SCT itinerary

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SCT itinerary

Postby Drew » Wed 12 Dec, 2018 3:46 pm

In a little over a week my partner and I will be jumping on the plane to Melaleuca to walk the South Coast Track. Woohoo!

We have 7 days for the walk. We can be flexible with itinerary but I'd love to hear suggestions on best campsites, sidetrips etc. After looking through Chapman's book I've roughly planned the following (distances and times from the book):

Day 1. Melaleuca to Point Eric.
13.4km, 4 hours.
Day 2. Point Eric to Louisa River
17km, 7 hours.
Day 3. Louisa River to Little Deadmans Bay
12.3km, 6-8 hours (over Ironbound Range)
Day 4. Little Deadmans Bay to Prion Boat Crossing
9.4km, 4 hours
Day 5. Prion Boat Crossing to Surprise Bay
9km, 4 hours
Day 6. Surprise Bay to South Cape Rivulet
12.2km, 7 hours
Day 7. South Cape Rivulet to Cockle Creek
11.4km, 4 hours

It looks fairly relaxed on paper. Plenty of short days leave time to laze around on beaches (fingers crossed for some decent weather!), so it would be good to end up at the nicer campsites to enjoy that lazy time. I was wondering about the side trip to camp at Louisa Bay on Day 2.

At the moment my plan for post-walk transport is to try hitching either all the way to Hobart or at least to Geeveston (where we could get on a bus). Plan B is calling a taxi. Any other suggestions welcomed!

Thanks.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby ILUVSWTAS » Wed 12 Dec, 2018 5:07 pm

Looks good. Go past Prion to camp at Osmiridium though as that's the best spot on the entire coast.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby rangersac » Wed 12 Dec, 2018 5:41 pm

You’d ideally need an extra day if you do the side trip to Louisa Bay. I’d also second going to Osmiridium rather than Prion. Also you have the energy push past little Deadman’s to Deadman’s, as it’s a lovely spot and usually pretty deserted
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby Drew » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 9:10 am

Looks good. Go past Prion to camp at Osmiridium though as that's the best spot on the entire coast.


That's funny, I'd written in some notes that Surprise Bay is supposed to be a beautiful campsite but Osmiridium not so nice! Not sure where I read this but I have a feeling I read it a couple of times. Was it because Osmiridium is used by boaties and left in a poor state?

One other question: I'm assuming that, being south Tassie (and a notoriously muddy track), there will be plenty of water around, but thought I should check just in case it's been a very dry spring/early summer. Should I expect to find water in most creeks marked on the map?

Thanks.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby L_Cham_67 » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 9:59 am

Drew wrote:
Looks good. Go past Prion to camp at Osmiridium though as that's the best spot on the entire coast.


One other question: I'm assuming that, being south Tassie (and a notoriously muddy track), there will be plenty of water around, but thought I should check just in case it's been a very dry spring/early summer. Should I expect to find water in most creeks marked on the map?


I walked from New River Lagoon to Cockle Creek a bit under two weeks ago (as part of the Southern Ranges circuit) and I feel like the water source at the Prion Beach campsite isn't ideal. Fortunately I had enough without needing to refill there. It's a similar story with South Cape Rivulet; the water can be a little brackish. Granite Beach has the best water source through that stretch of track, while there's only 1 creek over the South Cape Range (where some of the notorious mud has been avoided thanks to some scrub clearing by Parks I assume). I've never camped at Surprise Bay (though I want to!) but I expect the water there could be a little brackish as well (I suspect someone else would know better than me).
You'd be extremely unlucky if the creeks ran dry, it's just a case of some of the sources being a little brackish.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby Drew » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 10:19 am

Thanks L_Cham.
Is there likely to be any water over the Ironbounds? Doesn't look like much on the map. I'm organising lunches now and planning some that need water - that day might need to be a dry lunch.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby Mark F » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 10:27 am

I walked the sct when it was extremely dry a couple of years ago. There was water in the creek that one crosses as one starts the descent to Little Deadmans - the more eastern branch from memory.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby L_Cham_67 » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 10:44 am

Drew wrote:Thanks L_Cham.
Is there likely to be any water over the Ironbounds? Doesn't look like much on the map. I'm organising lunches now and planning some that need water - that day might need to be a dry lunch.

I haven't been over the Ironbounds for a few years, but I remember one creek on the rooty, foresty, eastern side of the range, and possibly a small trickle near the High Camp. It probably depends on the weather you get, both on the day and the days leading up.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby Thornbill » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 10:52 am

I walked from New River Lagoon to Cockle Creek a bit under two weeks ago (as part of the Southern Ranges circuit) and I feel like the water source at the Prion Beach campsite isn't ideal. Fortunately I had enough without needing to refill there. It's a similar story with South Cape Rivulet; the water can be a little brackish. Granite Beach has the best water source through that stretch of track, while there's only 1 creek over the South Cape Range (where some of the notorious mud has been avoided thanks to some scrub clearing by Parks I assume). I've never camped at Surprise Bay (though I want to!) but I expect the water there could be a little brackish as well (I suspect someone else would know better than me).
You'd be extremely unlucky if the creeks ran dry, it's just a case of some of the sources being a little brackish.


I walked the track this time last year, and we had no trouble with water. As L_cham says, the water at Prion isn't ideal. I walked up the lagoon a bit, found a branch off to the right and followed it for 10min or so. The water there wasn't too bad, just a bit brackish. But Osmiridium is a nicer spot. We didn't camp at Surprise, but it looks lovely. Opted for Granite Beach instead, with a nice shower under the waterfall :) Enjoy it, it's a great week.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby north-north-west » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 11:28 am

Osmiridium is a gorgeous spot and seems to get fewer visitors. Much better campsite and water and not that far from Prion.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby Drew » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 12:20 pm

Excellent, thanks all. We'll go for Osmiridium then. Something more like this:

Day 1. Melaleuca to Point Eric.
13.4km, 4 hours.
Day 2. Point Eric to Louisa River
17km, 7 hours.
Day 3. Louisa River to Little Deadmans Bay or Deadmans Bay (1.6km extra)
12.3km, 6-8 hours (over Ironbound Range)
Day 4. Little Deadmans Bay to Osmiridium Beach
13km, 6 hours
Day 5. Osmiridium Beach to Granite Beach
8km, 2-3 hours
Day 6. Granite Beach to South Cape Rivulet (South Cape water a bit brackish). Could continue to Lion Rock campsite.
9km, 3 hours
Day 7. South Cape Rivulet to Cockle Creek
11.4km, 4 hours
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby Azza » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 1:23 pm

Drew wrote:In a little over a week my partner and I will be jumping on the plane to Melaleuca to walk the South Coast Track. Woohoo!


Have you checked to see whether flights have resumed yet? Last I heard they'd suspended flights but it wasn't clear for how long.
I'd sure they would contact you in advance.
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby Drew » Thu 13 Dec, 2018 4:00 pm

Have you checked to see whether flights have resumed yet? Last I heard they'd suspended flights but it wasn't clear for how long.
I'd sure they would contact you in advance.


I heard mention of the accident a few days ago and had meant to check what had happened but completely forgot. Judging by the comments on Par Avion's Facebook page the pilot who died was much loved and respected. Very sad.

I assume that they will let me know if our flight is cancelled but perhaps I'll check just in case...
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby Xalion » Sat 15 Dec, 2018 12:41 pm

Drew wrote:Day 3. Louisa River to Little Deadmans Bay
12.3km, 6-8 hours (over Ironbound Range)


We found this day to be the longest, and it took considerably longer than 6 hours :)

Osmiridium is nice, and was quiet when we were there (mid January, the other campsites were nearly full, just us and one other couple there).
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Re: SCT itinerary

Postby Drew » Wed 02 Jan, 2019 10:45 am

Thanks for the comments everyone. We had a lovely walk and got very lucky with the weather. Heavy rain the night before we started meant a very wet track (calf deep water over the duckboard leaving the airstrip) and wet feet for the first few days but we had no real rain for the whole 7 days of walking. We managed to dry out the footwear and keep it dry for the second half! I was glad I wore shoes instead of boots but next time in south Tassie I'll definitely go for non-waterproof, fast drying shoes instead of Goretex.

It was pretty quiet and we had campsites to ourselves on a few nights. Osmiridium was nice but the beach was a bit too wild to enjoy - strong winds and dangerous surf meant no swimming there.

I fell victim to a couple of antechinus attacks and now have numerous holes in my pack to be repaired (hoping Osprey come good on their "almighty guarantee"). I also had a croc sandal stolen from the tent vestibule, I think by a quoll! I'd given it up for lost but then stumbled across it some 30 metres from the tent, with lots of teethmarks.

We met a guy heading west with the tiniest of tiny ultralight packs who was planning to walk the SCT, Port Davey Track, Western and Eastern Arthurs in just 12 days! Is this possible? I wish I'd asked him about what he was carrying!

We hitched from Cockle Creek to Huonville (where we just missed the only bus of the afternoon) and then got a cab to our friends' house near Kingston. Saved a lot of money there.
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