Stepped Hills and Denison Range

[ithomas]

Hello
I am new to the forum but not to bushwalking. Can anyone give me some advice regarding the possibility of walking up the Stepped Hills from Boyes Basin near the mouth of the Boyes River (close to 390810 on the 1:100000) at Lake Gordon. I will be with a group of experienced people who have a boat and who intend to fish while some of us go walking up to the Denisons, camping near Surprise Lake and then returning to the boat next day. I am particularly interested in the "scrub factor". It's a bit hard to know if what appears to be low open buttongrass on Google earth is actually that or some other horror.

Thanks a lot
Ian

[ollster]

Hello
I am new to the forum but not to bushwalking. Can anyone give me some advice regarding the possibility of walking up the Stepped Hills from Boyes Basin near the mouth of the Boyes River (close to 390810 on the 1:100000) at Lake Gordon. I will be with a group of experienced people who have a boat and who intend to fish while some of us go walking up to the Denisons, camping near Surprise Lake and then returning to the boat next day. I am particularly interested in the "scrub factor". It's a bit hard to know if what appears to be low open buttongrass on Google earth is actually that or some other horror.

Thanks a lot
Ian

Funny you ask that. There are some forum members (including MJD, stu, ILUVSWTAS) doing the Denisons/Stars/Stepped/Wright circuit. They're coming out tomorrow (Wed) so stay tuned.

PS: I would expect HORROR.

[MJD]

My initial thought is "Good luck". It's a long way and not particularly easy or interesting walking from Stepped Hills to the Denisons. A better choice (and still challenging) would be Stepped Hills and Mt Wright. You could camp in the valley in between or high on Stepped Hills as we just did. We actually came along the ridge lines from the Denisons to Stepped Hills so I can't comment on the ascent from Boyes Basin. Keep an eye on the Gallery as I'm sure that a few photos will be appearing in the next few days.

[ithomas]

Thanks for that. I'll keep an eye open.

[stepbystep]

I would advise either Steeped Hills OR The Denisons but not both if you only have one night, MJD's suggestion is a good one also - The Denisons provided much easier walking than the Stepped Hills or the plains between Mt Wright and Stepped Hills.

This pic shows the leads up to Stepped Hills from Boyes Basin - looks both steep and moderately scrubby.

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[ithomas]

Hello again

Great photo. My problem is that because we would be walking from Boyes Basin(where we have boat access) we can't really get up onto the Denison Range without going up at least the western flanks of the northern part of the Stepped Hills. Would it be feasible (for say 3/4 days) to have one day up onto the Hills, camp somewhere, then the next day along the ridge to Surprise or Diamond lake, camp there; then mill around the range for a day without packs, then retrace our steps? What is the walking like along that curving ridge which connects the Denison Range with the Stepped Hills (the one in the photo I assume). My hope was that the worst part would be from Boyes basin up the leads and that from there the rest of the walk, without packs, would be like the opening scene from "The Sound of Music"!!! Fat chance I think!

Thanks again
Ian

[stepbystep]

Hello again

Great photo. My problem is that because we would be walking from Boyes Basin(where we have boat access) we can't really get up onto the Denison Range without going up at least the western flanks of the northern part of the Stepped Hills. Would it be feasible (for say 3/4 days) to have one day up onto the Hills, camp somewhere, then the next day along the ridge to Surprise or Diamond lake, camp there; then mill around the range for a day without packs, then retrace our steps? What is the walking like along that curving ridge which connects the Denison Range with the Stepped Hills (the one in the photo I assume). My hope was that the worst part would be from Boyes basin up the leads and that from there the rest of the walk, without packs, would be like the opening scene from "The Sound of Music"!!! Fat chance I think!

Thanks again
Ian

HaHa - The Denison section is very much "The Sound of Music" country, you could easily base camp from the Diamond Lake area and have a very enjoyable daywalk to Lake Rhona or beyond.
The Stepped Hills aren't named Stepped for no reason, we thought the ridge would be a lot easier going than it was, A combination of climbing the 'steps' or sidling around them. Having said that the scrub was generally no worse than knee to thigh high baura/tea tree/buttongrass/Banksia combo - from memory it took us 9hrs from Rhona to our camp just under the peak prior to Stepped Hills summit(between SH summit and Clear Hill in pic)

[ILUVSWTAS]

LOVE the new profile pic MJD........

[frenchy_84]

LOVE the new profile pic MJD........

is that bonds craig summit?

[ILUVSWTAS]

Sure is!! He had a go at it, then ripped his boots off and went up barefoot!!! I like everyone else I know (besides Stu and SBS) decided not to climb it and just count the points.........

[frenchy_84]

the fact that Bonds craig is worth 3 points while PB is 9! i think its pretty reasonable just to touch the summit rock

[ILUVSWTAS]

PB there is no risk of dying involved though....
And Bonds is still at least an overnight trip, very worthy of it's 3 points!! I agree Frenchy, however the rules of peakbagging clearly state the tippytop must be touched.... still, as no-one else seems to follow the rules why should I jip myself....

[MJD]

Ian - with more time it would be worth going along to the lakes at the southern end of the Denison Range. With nice weather you would have a great time wandering around Reeds Peak and Bonds Craig. The bit from Stepped Hill will be a bit of work that you'll just have to do both ways.

frenchy_84 - yes it is the summit of Bonds Craig. Interesting bit of rock with the slab dropping away and you certainly wouldn't want to fall off. It was early in the day, the mist had just lifted and the rock still felt a little slippery. I find that the most important thing about scrambling is confidence and I didn't like the way my boots felt so off they went and bare foot it was. Thanks to Stu who actually took the photo.

[ithomas]

Thanks everyone for your advice.
Ian

[biggbird]

Hey all, sorry to revive such an old thread, but I have a few pertinent questions... Thinking of heading into Rhona/Reeds in a few weeks (as my last overnighter in Tas for the year ), and have 3 nights to play with. Reckon it would be feasible to spend the first night at Rhona, second at Surprise/Diamond Lake (after exploring both Reeds and Bonds), then making the trip across to Stepped Hills to camp the third night somewhere thereabouts, followed by walking out over Mt Wright on the final day?

I would assume we'll be fine for water at both Rhona and whichever lake we choose on the way across, but how is it across by Stepped Hills? Enough little tarns etc about? Sounds like you guys found somewhere to stop that was to your liking at least! And the scrub on the way over didn't sound too bad either

[ILUVSWTAS]

There is a large puddle near the summit of Stepped hills, and a few soaks in the buttongrass saddles if you know where to look.

The scrub isnt too bad, navigation straight forward as long as you can see where your going. It's a nice walk.

[biggbird]

^wasn't expecting a reply that quick, so thanks!

Well, weather dependent (as ever), shall give it a go then! Cheers

[stepbystep]

This is the 'tarn' near the Stepped Hills summit, this would dry out I would think and the area could be very difficult to find water at times I would suspect.

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[pazzar]

I was there on a scorching weekend. There was still water in the tarn on stepped, but not much between Diamond and there, except for some muddy soaks in the button grass. We walked from Mt Wright to a creek just below the main ridge of the Denisons, took a solid 10 hours, but by the end we were just exhausted and dehydrated, so the first creek was always going to be our camp. It was only 30 minutes to the top of the ridge from there.
There is a really nice campsite on top of Mt Wright if you have the time. Navigation is simple enough if you can see the ridges.