Star of Peace Hill traverse

[billshep1]

I have taped a route over the Star of Peace Hill to the Weldborough Pass. This can be combined with the route from Weldborough Pass to the Blue Tier to give a grand high level walk much of it in fine rain forest.
The walk is rough in places and a gps is necessary . Little or no water enroute. Start at Maa Louey road below Rattler Hill. Drive from Weldborouugh on Mt Paris Dam Road 6 km to Minnie Jessop Road. Look for blue water signs to Heli Dam. Turn off Minnie Jessop on to Maa Louey Rd. Park nr Heli Dam. Nice camping on dam wall. Walk up Maa Louey road for about 20 mins. Pick up tapes and signs for Star of Peace circuit
Leave circuit after about 20 mins. Yellow tape band on tree, and head for top of the hill. Go steeply down to a saddle, cross minor hill and pickup plantation track along the ridge to Weldborough Pass.
Please don't try this unless confident of navigating in forest with gps device or phone with offline maps. Tapes limited in a few areas. Ferny bits with fallen logs. Allow 6 hours. Car shuttle between Heli Dam and Weldborough Pass unless you want to camp and walk back. I walked from pass camped at Heli Dam and walked back next day.

[Graham17]

✔ ✔

[billshep1]

Further to my Star of Peace hill notes the 1:25000 Ringarooma tasmap covers the route. This can be downloaded from Avenza on android and iphones for a nominal fee. The walk from Weldborough Pass to Poimena is on the Blue Tier map.I can send a gpx file to anyone who is interested.

[Grindelwalddave]

Is the area of you excellent work protected from logging? After driving over Weldborough pass recently for the first time in 15 years I was struck by the number of plantations and amount of forestry activity.

[wildwanderer]

I have taped a route over the Star of Peace Hill to the Weldborough Pass.

Not sure why we are applauding the littering of our wild places.. A few cairns yes.. tape no. or you could have published a gpx track of the route for no enviromental impact.

If you absolutely feel its needed to mark a route and can’t use cairns due to dense foliage, then use small metal discs nailed to a tree, it looks professional, is less obtrusive and doesn’t encourage copy cats. (to the same extent)

Why am I against tape.. because it eventually falls off and gets into streams/rivers and encourages others to also put tape markers(often in unneeded places with obvious tracks) and eventually leads to this ...


(someone 'helpfully' marking a route )

Not to mention, tapes are left for all types of reasons, with nothing to do with route marking. So someone who hasnt learned to navigate follows a series of tape markers only to discover they are part of hazard reduction burn control line and dont lead anywhere.. and then gets lost on the way back.

[billshep1]

Thought someone might complain about tape. Thanks for the wee lecture.
Please note I never make a mess like the pink arrows illustrated! The tapes are there for early days of the route if it becomes well defined they can be taken down. I do have a few little tin signs unobstrusively on trees other zealots will no doubt complain about that! Would take a lot of signs to cover 9 km route! No rocks in rain forest for cairns. Again folk moan about cairns! Suggest you actually walk the route to see why its taped and decide if tapes are noxious. Cost me $12 in tape. Thankless task. Can never please everyone.

[billshep1]

The correspondent who hates tape should, as common courtesy, make it clear that the photo with orrible pink arrows was not taken on any of my routes!! Local bushwalkers who know my work over the last 20 years will hopefully testify that I never trash the environment. Indeed I spend much time cleaning the mess made by others.
The Star of Peace route may become part of a NE Highland way, and would have to be waymarked to make it accessible to general walking public.
If people want to worry about degradation in the rain forest look at a youtube on Ah Foo creek where the good old boys are hooning happily. The Rattler Range itself is regularly churned up by ATVs despite being a protected forest reserve.
I normally restrict my forums to sharing my bush tracks and avoid armchair politics and invective from afar. So enough said.

[billshep1]

Grindelwald Dave. You asked about forestry operations at the Weldborough Pass. Yes there is lots of logging going on in the vicinity. Watch out for the trucks on Mt Paris Dam Road! At the actual
Pass there is private land on both sides which would have been burned and grazed. Could be in Lake District lovely views. The southern side has been put into eucalypt plantation, very poor growth and lots of bramble and foxglove infestation. I only found out the land status when I looked on my garmin maps which show state forest boundaries. This might cause problems for official route.

[wildwanderer]

The correspondent who hates tape should, as common courtesy, make it clear that the photo with orrible pink arrows was not taken on any of my routes!! Local bushwalkers who know my work over the last 20 years will hopefully testify that I never trash the environment. Indeed I spend much time cleaning the mess made by others.

Sigh....

There was never any suggestion you were responsible for spray painting pink track markers. It was used very clearly as an example of what tape marking can progress too when others start copying and thinking they need to mark every route and trail so walkers can find their way.

Your clearly keen on marking routes so why not consider an alternative approach?

You could:
- upload a GPS logged (GPX) route to dropbox or equivalent.
- Take some screenshots of the route overlayed with a topo map and maybe a sat photo.
- Insert your tracks notes and include GRs of the route start/finish and any significant terrain features to aid navigation

Then publish the GPX link, screenshots and track notes on some forums for others to use and see the route.

Mission accomplished and all without a single bit of tape being used. Zero environmental impact. and no visual pollution

[billshep1]

Sigh. Enough said.

[Warin]

Guide 1

Can never please everyone.

Result - don't try to please everyone. At no time will they all be pleased.

[MickyB]

Zero environmental impact. and no visual pollution

Looks like a nice campfire in your avatar

[wildwanderer]

Zero environmental impact. and no visual pollution

Looks like a nice campfire in your avatar

[billshep1]

Interesting all the negative stuff is from NSW and Victoria. Look at the terrain before you pontificate.I would never pronounce on stuff I have not seen in the field. We should be out in the bush not wasting time on this daft stuff!!
Cheers Bill

[ofuros]

Yes, the natives seem to be a bit restless...a little background on BillShep.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7516&p=97430&hilit=Gentle+annie#p97430

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=24716&p=323648&hilit=Gentle+annie#p323648

https://wilmotriverwalks.com

[wildwanderer]

Yes, the natives seem to be a bit restless...a little background on BillShep.

http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... nie#p97430

http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... ie#p323648

https://wilmotriverwalks.com

Thanks for providing those links ofuros.

It appears I may have jumped the gun here..

Seems Bill is very active in track maintenance/care and does alot of work in caring for the wild places we all love.

I’ve seen a few beautiful places ruined because someone has put strips of 20 cm bright pink tape streamer style tape every 5-10 metres (not kidding every 5m..) along routes and tracks that are navigable on their own. So, it rubs a very sore spot with me and I get a bit wound up about it.

Looks like this is not the case here.

Sorry Bill for jumping the gun and derailing your thread. Look forward to walking one of the trails and routes your maintaining at some stage.

[Maraea48]

Hey Bill, I'm on your side and I'm sure plenty of Northern Tasmanians are too. We are all grateful for all the track work you have done over the years. And I totally agree, new tracks need new tape until the track has worn in. and even than many walkers feel safe if there are signs and some tape to get them home. Not everyone uses GPS, and maps do not always get you there unless there are signs to tell you, you are on track. If a track is not defined then a GPX track will probably get you home, but it could involve a lot of bush bashing since GPS could be out by 10 m or more. Recently had some dear soul suggest we use star pickets with a yellow cap to mark a new track. since we finance these projects out of our own pocket it would be a huge burden, not to mention the physical side of it. Yes, Pink tape can be confusing that's why we use different colours for different tracks. And yes not all tapes are equal I have come across tape that is more than 10 years old and I have used tape that fell apart after 6 months. Google maps with visible tracks are help full too. As for those who go off track to find the wilderness, it would be a *&%$#! mess if we all did that but best of luck to you! hope you bother taking a PLB! so we do not have to waste a lot off resources looking for you when you go missing ☺

[TentPeg]

I love a begrudging apology - especially followed up by "I hope you bother taking a PLB". Seriously?
Go Bill.
You are a legend.

[billshep2]

Hope this file works. its fine on my phone. I also have a route traced on a LIST map if that's better. The route is beset with windfalls and ferny bits which I have tried to work around, line of sight usually very limited, no views in the rain forest apart from very fine mother myrtles.

5643 RINGAROOMA.gpx

This should open with gpx viewer and recorder

(638.87 KiB) Downloaded 466 times

Thanks to all for their interest and support.
My main tracks have no tapes, no weeds, no windfalls, just well defined strolls in native forest by the Wilmot river. But it was not like that 18 years ago!
The NE Highlands way is very much a work in progress which NE locals, mainly Lesley Nicklason , have been pushing against the odds for years. I just help a bit as its not in my backyard.
We all care for the bush in our own way.

[Nuts]

Is any public lands manager involved with this one Bill?

[north-north-west]

The NE Highlands way is very much a work in progress which NE locals, mainly Lesley Nicklason , have been pushing against the odds for years. I just help a bit as its not in my backyard.

I hope you can get it done. This is the sort of initiative that councils and the state government should support. Thank you for all the work.

[billshep2]

Most of the NE highlands route is in State Forest run by Sustainable Timber.
Mt Victoria to Rattler Range is in the Mt Victoria Forest Reserve. This may now involve Parks. The Friends of Blue Tier are the local group working for this walk. They had issues with Forestry as was for sometime.If you contact the Friends they may advise further.They are online.
Its not easily to get things done through the bureaucracy- unless you are wanting mtb trails which attract buckets of money and have done wonders to revive the NE. The walkers who are left are looking to have a few dear places mtb free!! There are old articles on the forum on the "Forbidden Walk" sic . This will also come up on the Friends website.