Zach and I were in the middle of traversing the Western Arthur range on one of Australia’s most iconic – and difficult – multi-day walking tracks.  We had already been on the trail for four days and woke on day five at High Moor with the cloud cover high and dry…at least for the moment.  It was time to hoick up our packs and tackle what is regarded as the most difficult day of the entire walk which includes a couple of mountain summits and two well-known landmarks – the Tilted Chasm and the Beggary Bumps.

We had been looking forward to this section for some time because of it’s spectacular scenery – as if the stuff so far had been mediocre – and because we were going to negotiate the Tilted Chasm, the Beggary Bumps, what we later called ‘the ridge’ and climb the imposing Mt. Taurus.  I’m exhausted just thinking back on it all.

Prior to this trip I didn’t even know what beggary meant (apparently ‘a state of extreme poverty’) and I still don’t know how they apply to the string of jagged mountain tops, each one of which we had to descend, walk around the base and climb back up again.  And the first major descent is the aptly named the Tilted Chasm.

The tilted overhang to this deep and steep gully is slippery from the wet and strewn with loose scree and large steps.  It was slow going and at one stage I handed my pack and poles down to Zach so I could more safely cross that section. Major adrenaline stuff.

But the Beggary Bumps has three similar descents and three equally steep climbs, each one presenting it’s own challenges and offering spectacular views of the lakes below.  As we finished the Bumps we looked across at the trail stretching out ahead of us and commented that it “just follows that easy ridge for a while…”. 

But the devil is in the detail because that ‘easy ridge’ took us most of the afternoon to cross, up and down steep slopes, wind-blown exposed sections and relentless obstacles that seemed to challenge every step.

Late in the afternoon we began the long climb up the ridgeline of Mt. Taurus (1,011 metres) for grand views all around us.  The weather had been very kind to us all day and we were rewarded at the top for all our hard work.

Our stop for the night was at Haven Lake, a small lake intimately nestled in amongst tall mountain walls. But to get there we had to somehow descend off the backside of Mt. Taurus, dropping more than 100 vertical metres of super-steep stuff until we made the shoreline and pitched our tents on our last platform of the trip.  It had been an absolutely epic day and we slept like babies.

Our run with two days of good weather ended the next morning as a heavy cloud cover sat on top of us, blocking all our views. Just as on the other mornings where we had camped by a lake, after packing another wet tent our next task was to make the long steep climb out of the lake’s cirque with stiff and reluctant muscles.

We negotiated a series of steep climbs and equally steep drops, some through the thick bushes that seem to reclaim the trail overnight, and crossed an exposed ridge before coming to the edge of the rim surrounding Lake Sirona.  While the lake was visible through the mist far below us the problem, as I saw it, was the absolutely vertical wet rock wall we had to scale down to get there.  It just looked too risky.

But we did it.  As always, Zach goes first, usually taking my poles so I could use all fours to find the necessary hand and foot holds.  At two stages I dropped my pack to him so I wasn’t unbalanced by the extra weight.  He would direct my feet to a possible foot hold and I would hold on tight as the wind gusts across the rock face.  When I reached him I would put the pack back on until the next death-defying section.  We later spoke to three military guys who came down after us and the lead guy called that section “very very iffy”.  I agree.

Click here for an eight second video Zach shot of me and the drop down to the lake.

That sketchy descent to Lake Sirona marked the end of the extreme sections of the Western Arthur Traverse but we still had a long way to go.  We crossed a ridge and followed the trail up the slope of Mt. Scorpio, skirting around it just below the summit.  We then lost serious elevation off the eastern edge of the mountain until we came to an open ridge and a trail off to the left.  The clouds had lifted and from this vantage point we could see our trail descend the Kappa Moraine and cross the flat Arthur Plains far below.

Our knees took a hammering on the long steady descent of Kappa Moraine but we often turned back to see the jagged skyline of the Western Arthur Range and marvel how we had just completed that extraordinary traverse.  After crossing the flat button grass plains in the searing heat (a few clouds from this morning would have been nice!) we camped that night at Seven Mile Creek, a beautiful little sheltered area where two creeks converge and where we peeled off our stinky muddy clothes and had a well-deserved swim. 

We may have completed the traverse but we still had two days of walking before we got back to our car.  It ain’t over till it’s over.  After another dead-to-the-world sleep we woke to drizzle again and began the long trudge across the Arthur Plains to Junction Creek, where we had camped the first night.  While the rain, sun and wind came and went all day the beautiful Western Arthurs towered over us to our left and we stopped regularly to admire them, photograph them and try to follow our path along the top of them. 

At Junction Creek we set up camp with other hikers whom we had come to know over the last few days as we would frequently see the same people at each camp or along the trail.  It was our last camping night and Zach and I divvied up almost all of our remaining food for a bit of a celebration feast, already telling stories of our time on the range, it’s challenges, it’s joys and the absolute wonder of the mountains themselves. 

The next day we trudged nine kilometres in four hours across the plains and through numerous muddy and woody sections until we returned to our little rental car, safe and content these last eight days while we were away.  We drove back towards Hobart, stopping at the first place to gorge on pies, chips, soft drinks and anything else we could find.   

That night, after our first shower in more than a week and a change into clean clothes, we ventured down to Salamanca Place for celebration beers in a couple of historic pubs before meeting my great friend Len and his partner Saan at another pub for more celebrations, greasy burgers and endless laughs.

The Western Arthur Traverse is truly one of the great multi-day walks in Australia and it was an absolutely fantastic experience to complete it.  But like a few years ago when our other son Will and I completed the South Coast Track on the southern-most shores of Tasmania, to be able to do this walk with my son Zach made it special beyond words.  I will always remember the eight day walk but I will truly cherish my time out there with him.