Western Arthurs: Some Itinerary Advice

[phATty]

Hi all,

I have searched this forum far and wide for Western Arthurs itineraries and I'm looking for some advice in regard to a trip I'll undertake a bit later this month.
I am planning on doing a WAs traverse of some description whether it's from A-K or the full thing. In short, I only have 7 days currently. I might be able to push another one or two out of work maybe, this would leave me with potentially 9.

I have done the easy bit to Oberon (doing Cygnus comfortably in a day), a couple trips in the Anne area (off track and on track) and have got lots of Tassie walking (bad and good weather) on my record so I'd say I'm well equipped for this walk. My partner however, is less experienced, only having done a couple of long trips with me (SW cape circuit, PDT, SCT and a handful of smaller trips) and she is a bit frightful about the exposure that we might encounter, but I'm sure she'll push through alright, she'll likely just be a bit slower than I am.

At what parts in the usual Chapman itinerary are there likely to be trips between places that I'll likely be able to combine with an early start and good weather?

I am fully aware that if weather cuts us short, we may just have to abandon it all at Kappa Moraine or turn around at Oberon if it really comes down. Is 7-9 days reasonable with a good stint and should I be negotiating with work to have the extra 2 days up my sleeve?

Cheers.

** The reason I ask is that A-K will probably only take us 5 days by my research and it seems a bit of a waste to have the 2 days lying around (in the case of good weather that is).

[headwerkn]

A-K is definitely comfortable in five days - Cygnus, Square/Oberon, High Moor, Haven for overnights. Haven Lake to Promontory Lake again is very doable, as is there to Lake Rosanne via West Portal.

Lake Rosanne to Scotts Peak would be a big day - doable, but long - so maybe day tripping West Portal (and The Phoenix, potentially Carina Peak and/or Mt Canopus too) then walking Promontory Lake to Scotts Peak on your final day is a better idea (we did this last weekend, using the K shortcut) and were done by mid afternoon). That would be a good use of those two extra days assuming you get no delays along A-K. Alternatively if you do go on to Lake Rosanne, breaking the return to Scotts Peak with a night at Wullyara or Seven Mile Creek.

Pegasus/Capricorn and the Beggary Bumps are best allocated a fine day each, and will definitely drag on if you're having to take more time to pack haul etc down the challenging bits. I mean, we did the Beggary Bumps in dreadful weather and made Haven Lake with hours of daylight to spare, but it wasn't fun or particularly sensible.

Hesperus, Cappella Crags, Hayes, Procyon, Sirius, Orion and Columba are all very short (less than 1hr) side trips but will stretch out a day's walking especially if you do multiples. Aldebaran, Dorado etc will add a couple of hours. West Portal between 1-2 hrs depending if you get the right line without any deadends along the way. Can't speak for Capricorn South, it looked like it would burn a couple of hours we didn't have so we didn't go.

Hope that helps

[Last]

If your partner isn't good with exposure maybe the Western Arthurs is not for her. Past Lake Oberon there is often not much between you and a long drop. There's nearly always plenty to hold on to but if you suffer from vertigo it's not the place for you.

[north-north-west]

First up, nine days for a full traverse is sufficient if you have good weather throughout, but don't try to push all the way back to Scotts Peak from Rosanne in a day. The area around Strike Ck is notorious for tangling people up and costing them time, and even without that it's over 35km of muddy, eroded and often overgrown track.
Second, despite what Chapman says (in my edition anyway) there are a few good campsites and even one or two reasonably reliable water sources between Promontory (or Venus) and Rosanne, so you can break up the finale by camping a bit further along Centaurus Ridge and then continuing past Rosanne (possibly even as far as Cracroft Crossing) for the last night.

headwerkn has pretty well covered the sidetrips, although I don't see how so many people find so many deadends going out to West Portal. Sidle, sidle, sidle until you get to the final wall, which has at least three options for climbing, only one of which is seriously loony (yeah, but it was fun).
Carina is short and a great spot to watch the sunset if you're camping at Promontory.
Phoenix and Centaurus high points are just five minutes at most from the through route.
Canopus is one of the best peaks out there so if there's time, do it.
Is there a Capricorn South?
Pegasus South is only an hour return at the most from the track, although Oberon to High Moor is a big day even without any sidetrips, so maybe not.
The descent of Capricorn is the crux, but it's straightforward if you lower packs - you only need maybe ten metres of tape for that.
Dorado is not that far but route-finding for one part can be tricky; you'rre going to be doing some awkward scrambling, or pushing through scrub. Maybe best to leave this one on this trip unless you stick to A-K and take an extra night at High Moor.
The next troublesome bit is the chute just past High Moor; lower packs if necessary, although I've never had difficulty scrambling down fully loaded.
Tilted Chasm is nowhere near as tricky as some people say.
Dragon (Beggary Bumps high point) is another one that's five to ten minutes from the track. Don't even think about Shaula.
Taurus has two peaks, both within five minutes or so of the track, which passes between them. Not going to affect your itinerary to visit them both.
I don't know if Chapman is still pushing the southern approach to Procyon, but it's far easier to go from the west - just leave the track where it turns hard right and starts to descend.

In terms of time: I went from Haven to the Scorprio summit (this one is a must-do unless the weather is vile) to Promotory, set up camp, went over the Sculptor to Canopus, returned to Promontory via Venus, cooked, and took the evening meal up Carina to watch the sunset. In March, so shorter days. Granted, I was ten years younger then but still slow as can be uphill under a full pack, so you can see that section isn't hard. Apart from one or two scrambly bits on Centaurus, it gets easier beyond Scorpio.

Enjoy. It's a wonderful place.

[headwerkn]

Sorry, it's Pegasus South I'm thinking of.

No lack of suitable tent sites - assuming fine weather - along Centaurus Ridge and Crags of Andromeda however there's no real water, especially in summer.

We were at West Portal over the weekend and there are cairns everywhere leading in all sorts of wonderful directions. The southern-contour-around-to-pandani-saddle-then-go-straight-up route is obvious, once you've actually seen it

In terms of your partner and exposure/technical descents, it may be worth doing a "test run" on Mt Anne first. The summit climb is airy and a bit technical in places, but short and sweet and pretty easy to get to. It's long been recommended as a 'litmus test' for Federation Peak preparedness.

10m of 25mm webbing is an excellent compact, lightweight and cheap choice for pack hauling. We actually took 8m of 7mm rope along with a couple of slings and carabiners, as we had a few members of the group who were nervous about the steep descends. In the end though, it was only used to lower people down a very wet Tilted Chasm.

[north-north-west]

We were at West Portal over the weekend and there are cairns everywhere leading in all sorts of wonderful directions.

Ahhhh, only cairn when I did it was at the point you leave the main track. And the one on top, of course. Which is a pleasant change from the four or five (or was it six?) different lines of cairns sidling the Crags of Andromeda.

[phATty]

In terms of your partner and exposure/technical descents, it may be worth doing a "test run" on Mt Anne first. The summit climb is airy and a bit technical in places, but short and sweet and pretty easy to get to. It's long been recommended as a 'litmus test' for Federation Peak preparedness.

Certainly, I remember a couple of techy little ascents on shelves going up Mt Anne itself, but I recall the boulders around Mt Lot pre-notch being a little worse. Mind you, I did wonder off a couple of times and I suppose a pack makes it all a little more awkward.

Thanks for all your suggestions, it's good to know some extra campsites along the way, admittedly, being a local, I'm a little worried about people who haven't booked packing out the usual campsites.

[JamesMc]

One possibility to consider is camping two nights at either Lake Vesta, Juno, or Prom Lake, and doing a day trip to West Portal, then descending Moraine K.