That Mad Belgian

[doogs]

Full moon as well. Plenty of illumination to keep pushing on

[Overlandman]

Links back at the top of page.

https://eur-share.inreach.garmin.com/louphi

http://www.louis-philippe-loncke.com

[Mountain Rocket]

Thanks for re-sharing those links Overlandman, it's been fun to follow along on his journey. By the looks of it he made it to Cynthia bay at around 8:30pm. Must have felt great to skip all the roots along the lakes edge and give his back and feet a rest!

The whole trip will be an adventure he'll never to forget one way or another and I really wish him all the best.

[beardless]

Full moon as well. Plenty of illumination to keep pushing on

Walk kays while the moon shines

[north-north-west]

Wouldn't it have been more sensible to stop at Fergy's for the night? Not like his rules for the trip would allow him to have a hot shower or a burger, so why go into Cynthia Bay?
Still, it will be intersting to see what he decides to do now. The Derwent is running fairly high, and Lake KW is full.

[jmac]

"Wouldn't it have been more sensible to stop at Fergy's for the night? .. so why go into Cynthia Bay? "

From memory I think there's a permanent nav light on the jetty, so it would be tempting to just aim for that, then worry about camping. Not sure he knows about Fergy's campsite... probably just came ashore and looked for somewhere to plonk his little tent. Today's movements awaited with interest!

[north-north-west]

. Not sure he knows about Fergy's campsite... probably just came ashore and looked for somewhere to plonk his little tent.

More and more you make me wonder how much research he has done about his route.
Still, wouldn't you like to be there watching when (if) he tries to packraft across Bathurst Narrows with the wind and tide against him?

ps: Midday and he still isn't moving. Gee that bloke can sleep . . .

[doogs]

ps: Midday and he still isn't moving. Gee that bloke can sleep . . .

Busy signing autographs and struggling with the media scrum..

[Warin]

off 12.17 .. by boat...

[north-north-west]

He's heading for the dam. Great move.

[north-north-west]

Still paddling down the lagoon. Suppose it wouldn't be very nice to tell him you can walk from the visitors' centre to the dam in less than an hour . . .

[MrWalker]

Still paddling down the lagoon. Suppose it wouldn't be very nice to tell him you can walk from the visitors' centre to the dam in less than an hour . . .

He would have to pack up his boat then unpack it later.
He may think it's easier to keep the boat out and use it all the way to Lake King William. This way he doesn't carry his pack so far.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Still paddling down the lagoon. Suppose it wouldn't be very nice to tell him you can walk from the visitors' centre to the dam in less than an hour . . .

He would have to pack up his boat then unpack it later.
He may think it's easier to keep the boat out and use it all the way to Lake King William. This way he doesn't carry his pack so far.

I suspect after nearly 20days of carrying a pack of 50kg anytime at all in the boat would seem like bliss.

[stepbystep]

He'll be moving quicker now!! In the Derwent....

[Tortoise]

He'll be moving quicker now!! In the Derwent....

Let's hope he stays on the Derwent rather than in it.

[Lizzy]

Well at least this is much more interesting to watch than Politics!!
Blimey he must be cold! All those late nights - brrrr

[Overlandman]

Terribly unlucky.
From his blog
28 Aug. Lost camera, mic, headlight, water containers, stuff to inflate raft. Small hole in hull and 10 cm tear in floor. Continued on sinking raft to a house. Now safe.

[MrWalker]

Terribly unlucky.
From his blog
28 Aug. Lost camera, mic, headlight, water containers, stuff to inflate raft. Small hole in hull and 10 cm tear in floor. Continued on sinking raft to a house. Now safe.

The above is part 2.
This is part 1 for the day
"Started paddling at 12. Passed Lake St Clair and Derwent Basin without much trouble. Had to stop for a log, could've walked around it but decided to give it a go. Raft got stuck half under water. Could've lost it all. Could've died, even"

[jmac]

Messy. Disappointed for him. Could see from the tracker retreat that something wasn't right. Sounds downright nasty. Looks like it happened on dark or after. You just can't push your luck on fast full rivers in failing light.

Could be a genuine blessing if this scare dissuades him from entering Gordon Gorge.

Sounds like the things he has lost are not critical to completing the walk; particularly if he can repair the packraft. We know his strongest attributes to date have been perseverance and willingness to suffer hardship, so I'd be surprised if he doesn't press on.

[Warin]

Loosing headlight.. and water containers...and stuff to inflate raft...
That is going to need some thinking about by him.
Headlight for night time activities...
Water containers... how much water does he need to carry/have for water purification?
How will he manage raft inflation? Could take a while and more energy?

Major blow to me would be the camera. The above just add to the difficulties, the camera means memories will not have a reminder to help trigger them. A write up only does so much, a photo really helps bring it back.

[jmac]

"Mouth infl ok." Excerpt from direct message just received. I read that as intent to continue.

Yes his camera loss will be extremely disappointing, particularly if he hasn't yet backed up all the footage he's taken on it since Penguin. I'm guessing it's the Ultra HD video camera he's lost (because that attaches to the separate Rode mic he has also lost) and not the two GoPros he also carries.

His water bottles were basic plastic ones. One was a Schweppes tonic water bottle straight from my recycling bin, the other was a Gatorade bidon. With the amount of groundwater around, he can complete the route without them. And from now on all water should be good to drink untreated.

The headtorch loss might force him to adjust his body clock to earlier starts; but he has at least 2 or 3 additional small electronic light sources for around camp.

The inflation bag loss is a minor pain; doesn't take too much effort to blow up a packraft by mouth. Yes, an extra nuisance but not a major one.

[stepbystep]

My biggest concern about this trip is the rafting involved. I'm not an experienced pack rafter but have experienced trying conditions that tested me. There is no way I would jump in the Derwent where he did in the current conditions with his expressed experience. I'm not at all surprised he came unstuck there. He's lucky to be alive, it was very dumb to do what he did this evening. Even walking from here on he'll strike some very dangerous river crossings this time of year.

[MrWalker]

It would be a pity if he had to stop at this point. His speed down Lake St Clair indicates he could paddle from the top of Lake Gordan to the bottom of Lake Pedder in 7 days (including 1 day walking between them. But he should avoid going down any rivers on that thing. He should also avoid paddling those lakes at night, since they may have branches just below the surface.

So his time depends on the weather while crossing the lakes and how long it would take to walk from the S end of Lake King William down to Lake Gordon, without using rivers. Someone else will need to comment on that.

[Nuts]

Oh. Ouch! didn't return for the burgers then..
Nothing too technical between the lakes, a poor/tired decision easily made.
Can get him back to Launnie tomorrow? if anyone's in touch

[Warin]

5 pm and he is off again.. paddling at night... well on his way to Lake Rufus ...
May be he'll stop At the end of the lake? Say 10.45 pm.

[Lizzy]

FB says new route via The Spires

[doogs]

FB says new route via The Spires

Good choosing LouPhi!

[MrWalker]

FB says new route via The Spires

That should keep him away from the Gordon River. Does any expert here know how long it take to walk to Lake Gordon that way. A quick check on Listmap suggests the distance is about 40km, so that should be a couple of days, right?

[bushwalker zane]

That should keep him away from the Gordon River. Does any expert here know how long it take to walk to Lake Gordon that way. A quick check on Listmap suggests the distance is about 40km, so that should be a couple of days, right?

Not proclaiming expertise, but presuming he'll take the ridges to The Spires just to the north of the Gell River, rather than going via Battlement Hills and The Perambulator, I would think it'll be a minimum of 3 to 4 days to reach the Font. Then perhaps another 3 to reach Lake Gordon at Twelvetrees Narrows... I'd expect he'd drop down to the lake as soon as he can. So probably into the Holley Basin.

Maybe a week all up? I'd be happy with that at least!

[jmac]

Zane, yes that is the route I encouraged him to take before departure. I showed him on the map where to drop off from the Font, and how beautifully it links via Shining and Conical to the head of the Pleaides ridge near Pokana. It's a magnificent walk. He could drop down to Holley Basin but the line I showed him drops down from near the start of the Pleaides to Pokana Bay. Just one of numerous choices to make.