Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

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Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby headwerkn » Thu 05 Jan, 2017 12:54 am

For something a little different to the usual New Year's Day hangovers and headaches, a bunch of us from our little running group decided to tackle the Frenchmans Cap summit - 46km-odd in a single day. By no means the first people to do such a thing, but still ambitious and slightly crazy enough for a compelling challenge.

To avoid a long drive from Launceston in the wee-hours we camped at the Franklin River Picnic Area (a few kms down the road from the Frenchmans carpark/trailhead, which was chock-a-block full of cars) the night before, where a few NYE bevvies were quietly enjoyed before we all got an early night's sleep.

The early morning weather was predictably misty and slightly muggy, as it'd been the day prior, but definitely better than the cold wind and rain forecast in the days before. Conditions were damp but perfectly comfortable for a long run, I just held out hope that the day would clear as we approached the summit. Alas that wasn't to be.

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All smiles at the start. 3-5 days? We'll see about that!
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Most of us started running at roughly 6:15am, with the faster 3 starting about an hour later and one lone soul giving herself an hour's headstart. Only about half the group - myself included - had any ambitions to make the summit, if the weather would allow, with the others opting for shorter return trips to Lake Vera or Barron Pass.

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Crossing the Franklin River
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With the registration book filled, the Franklin crossed and shoes thoroughly disinfected, we got moving along the now much-improved track into Lake Vera. Progress was good and steady, the track being in generally excellent condition with minor sections of mud that presented no issue. Being my first trip to Frenchmans I know only of the 'Soddon Loddons' through reputation and photos, but based on the sections of mud still present, especially where track work is still underway, it'd be a fair guess to believe the original track would have been a muddy nightmare, given the relentlessly wet winter and spring! So thank you Mr Smith ;-)

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The highway that Dick built
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We made the 16km into Lake Vera Hut within about two-and-a-half hours, mostly running with some spirited power-hiking up the steeper hills and gnarly sections, and stopping only briefly to replenish water and keep the group together. Plenty of hikers already making their ways back out to the carpark, mostly amused by the sight of these weirdos charging around in shorts, tech shirts and minimal trail vests while they lumbered in full wet weathers and heavy packs. That said, the first lady we came across seemed very concerned and "couldn't comprehend" what we were hoping to achieve.... :lol:

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Lake Vera
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After a snack break and explore of the Vera hut and tent platforms - all very impressive - we set off up the relentless climb to Barron Pass. After a solid hour in the muggy rainforest the cool(er) breeze of the ridgeline was welcome, but unfortunately the heavy mist hadn't budged, and we were left to imagine the spectacular view and substantial drop in front of us. Another hour passed as we made our way around Sharlands and Artichoke to Lake Tahune, still shrouded in mist with an almost unreal, film-set/middle-earth quality about it.

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A misty Barron Pass and Sharlands Peak
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By Lake Tahune Hut the faster group had caught up and so the question of whether to attempt the summit or not was upon us. We'd all agreed prior that, ideally, we wanted to have the summit done and dusted by 12pm... it was now 11:30am and realistically the best part of an hour each way up and down... not ideal, but with no real wind and the temperature still very comfortable despite being saturated and the summit (seemingly) so darn close, we decided to hell with it and went for it.

Another quite brutal climb including a few rather tricky scrambles over boulders and little to run proper on, but within an hour, there we were, in the clouds. Very surreal. Rather disappointing not to be able to see any view at all, especially for one in our group for which this was his third Frenchmans and all three had been clouded over. We didn't dwell on it too long though, with the clock ticking, so a few photos were snapped for posterity and we began doing the entire 23km again, this time in reverse.

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Made it to the top!
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Making our ways back to Tahune and then Vera it was only then I become aware just how steep some sections of the track are. Of course, it's generally easier to go up than it is to go down, but with a thoroughly damp track, the mist turning to drizzle and fatigue in my legs really starting to set in the going soon became really tough. I could feel my quads on the brink of cramping several times... due most likely to a combination of the tricky terrain and not keeping my water-to-electrolyte levels. Suffice to say I was extremely happy to finally reach Vera again, knowing that the remaining 16kms would be kinder to my legs.

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Lake Tahune, during a brief break in the mist
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Another slightly longer break to take in some food and recover a bit, and we set off for the carpark... I managed to find something of a second wind and we managed to make a good pace for several kms... parts of Laughtons Lead really do flow beautifully for trail running. Eventually I began to run out of steam again, the fatigue in my legs reducing me to walking pace for all but the flat and gentle downhill sections in the last 3-4 kms. Mercifully the Franklin River suspension bridge eventually showed itself again and after near-exactly 12 hrs elapsed (about 10.5hrs total run/hike time) I was back in the carpark, thoroughly stuffed but chuffed to have made my first day of 2017 so epic and memorable!
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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby headwerkn » Thu 05 Jan, 2017 1:12 am

A few more pics... apologies for the cruddy GoPro and iPhone photos... a dull, misty day and sweat-covered lenses really don't lend themselves to quality photography, do they? ;-)

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Magic stuff, even on a less than stellar day...

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Still plenty of trackwork going on. This mini-excavator is going to be fun to dig out... was proper bogged!

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The facilities at Lake Vera are really quite impressive, though given the number of walkers on the track during the peak season (I lost count... I reckon we passed a few dozen people during our day) and how wet the place can get, they're rather necessary to keep it in good condition.

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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby Overlandman » Thu 05 Jan, 2017 9:08 am

Well done headwerkn
And to the fellow members in the party.
It's good to do something different on New Year's Day.
Regards OLM.
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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby Lizzy » Thu 05 Jan, 2017 5:21 pm

Nice one! But I think I'll stick to 4 or 5 days :)
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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby crazyone » Fri 06 Jan, 2017 2:46 pm

Awesome work well played
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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby headwerkn » Fri 06 Jan, 2017 7:43 pm

Heheh that's probably a fair call Lizzy! The track pretty much pushed me to the limits of my fitness/abilities... I'm no uber-athlete, but to put things into perspective, that's with maintaining 4-5 days of regular training per week for well over a year, and coming from a recent base that included racing Triple Tops, Bruny Ultra 64K, multiple trail races and a couple of triathlons in the past couple of months. The other members of the summiting party all had Cradle Ultra/UTA100 experience, and Amy competed for Australia at the World Trail Champs in Portugal back in October.

Having now seen the track I reckon you only need 3 days, with maybe a backup day to pick the weather to summit, but I'd be recommending setting up base at Lake Vera and going lightweight in and out of Tahune and the summit for just the day. The Vera-Barron Pass-Tahune track was tricky enough with a 3KG vestpack on... I felt very sorry for the poor souls lugging 20KG+ packs over that trail!

Cheers, Ben.
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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby Azza » Mon 09 Jan, 2017 9:37 am

Nice work :-)

Not as crazy as this though:

http://cjclimbs.blogspot.com.au/2010/02 ... n-day.html
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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby Mechanic-AL » Tue 10 Jan, 2017 4:56 pm

To each his own I guess but I think the folks who choose to do Lake Tahune and the Cap as a day trip from Vera are missing out.
Being up there during the twilight hours and also at sunrise watching the colours and shadows change on the cliff face and down in the valleys is something pretty special when the weather is co-operating
!And as for doing it in a day.......... :shock: :shock:
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A reed shaken in the wind"?
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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby north-north-west » Wed 11 Jan, 2017 5:11 pm

That shot of the Lake Vera 'improvements' is horrifying. :shock:

3 - 5 days? I took 7. Of course, that included Agamemnon, Philps, White Needle, Sharlands, Frenchmans, Clytemnestra, Irenabyss and Pine Knob. Worth taking the extra time - especially when it meant blue skies on most of the summits, and views everywhere.
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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby headwerkn » Fri 13 Jan, 2017 3:17 pm

Azza wrote:Not as crazy as this though:
http://cjclimbs.blogspot.com.au/2010/02 ... n-day.html


Agreed - that's pretty mad! Just getting up the summit is more than enough climbing for me.

Mechanic-AL wrote:To each his own I guess but I think the folks who choose to do Lake Tahune and the Cap as a day trip from Vera are missing out.
Being up there during the twilight hours and also at sunrise watching the colours and shadows change on the cliff face and down in the valleys is something pretty special when the weather is co-operating
!And as for doing it in a day.......... :shock: :shock:

north-north-west wrote:3 - 5 days? I took 7. Of course, that included Agamemnon, Philps, White Needle, Sharlands, Frenchmans, Clytemnestra, Irenabyss and Pine Knob. Worth taking the extra time - especially when it meant blue skies on most of the summits, and views everywhere.


If you have the time and inclination to explore everything possible in the area, and weather on your side, most definitely. Lake Tahune is undoubtedly an awesome spot. For the conditions we had on the day though, trudging along that track with a heavy pack seemed like a great way to injure yourself and have a generally miserable time. Although I'd say doing anything with a heavy pack is a recipe for a miserable time, period ;-)

north-north-west wrote:That shot of the Lake Vera 'improvements' is horrifying. :shock: .


A bit of a worksite, yeah, probably look a bit better once the heli landing pad is removed and the tussocks grow back. Pretty substantial platforms spread over a large area but I do like the privacy the layout gives. Clearly the area suffers from damp/mud, bit of a necessary evil to stop the place slowly being loved to death. Same deal with the ongoing track works.
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Re: Frechmans Cap 'Run to the Summit' New Year's Day 2017

Postby lfrisken » Sat 21 Jan, 2017 1:12 pm

Ah we saw you guys, we were camped at the Loddon River. Great effort!!
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