Arthur Range in April

[dmc88]

Hey guys,

I've noticed there have been a few topics on this in the last few years.

I'm thinking of doing the Arthur Range At the beginning of April. Would start April 2 I imagine.

I've done a bit of walking

New Zealand: Kepler Track, Routeburn, Greenstone and Caples,
In Aus: Overland, 3 capes track,
Sweden: Kungsleden in Lapland
Norway: Juetenheimen National Park, some smaller walks Trolltunga, Preikestolen, romsdalseggen and just camped and hitchiked around for 3 weeks.
UK: Camped for a month and explored Snowdonia, did the Coast to Coast in England and then West Highland Way.

I understand that you can have snow anytime of the year, is it wise to do the track alone in April?

Is it much worse than March?

Would you have any advice?

Cheers,
Dan

[Osik]

Hi Dan
I'm not familiar with the overseas trips you mention but the overland track and the 3 capes are very very tame compared to either the Western or Eastern Arthurs both of which I would class as hard on-track walking (and as a through trip - very hard due to the weight you'll be carrying). My first thoughts are that if you're even asking the question, the answer is probably find someone else to walk with who has experience walking in Tassie outside summer (say Anne circuit at a minimum level of difficulty)(or other trips in nz etc) to join you or else try a different walk if you're very keen on doing the solo thing.

When i moved to Tassie, the Western Arthurs were the first longer walk I did (I had previously walked the Anne circuit in perfect weather at Christmas). A mate and I walked in April at Easter time in atrocious conditions for all but 1 day. No snow, but freezing cold, howling winds, no visibility, & pissing with rain or sleet. We both found it incredibly exhiliarating but were definitely out of our comfort zone, particular once we committed beyond Lake Oberon. These days I'm sure I would still find the walk physically challenging, but mentally, even in those conditions, I would be sweet which is simply a result of doing a lot of Tassie walking at all times of the year in all sorts of weather since that time both on-track and off-track and gaining experience in how the weather works in the mountains down here & how to take care of oneself when things get a bit rough.

Which I guess is the point really. You might have a trip through in perfect weather in which case, if you're fit and comfortable with a few sections of scrambling/exposure, it will probably be great. But if you haven't done any harder walks than the ones you mentioned or walked in the mountains in *&%$#! weather (and the weather can become very *&%$#! in April in Tassie very quick), how are you going to go? You're probably the only one who knows that.

Not trying to kill any enthusiasm but unless your overseas trips have been much harder than overland/3 capes maybe think of doing Frenchmans or Mt Anne circuit first just to get a bit more of a taste for Tassie mountains before you think about the arthurs.

On a final note, & not suggesting you would, but please don't do a walk simply because you happen to be carrying a PLB and think that if things go down the gurgler you can get rescued. The Arthurs in bad weather could mean that any rescue teams could take some time to get to you. My view is (for both solo and group walking), if you wouldn't do the walk without a PLB, then you shouldn't be doing it just because you have one.

Maybe let us know a bit more about your fitness and the difficulties of the other walks you've done (+ whether you're thinking of E or W arthurs) to enable the many members of the forum who have done a fair bit of walking in Tassie to have a better idea about your capabilities and what advice we should be giving you!

[Tortoise]

Hi Dan,
Excellent advice from Osik.

I'd add some other differences between the walks you mentioned that I am familiar with (not many of them) and the Arthurs:

1. Mud. Depending on the amount of recent rain, this can be deep, boot-sucking, relentless, exhausting and demoralising along the Arthur Plains - more of an issue for the Eastern Arthurs, but significant for the Western Arthurs too. Some people don't find it as hard as I do, though.

2. The vertical nature of the 'track' in places. Many groups need a rope for hauling and lowering packs up and down little cliffs in the Arthurs. As someone in our group said, 'The Overland Track is soooooo easy! All you have to do is walk!'. Add icy wet blasts and minimal visibility, and suddenly you can be up for a whole new level of challenges.

3. Prolonged exposure to the elements - once you're up on the Arthur Ranges, there are no huts, and no quick escape for some days if the weather turns foul, or you get ill, etc. You need to be prepared to batten down the hatches - as we were for 36 hours of gale-force winds and rain. I think it would be unusual to get through either of the Arthurs without some 'bad' weather.

My understanding is that statistically, February and March are better times to walk in Tassie - more likely to have fine, stable weather. Of course, you can also get blizzards on any given walk. April is not known for fine, stable weather. I've done several multi-day walks in April, had some great weather, some heavy rain and snow. For the Arthurs, I'd definitely pick March if I had the choice. The longer days are a bonus as well, giving you some more flexibility.

Having done each of the Tasmanian walks mentioned in the past couple of years, I'd also recommend doing the Anne Circuit before the Arthurs, and the Western Arthurs before the Eastern. Or, maybe go in as far as Lake Oberon, do side trips from there, and back out the same way. Then you don't have to bother about cliffy bits and pack hauling, and you can get out more quickly if you need to. The campsites at Cygnus and Oberon are much more sheltered than at High Moor. And there's plenty of spectacular places on the western end of the range.

[dmc88]

Hi Osik thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

Sorry I meant just the Western Arthurs.

To be honest, I would feel confident for Jan - March but I've read that April is out of the recommended season so I was just wondering if the conditions are that much worse.

I think i have a fair idea of what the bad days would be like as I encountered some particularly nasty weather in Jutenheimen National Park in Norway for 4 days. It was raining the whole time, hailing, when i was on the main ridge 8 km long i couldn't see 3m in front of me for the whole time, and crazy *&%$#! wind that moved some big *&%$#! rocks around at will and me. And i'd never seen clouds move so quickly. They moved like a train towards me and just circled me in no time. Like from a movie when some bad duderises from the dead! It was alarming and I was thinking what the hell! But I knew I had to stay level headed and got through it. Better for the experience. It was quite new and i was thinking what the heck is this. This was on a day where 100 reindeer or something got killed by lightning because they were so close together. I was scrambling a bit in this weather on the bessegen ridge. I also had to abseil on about eight 8 m chains (provided ie banged into rocks, going straight down) in the rain with my pack on. It rained for pretty much 21 days straight in Norway and I was in my tent every day. Rain every day can get to you a bit the first time it happens but I think I’ve had a bit of exposure to it now.

My walk across England and West Highland way were in November, I found these easy enough, it was below zero at night and quite cold in the day (about 1 or 2 or 3 deg C i think) and I joined them up with a quick train trip so they took me 15 days together (450 km). Was in the tent for a month in UK in Oct and November at this time.

My walk in Lapland was in summer, (in the arctic circle) and had 24 hour daylight. There was snow but again relatively easy. Had to make sure my feet didn't go through the snow and into the icy streams underneath. That was 5 days (115 km or something). It was fairly easy, I’d say more difficult than OT.

The NZ walks are beautiful, I would say they are steeper and require more fitness than the Tasmanian tracks i've done.

Did some scrambling in Wales and Norway that i'd say were harder than say scrambling up Cradle Mountain.

I'd say almost all of the the walks i've done have been harder than the Tasmanian walks. Usually longer, colder, require more fitness and less straight forward. 3 Capes track was a 2 day walk and Overland Track is very flat. I did OT in April last year. Had beautiful weather on the first day, went to top of Cradle mountain on it but I think for the following days it rained, had hail and a bit of sleet.

My bass weight is relatively light, with a tent and everything 6 kg base weight.

So yeah i feel quite confident because when i did the OT last year i was thinking this is really flat and quite easy. That was based on my experience up to then. 2nd half of last year I went to Norway (after doing the OT and it was much more challenging in a lot of ways. The worst weather I've ever come across.

Yeah I’m not into inconveniencing good people by getting myself into a bad situation. So yeah despite feeling pretty confident perhaps I should give it a go in the summer months. Just annoying because I’m often not here in Summer and yeah just a good opportunity for me with the time I have available over Easter. May head over to NZ for theholidays, will have to give it a good thinking.

Anyway cheers mate,

[dmc88]

Thanks Tortoise also

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

The NZ walks are beautiful, I would say they are steeper and require more fitness than the Tasmanian tracks i've done.

Can't speak for the European walks, but the Kepler, Routeburn, Greenstone and Caples don't even come close to the WAs for exposure and difficulty. The steepness of those walks is offset by good tracks and switchbacks (literally hundreds of them on the Kepler). And they have reasonably closely-spaced huts to shelter from inclement weather. Regarding fitness, don't be fooled by what it looks like on a map - the WAs have constant ups and downs and significantly cr@ppier track standards, which adds to the physical drain. Weatherwise, while you can get comparable (even worse) weather in Fiordland than SW Tas, the combination of weather and exposure (and again, track grade) makes the WAs an entirely different proposition. No doubt you've got a reasonable level of fitness given the walks you've listed, and I'm not suggesting you shouldn't do it, but from what I can see the comparisons you've drawn don't add up. I'd be looking for a pretty good weather forecast at the very least.

[north-north-west]

Don't forget the scrub. There are many places on the WArthurs traverse where the track is no more than beaten ground ( or mud)(or rocks) hidden below scoparia and other woody shrubs.
It's slow going with a full pack. Great walk but best in decent conditions.

[DaveNoble]

Don't forget the scrub. There are many places on the WArthurs traverse where the track is no more than beaten ground ( or mud)(or rocks) hidden below scoparia and other woody shrubs.
It's slow going with a full pack. Great walk but best in decent conditions.

Scrub in the Western Arthurs!! It used to be a scrubby walk - back in the 1960's. But not any more - there is a track along most of the range through the scrub. You may find a tiny bit of scrub in the saddle west of the Phoenix - but thats about all, unless you significantly go off the standard route (e.g. go up Moraine C and down Moraine L)

But the track is rough - and you do have to scramble a fair bit, and this means using your hands to grab things - rock holds, scoparia hand holds etc. And a lot of the navigation is visual - you need to be able to see ahead - looking for the next cairn, or signs of scuffle to work out where the route goes. Its not country you can move through quickly unless you have a very light pack, and its not place where you should compromise on good gear. And it is exposed - both to the weather and also in the other sense - the scrambling route is steep and you often have rather a large void below your feet.

But it is also a very good walk and well worth doing. I completed a full traverse of the Western and Eastern Arthurs as the last two sections of my first Tassie walk, and I am sure a lot of other walkers have too.

Dave

[north-north-west]

Dave:
I didn't mean that it's scrubby by Tasmanian standards, just that it's not what most mainlanders consider a clear walking track, given the amount of growth.
Yes, there's a track pretty well right through, and it's usually easy enough to follow, but there are sections where, despite the footing being okay, you are still shouldering through the green stuff. I've found a lot of people don't expect that.

[Thylaseen]

The track can be difficult to follow in places, especially when the weather isn't the best.

A great walk though.