Mt Weld, Along The Ridge To Mt Frederick

[ILUVSWTAS]

Just returned from a trip to Mt Weld, Along the Weld Ridge then descending to Mt Frederick then out to the forestry roads and back to the cars.
To our knowledge not many (if any) have taken this route before, so if anyone knows anyone or has done it themselves i'd be very interested to hear!!
Its off track in a somewhat sensative area, so I wont go into too much detail. We visited the very secret Crystal Cave which was amazing! And I found a tail of a lyre bird.

It was one of the hardest 3 days walking i've done! VERY scrubby in places and lots of scrambling once we left Mt Weld itself!

[ILUVSWTAS]

Then came the Ridge Traverse, scrub and Rock followed by more rock and lots of scrub! Good scrub too, the over 1100mtr alpine stuff!

[ILUVSWTAS]

Views were amazing, a really good look at the Arthurs!!

[ILUVSWTAS]

Then another big scrub bash we came to a campsite where some sites had to be "arranged"
The next day was a further bash up to Mt Frederick where we the had yup another bash down to the forestry roads to complete the trip!!

Definately some of the hardest walking ive done yet! GREAT fun though!

[Nick S]

hmm, the Arthurs could be a walk in the park after this trip
So how deep was the cave, actual crystals? maybe just glow worms..

[ILUVSWTAS]

Hahaha no they aint called the crystal caves for nothing! Parks have detoured the track around it cause ppl were chipping big chunks of them for their own keeping! I found one on the track last time I was going up to Mt Weld! I'll post a picture of one of them a bit later.....

And yeh at least the WA will be on a track of sorts.....

[ILUVSWTAS]

crystals....

[DaveNoble]

Very interesting.

Friends of mine, back in the eighties did a trip from Schnells Range to the Gallagher Plateau to Mt Weld, then south to the Huon. They reported scrub and dolerite boulders on Mt Weld .... It was a trip that I always wanted to do.

Dave

[ILUVSWTAS]

I can confirm the scrub and dolerite along the ridge Dave! First half of the ridge was quite a pleasant mix of Open heath/Boulder hopping/scambling.
The further south we went the altitude became slightly lower, therefore the scrub started to really take over.... it actually wasnt as bad on the descent to the lake near frederick as it was on top of the ridge!

Got a nice hole in the bottom of my relatively new MACPAC pack though which is a bit upsetting. Also a nice hole in my right Gaiter that im quite thankful for as the hole in my leg would have been otherwise much larger.....

[Swifty]

Great shots, looks like the weather was also kind to you.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Thanks Swifty!
Weather was thankfully VERY kind

[bogholesbuckethats]

Thinking about doing this walk but starting from Frederick and walking to Weld. I didnt think id find anything online about it but luckily I came across this old post. I hadnt heard about Crystal Caves but they sound like a pretty nice place to check out on the way. Would you mind PMing me to share any additional information about their location? Cheers