Choose a diary entry31/03/2004 - Retrenched! 02/04/2004 - Farewell Lunch 03/04/2004 - Preparation 1 04/04/2004 - Preparation 2 05/04/2004 - Packing 06/04/2004 - Sydney to Hobart to Mt. Field NP 07/04/2004 - Tarn Shelf, then into the Southwest 08/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 1 - Up Alpha Moraine 09/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 2 - Lake Cygnus 10/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 3 - Lake Oberon & Square Lake 11/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 4 - Lake Oberon to Lake Cygnus 12/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 5 - Lake Cygnus to Junction Creek 13/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 6 - out to Mt Field NP 14/04/2004 - Back to Hobart for resupply and on to Southport 15/04/2004 - Southport, Hastings springs, Cockle Creek 16/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 1 - Cockle Creek to South Cape Rivulet 17/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 2 - South Cape Rivulet 18/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 3 - back to Cockle Creek, then Hobart 19/04/2004 - Hobart to Lake St. Clair 20/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 1 - to Vera Hut 21/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 2 - Tahune Hut and the Summit 22/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 3 - Tahune Hut to Vera Hut 23/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 4 - out to Derwent Bridge 24/04/2004 - Derwent Bridge / Lake St. Clair to Hobart 25/04/2004 - R&R in Hobart 26/04/2004 - Hobart, buying a new Camera 27/04/2004 - Hobart to Port Arthur 28/04/2004 - Port Arthur Historic site, then to Fortescue Bay 29/04/2004 - Tasman Trail Hike - Fortescue Bay to Eaglehawk Neck 30/04/2004 - Eaglehawk Neck to Hobart, Targa 01/05/2004 - Hobart R&R, Salamanca Markets 02/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 1 - to Wombat Flat 03/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 2 - to Mt. Ramsay 04/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 3 - Mt. Ramsay to Huskisson River 05/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 4 - Camped at Huskisson River 06/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 5 - Across the Huskisson 07/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 6 - Out, then to Strahan 08/05/2004 - R&R in Strahan 09/05/2004 - Dissapointing Gordon River Cruise 10/05/2004 - Strahan, R&R, Preparation for Overland Track 11/05/2004 - Strahan to Lake St. Clair 12/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 1 - Lake St. Clair to Pine Valley Hut 13/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 2 - the Labyrinth and Acropolis 14/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 3 - Pine Valley Hut to Kia-Ora Hut 15/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 4 - Kia-Ora Hut to Mt. Ossa to Pelion Hut 16/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 5 - Pelion Hut to Windermere Hut 17/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 6 - Windamere Hut to Cradle Mountain Village 18/05/2004 - Sick!, Cradle Mountain to Launceston 19/05/2004 - Recovery 1 20/05/2004 - Recovery 2 - Doctor, and Cataract Gorge 21/05/2004 - Recovery 3 22/05/2004 - Recovery 4 23/05/2004 - Recovery 5 24/05/2004 - Launceston to Bicheno 25/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 1 - the Hazards to Cooks Beach 26/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 2 - back to Bicheno 27/05/2004 - Exploring Bicheno 28/05/2004 - Bicheno to Launceston 29/05/2004 - Exploring Further in Launcestion 30/05/2004 - Cataract Gorge 2 31/05/2004 - Launceston to Liffey Falls to Deloraine 01/06/2004 - Trowunna, Devils Gullet, Walls of Jerusalem National Park 02/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem Hike - Day 1 03/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem - Day 2 - Out, then to Hobart 04/06/2004 - Mt. Field NP, Styx Valley & on to Triabunna 05/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 1 06/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 2 07/06/2004 - R&R in Launceston 08/06/2004 - Flying Back Home

Tasmania Diary

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Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 1 - to Vera Hut

After striking camp, we packed what we needed for 5 days hike and hit the road.
The trailhead of Frenchmans Cap is 30km from Lake St Clair, and has a very basic carpark and nothing else, except a sign pointing to the trail.
Gaye had stashed her valuables at Lake St Clair since as a sign in the trail head carpark said, vandals are known to break into cars here.

We got walking at about 9:45am – a bit late. The track almost immediately crossed the Franklin River on a swing bridge. The Franklin is fairly small here. The track climbs through cool rainforest then descends again to the Loddon river. During the descent, there were good views of the mountains surrounding Frenchmans Cap, and a glimpse of the Cap itself.

After the Loddon River, we came to the infamous "Sodden" Lodden Plains. They were not as flat as the plains around the Western Arthurs, and again they were not really plains, but a flat bog / marsh.
The track was very muddy – often to or above the knees. There were however a lot of sections with firmer ground.
I was finding it a bit annoying as I was continually having to wait for Gaye to catch up. The reason it was annoying however was because she was continually trying to go around all the mud holes, which took much more time, didn't do much to prevent getting muddy (even with gaiters), and destroyed vegetation in the process. I on the other hand was just wading down the middle of the mud, only going on a side track when it was so slippery as to be impossible not to. I just accepted that I was going to get muddy. One reason however that she might have wanted to go around however, was because at one point Gaye got stuck so she couldn't pull her feet out of the mud. I grabbed her pack and gave her a hand.

After the "Sodden Loddens" comes the Philps Lead, and I though the first part of this was worse than the Lodden plains, but by this stage at leas we had a goal, as there were mountains rising in front of us.
Finally the mud was over, but we still had a big hill to negotiate, climbing up over it, then down into Lake Vera. By this time, we were getting pretty tired, due to the effort expended in the mud. Finally the hut came into view.
After taking quite a while to get the mud out of my socks and boots, we got set up and had dinner. It was nice having a hut – there was no-one else there. I wasn't as good as most in New Zealand, with no matresses, or sink, but was still nice at the end of a day's hike.

There are a lot of dead trees, bleached but still standing in the area, killed by fires that have passed through in the last hundred years. The rainforest trees are not used to fire and don't survive.
The night was quite cold, it was 4°C in the hut when we woke (the thermometer is so you know when to use the stove – when the temperature is below 10°C)

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