Picton range circuit

[alpinelad]

Hi all - planning to walk the Picton Range circuit in about 5 weeks time. Trying to find info on the terrain and vegetation to be walked after leaving Mt Picton via Hewardia ridge, Pineapple flat to Abrotanella rise. Chapman's South West Tas book gives a little info on the route. Has anyone had recent experience through that area? Thanks

[lefrojapanfour]

hey there, im planning the picton range circuit at the moment and would love to hear if you made it around and how long it took, any info would be great! cheers

[Beeper]

If you're coming up from Blakes Opening the track has had no work done for many years and has been left to die, you could end up doing alot of scrub bashing / route finding.

Once you get into the alpine areas route finding is easier, the track would now only be a faint pad.

Most people do Picton as a day trip from the Forestry roads to the south.

Very very people do the traverse/circuit, your navigational skills will have to be good.

[lefrojapanfour]

no we will be starting on the steanes tarn track and then down over hewardia ridge to abrotanella rise then back out via square tarn track. (hopefully)

[alpinelad]

Hi there, no we did not make the circuit. We left the start in hot humid conditions with a stiff breeze. By the time we got to the junction that goes down to glassworm tarn or right up the spur to Mt Picton it had clouded in, wind blowing 80km hours plus. We took the option to camp by Glassworm tarn and see what the morning was like. Unfortunately it rained overnight and was clouded down to 8oo meters so we took the same track out and thought we would return one day to be able to see the views around the circuit.

The track up was long, some steep sections that had rope to help drag yourself up. There was many trees down over the track that required getting down on all fours - energy draining. the camp site at Glassworm tarn was just big enough for 3 one man tents, not all tents got level ground. Hope this helps, cheers

[jwalker]

Hi Lefroy,

We did the circuit as you intend to on Jan 1-3 of this year. As Beeper suggests your navigation skills would need to be good and you'd also need to be happy in scrub.

We had very poor wintery weather for the crux of the walk with little visibility. For the most part we found no track from the point where you swing south on Hewardia Ridge right through to the summit of Mount Chapman. Had we clear weather we may of at times been able to pick better lines through the terrain. However with the lack of visibility we experienced, we found ourselves mostly in thick scrub through this whole middle section of the circuit. In poor weather there were countless opportunities to go very wrong with the route, from leaving Steanes Tarn right through to Square Tarn. Having to often confirm where we were going made progress slow. We also didn't find water from leaving our campsite at Steanes until we encountered some quite small pools up on the peak up out of Pine Tree Saddle (can't recall the name of it right now).

Doing the walk, my impression was very few people do this as a circuit. Being successful in the conditions we experienced gave a real sense of accomplishment!

Oh if you find a pair of blue gortex pants (mont i think) in the scrub down into Pine Tree Saddle one of my walking buddies would be stoked to get them back!

J

[lefrojapanfour]

hey thanks for the info jwalker. with any luck this great weather will hold out until easter! i had guessed that not many people do it due to the lack of info anywhere but it sounds like a good time. can't wait. i'll keep the eyes open for the pants (weather permitting!)
thanks again.....lefroy
p.s did you stay the first night near mt picton and then head down the following day or camp along the untracked route somewhere as daylight is dissapearing fast!

[jwalker]

Have a great walk! Let us know how you get on. I'd be particularly interested if you have an easier go of things than we did. I suspect we may of often got caught in thicker stuff than perhaps we needed to.

Yep we camped near Mt Picton at Steanes Tarn on the first night. Spent the afternoon climbing the summit and lounging in the sun. Calm before the storm. You could easily get further along the route if you wanted to. Probably stock up on water though if you decide to do that.

J

[aryeah]

Here are some brief notes after I soloed the Picton Range circuit in February this year. I did the circuit clockwise - onto the range via the Square Tarn track and return to the car via the Steanes Tarn track. Water was hard to find in some spots and I saw little evidence of recent parties.

Day 1: from Picton Spur road to Pineapple Flat. Track up is easy to follow but stops at Square Tarn. There is a scrub band to negotiate on the climb up to Abrotanella Rise, and a bit more scrub traversing around Mt Chapman. No water at Pineapple Flat itself but there is some in the gully 400m to the East.

Day 2: 2 hrs scrub-bash from Pineapple Flat to Pine Tree Saddle (pick up water here as there is no more until Winking Creek). Going gets progressively easier over the open tops - 2 hours from Pine Tree Saddle to the prominent knoll at the head of Hewardia Ridge. I then scrub-bashed to North Lake via Winking Creek - slow going as the old tracks have vanished until you get to the saddle west of North Lake. An 8 hour day with some scrub to negotiate.

Day 3: Back up to the saddle above North Lake, where the old track to the summit vanishes after a few metres. I took 2.5 hours from the saddle to the summit. From the summit, easy descent to Steane's Tarn and the start of the track through the forest back down to the Picton Spur Road.

Summary: a great 3-day circuit for experienced navigators.

[scrub master]

For the most part we found no track from the point where you swing south on Hewardia Ridge right through to the summit of Mount Chapman. Had we clear weather we may of at times been able to pick better lines through the terrain.

yep, you picked the wrong line. There is a fairly well taped pad through that section (or at least there was last year) and is marked by a BIG stone arrow at the start to point the way, very easy to miss in whiteout though. The only real scrub is south of pine tree saddle where it gets a bit vague but can still be followed by looking for old sawn off king billy stags. From there the pad traverses around the south side of that bump above lake ovoid for a bit before popping out on top where it's plain sailing to pineapple flats. I think you're right about not many people doing the curcuit, most just opting for the day trips to Burgess & Picton. I agree it's a great 3 day trip for those with the navigation/scrub experience.

The track up from Blakes opening is pretty much non-existant these days. It was in bad shape 20 years ago when I went up that way and I could barely find the start two years ago.

[lefrojapanfour]

some good info there scrubmaster and aryeah. much appreciated! any reason for doing the track clockwise? possibly easier to navigate to landmarks perhaps?
cheers again!

[aryeah]

Going clockwise makes the scrubby section between Pine Tree Saddle and Pineapple Flat easier as you do it downhill. I didn't see any of the tapes referred to by scrubmaster!

[jimmyjam]

been up red rag scarp (old picton track from Blakes opening) twice this year. the track is ok until you get higher, just below clearwater creek it's hard to navigate through some downers, then from clearwater creek to north lake the scrub is just hilarious. good flagging tape below clearwater creek then above if you search hard you can find old number plates for the original track. I have to go up again before winter to try and find my knife which I lost in the myrtle some where, or perhaps next to north lake.

as an aside mckays track from tahune to blakes can be accessed from the end of the forestry roads (locked) that run past pear hill. some quad bike guys are pushing up this track to try and get through to Scotts peak, not so good I guess but blakes is a one hour push bike ride from pear hill which s kinda nice.

[tastrax]

.... some quad bike guys are pushing up this track to try and get through to Scotts peak, not so good I guess but blakes is a one hour push bike ride from pear hill which s kinda nice.

Blimey - its a long way from there to Scotts Peak! I will bet they give up ..(or get caught) a long way before Scotts Peak.

[Azza]

.... some quad bike guys are pushing up this track to try and get through to Scotts peak, not so good I guess but blakes is a one hour push bike ride from pear hill which s kinda nice.

Blimey - its a long way from there to Scotts Peak! I will bet they give up ..(or get caught) a long way before Scotts Peak.

Did someone mentioned something about mysterious track work on the yoyo track?
Would explain why, Quads bikes with chainsaws..

[MJD]

There has been some clearing going on and the YoYo track is in pretty good condition (January 2010) except for the last 1km or so. No trees across the track and very pleasant walking except for the continual up and down. Unfortunately we cut down from the Riveaux Road to the YoYo track a bit too early as there was quite a large track coming in further on. I imagine that the start of this track would be very obvious if one just kept walking along Riveaux Road.

No hope of quad bikes doing the last km or so without quite a bit more track clearing.

[jimmyjam]

what about mysterious track clearing? i have a friend who is keen on improving tracks while walking, taking secateurs or a pruning saw and cutting obstacles out of the way. actually he thinks about this quite a bit and cuts away dangerous obstacles, previously cut stems etc that could injure in a fall. sometimes it's possible to use building materials that have been left behind by parks to make things a bit better (moonlight ridge). it does seem a shame to me that tracks like red rag scarp are overgrown, they are interesting historically and I am suspicious of authority's agendas in neglecting some with views of coups etc. pretty easy to be paranoid amongst the destruction of the picton valley, now extending up the huon and weld. anyhow cutting away a bit of scoparia or tea tree seems like a public service to me, especially on a flagged track. quad bikes and chain saws might be a bit much I guess.

[tastrax]

Check out this thread - similar thoughts re track maintenance

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2760

[Azza]

what about mysterious track clearing?

I find highly unlikely that parks would spend money on the Yoyo track past Blakes Opening (or even at all).
Their general strategy appears to be pretty much let it return to the wild, hence why I'm suprised that the YOYO track
is now relatively clear of obsticles. I think in Chapman's guide book its described as having many fallen trees.
I doubt anyone would undertake a massive tree clearing exercise without an alterior motive.
You wouldn't be doing that with a hand saw.

As for cutting things out of the way with a pruning saw - I think its a fine line. Probably okay for historical tracks, but
should we be developing other tracks making access easier, who decides?
What about the side affect of increased visitors numbers to sensitive areas?

[lefrojapanfour]

Just completed the circuit over easter. Was a great walk with some great views of the eastern arthurs etc. Weather was good with no wind and little rain.
definately a scrubby walk though. pine tree saddle is a killer. we ran out of daylight and ended up camping in the scrub without the tent up.
MJD i can see 'why' you lost your pants there but no chance of seeing 'where' they might be. if you do go back to get them keep an eye out for a red drink bottle.
we walked from square tarn track through to the middle of pine tree saddle the first day then up to stearnes tarn for the second night.
water is scarce from square tarn to stearnes so stock up. wouldnt even consider doing it in reverse as suggested in the chapman book. a few tough sections but definately worth it.....

[Big Stu]

We did the circuit last February, up to Square Tarn and then camping at Abrotanella Rise the first night, peak bagging Anderson and Burgess Bluffs in the evening. Easy going next morning to Mount Chapman, and from there on it was scrub avoidance all day. We found some water bubbling out of a spring at Pine Tree saddle, otherwise it was non existent. As the notes say, sticking to the cut of King Billy Pines makes life slightly easier. Up on Hewardia Ridge it was pretty good going, dehydration had trashed me though. We camped on the ridge with a wonderful sunset view of Federation Peak. Next day we continued to the Steanes Tarn campsite by sidling around the Southern Face of Picton. One of our party summited while two of use worked out our exhaustion / dehydration at the tarn. The track down to the road from here is steep in places and well watered, and took us longer than expected. Our summit person had 2 Nurofen and 2 Panadol at the end and was asleep in the back seat within a few minutes of us driving off. In summary, a hard circuit in summer for the easily dehydrated.

The road is now permanently closed 3 km from the start of the track. There is a log book and foot washing gear about 1 km past the closed road.