Eric and Pat

[tasadam]

EDIT Original title of this topic was "Does anyone know these people?"
Now changed.

Does anyone know these people?
I seem to recall they were from Canberra.
I have some other photos I wanted to share with them.
I think they said they were in a walking club up there.


Taken at High Camp hut on Mt Eliza, Feb 2008.

[Moorlands and coast]

I think his name was John and he was working on the Orange-bellied parrot program at Melaleuca in late Jan/early Feb at Melaleuca.

[tasadam]

I have now made contact with Eric and Pat, and am sending them a link to the forum, as well as the photos.
I will leave this topic open in case they join and want to add anything.
Or there is this topic that discusses the walk.

[tasadam]

Eric and Pat have been very busy walking, but they did get back to me, and forwarded me the following, leaving it to my discretion as to whether to add their tale to the forum.
As they said,

I attach a piece which was intended for your Tasmanian bushwalking newsletter and a longer more dramatic piece which was published in the Canberra Bushwalking Club newsletter. You are welcome to submit either (both) to the Tasmanian Club but the second (dramatic) one might be too dramatic for your tough Tasmanian walkers, for whom Mt Anne is a piece of cake!! However Pat has just re-read it and still likes it!

Seems like great reading to me and I am sure some of us will relate.
So, following, is the shorter piece, followed by the images, and then the longer read.
Thank you to Eric and Pat for sharing your adventure with us.

Tasadam mentions meeting Pat and Eric from Canberra. He told us about your website and has encouraged us to tell our Mt Anne story. Here it is! We have walked in Tasmania many times over the years. In February 2008 we had several days in the Mt Anne area and followed it up with a week in The Walls of Jerusalem, both very beautiful and as we discovered potentially very treacherous places. On the Mt Anne walk we camped in a relatively sheltered spot near Mt Anne on the Eliza plateau. During the night we experienced gale-force winds and driving rain. We feared our tent would be torn to shreds but it survived the severe buffeting it received. At first light, we decided to retreat. We were blown off our feet a number of times crossing the exposed ridge. Progress was slow and the bouldered section down to the High Camp hut on Mt Eliza was made especially difficult by the upward driving sleet and freezing, slippery conditions. Eric suffered frostbite to his ungloved fingertips (had gloves just did not put them on, ah me). We were very glad to see the hut and spent three very comfortable nights there waiting for the Hobart bus which passes thrice-weekly on the Scotts Peak Road far below. In the final afternoon of our stay Adam (Tasadam) and Tania arrived and we spent a pleasant time together. On arrival in Hobart Eric was treated for frostbite and made a speedy recovery. Fortunately the doctor had recently spent time at the Antarctic base so was very knowledgeable in the frostbite department!

The photographers on your website are fantastic. We cannot compete but we include a picture of Pat during the calm ascent and, for amusement, our simulated change to the Mt Anne Track signpost.

Pat during the calm ascent

Simulated sign

sign(Medium).JPG (108.63 KiB) Viewed 8049 times

A Tale of Woe Mt Anne Tasmania 2008

I look out of the window of my prison. It is the second day. I live and eat in a space of nine square metres. I sleep on the wooden floor in the small loft. I have no guards - there is no need - the prison is high on a mountainside, many kilometres from the nearest town. Cold, ferocious winds and storms with snow and sleet keep me confined. I don't want to leave but several times a day nature forces me to step outside for a short while. From my raindrop-covered window I see Lake Pedder way below, just briefly, a minute or two each day, through the swirling mist and fog. On my enforced departures from my prison, my home, my saviour, I also see the rugged steep bouldered slopes of Mount Eliza - just briefly - a second or two each time, towering threateningly above the hut, my prison. I return to my confinement where there is food and warmth. Is this how gaol inmates feel - confined, wanting to escape, but happy for the basic creature comforts of warmth, shelter and food? But I am blessed with the comforting companionship of Patricia and life is good.

Three days ago we were dropped off at the start of the Mount Anne track along the Scotts Peak Dam Road, southwest Tasmania by the Tassielink bus. They will pick us up in three more days. We commenced our trek at 11:40 a.m. Thursday 21 February 2008. The weather was clear, sunny and cool as we climbed the steep structured track to High Camp, some 740 metres above our starting point and 3.6 kilometres of walking. We stayed the night in the small stone hut built by the Hobart Bushwalkers.

In the morning we set off to climb the jumble of boulders and rocks known as Mount Eliza. Along the way a memorial plaque to someone who fell to his death in 2004 reminded us of the dangers of this wilderness. A bit daunting, I thought. It was hard work lugging 20-kilogram packs up the steep jumble. We made it to the top in time for lunch a thousand metres above Lake Pedder. Mount Eliza is the highest point on the southern end of the Eliza Ridge with Mount Anne some 3 kilometres away at the northern end. The views along the Ridge, especially of Mount Anne, are breathtaking. Mount Anne is composed of dolerite blocks like Lego blocks one on top of the other, with many columns pushed together forming a jagged columnar profile against the skyline. In the saddle between the main ridge and Mount Anne, and in the associated gullies, lie thousands of Lego blocks whose time as Mount Anne pieces finished millennia ago. It is said that below Mt Anne there is an enormous cave system, caused by the slow dissolution of dolomite. One day Mt Anne might implode and disappear into the void beneath it.

The northwesterly breeze was bringing moisture laden clouds so we decided to camp. We chose a reasonably sheltered site just before the Mt Anne saddle and set up the tent. We went for a walk closer to the mountain, took some photographs, and then wandered over to the cliff tops above Lake Judd. So glad we did! We sat down for nibbles and a drink. Immediate views were of the 3.5 kilometre-long lake and the dolerite cliffs which surround it. Immediately opposite is the lovely Mt Sarah Jane. Beyond, perhaps 20 kilometres away we could see the jagged profile of mountains to the south notably Precipitous Bluff and Federation Peak. Closer we could see two tarns, one of which was an almost perfect cirque as is the northern end of Lake Judd.

The weather was looking ominous so we returned as quickly as possible to the tent, but not quickly enough as it began to rain in the last 15 minutes to the tent. We sheltered in the tent briefly until a lull in the rain enabled me to cook tea of steaming vegetable soup, Kanga curry with peas and mashed potatoes. Thank goodness for the food and the time to prepare it! The weather gods had decided to show us what a night on the exposed Eliza Ridge meant. The rain came, the winds rose to storm and squall level swinging to the south and then to the west, battering our tent, and severely testing the poles, the material and the stitching. All night long we were battered by this incredible blustery gale with no respite. The uneven ground allowed some water to seep in under our sleeping mats and wet parts of our sleeping bags.

Although we didn't sleep well we were cosy and warm. I was worried that our tent would be destroyed and we would be dangerously (fatally) exposed to the elements. We were remote, alone, with no immediate prospect of help. I decided our best course was to exit at first light rather than trying to weather out the storm.

In the morning we ate muesli and milk in the tent and packed our bags quickly during a lull in the rain. The winds were still very strong even in our sheltered spot. Wearing all our clothes, beanies, over pants, gaiters, Gore-Tex parkas, we set off. For some reason I did not put gloves on.

Once on the track back to Mt Eliza we experienced the full ferocity of the gale. We were both blown to the ground early in the trek back, but it did not take long to learn the art of keeping upright. Our trekking poles were very helpful. We staggered rather than walked. Pack covers were blown off a couple of times but were attached to our packs so we didn't lose them.

The route across the Eliza ridge is mildly undulating. In one exposed saddle the gale was so strong and we had to stop walking, turn our backs into the gale, lean forward with the tips of our trekking poles thrust into the ground in order to retain our balance. We were like this for ten minutes or so before we were able to move forward again.

Eventually about two hours later we arrived at the Mount Eliza Trig. My hands were cold and numb as we ate some chocolate - no place to shelter here - and only 240 metres vertically down to the hut. I said to Pat that we must be slow and careful with every step. As we left the summit and started the steep descent, the gale gusted up to us making vision as well as balance difficult with our bulging packs especially when they were side-on to the wind. Carefully, carefully, step-by-step we followed the cairns over and around the large boulders which were now wet and slippery. We negotiated some parts by sitting down and edging forward looking for foot and hand holds. At one stage the route as marked by the cairns seemed somewhat ambiguous so I went ahead without my pack to find the easiest route. By the time I had done this, Pat waiting on a rock was cold and not feeling well. Please don't hypertherm now, I thought. Should we drop into one of the many holes between the rocks and shelter from the wind? That wouldn’t really warm us – make us less cold perhaps. Keep going - you get warm that way – and it’s not far to the hut. So we kept going. Pat was warming and felt better. About this time I noticed blood welling from the fingertips of my right hand which was very cold. We pressed on slowly slowly and eventually reached the hut.

Surprise! Nobody was there and my sunglasses were on the table. We made a hot drink and had lunch. We kept all our clothes on for some time even though they were wet. I inspected my hands and realised that the fingertips were frost bitten. The fourth and fifth fingers on the right hand were the worst affected, the other three not so bad. My left hand had slight wounds to the thumb, forefinger and little finger. Pat was okay. We treated my wounds with Savlon antiseptic cream which I found very soothing.

Later we hung up the tent, inner sheets and coats etc, inside the hut of course- not so much to dry as to drip. Sleeping bags were damp but usable.

For the past two days we have settled down to our prison routine - downstairs in the morning for breakfast, ablutions etc then back upstairs for work. Work consists of diary and other writing, reading bushwalking material, old newspapers, doing sudokus and word puzzles. We chat as well but that is not work. Upstairs we can keep warm in our sleeping bags while working. Initially there was a lot of sleeping and dosing as well - recovering I guess from the previous sleepless night and the ordeals of yesterday. We have plenty of fuel so we drink lots of hot tea.

We have a plan to escape. Our escape has to be tomorrow for that is when the bus passes by again.

The walk down to the road is pleasant. We turn frequently to view with great respect our nemesis – Mt Anne-still looking moody and threatening. The bus arrives on time. En route to Hobart we share experiences with three other passengers whose walk in the nearby Western Arthur Range was also aborted because of the furious weather.

In the evening we have a hot Indian curry. The all-night chemist prescribes a honey-based burn ointment; next day the doctor approves of this treatment for my frostbite and provides non-stick dressings. He is a bushwalker who had spent 18 months in Antarctica and had not seen frostbite as severe as mine, but then they wear gloves in Antarctica!

And yes I have learnt lessons! Wear gloves and study in greater depth the weather forecasts for this wonderful but potentially inhospitable and dangerous place.


Eric, 16 March 2008

[sml_12]

Thanks - that was fantastic.

[beardless]

Thinking of heading near mount Anne in February. I remembered reading this dramatic story before.I wanted to check the date of the trip.February 2008. I will make sure gloves are packed.

[Kainas]

Thinking of heading near mount Anne in February. I remembered reading this dramatic story before.I wanted to check the date of the trip.February 2008. I will make sure gloves are packed.

Glad you did, because it bumped this brilliant story. Stories like this are excellent at reminding us of the need for precautions. Maybe that story should be in the track brochures!

[eggs]

Amazing story - I must have missed the response.
And that hut is like an old friend. Have stayed there 3 times and was tenting near it on a 4th visit.
On my earliest visit there was a fireplace, a table full of old candles in jars and bottles and a gorgeous brown native rat.
It seems much more sanitised now.

[icefest]

That rat had a name last summer....