Dry's Bluff, Liffey Bluff and Quamby Bluff

[pazzar]

Hi I was just wondering if anyone could give me a rough estimate of time to climb each of these peaks. I am heading up to the NW on Friday and thought it would be a good idea to climb some peaks along the way. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Jared

[tazz]

I would say Drys bluff six hours return ,Quamby bluff three hours return,and no idea about Liffey bluff.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Yup, Drys took us around 5, just over. Quamby I believe is about 3.
Liffey is off track, but pretty quick, maybe 2 hrs, cant say for sure as a member of our party sprained an ankle and took some time top hobble back to the road.

[pazzar]

Have you done projection bluff? I would like to give myself a chance at 4 points, but probably only have 6-8 hours to get them

[ILUVSWTAS]

No, i've done all the above except Quamby and Projection. from what I hear Projection and Quamby are both 2-3 hr return walks.

[pazzar]

I reckon if I leave really early, and run I could do it by mid afternoon. I'll see how I go after 2 of them. I cant waste a day off travelling up to the coast, might as well climb on the way up.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Yeh probably.

Running on icy rocks isnt always a good idea though

[pazzar]

by running i mean walking faster than usual - if its not safe to go fast I will restrain myself as best I can. I have heard Quamby has some pretty decent views from it on a nice day, so I hope the weather is nice.

[stu]

I did Quamby in 1.5 return.
Projection in 1.25 return.
Moving fairly quickly tho & in summer months, ie. no ice / frost.
Pretty hard to run on boulders (Quamby); Projection is fairly open on top (ie. not much rock hopping).
Drys is a fair way as SW said, allow at least 5-6 hours to the 'true' high point (ie. not the trig if you're after the points).

[pazzar]

I think given that it is not too frosty, 5 hours for Quamby and Projection is not out of the question. I guess I'll find out when I get there! Is Quamby and Projection tracked?

[stu]

Quamby is well tracked / cairned.
Projection is well tracked to the rim then a little vague across the top, stick to the rim edge & you'll be fine.

[Bap]

How far up the coast are you going?

[pazzar]

going to Burnie, im now considering doing Mt Blackwood instead of Liffey, and then onto Projection and Quamby

[ollster]

going to Burnie, im now considering doing Mt Blackwood instead of Liffey, and then onto Projection and Quamby

Blackwood is a laugh. We went straight up from below the summit across a boulder field, up a pretty fun gulley to get to the top. Ask ILSWT, he might have the GPS data.

[pazzar]

How long did Blackwood take you? I am considering it, as well as Rats Castle or Split Rock. Quamby and Projection are definates. GPS data would be great, if only I had a GPS.

[ollster]

How long did Blackwood take you? I am considering it, as well as Rats Castle or Split Rock. Quamby and Projection are definates. GPS data would be great, if only I had a GPS.

Not long, maybe 3-4 hours, probably closer to 3? We did it after doing Rat's in the morning. Well, ILSWT may be able to provide a map with the track we took, which will give you an idea of where to start. The way we exited was easier than the way we went up, but no where near as much fun.

[Ent]

Um? Mount Blackwood. Is it the third rock on the right on the plateau or was it the second one? The trick is you will need a GPS to find exactly what lump it is. However, may I humbly suggested that you do not try the more direct route down unless you like sending boulders the size of cars crashing down the scree field from hell.

Cheers Brett

[ILUVSWTAS]

Yes, Mt Blackwood. Have you been there Brett?? How did you miss the HUGE cairn with the massive stick pointing out of it?? thats a pretty good way to tell your on the summit I've found.......

[Ent]

Yes, Mt Blackwood. Have you been there Brett?? How did you miss the HUGE cairn with the massive stick pointing out of it?? thats a pretty good way to tell your on the summit I've found.......

Yes I have been there and my point is it is more a pimple than a peak relatively to the platue. From memory is there not two cains not far from each other. Did you follow the old Hydro road up there or aim for the summit?

Cheers Brett

[ILUVSWTAS]

yeh 2 cairns about 10metres apart from each other, if you go to both then the summit is obtained!

We did follow the old road for a while, not that it's much of a road, looked like someone had tried to drive up in once, we found bits of cars scatterd around the place...
We did manage to find ourselves in a nice little gully that was kinda steep in places, got up it though in the end.....

[Ent]

I went with the LWC and they took the direct route down following what look like to be a creek then crossed over to scree field above the Telstra mobile phone tower Wound up hitting another spur road that lead to the tunnel. Now that scree field is something not to take lightly.

Cheers Brett

[ILUVSWTAS]

You mean this scree???

[Ent]

Not sure from the photo. If there was a spare mini bus or two hiding in between the large boulders then yes. At the top a learn on the rock would send a Volkswagen size rock crashing down the slope. Very unstable and extremely steep for the first 100 metres down then just the usual pain of either jumping rock to rock our up down up down between the boulders.

Cheers Brett

[ollster]

Nah, we must've gone a different way Brett. Our rocks were only smallish, biggest would be the size of a couch, that sort of thing. Generally stable too.

[pazzar]

I managed to get up Projection and Quamby. Both are well tracked and easy to follow, despite me losing the track on Projection and deciding to just have a bash up the hill, ended badly, had to retrace to the bottom to start again. Projection took me roughly half an hour to reach the top of the cliff, then a further 20 minutes walking along the plateau track to the high point. All up it was just under 2 hours, including breaks.
Quamby starts up behind a farm property, and it is marked on the road. After a little boggy section at the beginning, not too difficult to negotiate though, the track winds up through the forest. It is quite steep at times. The final ascent is up a small boulder field. Since it was quite icy it took a little longer to get up here. I reached the summit after 90 minutes of walking. The return to the car took no longer than 40 minutes, as it was pretty easy to run through the forest.

I recommend at least 2 hours for Projection, and 3 hours for Quamby. I am a fairly quick walker, so I was not surprised to reach the summits quicker than people had suggested. I was even more surprised that the sign at Quamby said 5 hours return.

It was a great day, clear skies and freezing temperatures - perfect for a quick trip up a mountain!

[tastrekker]

There's not much mention of Liffey Bluff in the comments so far. I walked the old Liffey Bluff Track from Liffey Falls about 5 or 6 years ago. It's marked on the 1:25,000 map branching from the track heading south west from the top carpark just after it crosses a creek. It's fairly easy to pick up as the first kilometre or so is a very steep old logging road which essentially goes straight up the mountain. The old road branches a few times so it's important to look out for the old, red, rubbery, triangle markers on the trees. Close to where the myrtle gives way to the drier eucalypt forest a walking track continues above the road until the scree is reached where cairns continue to the cliff line.

Like Drys Bluff, the Liffey Bluff track only takes you to the obvious north-facing escarpment which, don't get me wrong, is a great place to be. However, the highest point on the Liffey Bluff scarp at 1219m is 2.5km away to the south west. I imagine it's quicker to access this spot cross country from the highway. Slightly higher is Whitehorse Hill at 1224m (1.8km from the track) and slightly higher still is the unnamed hill out past Billy Quinns Gap at 1234m (3km from the track). I can see why Bill Wilkinson et al went to such lengths to definitively specify what they would class as an 'Abel'.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Yes TT we did Liffey off track from the highway last winter. didnt take very long at all, a bit steep under the cliffs, but we managed fine.

[Frosty]

Has anyone been to Drys recently? I'm considering doing it in a few weeks time - any potential issues I should be aware of? (I'm a moderately experienced day-walker, did Stacks Bluff yesterday),

[doogs]

I was up there about 6 months ago and its a great walk. The track is marked to the plateau, with a couple of steep scrambly bits with fixed ropes and then there is 1km of mild scrub across the plateau to the summit. The Abels book has a good track description if you have it

[Frosty]

Thanks Doogs. I don't have the Abels book but I think it's time I got myself a copy!