Bushwalk Australia

Mmmmm.
I was in a sensitive area recently and there was some track marking there. Non-native timbers, joined up with non-degrading metal and with paint and Parks logo on it!
I thought about taking it out but didn't. Maybe next time.....

I didn’t say I removed all of it?
But taping a track every 5 metres is a joke,it’s now taped every 30m or so!
Who does this stuff anyway??
It’s a scrub bash for a while but a very simple route,straight line due east and then due west once on the plateau for 400m to the summit,not rocket science

TentPeg wrote:Mmmmm.
I was in a sensitive area recently and there was some track marking there. Non-native timbers, joined up with non-degrading metal and with paint and Parks logo on it!
I thought about taking it out but didn't. Maybe next time.....

Sounds like legitimate track marking, a lot different to excessive tape. Why would you remove it?

Pink tape is horrible when it is over done but the odd bit in the right pace can be a joy.

There was a time when tracks were marked with the painted lids from steel food tins and I remember following old number plates on the way up the Craycroft to the base of Moss Ridge. You just had to find the right number plate to know you were at the base of the climb.

I also remember somewhere where sections of old metal venetian blinds were used.

You mean like these Mark? Can you make out the punched holes that give the directions?

Thanks Tastrax, those plates are fascinating but not what we experienced. It was 1969 or 70 and the plates had the original paint coating (white with black letters/numbers?) without any punched directions that I noticed. We had the plate number either from somebody Chris Cosgrove had spoken to or perhaps it was in the printed HWC? notes that we followed though the South Pictons, the Eastern and Western Arthurs finishing with a day trip up Mt Anne.

There are still venetian blind markers on the Reynolds Falls track.

Also remember the licence plate markers. The old line of McKays, from the seismic station down to the plains, still has a couple, and I've seen one or two along other old routes. The paint is long gone.

Just for the record,I never said I removed it all,just the unnecessary amount and the stuff that was on the ground!
Who is authorised to put it there in the first place??

North West where did I say I removed all of it??

Hot073 wrote:North West where did I say I removed all of it??

You didn't. I simply said that I hoped you didn't. You clarified that you did not, so I didn't see that any further comment was required.

Regarding the track up Clumners, the tapes that have been left make the route obvious without being a visual blight on the landscape. More than adequate.

It’s been mentioned before about the tapes from Lake Ball to Dixon’s, and say what you want but what was there was an incredibly ridiculous amount - and a botch job at that! (every 1 or 2 meters, long tails, tied around bush clumps, all over the ground) - it actually angered me seeing so much pink blowing in the breeze through such easily navigatable open terrain and pine forest. I removed a good bags worth (maybe a third), and yes the route is still very obvious.

On a side note, stumbled upon some fresh wooden stakes not far from Dixon’s that looked a bit out of place - marking a future potential glam hut maybe?? Or am I being overly suspicious?? Maybe an alternative camping area by parks? If anyone could shed some light it would be amazing. It was quite a large clear area tucked in the pines maybe 10 minutes from Dixon’s along said taped route. Can provide a picture.

weetbix456 wrote:Regarding the track up Clumners, the tapes that have been left make the route obvious without being a visual blight on the landscape. More than adequate.

It’s been mentioned before about the tapes from Lake Ball to Dixon’s, and say what you want but what was there was an incredibly ridiculous amount - and a botch job at that! (every 1 or 2 meters, long tails, tied around bush clumps, all over the ground) - it actually angered me seeing so much pink blowing in the breeze through such easily navigatable open terrain and pine forest. I removed a good bags worth (maybe a third), and yes the route is still very obvious.

On a side note, stumbled upon some fresh wooden stakes not far from Dixon’s that looked a bit out of place - marking a future potential glam hut maybe?? Or am I being overly suspicious?? Maybe an alternative camping area by parks? If anyone could shed some light it would be amazing. It was quite a large clear area tucked in the pines maybe 10 minutes from Dixon’s along said taped route. Can provide a picture.

Not sure of any PWS movements in there, but depending on which clearing you are referring to, could it be marking the Wailing Wall hut site? Maybe the Mountain Huts Preservation Society have information?

Not familiar with the wailing wall hit site. Different to the temple site I am assuming? Photo attached - not sure why is wonky

I walked through the same area in March. I can’t explain it either but I found a mix of those little wooden stakes and some metal star pickets. I would love to know what they are doing there too!

Could also be an ecological monitoring site. DPIPWE would be able to answer that. I'm not aware of any sites in open grassland that aren't my own though, there is some Pencil Pine monitoring happening up there too.

weetbix456 wrote:Not familiar with the wailing wall hit site. Different to the temple site I am assuming? Photo attached - not sure why is wonky

Looks too big to be an old hut site. Some rough locations of old huts were documented by Simon Cubit, but I've not actually found most of them yet.

Helipad perhaps?

weetbix456 wrote:Regarding the track up Clumners, the tapes that have been left make the route obvious without being a visual blight on the landscape. More than adequate.

It’s been mentioned before about the tapes from Lake Ball to Dixon’s, and say what you want but what was there was an incredibly ridiculous amount - and a botch job at that! (every 1 or 2 meters, long tails, tied around bush clumps, all over the ground) - it actually angered me seeing so much pink blowing in the breeze through such easily navigatable open terrain and pine forest. I removed a good bags worth (maybe a third), and yes the route is still very obvious.

On a side note, stumbled upon some fresh wooden stakes not far from Dixon’s that looked a bit out of place - marking a future potential glam hut maybe?? Or am I being overly suspicious?? Maybe an alternative camping area by parks? If anyone could shed some light it would be amazing. It was quite a large clear area tucked in the pines maybe 10 minutes from Dixon’s along said taped route. Can provide a picture.

I think so too,I left the tape about every 40-50 metres and where there was a hard to see junction etc.
And I still came home with a shopping bag full of tape!

As others have already stated in other topics - it looks like the photo above is where the planned alternative camping area for Dixon's will be. Assuming then also that it was Parks who put in the pink tape along to Lake Ball...I still stand by the fact that it was a pathetic job of it. Almost a quarter of the tapes had fallen off and were on the ground. A notice explaining what the tapes are for (if it was Parks) may also be of use to avoid confusion to others who planned to use the old way - and as far as I am aware no approvals have gone through to solidify the planned T2 standard track along this section..

I'm definitely starting to sway with Andy's original post - as more often than not I am venturing out expecting (and looking) for an untaped, relatively human impact free wander in the wilderness, only to have my walkway blazed ahead brightly for me. I do see some merit in a single trodden path, rather than a spread of many in popular places - but I guess publications such as The Abels, Chapman, blogs and even the accepted use of GPS route sharing are making once minor/occasionally visited destinations more accessible and particular. It could also just be that all our other walking destinations are being churned out as mega dry boot highways - so what are we to expect. People seeking more of an adventure are bound to look elsewhere.

I walked somewhere yesterday that I know wasn't taped half a year ago - and was the topic of an alternative route conversation on this site around the same time. Now there is fresh pink tape pretty much the entire way - and not always along the best route mind you.

Should new routes be taped? Who is the authority to determine so? Or should only long established routes be re-taped occasionally? If there are individuals/groups out there doing this on a regular basis - can you please consider that there may be other people out there who simply wish to find their own way.

In a shrinking world, this is becoming harder to do.

Going through my old photos and found this from a trip to Mt Albert a couple of years back.

This track is less than 1km to the summit and takes around 30 minutes. From memory there was a piece of tape every 2/3 meters and I left some where it wasn't as clear which way to go.

Good on you for pulling it down and carting it out.It’s littering plain and simple and the question that no one can answer still stands...Who authorises the placement of track marking tape?

I din't realise this was such a scandalous topic.

I will pick up the old, work out tape when it falls on the ground, but overall I don't really mind the tape.
But I am based in Victoria where it often marks old, semi abandoned tracks, old forestry cuttings etc.

Heard a funny story of some mates of mine who were recently doing a off track walk in the otways, and came upon a nice taped trail out of the valley they were leaving. They got angry at the bright tape, so removed it as they followed it, then lost the track, and got themselves lost too as they didn't know where they were (and had removed the tape showing where they'd come from).

A track that I walked on Sunday was re-taped on Monday morning by a party that I ran into on my way out. The route was already well taped, but the new tape was placed in new, more obvious locations. Now I don't have an issue with remarking tracks where tape is badly faded or has fallen, but take the old tape out with you! I ended up removing many duplicates and places where tapes occurred too close together. My pockets were very full at the end of the walk - which is less than 3km long!