Mt Dromedary - the best way up?

[Fizzygood]

Does anyone have any idea of the best way up Mt Dromedary?

Have been reading Keith Lancaster's track notes from 1944 but reckon things have probably changed a bit in 62 years!

By the way here is the link to Keith's diaries... great site! - http://users.bigpond.net.au/dveltkamp/KeithLancaster/

[tastrekker]

G'day Fizzygood,

I am also a huge fan of Keith Lancaster and his diaries as published by Dirk Veltkamp. They are great reading and provide much inspiration.

From the comfort of home (as I have not been there myself), I googled Mount Dromedary and found LWC (L'ton Walking Club) went there last weekend! They also advertised a possible trip to Platform Peak which is on the same ridge line.

Using TheLIST, I switched on the walking tracks layer and found marked tracks up both peaks. It looks like the best access to Dromedary is via Crane Road from Upper Dromedary. To reach Platform it looks like Yearsley Road from Broadmarsh is the best route. The tracks between the two peaks are all dashed lines so I wouldn't assume the obvious shortcut is possible.

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[stu]

Hi Erin,

me & Jeramie went up Dromedary only a few weeks ago - i'll dig out exact directions for you & post them / drop them in to you @ work next week.
We found an old track which goes straight up the eastern face & is very easy to follow & very well cairned and only a couple of hours return from Church (?) Rd.
I'll get back to you.

p.s. We did Grey Mtn this morning (behind Margate) & were able to 4WD to within 500m of the top - easy peasy (sorry to get off the subject of this post).

Stu.

[Fizzygood]

Thanks for the info Tastrecker... I am amazed at some of the stuff Keith did... and for so long, that's the really cool part!

Hey Stu, I will FB email you to sort out a night to catch up for a drink and grab some info... always wanted to get to the top of the camel

Cheers, Erin

[MJD]

John Cannon wrote a column on Dromedary in the Sunday Tasmanian a few weeks ago. I cut it out at the time - it came out the day after I'd found a way up! Anyway, I could scan it for you if want. Send me a PM if you would like a copy.

Cheers

[rohjoe]

Mt Dromedary (and Platform Peak) can be accessed from Braslins Rd, which was where John Cannon's walk started. I have climbed Platform Peak from there and found it fairly straight forward. The approach to Mt Dromedary is not as steep as the Eastern side.
Cheers,
RJ

[Fizzygood]

MJD, I have sent you a PM for further Dromedary info... thanks heaps!

Thanks too rohjoe... all this info helps!

We are going to take a bite at it this weekend... I've never seen the view from around there and am looking forward to it!

Plunger coffee in the JetBoil on the summit for afternoon tea too!

[Fizzygood]

Had a great walk to the top of Mt Dromedary yesterday via the eastern approach.

It was STEEP and rough under foot but that's to be expected I suppose when you have a peak baggers map.... Thanks Stu!

We are heading back out there soon to try some of the other approaches and include platform peak...

Sooooo much better than watching the football

[rohjoe]

Well done Fizzygood! It is quite an incline from the east. I seem to recall head high bracken growing out of a scree slope and thick bushfire regrowth. Coffee would have tasted good after that. Have to agree with your comment about the footy I was enjoying the tranquility of Bishop and Clerk on Maria Island while the game was on. Although if my team had been playing....

[Fizzygood]

It is certainly a decent walk... The ascent is 1.5 to 2 hours of very steep, very loose and often very overgrown scree that is comprised of small loose boulders that look like they've come from much bigger boulders that exploded during a fire... And it you lose the track at the top (like we did) and descend the first 50m or so through an extremely steep gully with head high scrub it gets nasty

It is a great walk though and surprisingly rewarding!... some of the dolerite formations at the top are fantastic. I am waiting for some pics from a friend and will post shortly!

[bluewombat]

I went for the daily double on this one today. First Platform peak and then Mt Dromedary, about 6 1/2 hours all up.
I left from the locked gate at the end of Braslin's road (as per John Cannon's recent article). Braslins is off Black Hills road at the back of Magra, near New Norfolk.
To get to the base of Platform took about an hour and a half on fairly friendly but rather boring fire trails, passing some evidence of forestry and the fires from a few years back. I could not find a clear track from the base so simply walked along until I saw a reasonably straight forwards route, just near a forestry sign about regrowth as it happens. On the map there is a firetrail pointing up to the peak, the forestry sign is about 50 metres before this. Quite straightforwards to the summit ridge, I had to traverse about 80metres to the right to get to the very impressive summit cairn. Just near the summit I noticed some pink track tape and a couple of rock cairns and assumed that was the proper track down. I was expecting it to head down to the previously mentioned fire trail but after about 20 minutes it was pretty obvious it was trending NW, possibly to Yearsley road, so I retraced my steps and took the direct route down. From the bottom of Platform you follow the fire trails back towards the start point but then take the fire trail towards Little Marsh. John's description suggests taking the trail to the north of Little Marsh, the trail south of Little Marsh is more direct but you would lose a lot of altitude which you would have to regain. Eventually, (90 minutes for me) the trail winds past the base of Dromedary. The actual summit track is reasonably easy to pick but you have to keep your eyes open or you will swan past it and keep heading south. The summit track is steep and quite rocky but has lots of cairns to keep you going the right way. The summit is reached after 30 minutes or so. Great views in all directions. Going down takes about the same time and some caution is required to stay on track. Allow your sore feet about another 90 minutes to get back to the car. There is no good water on this circuit other than in the first 15 minutes, although you do pass a couple of swampy looking waterholes on the track north of Little Marsh.
bw

[Angus Ashton]

Hi guys,
ive been trying to get to the top of dromedary to do some film work for a uni project i was thinking about doing on martin cash, ive been up once and climbed the peak on the left (when you look from bridgewater) but have yet to climb the other one. i have been trying to drive most of the way so i didnt have to lug my tripod and camera stuff etc (lazy i know), i heard about the route up the face of the mountain and decided to try this a week or two ago however when asking the residents of permission to cross their property they refused. The time that i did get to the top i got the forestry key and took the yearsley road route, i got a fair way down the road past platform peak although was then blocked by a fallen tree. i have attached a map to show where i got to. i was just wondering whether anyone knows whether it is possible to drive to the road below the summit via braslins road. I think there is another forestry gate at the end of braslins? and this way would by pass the fallen tree and hopefully allow me to drive closer to the start of the final summit track. anyhow heres the map so u get an idea of what i mean
thanks

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dromedary route map

[bluewombat]

Angus, you can get up Braslins road, two gates if I remember rightly, but you probably need a 4wd. Once on lower Little Marsh road (the last 2/5ths of your gray dots) there is no guarantee, particularly after the wind recently that there wont be trees over that section of road as well. I seem to remember some trees across the track that makes the little link between your gray and red dots so would not try that route
cheers
bw

[Scott]

Hi Angus,
A late reply for you, and to discuss with anyone else, hopefully I get some feedback.

I am a land owner on Church road, and I have roughly measured on google maps for the peak of mt dromedary to be about 1km in distance from the closest point on my property. But this does not take into account the Steepness I may encounter or the round about way of getting there, this direction would be straight up obviously.

I have a very old and overgrown track on my land which seems to go straight up the side of the mountain. There is however one very large tree over the track, which I do recall climbing over when I initially walked up there. But from this point I didn't go much further due to the fowl weather. I am keen to give it another go one day, just purely out of interest as to see where the track actually ends up!

As far as Martin Cash goes, I too read up on him, and found out he use to hide out in some caves up the top of Mt Dromedary, Some hideout! So who knows which or where the track is he use to walk! It may well start on my property?

I have absolutely spectacular views from my land on the way up to the top of my block approx 200acres. I can see all the way down to the tasman bridge, the last 4 pillars!

I Tried to drive up Cranes road to get access to the tracks, but encountered a locked gate, which was on private property, so permission would need to be sought there!

I tried driving up Hansome caves road, from Back river road, at Magra, but all the tracks I found lead to dead ends etc, appart from the washout which I needed my hilux to get over it wasn't too bad, my mrs had to get out, cause she thought the car was going to roll! Lol

Anyway talk more later if I get replies.

Scott

[weetbix456]

best access?? i ran into a lot of angry looking 'keep out' and 'turn around' signs heading up cranes road way..

[ILUVSWTAS]

Yes there's a lot of unfriendly locals up there, rumour has it those sings are illegal on a public road... im not sure i'd like to test that out in court though... there is access to the peak from the roads over the back, or if you scout around church road you can find a vacant block (no house YET) to shoot up through.

[ollster]

or if you scout around church road you can find a vacant block (no house YET) to shoot up through.

I concur. It was just before the high point of that road if I recall.

[weetbix456]

haha yea it's not the best road to do a U bolt if things turned nasty!! i've got a bouldering guide that says you can pretty much drive all the way up to handsome crags, might try it again next time from that direction. it's just such a tease how theres an actual track up to the summit on the map in state forest, just its all surrounded by private property..

there is access to the peak from the roads over the back.

do you mean from broadmarsh way?? was wondering about access to platform peak aswell if you've been there?

thanks guys, nick.

[ILUVSWTAS]

I did Platform from the Black Hills way, but others have done it from the other side which is apparently much faster. there is also a track from that side.

[weetbix456]

yea i just found bluewombats post! sounds the best way to kill two birds with one stone. thanks!

[ollster]

i've got a bouldering guide that says you can pretty much drive all the way up to handsome crags

Having been bouldering up that way once (AWESOME bouldering), I can confirm you can, but it's borderline 2wd territory. If your car doesn't have much clearance you may find it a bit of a struggle. Most AWD/4WD should be fine though.

[ILUVSWTAS]

If your car doesn't have much clearance you may find it a bit of a struggle.

Didnt take the 'Rolla then??

[ollster]

If your car doesn't have much clearance you may find it a bit of a struggle.

Didnt take the 'Rolla then??

Part of the way...

[chiz]

The Cranes Road approach can be used to gain access to the mountain, however it involves crossing private property. Despite the signage indicating that people cannot proceed beyond that point, it is in fact a public road reservation that is maintained by Council for public access for approx another 500m beyond the bend with the signage

[pazzar]

I am looking at going up tomorrow arvo, if anyone can recommend a way up, could you please pm me. I would rather not be chased out by 'landowners'.

[pazzar]

I made it up no worries. I went off track after following a private road for a few hundred meters. There is supposedly a track on this side, but I saw no evidence of it. I reached the top in just over an hour. I went back down the marked track and then back down cranes rd. The keep out signs kept me quite amused on the way down. I had to jump 2 gates on the way, but no issues with angry landowners!

[Nick S]

Ha, good on you.
I tried going up that Mt a few years back, drove up that road but got told to go away by some woman who looked like she was straight out of the shower, wrapped in just a towel, madly rushing up to us in her ute. Reckon there were a few special crops up there..

[mjdalessa]

I'm looking at going up as an easy half dayer. Where does this east face route leave from? Is it the best? Pazzar; where did you leave from? Is there any established route up?
Thanks in advance.

[pazzar]

I'll PM you the info that Stu gave me. It was relatively easy off track up the eastern face, then I walked back down the taped route on the western side, then walked back down through the 'private' roads. What can they do if you are walking out? Kick you out I guess.

[acrane]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. Cranes Road is named after my grandmother, who bought land there in the 1930s, and my parents who established a farm and apricot orchard on the property which they called "Mead". Their house and orchard were destroyed in the 1967 bushfire. They would all be appalled that the current owners seek to restrict access. My father spent much of his childhood on Dromedary, and certainly found Martin Cash's hideout caves, which were also significant Aboriginal cultural heritage sites (and were surveyed as such by what is now the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery).