Sunday, December 17, 2017

Western and Eastern Arthurs Traverse - Part 4

A 12-day traverse of the Western and Eastern Arthur Ranges in Southwest Tasmania by Kylie and Clinton Garratt.  Part Four takes us over the final section of the Western Arthurs visiting an Abel enroute and descends to the surrounding plains at Pass Creek.


Day 7 - Promontory Lake to Lucifer Ridge
A stunning sunrise inspired a pre-breakky photography session overlooking the lake.  On the ridge to the south we soon lost all sign of the trail but many gaps in the scrub and animal tracks made for easy walking as we sidled The Sculptor.  We soon gained a view down to Lake Venus and the pretty wetland to its north.


Sunrise on Carina Peak at Promontory Lake
Despite clear skies in most directions cloud seemed to be hanging around The Phoenix.  As we ascended in fog we eventually joined a faint, cairned pad which took us close to the highest point.  For the sake of peak bagging points we deviated briefly to the highest rock where Kylie posed with Millie, our trusty personal locator beacon.  We had been using Millie to send off an "Ok" signal to our families at each summit and campsite along the way.


Kylie and Millie on The Phoenix
Fog accompanied our descent past numerous contorted rock formations until sunshine greeted us in the saddle at the start of Centaurus Ridge.  From here the clouds revealed an encouraging glimpse of Bathurst Harbour and the Norold Range, a graphic indicator of our significant progress from west to east.

The first peak on Centaurus Ridge is the highest so, again shrouded by cloud, a short deviation, selfie and PLB message ensued.


Centaurus Ridge
Following that first peak, most of Centaurus Ridge is significantly lower and the track easily sidles the remaining lumps and bumps.  By the time we reached the foot of West Portal we were bathed in full sunshine making warm work of the long ascent.  Hat and sunscreen made their first and only appearance of the entire trip.


The slightly lower first summit of West Portal taken from the true summit.
The summit route sidles the first peak then descends to avoid the cliffs on the left of this picture.
Where the range swings north along the Crags of Andromeda we gladly ditched packs to head up the highest Abel in the range, West Portal.  After a small peak is sidled an attractive plateau is reached.  Just beyond the plateau cairns seemed to lead ominously down the south side of the peak.  Hoping we had already passed the first peak mentioned in Chapman a fruitless upward climb confirmed there was indeed another higher peak which required significant loss of height to approach the airy climbing gully.


West Portal selfie
While we enjoyed what would be the highest point of our entire journey Federation Peak appeared from the clouds giving us a brilliant, albeit brief, view of the entire Eastern Arthur Range.


Easter Arthur Range from West Portal
After shouldering packs our path meandered through the Crags before reaching another distinct 90 degree turn in the range where Lucifer Ridge droped spectacularly away into the cloud swirling below us to the east.  With only two kilometres to Lake Rosanne it was tempting to push on but Chapman informed us half of that would be through dense forest.  Given our knowledge of how gnarly Western Arthur forests can be we decided that would not be fun in the failing light and found a suitable place to camp.


Eastern Arthurs from Lucifer Ridge
The sunny day and our location on the ridge top meant very limited water.  After watching the last direct rays of sunlight illuminate the Eastern Arthurs, Kylie pitched the tent in the strengthening gale while I slowly filled our water bladder from the only water in sight.  The pool was barely five centimetres deep so, painstakingly, dozens of careful dips with a pot yielded the water needed to see us through the night.

Day 8 - Lucifer Ridge to Pass Creek


During the night we were 'treated' to a classic south-west Tasmania lashing.  Torrential rain accompanied howling gales as Hughie tried vainly to blow us off the ridge.  Had we been ensconced at Lake Rosanne we would not have 'enjoyed' the full benefits of that night-long buffeting.  In the morning water was everywhere.  Barely metres below the ridge crest countless rivulets were tumbling noisily toward unseen valleys far below.  The irony of last night's water collection exercise was amusing.

As predicted the dense forest was indeed slow going.  It would have been a tangled, torch-lit affair had we continued the night before.  We were happy with our choice.

Lake Rosanne
Lake Rosanne and its characteristic monolith appeared eerily from the mist right on cue as the obvious track swung north.  Without any apparent track heading our way we continued east following the broad ridge crest.  After crossing a slightly scrubby saddle we picked up a faint track which we followed successfully over several humps on Lucifer's lower slopes.  An almost total lack of vegetation following recent fires made for easy going while a couple of brief pauses in the deluge allowed for a couple of pleasant snack breaks.


Pass Creek
The further we descended the ridge the more the sound of Pass Creek taunted us from below.  When we finally emerged from the cloud we could see the creek was still within its banks but the flow would make our crossing a lively affair.  A fixed rope made for a safe, albeit entertaining crossing with the bracingly cool, swift flowing stream around knee deep.


After the rarely used track from Kappa Moraine and the even more rarely used route beyond Lake Roseanne the track from Cracroft Crossing to Luckmans Lead felt like a superhighway.  By early afternoon we had reached Pass Creek campsite (which is well past Pass Creek) and were very happy to setup camp, dry out and ponder the Western Arthurs behind us and the Eastern Arthurs ahead.

Western and Eastern Arthurs Traverse - Part 3

A 12-day traverse of the Western and Eastern Arthur Ranges in Southwest Tasmania by Kylie and Clinton Garratt.  Part Three sees us traversing the infamous Beggary Bumps, bagging a fog-bound Abel and moving beyond Kappa Moraine.


Day 5 - High Moor to Haven Lake
Pre-dawn on the tent platform revealed the fog had retreated since last night and there was almost no breeze.  Considering this would be our highest camp for the whole trip we were being treated to delightfully benign conditions - perfect for an early morning assault on Mount Columba.

High Moor from Mt Columba with the not-so-distant Sirius Ridge and Pegasus Minor peering from the mist.
A quick stroll and scramble led to the summit in time for a sunrise which was almost imperceptible through cloud draped over the surrounding peaks.  Views back along the range were mostly obscured although Pegasus Minor and the south ridge of Mount Sirius protruded from the mist.  These peaks, which cradle Lake Oberon, appeared deceptively close as memories of yesterday's efforts made it feel they should be further away.  A map check proves they are a mere 2.7 and 3.7 kilometres distant from my early morning vantage.

Beggary Bumps from Mt Columba
Looking at the range ahead it felt appropriate that cloud was blocking all the major peaks.  It was as if today's obstacle course, the notorious Beggary Bumps, were being highlighted as the only thing which mattered.


Tilted Chasm
From camp the first couple of 'bumps' are quickly engaged.  Relatively easy ascents, descents and sidles soon lead to the appropriately named Tilted Chasm.  A lively, steep descent through the chasm leads into one of many arduous patches of dwarf forest which speckle the mid-sections of the range before yet another sidle and ascent leads to The Dragon.  Along the way we speculated as to how this feature got its name.  The many contorted rock patterns in the area could potentially look like a fire-breathing, winged beast.


The Dragon?
A lengthy sidle around The Dragon was followed by more up and down in steep forest.  At one point there were clear tracks heading both up and down.  It is generally a good rule of thumb to try the up track first.  At least if/when you discover it's the wrong option you have a downhill walk/scramble back to where you first faced the dilemma.  In this case the uphill track led to the affectionately named Lovers Leap.  At this point you emerge on a 4 metre high cliff facing a lower ledge a tantalisingly short but committing leap away.  While it was tempting to 'test-drive' this obstacle I remembered Chapman saying it could be bypassed with a steep scramble down and up.  Back down we went.  Twenty minutes later we arrived at the lower half of Lovers Leap making all of two metres forward progress in that time!


Zig Zag Cliffs above Lake Ganymede with Mt Columba above.  Lovers Leap is near top right.
Having dealt with Tilted Chasm and Lovers Leap my subconscious was clearly getting a little over-confident.  A break in the cloud revealed a lake, seemingly close below us and, beyond it, a distinctive peak which I had seen in Chapman's photos of Haven Lake.  Had we just nailed the Beggary Bumps an hour quicker than 'Chappy slow time'?  A check of the notes revealed I was indeed getting ahead of myself.  The contours on the map belied the series of little bumps yet to be encountered.  The next two hours were spent going up and down like a yoyo.  In several places only a step or two seperated the bottom of one awkward descent before engaging with the next challenging climb.  Kylie looks back at the Beggary Bumps as a highlight of the entire traverse.  Masochist!


Approaching the summit of Mt Taurus with the Beggary Bumps in the background.
In one of the steep descent gullies toward the end of the Beggary Bumps Kylie was leading when she heard an ominous crack.  I had straddled the top of the chasm with my feet on a narrow ledge and my arms holding a tree branch.  The branch gave way and Kylie looked up just in time to see my pack-laden body swing through 180 degrees and back as I became suspended by my arm pit in a fork of the tree overhanging the five metre vertical drop.  Amazingly my feet swung back onto the ledge I had been descending towards and, apart from increased heart rate and dented pride, all was well.  Much thought was expended considering how else this may have worked out.  It was also a great example of why we were always careful not to end up directly above or below each other.


Mt Aldebaran from Mt Taurus
Once we arrived at the broad saddle marking the true end of Beggary Bumps we then had the relatively simple climb over Mount Taurus and down to the tent platforms at Haven Lake.  With my overly optimistic assessment of our progress earlier in the day and my near death dangle my head was in a bad place as we approached the top of Mount Taurus.  It took encouragement from Kylie before I made the five minute detour to claim my two peak baggers points.  I can't believe I almost passed it by.  The view back along the Bumps was most satisfying and Aldebaran looked decidedly stately presiding over Lake Jupiter far below.

Day 6 - Haven Lake to Promontory Lake
After greeting us on arrival at Haven Lake, steady rain continued through the night and into the next morning.  With the lure of peak bagging points and Abel status of nearby Mount Aldeberan we waited until midday to give the weather a chance to clear.  Eventually we shouldered packs and reluctantly gave Aldebaran a miss.  Even as we walked away we were already starting to speculate how we would deal with this item of unfinished business.  Perhaps another traverse.  Perhaps a short trip in and out via Kappa Moraine.  Time will tell.

Haven Lake with its distinctive unnamed peak.
Lake Sirona had a navigational challenge in store.  By now the rain had been replaced by thick fog.  The trail appeared to suddenly plunge into a bottomless abyss right where I thought we should be approaching the lake which, according to the map, was a mere 50 metres below us.  As Kylie climbed confidently down I looked at the map, studied the notes and reluctantly followed, worried we may be launching ourselves off the edge of the range.  Within moments the truth was revealed.  The sullen surface of the lake was blending perfectly with the surrounding mist making it invisible from the low ridge above.  The descent took less time than I had spent contemplating the dilemma.

Lake Sirona hiding in the mist.
Beyond Lake Sirona easy walking led to the tilted pyramid of Mount Scorpio's summit block.  Kylie kindly posed where the main track perches precariously above steep sloping slabs.  At the top the clouds would not part for a view but we did get a faint glory projected around us and the satisfaction of bagging another Abel.


Mt Scorpio
A rapid descent down Kappa Moraine then a more gradual descent past Lake Juno led us to Lake Vesta, our lowest point since ascending Alpha Moraine.  An impressive waterfall linked the two lakes while the surrounding cliffs reached imposingly up into the clouds.  This area featured dense regrowth following a relatively recent fire event.  It was only then that I realised the rest of the traverse had a total lack of recent fire.  The stunted forests along the range to this point had featured fire-sensitive, dwarfed, rainforest trees with an open understory.  I now found myself frustrated at the dense undergrowth getting my shorts wet for the first time in the whole trip.

Lake Vesta
With daylight hours dwindling we regained a hundred metres in altitude and made our way two thirds of the way around Promontory Lake.  After reaching the southern shore we set up camp just in time to enjoy the sun setting over the broody lake.


Promontory Lake