Camping on Ben Lomond

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Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion. Please avoid publishing details of access to sensitive areas with no tracks.

Camping on Ben Lomond

Postby LeftRightShoot » Wed 11 Jul, 2018 11:18 am

Gday,

Im looking at doing a traverse of Ben Lomond (probably) starting at Carr Villa car park and going N-S and (probably) getting down to do the bottom loop near Stacks Bluff. Im not looking at descending stacks in the current conditions, ill stay up top. Im just after some pointers on a nice spot to make camp and any tips in general for the trip/area. Im aware of prevailing winds and general weather conditions and Ill be prepared for full alpine conditions. Cheers
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Re: Camping on Ben Lomond

Postby slparker » Wed 11 Jul, 2018 11:33 am

My favourite camping site is Lake Youl, on the beach but I normally go up in summer and,warning, it is very exposed. Lake Baker is also very pleasant and I have camped at a small sheltered site on the north-west end not too far from the water.

To go south from carr villa means a fair degree of rock hopping across the talus fields of Rodway Valley which could be quite treacherous in icy conditions. An alternative would be parking at the ski field , sticking to the eastern side of the plateau and walking down the Vale of Rest to Lake Baker or the Long Valley to Lake Youl.

Most areas on the plateau are very exposed - I have had tent damage twice in summer.
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Re: Camping on Ben Lomond

Postby LeftRightShoot » Wed 11 Jul, 2018 12:37 pm

Great advice, thanks.

Oh yes I am definitely avoiding Rodway Valley. Im new-ish to the area but by Carr Villa I meant the car park and hut at 526043, ascending through "big opening". Camping either somewhere near the summit if progress is slow or coming arounf to lake youl as you suggest. Then a little look on day two back to the ski fields for pickup.
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Re: Camping on Ben Lomond

Postby slparker » Wed 11 Jul, 2018 4:12 pm

It's hard to avoid the talus fields of Rodway valley if you go by the route that you intend unless you skirt the northern end of the Valley and meet up with the Vale of Rest at the Eastern end of the escarpment. Again, leaving from the ski village makes more sense if you want to both avoid Rodway valley and go south to Stacks Bluff.

In regards to minimising your exposure to the Rodway Valley (but still crossing it) In the past, in summer, I have crossed the Rodway valley after coming through the opening between giblin fells and coalmine crag and crossed SSE over the saddle across Johnston Moor to Lake Youl. A bit of boulder hopping but not as much as going up to the Long Valley - it's also more direct. The talus in Rodway Valley has to be seen to be believed : it is a massive boulder field.
I once boulder hopped up the entire valley when I went to Lake Baker from Carr Villa - but attempting that when it is icy is probably a shortcut to a femur fracture.

In regards to camping near the 'summit' - I have never camped near Legges Tor (It's pretty rocky up there) but the Meenamatta Tarns (to the west) is a lovely camping area - again, very exposed though. You could possibly find a site above the tarns near the rocky outcrops to the NE which have some flat spots but it's a walk to the water if you need it and it is only relatively sheltered. My tarptent got shredded in summer up there but i was in a pretty exposed site.

If you are good to go for alpine conditions just be aware that the weather can get atrocious up there and you can expect poor visibility at any time of year, I really don't know of any sheltered spots that would make acceptable tentsites in poor weather apart from near lake baker and I believe it is still a bit tenuous.

I am not a good enough x-country skier to advise you on conditions on the route that you intend but i imagine you would need snowshoes or skis depending upon how much snow has fallen recently. Perhaps microspikes for the boulder field but again, someone with more alpine experience up there would be best placed to advise you. I would avoid the rodway valley boulder field if it were me but perhaps a good covering of snow would make it a trivial undertaking on skis - I don't know - hopefully someone with winter experience on Ben Lomond can weigh in to advise you on that one.
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Re: Camping on Ben Lomond

Postby LeftRightShoot » Wed 11 Jul, 2018 7:11 pm

Cheers. I discussed this route with staff from an outdoor store that have been up there many times and they suggested the same two routes. Thanks. :) My goal is to start in native forest and summit. After that I'll see how much time I have. Definitely a cheeky stop in for a hot chocolate before continuing to the eastern rim around the valley. Thanks for all your help.
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