Hugel to Rufus?

[Son of a Beach]

(Split from another topic)

I'm aiming to camp at Forgotten Lake (or possibly Shadow Lake) on the first Friday night after today when the weather looks good and I don't have anything on for the weekend. Then spend the weekend doing Little Hugel, Hugel and Rufus, camping somewhere in between (a couple of locations come to mind) on the Saturday night (shouldn't be too strenuous - could be done in less time that that). I'll be making a last minute decision a couple of days beforehand, whichever weekend it ends up being, based on weather forecast, and lack of weekend commitments. Will give me a chance to try out the new Vela I tent I've just bought.

[bluewombat]

Nik,
the camping is better at Shadow than Forgotten and the gain in walking times is negligible. Are you are planning to go off Hugel directly to Rufus, I was on Hugel recently, that route does not look easy , the boulders on the connecting ridge are huge and it would be a pretty full day, going Little Hugel, Hugel, Rufus.
cheers
bw

[Son of a Beach]

I haven't decided exactly yet, so the advice is appreciated.

I was hoping to be able to go that route, but was planning to make sure I could back-track if necessary. I'd be happy to skip Rufus if I run out of time (having been to Little Hugel and Rufus before), but I'm allowing two days to get from Shadow/Forgotten Lake back to Cynthia Bay, so that should be heaps of time.

I generally make walk plans that change en-route, and usually end up being much shorter than my original intentions.

[Son of a Beach]

Does anyone else have any good information about how passable the territory is from the summit of Mt Hugel, South along it's ridge, and then SSE into the valley between there and Mt Rufus?

I've navigated down the boulder field between the plateau on Mt Ossa and the source of Pinestone Creek with a full pack (extra heavy pack as it was a training walk for a harder walk later). Would the boulder field there be comparable?

Are there cliffs or other impassable obstacles?

Note that this is off-track, so any replies detailing routes should be by private message. Or if anyone feels this area is too sensitive to discuss here at all, let me know, and I'll remove this entire discussion (it doesn't look so sensitive from a distance, but who can tell from a distance?).

[MJD]

I don't think that this one is in the too sensitive category. Afterall there isn't really a proper track up Hugel. Don't know why there isn't a track but there you go. I have done this walk the opposite way, that is going from Rufus to Hugel. It's not particulary hard. Just stick close to the skyline across the top. The closer I got to Hugel the less options there were and in winter it may be a bit more fun on those long sloping slabs. Certainly a walk worth doing. I camped by the lake on the Hugel plateau. Let me know if you want more details. I would have a GPS track of my walk as well.

[wello]

I have also been up to Hugel from the Rufus saddle, and like MDJ, I don't recall any particular issues. I was doing this as a side trip from the normal Rufus circuit, so I did the climb without a pack. A little bit of scrub and some rock to pick the best way through, but other than that it should be fine.

Wello

[Son of a Beach]

Well, the weather looks good for this weekend (apart from a little drizzle around Burnie/Devonport way), so I'm planning to go out and do this walk this weekend (starting Friday afternoon after knocking off work early). I'm planning to go my own, but if anyone else is interested, I'd be OK with the company - just let me know, or bump into you on the track.

[MJD]

Have fun. Hopefully a couple of us will be on Hobhouse on Sunday. Only be about 20+kms away from you. Will take binoculars but perhaps a telescope would be more useful.

[bauera]

Love to join you SOB, particularly in view of the weather which has been fantastic all week and forecast to continue all weekend and for the opportunity for some practical tips on pitching the Vela 1 from one who seems to have spent hours on it. Unfortunately domestic duties will take precedence. The Hugel circuit is good value and as others have indicated you won't have any trouble navigating down to the track between Hugel and Rufus. If you have a go you might fit in Rufus as well. Take lots of photos and post them to make us homebound bodies jealous. And have a great time.

[Son of a Beach]

Have fun. Hopefully a couple of us will be on Hobhouse on Sunday. Only be about 20+kms away from you. Will take binoculars but perhaps a telescope would be more useful.

I'll have to remember to wave in that direction from the summit of Rufus, which is where I hope to be early on Sunday. Now which direction is that from Rufus? I've never even heard of Hobhouse! I'll have to look it up

[Son of a Beach]

the opportunity for some practical tips on pitching the Vela 1 from one who seems to have spent hours on it.

I don't know about hours, but it certainly was quite some time. That along with the tips from the manufacturer, and I think I'm fairly confident in how to set it up well, and quickly now. I'll be sure to take a few photos of it in the wild so you will be able to see if I got it figured out or not.

The Hugel circuit is good value and as others have indicated you won't have any trouble navigating down to the track between Hugel and Rufus. If you have a go you might fit in Rufus as well.

That's good to hear... for some reason my wife is very nervous about me going off on my own this weekend. I tried to re-assure her that I'll be no more than a day's walk from Cynthia Bay for the entire time. I'm planning to Rufus on my way out on Sunday. Makes a good full circuit that way.

[stu]

Have fun Nik, I'm sure you'll find the circuit no problem at all & your wife has nothing to worry about.
I'm sure all the BWT regulars will come to find you if we see no posts on Monday morning
Look forward to seeing the pics, hope the weather is stellar for you

Cheers.
Stu.

[Son of a Beach]

Made it back a day early, so nothing to worry about is right. Was a bit challenging though. I'll have to write up a trip report later.

[tasadam]

Made it back a day early, so nothing to worry about is right. Was a bit challenging though. I'll have to write up a trip report later.

Yeah, just noticed you online, wondered what happened.
Hope it was all good. Any photos?

[Son of a Beach]

Yep, it was all good. The reason I'm a bit slow with a trip report and photos is that I've hit my broadband usage ceiling at home this month and I've been 'shaped', so uploading photos may take too long. Time to up my internet plan, I think! I might try again later, but otherwise it will have to wait until I get to work tomorrow.

[PeterJ]

I meant to have sent in a response earlier, before you did the walk. I found the bit between the top of Hugel and the saddle Rufus below had a lot of big boulders that can get icy during the colder times of year. In fact I had a nasty slip there once.

[Son of a Beach]

Yes, I had one other person warned me about this bit, and it certainly was the most challenging part of the walk. Being alone, I took it very carefully, and I think I took less risks that I would have if I was with somebody else.

The photos will have to wait a little longer... I've just got a new computer at work, and "Migration Assistant" has about two hours before it transfers all my data from the old computer to the new one, and until that time, I can't use either of them (using my Solaris workstation in the meantime).

[tasadam]

Shaped? YUK!

Time to reconsider your ISP.
HERE is a quick search of options for you.
Hope that helps. We're with Internode on 40Gb, very good.

[BarryJ]

Another vote for Internode (but I only have a 10Gb limit).

[Son of a Beach]

I prefer to be shaped than charged extra. I've just upped it to 30 GB. Should do me for now. I used Whirlpool to select my provider, and I'm fairly happy with the choice so far.