by zacharycbruce » Mon 07 Feb, 2022 3:36 pm
Just as a quick update;
I walked from Solomon's to King David's after dropping my gear/setting up camp at Dixons. And then took the "direct" route down.
Some side notes first, conditions at Wild Dog are not great and I'd recommend most people to go to Dixons. At Wild Dog there were a lot of flies (presumably because of the number of people, the toilets, food etc.), and posters warning about brushtail possums being a big issue (the posters are quite amusing- "do not feed!"). The outlook is also not very nice, you have to camp on platforms and it's really not that much further to get to Dixons.
That being said Dixons is being over-camped IMO, people aren't following the directions for the temporary toilets that have been set up (over filling them). And I think with the way people are prepping food etc there it's not long before they'll have the same problems with brushtails and flies etc. There's also no taps like at Wild Dog and people are trampling all over the place to collect water. There's also some concern about the impact people are having on the pines there.
I spoke to a ranger who said the supplies are there to build platforms and install more permanent toilets, but it's going to be away from the current site. It may be that they restrict camping in that direct area around the hut, but what that would be like who knows.
I would suggest anyone heading up there to camp further up towards Mt Jerusalem, or further down Jaffa Vale. More privacy and it spreads the impact.
Back to the topic at hand, the walk from Solomon's to King David's is easy enough to follow. The footpad is clear and it doesn't take long, there's quite a few cairns made by previous walkers. The footpad does divert in several different directions which I guess is just people with different opinions about the best way to go and they all end up back together.
The direct route is also easy to follow, but steep and scrambly in sections and would be slippery in the wet. Again there are cairns, and there's only really one way to go that "works", at least on the steepest section.
I spoke to a Ranger at the bottom who says PWS prefers people not to walk the direct route. She asked about erosion as that's the stated reason, but I didn't feel it was an issue. Certainly no more than any of the marked official trails. I asked about why the route from Solomon's to King David's isn't on the TasMap or signed. She explained that they've had quite a few people get themselves in trouble up there. All the official walks are easy, and if you had no sense of direction, a change in weather or came unprepared (water being the main issue apparently) I can see how that would happen. It does look like it's "just over there" (about 1.5km) but it's a harder 1.5km than the other walks and there is no reliable water. Looking around at the general cohort of walkers up there I can understand PWS's thinking.
We had a bit of a discussion about the best way to manage it. She was suggesting knocking over the cairns, especially on the direct route. I said it's probably only more experienced walkers who would either know about or attempt that way (although the Abel's book doesn't help) and the cairns actually help make it safer for those that are going to walk it regardless. Plus subsequent walkers will rebuild them. Warning signs could be better, as are used in plenty of other areas, for the walk from Solomon's to KD's and/or on the direct route. Although if they do have concerns about erosion the black X signs might actually dissuade more people. I guess the issue with warning signs about it being a walk for "prepared and experienced walkers" (or whatever wording it is they usually use) is that people walk themselves in to the area and suddenly think they're experienced enough to tackle whatever is up there?
Anyway, it's definitely a beautiful spot and I can see why it's so popular (easy access to what feels like wilderness). If I was to go again I reckon I'd avoid the summer, and probably come in /out via one of the other routes (even via Lake Adelaide/Ball) that are less trafficked. Its not that I saw a heap of people when I was walking, I just think it would be nicer experience.