Advice re trip to Ossa and Du Cane next week

[selwood]

Hi All,
My first post!
Hope someone can help.
We are on a 4 day trip next week from Melbourne. Weather for Mon and Tues looks good. ( hopefully Wed too)
Plan to walk Arm R and then hopefully get up to camp near the summit of Ossa. Anyone know of the best site up there? How far from the summit? How long should we allow from the start to the top? (moderately fit group}. ( assume we are allowed to camp there?)
I have for years wanted to traverse the Du Canes and next week is maybe my chance. Some local knowledge please!
How long from Du Cane Gap to Castle Crag and then to Mt Massif? Do we need to take a rope to pack haul? Where are the trickiest spots for navigation? Are there campsites enroute to Mt Massif?
How long from Mt Massif to the Labyrinth ( say L Elysia) visiting Geryon Nth along the way?
Any help or ideas much appreciated. BTW, we have quite a lot of Tas walking experience and know our plans are a serious undertaking.
Thanks!

[scrub master]

Hi Selwood
My first bit of advice is if you've only got 4 days, I wouldn't be contemplating a traverse of the Du canes if you want to overnight on Ossa as well.The two times I have done the traverse, I have taken 5 days from Narcissus.Admittedly, this did include side trips to all the surrounding peaks (walled,eros,hyperion,geryon) but to do just the traverse still would have taken 4 days. Coming in from Arm River, this is at least a 5-6 day trip
From Du cane gap to Massif is a full but comfortable day. Navigation is straight forward in fine conditions but would be trecherous in white out, particularly trying to find the drop off onto big gun pass. A pack hauling rope may be useful but I didn't find the need for it. The only really tricky section where it might come in handy is negotiating the (very) large boulders just before the summit plateau. Camping is limited between Castle Crag & Massiff. It may be possible to camp by one of the small tarns along the ridge but I wouldn't depend on it. The best sites are in the "bowl" on the summit of Massiff. Depending on how far you want to get, again, it is a full but comfortable day to get to the Labyrinth.
While it's not exactly encouraged, there are no rules to say you cannot camp on Ossa. The best site in fine weather is by a small tarn about 200m down from the summit. From Pelion Gap to the summit without a pack is 60-90 minutes. I'd say you could double this with a full pack on your back.
I'll probably get shot for mentioning this, but an excellent alternative 4 day trip is to continue along the ridge from Ossa to Thetis and on to camp by Leonards Tarn. There's a lot of boulder hopping,scrambling and scrub involved, but no worse that you could expect on the du cane traverse and Leonards tarn would have to be one of the most sublime campsites I've had. To get out, go back over Thetis to Paddys Nut and pick up the old track to Pelion Plains.

[stu]

I'd agree with scrubmaster on this one - 4 days is a pretty / very limited time frame, especially if you want to get back out the Arm River track. This track however is plenty good enough to walk in by headtorch; we quite often do this on a Friday night to get a full Saturday in then walk out / drive back to Hobart on Sunday. The Arm River track takes about 2.5 hours at a reasonable pace from the car.

Why not take in some of the other great peaks in the Pelion area - Oakleigh, Pelion East, Pelion West (a pretty long day from New Pelion hut for this one tho), maybe Thetis & Paddys Nut or as suggested out to Achilles / Leonards Tarn - this area is pretty well covered in John Chapmans guide on the Reserve.

I did the Du Cane traverse a couple of weeks ago - we pushed pretty hard & got from Windy Ridge to Lake Elysia (about 11.5 hours including rests / a long lunch on Massif); be warned it was a pretty exhausting day of boulder hopping (I'm talking car & house sized boulders) with a full pack on & wouldn't be recommended to many but the fittest groups. Obviosly add on extra time to do side trips in & around the Labyrinth. This area, including the Du Cane traverse is also pretty well written up in the Chapman guide - take note tho, if you do the traverse, go right (north) when you get to the 'menacing' set of cliffs (as indicated in the guide) under Massif, not the left (south) route as suggetsed. The northern route requires no scrambling up ledges or pack hauling. No pack hauling is required on the traverse (if you are comfortable on huge boulders, otherwise take a short one just in case).

So, my suggestion would be to cut this into two great trips.

Have fun.

Stuart.

[Nuts]

Yes, you would need more time.

One point-

Ossa- As much fun, and as nice a place it may be to camp. I think it is a mistake to encourage people to do so.
If you really have to (ie. it just wouldn't be memorable enough without it ) please remember, It is a very small fragile plateau. Many people end up drinking from that tarn. ALL waste should be carried down from there. There are few places where you would spend a night up there without adding to the damage.

Good Luck

PS. Yes, I've camped up there, yes you can and Yes, At this Stage- No it's not 'banned'.

[MJD]

It's about 20km from the Arm River to the summit of Ossa with an overall climb of almost 900m. Very good track. I camped up there in early June. Got there as the sun was setting but the days are much longer now. You are only 2-300m away from the summit and at a height of 1575m. Quite exposed. Good settled weather recommended.

The Ossa, Paddys Nut, Thetis, Achilles and Perrins Bluff option would keep you busy and off the tourist route . You then have the following possibilities on the way out: Pelion West, Oakleigh and Pillinger. The 100k maps show the old track into Thetis.

You can also camp up on Mt Oakleigh.

[selwood]

Thanks to all who have replied...very helpful.
I guess we will need to plan a longer trip next time to do the Du Cane Range...it does sound great along with the suggestions for Thetis Paddys etc. We are catching the boat at Narscissus on the 4th day so need to head south.
Maybe a long day walk from Pine Valley might get us up Massif and Geryon North. Anyone able to suggest how long this might take?
Also, is it possible to drop into Cephissus valley near Geryon campsite from the northern end of the Labryinth? I seem to remember reading about a track or route that does that as an alternative way back to the hut.
Cheers,
Selwood

[MJD]

The track you mention runs from the Pool of Memories (NE corner) down to the Geryon Camp. Don't know if it gets much use these days. It's certainly a bit overgrown at the Labyrinth end but usable.

It would be a long day from Pine Valley to Geryon and back. Good thing is that it will be downhill on the way back!