RedQuinn wrote:Thanks all for the info. Considerig doing Frenchmans and Irenabyss in April as a replacement for the W Arthurs if the area there is still closed. Re the crossing of the river at Irenabyss. How do people negotiate this and get their packs across? One of our party is prepared to swim, nude, with a rope and somehow make a line to lift the rest of the packs across. Is this feasible from your experience?
We swum (in shorts rather than nude). Then threw the end of a rope across (with a stick tied to it to make it easier to throw). The packs were tied one at a time to the rope and pulled across, then the rope was thrown back for the next pack, etc.
The backs were carefully waterproofed for this, with everything bagged up inside, and the entire pack placed into a large garbage bag outside. The garbage bag was tied as tightly as possible around the rope.
I don't think I would be quite so tedious about it all next time. I would certainly bag everything inside the back carefully, but I'm not sure if I would bother with the rope and the outer garbage bag. If the pack gets a bit wet, then so be it. I can empty it and turn it upside down for a few minutes to get rid of 90% of any water that got in. And its not far to swim, so I reckon just floating the pack across and pushing it while swimming would be OK.
You just need to start well upstream and be prepared to drift a fair way downstream. There may be a bit of current there on some occasions.
It's also worth noting that the water there can rise by SIX METRES after heavy rain (because the water over a large catchment area all gets funnelled through that tiny gap). We noticed flood debris caught in the trees TWO METRES HIGHER the camp sites on the northern side of the river (where we camped the first time). I think the camp sites on the south side would be above the usual flood levels (I camped there on a rafting trip a few years later).
The southern camp sites are nicer, but when walking out that norther route, I'd use the northern camp sites, as I'd rather swim across while warm at the end of the day, than while cold at the start of the day.
A paddle up the river is well worth it, if you have anything to paddle in/on! See:
http://bushwalk.com/blog/blog/2012/01/2 ... -rest-day/