Pelion Range

[mjdalessa]

So, has anyone done a full Pelion circuit?
Up the track to Achilles, camping near Paddy's Nut, Leonards Tarn etc., climbing Thetis and Perrins, possible side trip up Ossa, then traversing the ridge to Pelion West.

What times and difficulties can you expect?

[pazzar]

I haven't done the full circuit, but I have been up Thetis and Pelion west. Many members of the forum have done it though. There are two main options for this. One is to head up to Pelion Gap and go up over Ossa to the Ossa-Thetis saddle, the other is to skip this and go up the Thetis track to the same spot. From there you can go up Thetis and descend to Leonards Tarn. Perrins can be done as a day trip from here. The ridge between Achilles and Pelion West looks extremely open and you could even find some good (exposed) campsites there. Going up Pelion West is steep, and rocky. The summit should only be done in good weather and you won't want to be scared of heights. The track back down to the overland track is well defined and easy to follow. Give yourself at least 5 days to traverse. The only bits that may slow you down will be descending Thetis and avoiding the scrub heading up Achilles.

Hope this helps,

Jared

[Graham51]

I did part of this 2 or 3 years ago. We walked from Rowallen Rd via Lees Paddocks to the saddle below Thetis on Day 1. Day 2 we went up over Thetis to Leonards tarn and climbed Achilles. Day 3 we went out to Perrins and then scrub bashed down to Frog Flats. Day 4 out to Lees Paddocks and then an easy final day strolling back to the car. It looks pretty straight forward out to Pelion West but I'm unsure about the climb onto the mountain itself.

[stepbystep]

My understanding is that the full traverse goes from Pelion East over Ossa/Thetis etc and out via Pelion West, with access via Arm River I'm sure that 5-6 days would be the sensible timeline.
As Graham and Jared say the common access is to the Ossa/Paddys' Nut saddle bypassing P. East and Ossa. One of the classics, so they say...... sigh

[pazzar]

There are also reasonable descriptions in Chapman's Cradle-St Clair book, although due to the off track nature of some of it, the details are kept to minimum. I found the notes easy enough to follow though.

[mjdalessa]

Sounds straight forward enough, but does anyone have any first hand info on the ascent of Pelion West from the ridge? and thanks to all that have replied already.

[Nuts]

If you mean via the usual route on the south eastern side it Is quite straight forward, the track through scoparia follows the obvious lead up the ridge before climbing steeply through boulders towards the top. From there the traverse along to the summit (other end) is where things can get tricky, I haven't seen a written description but imagine it would be pretty vague, large boulders with big drops and fissures. I assume you don't intend a winter traverse, without protection it would be far more a serious undertaking.

[DaveNoble]

I have some notes on the traverse here -

http://www.david-noble.net/Tasmania/Res ... serve.html

They should be adequate. Note - the ridge to Pelion West is easy. The hard part is from the summit over the boulder-field to the descent track to the Overland Track.

Also - the "Pelion Traverse" is from Pelion East to Pelion West" or the other way. Ossa is the highest part of the traverse and well worth climbing.

Dave

[mjdalessa]

Is the start of the Pelion West Track easy to find? Any tips, landmarks etc much appreciated...

[pazzar]

It can easily be missed. From Pelion Hut, you head up through the forest, and just near the highpoint in the forest you will come across the track shooting off uphill between 2 logs. It is about 200m from Pelion Creek, so if you come out of the forest, you have gone too far. It is a reasonably good track and is easy to follow until you get on the boulders, then its a case of finding the best way up from there. Don't try climbing to the tippy top if you are solo or if its wet, it is potentially dangerous as there is a cliff right below the climb to the top. A fall would most likely be fatal.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Is the start of the Pelion West Track easy to find? Any tips, landmarks etc much appreciated...

so out of curiosity, are you actually looking at doing this walk? or the other 83 you've been enquiring about recently?

I suggest buying John Chapmans books.

[mjdalessa]

I have the SW book, just not this one. I have also read the info in Abels Volume 1, just making sure really. To tell the truth I am actually doing this one seeing as I got invited on an OT trip, but many other things I want to do, but dont end up having time or choosing something else over it. I'm sure you understand how theres so many things that look desirable in our little state.