Looking south to Walled Mountain and Macs Mountain from near the summit of Mt Thetis, August 2017
The Abels books were always on the bookshelf at home, ready for me to flick through and find adventure, and one day I thought “Why not try to climb them all?” I handed in my three weeks notice, and made a blog site. The adventure began.
What is an Abel? In the easiest way to describe, they are mountains in Tasmania above 1100 metres in altitude, with a prominence from surrounding land of 150 metres. There are 158 Abels, with some very easy, and some are far from a Sunday stroll! I set a loose goal of 18 months to try to climb them all, and on 26 November 2015, along with my brother and my father, I went up the mountain in my old stomping grounds, Mount Arthur. I had climbed around 35 Abels before I started my challenge, but I thought I should start again to see how fast I could climb them all.
Over the next year and a bit I went out on many a mission, with some highlights being a 10 day trip into The Spires and surrounding mountains, a similar length Eldon Range traverse, a five day Du Cane traverse in heavenly autumn weather, and climbing Federation Peak with my father. By early April
2017 I had just climbed to the top of Mount La Perouse, on the Southern Ranges, by far, one of my favourite mountain ranges in Tasmania. It was my 126th Abel, and I was getting close to the end, the 18 month goal was feasible! However, I sat atop Mount La Perouse and wallowed. I had a serious run in with The Black Dog. I realised that I wasn't feeling joyful for the walking I was doing, and probably hadn't for the last dozen or so peaks. I didn't feel like I was bushwalking for the reason I love it, instead, I was pursuing a goal that wasn't necessarily
Eldon Bluff from near Lake Tahune en route to Frenchmans Cap, March 2018
Bushwalk
