That Mad Belgian

[GPSGuided]

The cost involved would be far greater both in support crew as well as equipments.

[north-north-west]

I see, yes, had thought there would be more detail somewhere but it doesn't appear that way. So iv'e asked her what routes she took (just out of curiosity).

No Reply

In the meantime, I think Lou-Phi has unfinished business in Tasmania. You need to come back and swim around Tassie, Lou-Phi!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-05/ ... er_Organic

He used no buoyancy aids "in the true spirit of endurance swimming", just gloves and thick wetsuits and head covers.

A wetsuit is a buoyancy aid, even if it's not specifically designed to be one.

[louphi]

Hi all, last day of the year. I bet you're all half tipsy and/or enjoying time with family/friends in town or in the bush.

So small update of the past months:
@peregrinator: thanks for the "genius". I indeed think it's more a brain than a physical effort. In brain I mean smart enough to plan (thanks for those who helped, they know who they are), calm in the face of adversity. And slow enough to decrease the amount of energy lost per km of progress... all obviously to avoid a fall that would lead to a large enough injury that would have stopped the expedition. So a lot of luck somewhere and of course some bad luck and decisions especially with the loss of most of the videos/photos.

1) Memory card was sent by my friend nearly 2 months ago back to Belgium. Still not arrived. He went in Sydney to the company but as we thought impossible to retrieve deleted data on the microSD.
Lessons learnt: copy twice the data before sharing with journalists. Problem: journalists are always in a hurry to get things fresh. I'd love to have 1 day to process these kind of urgent matter.
2) TOES: recovered. Feeling is back Thanks to those 3D printed soles that have kept blood in my toes and removed pressure points. Just 2 toes where the tips are not 100% ok but I consider by healing here.
3) Had to remove 80% of the big left toenail. Is is very slowly growing back from what I just checked now. It was in fact black because of dried blood between the nail and the flesh. No pain at all.
4) Weight: 78kg, pretty good. I've been eating much, especially nuts, found hemp seeds here and started 3 weeks ago to go to a gym. My aim is to do 4 hours of sport per week (after zero since I was 17) and focus on the legs, especially quadriceps. My flatmate is in the 3rd year physiotherapist so she's started stretching me so she trains and I scream because I'm stiff. I just bought a massage table so in january she can stretch me for free, better, train and make me as flexible as a ballerina
5) book: nothing done
6) job: got one until end march.
7) setup newsletter: not done yet either
next expedition? normally not before 2021 or so. But If no job this summer... I'm thinking of an attempt to cross the Pyrennees unresupplied. Only of my legs are strong because the HRP route (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_Randonn%C3%A9e_Pyr%C3%A9n%C3%A9enne)
Scary with the distance and elevation. Especially with a massive backpack. Currently my draft idea is: possible with a max 45kg pack at the start. No packraft, no winter, no stove...just food and lightweight gear. 45-50days max. The idea would be to do the same daily distance recommended but the way I do...walking long hours.
9) My Death Valley first crossing will be completed by a second person in a few days. It took me 9 calendar days but 8 days in duration. It's his 5th attempt. Doing it 2 months later than me (less warm) I think he'll make it in a duration of 6,5-7 days. https://share.garmin.com/RolandB
10) BEST NEWS: TasmaniaWinterTrek earned #3 place of the Top10 expeditions of the year on Explorersweb (even beating the Antarctica crossings done by 2 solo people): https://explorersweb.com/2018/12/29/top-10-expeditions-of-2018-3-first-winter-crossing-of-tasmania/
The means I can use this info to perhaps get National Geographics to hear about me. Would be great to be nominated in their yearly pickup of 7-10 Adventurers of the Year.
11) Total distance. I've been struggling to get the data of my GPS Garmin Inreach Explorer out to be then imported in GoogleEarth. Even if my route is still online, I cannot figure out yet how to do it. All I found is that it's a pain in the *ss and that many people struggle then don't remember how to do. Seriously. It should be a 1 button to download the route grrrr. When this is done, I'll also complete the list of gear and food in excel and upload on my site. Would be great beofre the end of this year.

Sorry for all those fires on the island. I also saw the news about the pilot crash near Federation Peak.

[Overlandman]

Thanks for the update Lou-Phi
Checking up on your blog each day and when you completed the treck was the highlight for me for 2018. Happy New Year.
Regards OLM

[Warin]

Thanks for the up date ... happy new year to you and good luck with the next walk Lou-Phi.

Re the memory card.. the procedure I have been advised to use is;

• Copy (in those days it was to a CD, might be cheaper these days to a memory stick) and send home.
• Once it is home have some one check that the photos are there and they copy the photos to some thing else.
• Then you can reuse the card.

Humm I may have posted this before

For the 'press'? Humm I think I'd copy the memory card a few times, let them have the copies (except for the one you send home) ... As above don't let the original card be used for anything else untill you have 2 confirmed copies at home.

Re Lost gear ... any reports of people looking for it?

Re fires.. they happen. Some think we should have them more frequently.. I don't know. We have lost a lot of knowledge from the Aborigines about what they actually did land management wise.

Re Lost pilot. Accidents happen, most of the time people get away with it. Hopefully they will find out what happened and be able to avoid future ones.

[Overlandman]

Quote
15 Sept. Crashing waves made me capsize passing the tip of the peninsula. Fun! Relaunched and padlled. Later on the wind was too strong, with 2m waves. Had to stop on island. Now, please, Tasmania, send Margot Robbie with pizza & beer.

Lou-Phi to Audition as Ken

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-09/ ... m/10702240

[tastrax]

Rugged handsome type, well travelled .... what more would she need!

[louphi]

Haha. Need more muscles for Ken and the need a really really handsome one, a dream guy, which I'm not.
I'm in Paris, I finally met back with the psychologist at the university where we were filmed by a FRANCE2 TV crew to explain the tests "Decision taking under stress in extreme environment".

France2 will come later in a few weeks to Belgium to shoot more.
Meanwhile, got an email from Daniel (living near the Derwent bridge). The water was still high on monday, he want to already search a bit with his son but they wait for the water level to drop.

My Gopro memorycard 1 sent in November from Syndey to Belgium hasn't arrived yet. I fear it is lost (forever).

For sure the day I have more "budget" I'll think of having USBkeys bought in advance to copy before giving to journalists. My bad in fact for not thinkin of it. During the expedition, not something my brain was focused on or thinking like "oh, i should ask the people to get me to bring 300gb of memory to save my data". I wish i would have made such a mistake on a shorter previous trek , not on this one.

I also joined all distance of offtrack+lakes+river+adding the known distances of the PenguinCradle(PCT)+Overland+PortDavey&SouthCoast track.
It is 470km. The excludes zigzagging and real distance is hence for sure above 500km. That's also without counting the week or so on the PCT where I did 3 times the journey dividing the load. I calculate/estimate this later, I guess it will be around 550km.

I applied to TEDxLondon, by 20 feb, I should know if they accept my talk about TasmaniaWinterTrek and the "decision taking under stress" talk.

[north-north-west]

OK.

Yesterday, just for something to do while on the way back from a walk with an interesting end, I stopped at Derwent Bridge and went looking for the capsize spot on the river. Easy to find and identify. Water is fairly low and gentle right now, so I waded around the log in question, both sides, and checked the river and banks on both sides down to the confluence as far as was practical. No sign of anything on the bottom or the banks that shouldn't be there, although I could have missed it even with the polarised sunnies. It could have been washed all the way down to Lake KW, which gives you far too big a search area for any prospect of success.

Two things I'd like to add:
1) Red, yellow or orange bags, always. So much easier to see.
2) if you tried paddling over that log you aren't just crazy you are *&%$#! stupid. Definitely a major incident to analyse for your "decision making under pressure" study and talks.

[beardless]

...and he's off! (Started today.)
https://eur-share.inreach.garmin.com/louphi

A year ago Louis-Philippe Loncke was on his second day into his 52 day winter traverse of Tasmania starting in winterwithout food or gas resupplies, without using roads and only sleeping in a tent.

Many of us watched a dot on a screen hoping for the best. And he did it. I will look forward to reading the book (because many of the photos were lost).

Will it ever be repeated?

[Warin]

Anyone gone looking for the photos in the river with a metal detector? Think that is what it may need.

[north-north-west]

Anyone gone looking for the photos in the river with a metal detector? Think that is what it may need.

An underwater search might work better, but there is no point trying to do anything until summer. The river is running far too high at the moment.
Part of the problem is that if the bag didn't sink fairly quickly, it could have washed up anywhere along the banks where the scrub makes it very difficult to do a complete search.

[jmac]

Those who remember Tassie’s good friend Louis-Philippe “The Mad Belgian” might be interested in LouPhi’s current project. He’s 40% into an unsupported and unrestocked traverse of the Haute Route Pyrenees. In the same style as his Tassie winter traverse, he started with everything on his back. He’s taken 20 days to reach this point and should accelerate as his rucsac weight decreases.

You can follow on LouPhi’s page: https://www.facebook.com/364280704270/p ... 74271/?d=n

[north-north-west]

Well at least he hasn't tried doing that one in winter.

[Warin]

Hopefully he'll come out with his photos intact this time...

[north-north-west]

Hopefully he'll come out with his photos intact this time...

No packrafting involved, presumably. Fewer things to go wrong.

[beardless]

Hopefully he'll come out with his photos intact this time...

I read that a few days back that on his current adventure he found two SD cards so he might finish with more photos than he has taken.

[north-north-west]

Hopefully he'll come out with his photos intact this time...

I read that a few days back that on his current adventure he found two SD cards so he might finish with more photos than he has taken.

Karma at last.

[beardless]

He is off again Not in Tasmania but attempting the speed record (and unsupported record) of the Kungsleden hiking trail in northern Sweden which is approximately 440 kilometres long.
He has just completed Day 1 and once gain you can watch his dot here.
https://eur-share.inreach.garmin.com/lo ... rHDVDnNMjk

[louphi]

Hello Tasmanians and al, friends, blue-dot followers.
I'm back, LouPhi here or The MAD BELGIAN. Not in Tassie...well not yet.
It took about 18 months after Tasmania Winter Trek to recover fully (lost nail, weight and strenght) As I'm older I started to go to the gym. I'm now physically stronger (arms). For my legs, we'll see.

I created a post before someone else creates one, and well, will continue branding myself MAD BELGIAN I guess. Even the Belgian media uses it sometimes.
So this is my new expedition. I label it a CLASS 5 and labelled all my expeditions here: https://www.louis-philippe-loncke.com/2024/02/classification-of-adventure-expeditions.html

SIMPSON DESERT TREK 3 is here, so comment on that new expedition there if you want, logic.
https://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=41702

Will I come back to TAS end 2024?
Yes probably: Frenchmans Cap (relax) and perhaps looking for my Camera: https://www.louis-philippe-loncke.com/2018/09/mad-belgian-book-and-camera-updates.html
Book not even started
I started working on the films of my first 2 expeditions (enhanced *&%$#! DV-tape video with AI) and so in 2025 I really will get more content out.

All my socials, CV, are here: https://sleek.bio/lonckelph

After the Simpson, and 90 days in OZ, I have to leave, so my idea is 2-3 weeks in PNG, if not NZ and come back. I've to also see perhaps these Sydney fireworkds one day...if I extend my current flight set early December.

PS1: I was nearly casted for the show ALONE first season in Belgium, starting shooting in Sweden in September 2024 but I'll still be in OZ so they kept my application for next season.
PS2: Climbing the State8, especially SA's summit is getting nearly impossible with permit. I'll never gonna do it without permit of course. If interested to know, I opened this: https://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=41532

[NickMonk]

Great to see you back Louis! Looking forward to following along and wish you every success!

[north-north-west]

Louis:

If you mean the one you lost when pack-rafting between leeawuleena and Lake King William, I looked for it summer2019. I walked the river (very low at the time) for about 100m upstream and twice that downstream of the tree that got you. The bag the camera was in definitely wasn't anywhere on the riverbed, nor was any camera. Of course, given how high the water level was when you went down there, it could have been swept a lot further downstream or, more likely, got caught in vegetation off to the side.
Any further search would probably be akin to looking for Lasseter's Reef.

[louphi]

looking for Lasseter's Reef.

Love those expressions I'm learning Well, I wanna give it a try of course.
The drybag had a bit of air and a small leak , perhaps not 100 well closed. Hard to tell. Indeed it could have sunk there or stuck in plants or could be 500m downstreams.
Might need one of those metal detectors. What month is the river at its lowest?

[north-north-west]

Might need one of those metal detectors. What month is the river at its lowest?

Depends on rainfall obviously, but usually very late summer/early autumn. Summer 2018/19 was very hot and dry - hence the fires - so it was well down when I went wading. But we've had five winters and some really heavy rains and extensive floding in some places since then, so it could easily have been moved further from where it originally landed.
To use another Australianism - you've got Buckley's, mate.

[louphi]

Hi, FYI I'm giving a talk (mainly about deserts, will mention Tasmania a few times) in Melbourne this Friday 5 october.
No money for me, if profit, it's for the Explorers Club:
https://www.anzec.org/news/anzec-evenin ... -4-october

[louphi]

Hi All, I'm in Sydney until 18/11 then will probabbly go towards Melbourne. On 26/11 I give a lecture at the Belgian embassy in Canberra, about my journey from backpacker to explorer, mainly covering the Simpson Desert Treks. I'll be in Canberra from 25 to 28//11 or so. Happy to meet some of you if around. After 28/11 no idea where I'll go/what to do. I was thinking doing the entire AAWT unsupported (record is 19 days+) but not enough time.
From 12-25 dec I'm visiting Vanuatu.
After the Sydney Fireworks (time to see them once, it's my 6th time in OZ) I land in Hobart on 2 january 2025 and I fly back from Sydney back to Europe on 27 January.
My plans in TAS in January ?
a) Frenchmans Cap
b) perhaps pakcrafting the Franklin ? But I need a few companions and someone I can borrow a packraft from. Mine is in Belgium.
c) other hikes, dunno.
d) Do you know where in TAS I could rent a metal detector ? or anyone has one ?
I still wanna make an attempt to go in the Derwent river and search for my gear: https://www.louis-philippe-loncke.com/2 ... dates.html
End January, I'll probably go to Melbourne and from there with a friend we'll visit Brigitte Muir (met her a few times, twice in Belgium). I'm trying to meet/visit Jon Muir but he's busy and not so interested I guess.
Also, if you know in TAS/MELB area where "famous/interesting" adventurers live, I'd like to interview them for my "show" MeetExplorers on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MeetExplorers
I hope to edit the interviews of Eric Philips (future Aussie astronaut) and Joseph Clancy I met in Alice Springs (https://www.youtube.com/@ItAintFar)
Regarding a book about TAS, well, I'm gonna first start with the book about the Simpson Desert.
I might open a new discussion for these 2 books I want to write as I'm gonna need help here and there to discuss ideas, find name of plants, where (library?) to get more info as if I write a book I want to of course explain my personal experience but also give more insight about TAS/Simpson Desert.

[north-north-west]

I think Kennards hire out metal detectors.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1635817210016653/ will give you all the packrafting info you need (including where to get gear), although you'll have to ask to join.
I can ask around and see if anyone I know with a packraft would be crazy enough like to join you. I'd love it but I'm not good enough in the water for that.

Talk to Bob Brown while you're here. Been there, done that and, of course, deeply into the conservation side of things.