Frankland Range...

[ollster]

Howdy,

A couple of mates and I are thinking of doing the Franklands in early Jan '09.

-"Plan A" would be to get a boat ride (provided by my dad...) from Scott's peak to Pebbly Creek, thereby skipping the lakeside, and then head Nth.
-"Plan B" would be to do the whole thing from Nth-Sth or Sth-Nth, whatever took our fancy (assuming we can't get the boat ride).
-"Plan C" assumes we don't have time to do the whole thing - if we had the boat ride could get dropped further up the lake to the base of the Wilmot/Frankland range and ascend via one of the ridges, and head back south.

I've googled all the info that there seems to be on the range, and also have Chapman's newest tome as a reference. We're all pretty experienced walkers, reasonably fit.

If anyone could pass on their experiences of the Frankland/Wilmot range, it would be most welcome.

[scrub master]

Hi ollster
I'll start off by saying the Frankland Wilmots is a great trip. A bit like a toned down version of the arthurs without the crowds and a real sense of remoteness - provided you don't look at Fake Pedder too much. We did the full traverse back in the early 90's and got dropped at the serpentine dam and walked south. Navigation is very straight forward along open ridge tops. When you do drop down to the scrubby saddles, there is usually a pad just when you need it the most. The only minor navigational difficulty we had was trying to find the campsite below Coronation Peak in white out.
I haven't seen Chapmans lastest offering yet but if you can get your hands on an old second edition, there is quite a good route description of the whole range.
If you can do it, I would highly recommend doing the boat thing. I found the final walk around the lake a depressing scrubby trudge. To be honest, Pebbly ck wasn't much better and there is very limited camping between the lake and the top of the range.
Personally, I would get dropped at the base of one of the open ridges above Frankland Pk and head north. This way, you get all off the good stuff without any of the crud and you could do a quick sortie south to pick up secheron and lloyd jones if you wanted to, although I believe the ridge to secheron can be a tad exciting in parts.
Campsites we used were Islet Lake, Coronation Pk, Citadel shelf, Frankland Pk and Pebbly Ck. In fine weather there are lots of other alternatives on the open moors, particularly around the Cupola and the Lion.
I also have a couple of old tramp articles on the area. PM me if you want me to send them through.

[Graham]

It is a great walk. I've been up there three times. The first time we went up Mt Sprent from the Serpentine Sam and walked along as far as Coronation and then back. The second time we did the full traverse from Serpentine to Scot's Peak and I agree with scrub master about the terrible trudge around Lake Pedder at the end after dropping down from Terminal peak. It's very boggy and very smelly with lots of still rotting vegetation. The most recent trip, we paid for a boat from the pub at Strathgordon and he took us all the way along to just below Frankland Saddle. It was a very easy climb up to the saddle and and from there we walked back to Mt Sprent.
If you start at the Serpentine end, then it is a big climb up Mt Sprent with a full pack and the track is in dreadful condition, with massive steps caused by water erosion. When we did the full traverse we thought that Citadel Shelf was easily the pick of the campsites, but last time we didn't stop there at all - the creek was almost dry and it was very uninviting.
The last trip was also the first time that we managed to get to Islet Lake! Going from the Sprent end there is a cairn just before you get to Koruna and you drop down to the lake from there. We missed it both times when we walked that way and as a result had to climb over Koruna, which is a real bash. I may have the GPS coordinates of the cairn if you want them. You may want to take a rope if you do the full traverse, there are a couple of drops around Frankland and Secheron where we were glad we had it and water can be a problem along that end of the range if it is a dry summer. There are no easily accessible lakes like there are all along the Arthurs. Have a good walk if you decide to go.

[ollster]

Wow, thanks very much guys. Sounds like boat + ascending to the Frankland Saddle might be the way to go.

I guess if you can PM or post co-ords for notable campsites then it may be useful.

Do either of you have much of a recollection of the ascent any of the major peaks, ie: Frankland or Coronation?

[DaveNoble]

I have traversed the range twice - and on both trips we started at the Serpentine Dam and finished at Scotts Peak Dam. On both trips we walked around the side of the impoundment - which was quite easy - mostly open buttonbrass, some muddy sections and a few scrubby creeks to cross (these sections are only very short). Close to the dam - you get on the old Lake Pedder - Junction Ck track - and you walk south on that till you pick up the newer junction creek track (or climb up onto Red Knoll). The impoundment section is easy - but quite depressing. Both times took about half a day.

On the first trip (1978) - we descended from Frankland Peak to Secheron Peak - and then kept on the ridge - and descended down an open ridge to a valley that went to the fake lake. On the second trip (2002) - after climbing Frankland Peak we retraced our steps a bit and headed south into an open area to camp (it was late afternoon when we reached Frankland Peak) - then next day - we dropped down through some scrub (not too bad) and climbed up onto the open tops of the Giblin Range - and traversed that to the fake lake.

The Frankland Range is an excellent walk - very scenic, some great campsites, some interesting route finding. There is some scrub - and if you are used to off track tassie walking then you should not find it too bad (on both trip we found very faint pads through some of the scrub - in the Wilmots and the Franklands). There is also some route finding to do - the hardest section for this is around Frankland and Secheron Peaks. And there are no ducks to help you with route finding. The worst part of the trip is that you are forced to see the impoundment - which I found very depressing indeed.

Dave

[ollster]

Thanks for the comments Dave, but I am a tad perplexed by this...

And there are no ducks to help you with route finding.

Some bushwalking jargon I've not heard?

[DaveNoble]

This site may help -

http://bearbnz.net/peaks/trail_etiquette/etiquette.htm

Dave

[ollster]

Aaah, I see.

No we don't expect to see many ducks.

[Fin]

I was part of a group that traversed the range(s) last summer (Feb 08). We went from Sprent to Red Knoll Lookout in 8 days I think. A generous walking partner's partner drove us in and we left a car at Red Knoll for the week.

Navigation became tricky in the clouds a couple of times, and the snow shower was an eerie experience. Aside from the cloudy navigation, water was the main concern. Like others have said there are not accessible lakes, except the last day along the 'impoundment' so we took advantage of every opportunity, the plastic tubes got a good workout, except after the monster thunder and lightning storm.

We came off Frankland out along Right Angle Peak and found the 'track' down to Pebbly Creek (in the cloud again) and then traversed the Giblin range to the lake, so that's another, and judging by the track a popular, option. The lake level was quite comfortable, only had to do 30m in the buttongrass, and a couple of softer creek outlet sections. The rest was quite easy compared with some very wet stories we'd heard. When I got home the Hydro lake level web site http://www.hydro.com.au/home/Tourism+an ... Levels.htm gave the level as 1.49m from full but I don't know how accurate it is.

Coronation was the only peak we 'missed', the strong wind and driving rain suggested we leave it for another time.
There was a well burnt out valley between the Citadel camp and Remote Peak which made it a clear, though charcoal smearing, side trip.

I've heard of others catching the boat part of the way, and near Terminal Peak and walking northish seemed the preferred option.

While I enjoyed the area a lot, I still prefer the Arthurs.

[ollster]

Found out I can't go in the new year. Only other guy at work who does my job is on leave for the first 2 weeks of Jan. Guess I'll try for Easter now.

Very sad, I was starting to get excited!

[cwcom1]

Has anyone come across any notes relating to the Frankland Range?
I've got John Chapman's book with some rough high level notes.
I've also found 1 website that lists out some GPS locations and proposed times.
I was hoping for some additional info to help plan time / effort.
Thks in advance.

[DaveNoble]

Has anyone come across any notes relating to the Frankland Range?

You may also want to consider that if you need notes to do the Frankland Range - then perhaps you should not do the range. It is not a super hard trip - but it is not easy either. It is certainly way harder than say something like the Western Arthurs. To do the Franklands - you need to be able to route-find, select suitable campsites, find water etc

Dave

[frank_in_oz]

You may be interested in reading this post: http://frankinoz.blogspot.com/2008/02/w ... -trip.html

It was generously provided by someone who did it this time last year and I reckon is a great read, full of good information.
Enjoy

[ollster]

Cheers, I had found that one.

@ David Noble - I agree that the Franklands is a known challenging walk, and only should be attempted by experienced walkers... But to say if you're asking for notes then you should consider NOT going is poor reasoning, IMO. It's the people who DON'T ask and plan before going that get caught out. The more info the better I reckon.

[DaveNoble]

@ David Noble - I agree that the Franklands is a known challenging walk, and only should be attempted by experienced walkers... But to say if you're asking for notes then you should consider NOT going is poor reasoning, IMO. It's the people who DON'T ask and plan before going that get caught out. The more info the better I reckon.

What I meant was that if you intend to do a trip like the Franklands - then you should already have the skills needed to find your way through. Be able to look at the map and work out likely places to camp and to find water. If you are not familiar with Tasmanian mountain walking then there are several easier ranges to gain these skills - such as the Southern Ranges or the Arthurs. These sort of trips are the best preparation - not looking at trip reports or track notes. A good bushwalker should have a set of bushcraft skills that should enable them to go into unfamiliar country and make there way through it without too much information.

Lately I have seen some examples of what I would call "overplanning". One example was a walk in a remote part of SW Tasmania last year where the people had prepared google earth flyovers, spreadsheets with sunrise and sunset times for each day and a lot of other stuff. But when it came to the actual walk - they had to be helicopter rescued. No one as injured - it looked like they could not complete the actual walk and so set off an epirb.

I have been to the Franklands twice. The first time was back in about 1979 (Russia had just invaded Afghanistan when we got out) - and in those days there were no track notes. But the traverse had been a popular trip back in the days when Lake Pedder existed - and so there where a few rough pads in places - but almost no cairns. I got the impression that there had been cairned routes in places but that local walkers had removed them to leave the range wilder. I think the only information I had was from a friend that had been there and said that it took him 2 days for the traverse (Wimots and Franklands) - but he went solo, and this was quite a few years earlier - and he had exited to L Pedder rather than traverse off Secheron Peak. For a map - we had the 1:100,000 and a lso a 1" to the mile dyeline (which had a better contour interval) and I also had a tourist photo-mosaic - which was useful for scrub information. On our trip - it took us two days to traverse the Wilmots, then we had to wait out some bad weather for a few days, then about another three days for the Frankland Range. We met two other parties in the range - both going the other direction from us. One of the other parties was Tony Moscal (a very well known local walker) and Alma - and we found out later that they did us a very good service. Our campfire on the Wilmots had not been put out properly (despite rain overnight) - and when they came along they noticed it still smouldering underground in the peat. Tony had to dig down a long way to put it out. On that trip - we did have some trouble finding water - but managed OK (in one place I had to drain a shallow rock pool but sucking it up by mouthful and spitting it out into a waterbucket - I had to cook that night and my companion on the trip did not know this at the time).

The second trip was in 2002, and I thought the pads were less used than earlier and seemed harder to find - but they were not essential. We took six days on that trip from dam to dam. I had been along the range before - but my memory had faded - and knowledge from the earlier trip was not much use. We found different campsites for each night than I had used before. And I could not remember how we had descended off Frankland Peak - so we made an on the spot decision to try and alternative route which worked out quite well. We chose the route by visual inspection. When i got back to Hobart - I remember telling a friend that it seemed a harder trip than I had remembered from 1979.

Dave

[ollster]

Fair points. I think I know what you mean. You can't just plan everything out and then transpose that onto a map and expect to not have to do the hard work, use initiative, change plans etc.

Still damn keen to go there... and yes, the little group I go with has done Arthurs/Southern Ranges, and a few off track/route based trips (plus plenty of "easy" stuff). So we have a good idea what to expect.

EDIT: Hang on - did you say your mate did it in 2 days for the traverse!? Geeze that must've been motoring!

[cwcom1]

frank_in_oz thanks for the link! Appreciated. Should be a great start to help plan my trip.