How is it best to climb Little Horn?

[Linds]

I am going on a two day walk with my 21 year old son, who is on his summer holidays with us from Sydney, and another mate. Our main goal is to climb Barn Bluff on the second day. I thought it may be exciting to climb Little Horn from the Face Track on the first day and then down the back to rejoin the Lake Rodway Track to stay overnight at Scott-Kilvert Hut. I know that some of the bush walking clubs have peaked Little Horn but I have heard of some failed attempts from the Face Track. Can anyone let me know if this is a good idea and which is the best way to achieve this?

Thanks

Linds

[Linds]

PS This is my first posting in this forum and this question may need a private email for any reply. Please email me at L.M.Smith@utas.edu.au

[Son of a Beach]

PS This is my first posting in this forum and this question may need a private email for any reply. Please email me at L.M.Smith@utas.edu.au

Email sent with partial information on the face track side. Hopefully others will be able to provide more detail for you.

[corvus]

G'day Little Horn is at this point in time approachable via Hansons Peak track(Face Track Closed) and it is easy to pick up the well defined track from there ,IMHO the top of Little Horn gives the impression of being on a real mountain summit as from memory only three our four can be comfortable on the peak and it is a long drop to the Rodway Creek valley.

[corvus]

G'day again,
I have been presumtive in assuming you meant a non alpine type climb , if you did mean to really climb I suggest a read of J G Brannigan "A Great Tasmanian" an account of Fred Smithies exploits on this peak.

[corvus]

Linds G'day once again,
Read you initial post and your plan to do Little Horn is sound but as previously mentioned I believe the Face Track is still closed so if your trip via Barn Bluff may need modification .
Suggested alternative ,Hansons Peak track ,divert to Little Horn then to Scott Kilvert for the night, up early to Barn Bluff (which is a big walk for the tyro) then down to Waterfall Valley for an overnight rest and back out to Dove lake.
You may also be hampered by the the Park regulations of numbers on the Overland Track so If you would like more info PM me

[tastrekker]

You may also be hampered by the the Park regulations of numbers on the Overland Track so If you would like more info PM me

I have tested the official position on this a number of times. The restriction on numbers only applies to people doing the entire walk. There is no restriction on people who are doing part of the walk. E.g. a walk from Cradle to Arm River is quite legit without paying the fee. One ranger I spoke to said that fee paying Overland Track walkers have first dibs on the huts.

A visit to the Overland Track Booking System just before you go will give an indication of how many booked in walkers you will encounter. The maximum number of public bookings is 34 per day plus another 30 (I think) people from commercial groups. The commercial groups do not use public huts as half use tents and half use the private huts. It is actually now much easier to get a spot in a hut for a partial Overland Track walk during summer than it used to be before the fee system was introduced.