Bushwalk Australia

Has anyone been out this way recently and know what the water situation may be like? Are we likely to find water most of the way?

Not so much of an idea about the water currently, but last time I went through there we had a 38 degree day or something crazy like that and water was scarce.
I've been through twice and these are the more consistent water sources.

Water at the various Lakes, Ponds etc. until you get to Pindars Peak.
Then there will be something at Leaning tea tree saddle, it might not be very good though. Murky ponds scatter around the camp site.
There is a trickle that runs off the side of Mt Wylly and some scattered ponds on the Wylly plateau.
A trickle through the forest near the base of Kameruka moraine, may not be much more than some damp group but if you hunt around in the forest you might find it flowing.
A creek runs off PB about 15 minutes up from Low Camp.

Hard to say what state they might be in now. But between these spots you would want to be carrying a decent amount.

Have a look on listMap you can see the creeks that coincide with some of these spots on the standard topographic layer.

Azza wrote:Not so much of an idea about the water currently, but last time I went through there we had a 38 degree day or something crazy like that and water was scarce.
I've been through twice and these are the more consistent water sources.

Water at the various Lakes, Ponds etc. until you get to Pindars Peak.
Then there will be something at Leaning tea tree saddle, it might not be very good though. Murky ponds scatter around the camp site.
There is a trickle that runs off the side of Mt Wylly and some scattered ponds on the Wylly plateau.
A trickle through the forest near the base of Kameruka moraine, may not be much more than some damp group but if you hunt around in the forest you might find it flowing.
A creek runs off PB about 15 minutes up from Low Camp.

Hard to say what state they might be in now. But between these spots you would want to be carrying a decent amount.

Have a look on listMap you can see the creeks that coincide with some of these spots on the standard topographic layer.

Spot on. I was through there in November/December. I'd suspect Wylly Plateau would be pretty dry now. It may be wise to take a yabby tube for extracting water from shallow pools/yabby holes. Could be handy at LTT saddle too.

Have a great trip. It's an amazing walk.

Thankyou both for the information. Have bought a life straw just in case.
I will post an update upon our return.

I did the range the week before last, but it rained a bit on the first couple of days so would have topped things up a bit. There was a little stream running down the track on the south side of Mt Wylly, and flow in the creek at the base of Kameruka Moraine. LTT saddle and Wylly Plateau had enough in the pools. We filtered it, but probably didn't need to.

There is a gauging station on the Picton River above Farmhouse Ck, which would give an indication of recent rainfall in the general area (Picton River starts on the Northern side of Pindars Pk). I haven't figured out a way to get more than 4 days of history though: http://www.bom.gov.au/fwo/IDT60252/IDT60252.597505.plt.shtml

Just returned from South Coast Track started Jan 23 2016 did over 8 days with a rest day at Granite Beach

Plenty of water in major camping areas, Prion boat crossing was the lowest but still a good source of fresh water although fairly black with tannin and thick with algae in places, only places along the track we treated water

There have been a few showers down there since so would expect water to be availalbe at all major camp sites, up to precipitous bluff a couple of walkers came down and said water available but did not ask for further details

Osmiridian beach was low so avoided it

Did a blog on it here http://www.discoverytravel.com.au/south ... -tasmania/

Dave

Wylly Plateau was dry when I was there a couple of years ago, but there was water in pools in the saddle underneath Mt Victoria Cross. I don't know whether these are reliable though. It is about 20 minutes from the campsite. I ran into a couple on the South Coast 2 weeks ago, who had been up there during some reasonably warm weather and it seems that they had no water issues.

pazzar wrote:...water in pools in the saddle underneath Mt Victoria Cross. I don't know whether these are reliable though...

The trickle in the gully on the eastern flank is the most reliable water in the area. The saddle pools were dry when I was there, while the pools up near the campsite had plenty of water (it was a wettish period).

pazzar wrote:I ran into a couple on the South Coast 2 weeks ago, who had been up there during some reasonably warm weather and it seems that they had no water issues.

That was us! Our only problem was clogging up our water filter with silt from the creek below Kameruka Moraine.

A delayed update on the water situation from Jan 13-22.
So we took a lifestraw and I hoped for some light rain to fill up the tarns and creeks. My Tasmanian hiking mates were not at all concerned about the possible lack of water. It is Tasmania after all. And they were right. The first day was very hot and dry and then followed several days of rain, sleet and wind. There was more than enough water! As my hiking mates cursed me for wishing for rain, I still believed that it was a blessing as I reckon it would have been pretty dry had it not rained.