Huon (Yo-Yo) Track conditions 2023?

[headwerkn]

As the title says, anyone been down the Huon Track in the past 6-12 months? Curious as to what sort of condition it's in. We're giving it consideration for a trip later this summer.

I've heard conflicting info as to whether it was cleared up after the fires or not, but that was almost a year ago now. With Farmhouse Creek an ever-increasing walk in thanks to broken roads, has anyone been tempted to take a look?

[doogs]

Hobart walking club have been clearing the start of the track towards Blake's Opening. It sounds like that section was/is a mess.
Five years ago, the section prior to the Cracroft Crossing was a mess of a multitude of fallen trees. I would doubt that this is any better today. I couldn't even hazard a guess on the condition of the large middle section!
Unfortunately Parks aren't focused on this sort of track. The money is going to fancy tracks that they'll never recoup the money costs from building and upkeep.

[headwerkn]

Thanks Doogs. Sounds like any visit for the time being will be a trip unto itself, rather than a convenient highway into the 'middle' Arthurs.
Not necessarily a bad thing, might be worth taking a small saw and some tape

[TentPeg]

Hobart Walking Club, with assistance from Parks, will be clearing the remaining western section of the Huon Track late next week.

[headwerkn]

Hobart Walking Club, with assistance from Parks, will be clearing the remaining western section of the Huon Track late next week.

Thanks, that's great news.
Will be tempting to go in via that way rather than via McKays/Promontory when we head to West Portal in a couple of months' time. Though my understanding of the Huon Track is that a full push from the trail head to Cracroft Crossing was more than a single days' effort even when the track was in good condition?

[pazzar]

Hobart Walking Club, with assistance from Parks, will be clearing the remaining western section of the Huon Track late next week.

Thanks, that's great news.
Will be tempting to go in via that way rather than via McKays/Promontory when we head to West Portal in a couple of months' time. Though my understanding of the Huon Track is that a full push from the trail head to Cracroft Crossing was more than a reasonable days' effort even when the track was in good condition?

Even with trees down, walking through to Cracroft in a single day is definitely achievable. It's about 27 kms, which is mostly good underfoot, being a former vehicle track. There is a section just past Blakes Opening that was a bit boggy, but the rest was pretty good.

It took me about 6 or 7 hours to walk a few years ago, with hundreds of trees down.

[headwerkn]

Oh ok, that's good to know. We've done Scott's Peak to just shy of Pass Creek in a single day, something like 33km in about 10 hrs. Not difficult - just quite boring!

[L_Cham_67]

We've done Scott's Peak to just shy of Pass Creek in a single day, something like 33km in about 10 hrs. Not difficult - just quite boring!

Not difficult!? I seem to recall bailing on the trip up West Portal because of how fatigued we were!

[north-north-west]

We've done Scott's Peak to just shy of Pass Creek in a single day, something like 33km in about 10 hrs. Not difficult - just quite boring!

Not difficult!? I seem to recall bailing on the trip up West Portal because of how fatigued we were!

I did Scotts to Cracroft and then had to continue up onto the Razorback because the campsite at the crossing was full. Again, something like 33km in stinking hot weather, with some badly overgrown sections of track.
Managed that OK and then the next day struggled to haul the gear up to Rosanne. Luckily time wasn't an issue so most of that second day was recovery and then it was on to West Portal and Centaurus Ridge, eventually camping in the saddle just before the Phoenix.

[headwerkn]

Not difficult!? I seem to recall bailing on the trip up West Portal because of how fatigued we were!

That first day was fine. The second day up the Needles in the rain and snow, not so much

[alanm]

I saw this post and the name, and not to hijack the thread, but the name Yo Yo track bought back memories..... I can't help you with the current condition, however, when I hiked it around 39 / 40 years ago, I remember thinking it was aptly named.... and there were some seriously big trees downed that we had to climb over. Two friends and I trotted off from Lake Pedder down to the Arthur Range, then along the top of that until we picked up the Yo Yo and then out via the logging tracks. Man it makes me realise how old I'm getting..... Good luck with the hike. Enjoy.

[headwerkn]

Just an update based on a conversation with two interstate walkers we came across on McKays Track over the weekend.

They'd come in via the Huon Track. Verdict: great until Blake's Opening (where HWC have cleared over the past weeks/months), then 'diabolical' thereafter. Tonnes of treefall. Took them three days to get to Cracroft Crossing, only to be met with upturned camp platforms and general destruction that sounds like 3-4 years of cumulative flooding. Anyway they decided they'd rather walk out via Scotts Peak Dam and hitch their way back to their car at West Picton Road, rather than return back through it.

So yeah, if you're planning on heading out there, don't expect to do it in a day. And maybe take a chainsaw

[Mechanic-AL]

Am I reading this right ? 3 days from Blakes Opening to Cracroft Crossing ??

[headwerkn]

Three days from Riveaux/Quartz Quarry Rd was my understanding of their trip. They didn't particularly enjoy themselves

I've since heard from Parks: their crew took 10hrs to get into Cracroft early this year, but had a report from another walker about two weeks ago who took 25hrs. Sounds like many of the dead trees from the fires have been blown over in winter. The flipped platforms are temporary ones which will be removed this summer.

[north-north-west]

I might leave this for another year. Or possibly another life ...

[Mechanic-AL]

That's such a shame......it's a beautiful area to walk through. or was.

[Letstryagain]

That's such a shame......it's a beautiful area to walk through. or was.

Yes. But that's today's PWS.
An awful shame.
Just a convenient excuse to close off another area that doesn't create revenue.

[mccaj]

I meant to post this earlier, but never got around to it. Better late than never! We did the Eastern Arthurs in the last week of November, 2023, in via the Huon and out Farmhouse. As mentioned in this thread, the path to Blake's Opening was clear, and made for a delightful Sunday afternoon stroll. Little did we know what lay ahead for Monday: in short, it was rough, and absolutely agree with the diabolical as quoted from others. I had read on this very post that there were hundreds of trees down, and the walk through to Cracroft crossing was only 6 to 7 hours. It took us bang on 12 hours from Blake's to Cracroft, and it was very tough going. The track was mostly easy to follow, but the number of fallen trees numbered well into the many thousands. In my head, I had imagined lots of big trees downed, but the vast majority were intermediate-sized, and had fallen from both sides of the path, with the upper branches creating interlocking, impenetrable, and unavoidable obstacles. There was a lot of crawling, and scrambling over the layers of trees that at some points we were probably 5 or 6 metres off the ground, just walking on trees; genuinely wild stuff, and likely the worst kind of walking I have ever experienced. It was also pretty mentally taxing, as the severity of blockages just ramped up throughout the walk - it occasionally eased up with a few clear sections, but the trend was from pretty ordinary -> poo..., right up to the end.

Not quite sure how you spend multiple days on the track; I have no idea where you would camp, I am not convinced that I could have pitched a tent anywhere! Still, I do not anyone that has spent any time on the track.

The rest of the hike was delightful, with the primo weather for getting up Fedders especially appreciated. As it happened, when we were just setting out for the Arthurs proper, we crossed a couple that was just coming down, and they mentioned that they were planning to exit via the Huon track; I hope they made it out okay - we didn't do a good job of communicating just how rubbish the walk was. I hope something is done to preserve the route - it provides fantastic access to the area - but given its current state, I simply cannot imagine it returning to something reasonable without serious measures of both determination, and dingoes.