Bushwalk Australia

Hi all. I am planning on doing the Du Cane range over Xmas. Starting at pine valley up to the Labyrinth and finishing down off Falling mt to the OT. Will 5 days allow a leisurely hike taking in all the side peaks? Camping night 1, Walled mtn; 2,Lake Helios; 3,Mt Massif; 4,Falling mtn ? Also is the route down off Falling mt the obvious spur to the south of the summit? And I assume water will be limited from beyond My Massif? And finally, my Scarp 1 arrived this week, would you recommend I use a ground sheet for it?
Many thanks in advance for advice , Iain

Hey.

Without knowing what kind of a pace you walk at, i'd say 5 days would be plenty of time. The route of Falling Mtn is not quite following the main ridge as this ridge is a bit steep and rocky in places. You follow it down slightly to the east. Just follow your eyes and take the path of least resistance. It's a brilliant walk.

Here's a gps plot of a walk I did there several years ago with another forum member. We did it over 5 days but days 1 and 5 were very very short days.

The biggest factor about the trip is the weather. If it craps out - then be prepared with a flexible schedule. Its high exposed country once you leave The Labyrinth, and scrambling on dolerite boulders in wet windy conditions or in thick mist is not nice.

I own a Scarp 1 so I'd recommend you always use a ground sheet with that tent. I was quite surprised that I recently had to repair a small tear/cut in the floor of my Scarp 1 tent, even though I have always used a groundsheet. Though it was easily repaired at home with silnylon and a small patch of the same floor material, its better to minimise the risk of damage to the floor in the first place. Overall I find it to to be a very good lightweight tent, very suitable for alpine conditions and I've never needed to use the extra crosspoles that I ordered when I bought it. My back certainly appreciates the low weight, compared to the Macpac Olympus that I used to use on long walks and it is roomy enough for a single user during an extended period of bad weather .

You'll have a fabulous walk if the weather is good but I'd return to Pine Valley if the weather turns bad before you pass through Big Gun Pass.

Thank you All for the advice and tips. My pace a hiking is pretty good, no speed demon, but relatively fit and healthy. Thanks for the GPS map iluvswtas, that is roughly what my plan is. And am aware it is exposed once out of the Labyrinth, so am prepared to back track or hunker down if needs be. Ground sheet to purchase then. Many thanks again, definitely looking forward to this one.

I'd suggest after camping on Walled, you consider backtracking to climb Mt Gould (via the Minotaur) and camp at Lake Elysia: you can drop your packs at the junction after coming off walled, so this will be virtually a day trip. Nights 3 & 4 could still be Helios, Massif.

I would have thought you should be able to get to Windy Ridge hut in a day from Massif, providing you have some experience in route finding, coming off of Falling Mt - we found a few cairns but not really that well connected together, and on the lower areas made our own way through the scrub. We did it in January a couple of years ago - left Massif around midday (waiting for low cloud to lift), arrived at Windy Ridge around 9:00.

Once you get to the O/land track straight forward, and this time of year days are long so even if it gets a bit dark no worries with navigation.

Also depends on weather and how fast you travel over the boulder country.

Might pays to allow an extra day to give yourself some flexibility.

Thanks Thylaseen. I climbed Gould about a month ago, and the views and terrain of the Du Cane range have led me here. I am prepared to be flexible with the hike, and cheers about the time frame from Massif down to the OT.

Sounds reasonable Iain, but as Dave says the weather will be crucial. You camp at around 1500m on Massif, and that often brings its own weather. The only other advice I have is to take scrub gloves, not so much for the scrub as for the dolerite scrambling. All of the party I went with came back with bleeding fingers from the constant contact with very steep rock faces. Happy walking, and stay safe,

cheers

Peter

Thanks Peter. Cheers for the advice about the gloves.