Phil Pullinger's "Tarkine Trails" book.

Time constraints only allowed 4 hours for the side trip out to Mt Ramsay and back. Despite using some old logging tracks part of the way I only made it 1km from the 4WD track in 2 hours. It was tough going through dense horizontal. I frequently found myself suspended well above the ground with both legs dangling as rotten trunks gave way.

My advice...
Alow plenty of time for the side trip from the 4WD track. I look forward to hearing from successful summitters about whether a less direct route yields easier progress.

[tastrekker]

Mt Ramsay Facebook Album

[rohjoe]

Thanks Tastrekker. It seems we have a full body workout to look forward to!

[wander]

Nice snakes there TT.

[stepbystep]

Keen on your notes Rohan. I said 6 to 8 hours from the old 4wd track. The summit area looks fantastic with wonderful views down south

[north-north-west]

I headed in along 4WD track from Corinna Rd 3 years ago. A lovely walk as described on pages 160-166 in Phil Pullinger's "Tarkine Trails" book.

Time constraints only allowed 4 hours for the side trip out to Mt Ramsay and back. Despite using some old logging tracks part of the way I only made it 1km from the 4WD track in 2 hours. It was tough going through dense horizontal. I frequently found myself suspended well above the ground with both legs dangling as rotten trunks gave way.

My advice...
Alow plenty of time for the side trip from the 4WD track. I look forward to hearing from successful summitters about whether a less direct route yields easier progress.

Is there any practical place to camp near the track? I'd like to spend some time in there, exploring the area.

[rohjoe]

I've been told by a person who went there in 2004 that there are some open clearings on the four wheel drive track which would make for reasonable camping. Tastrekker's album has a photo of an abandoned drilling camp which could possibly fit the bill.

[rohjoe]

We made it to Mt Ramsay on Monday. After walking a different route in and out there doesn't seem to be an 'easy' way to the summit from the 4WD track, although our southern route was a little better than the northern. The northern approach was initially under lovely myrtle forest up to the top of the NE hill but on the steep western side this soon changed to very large boulders with scrub between. We saw a number of pink tapes and some evidence of track work across the top of the hill but these were nowhere in evidence further on and closer to the summit. The boulders and scrub continued on the ridge heading south towards to the summit.

Not wanting to return the same way, we decided to head for one of the old roads on the southern side of the NE hill. After dropping off the side of Ramsay the bauera became very thick but eventually gave way to forest which was easier despite the countless fallen logs and horizontal. It took some scouting around but we eventually found the old road which connected to the main 4WD track, where there was another pink tape marking the turn off. Overall we found it very slow going when off track. Hats off to my walking companion who is more than 20 years my senior. We camped about 2 hours walk along the 4WD track and it took us 10 hours return from there.





(Ignore the part where the GPS plot veers to the east of the main 4WD track, my GPS went haywire for a while then).



Mt Ramsay summit with Mt Cleveland in the distance

[north-north-west]

Nice one. Thanks for the update.

[rohjoe]

You're welcome nnw. Incidentally, there are plenty of pleasant places to camp in the lovely myrtle forest along the 4WD track. We filled our water carriers at the spot marked as 'water' on the map above, which was a good thing because we didn't see any other obvious water after that. The following day on our return from the summit we passed a small creek in the valley between Ramsay and the NE hill, which was one good reason to go back that way.