![Mountaineering the Port Davey Monitor Tasmania [2025]](https://i1.wp.com/bikehikesafari.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/img_0657.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,1190&ssl=1 "Mountaineering the Port Davey Monitor Tasmania [2025]")
The Port Davey Monitor is just not hiked as usually as its close by neighbour The South Coast Monitor.
Most individuals begin at Scotts Peak Dam and hike to Melaleuca Airstrip. From there you’ll be able to fly again to Hobart. In case you have the time, a greater choice is to proceed on the South Coast Monitor to make a steady 9-13 day hike about 160km in size. To facilitate a neater hike you’ll be able to organise a meals and gas drop midway at Melaleuca.
Port Davey Monitor Transport
Listed here are your decisions for transport to and from the Port Davey Monitor.
Scotts Peak Dam Transport
Attending to the Scotts Peak Dam to entry the mountaineering trails such because the Port Davey Monitor and Western Arthurs is troublesome. There are a number of choices:
- Hitchhiking – Not straightforward however that’s how I received there
- Driving – personal transport or hire a automobile, there’s a massive carpark on the trailhead
- Public Transport – attempt Tasmania Wilderness Expertise
Meals and Gasoline Drop at Melaleuca Airstrip
Organise to begin or end at Melaleuca Airstrip. and fly with Par Avion.
If selecting to hike the Port Davey Monitor and South Coast Monitor you’ll be able to organise for a meals drop to be delivered to the airstrip at Melaleuca by Par Avion.
They fly there often with meals drops and in addition promote gas for all sorts of stoves. I organised a litre of gas to be picked up. Once I hiked the path I flew in 11kg of meals which included 2 litres of wine and 1kg of fruit cake together with different treats to maintain my mountaineering group motivated.
2025 Edit – The freight/meals value is $7 per Kg – ($15 for a 230g fuel canister, $8.50 per litre of Shellite or Methylated Spirits)
The meals and gas are saved in a rodent-proof field close to the airstrip and hut. Our cardboard field was undamaged once we arrived. After unpacking our meals field a pilot arrived and kindly packed our field out for us, together with our garbage. That was not anticipated however drastically appreciated.
Port Davey Monitor Gear Information
A Full Information to Light-weight Gear for the Port Davey Monitor.
Attempt to pack light-weight if doable. Listed here are some evaluations of the perfect light-weight and ultralight mountaineering gear.
Mountaineering the Port Davey Monitor
Here’s a full day by day journal of my time spent mountaineering the Port Davey Monitor. It offers you a little bit of an perception into what it’s like mountaineering the Port Davey Monitor in Tasmania.
Port Davey Monitor Day 1
The hike began with mild rain and drizzle which was solely heavy sufficient to harass somewhat than dampen something. Inside a few hours, it ceased and the Western Arthur Vary got here into view. Most individuals stopped on the campsite at Junction Creek however because it was early so we forded the creek and saved transferring. In heavy rain this generally is a very sketchy crossing so preserve that in thoughts when fording this creek in heavy rain.
We continued by way of the glacial sculpted valleys of the Crossing Valley with the White Valley Mountains on the appropriate and the Western Arthur Ranges on the left to our first campsite of the journey at Crossing River. At crossing the river, we had a most attention-grabbing assembly with a German couple heading within the different route.
They suggested that that they had been mountaineering for about 28 days from Lune River with numerous facet journeys. The man began with a pack weight of 40kg and the women began with a pack weight of 30kg, principally cookies. They have been in nice spirits and really constructive of their perspective, even when they seemed like they wanted feed and per week in beneath a sizzling bathe.
19km in 6.5 hours together with all relaxation stops, lunch breaks, picture and/or video stops, siestas and so forth
Port Davey Monitor Day 2
From Crossing River camp there had been some latest hearth injury that had made apparent adjustments to the panorama. It meant that there was straightforward strolling for us as most if not all the timber and shrubs had been decimated by the fireplace.
The outcomes meant uninhibited views of the encircling White Monolith Vary and its mountains akin to Sculpted Mountain, Wombat Peak, Scrubby Peak and Stonehenge Peak. By lunchtime we reached one other campsite, Watershed Creek, we have been considerably shocked to discover a German bloke, Sven. He was late in leaving camp, looks as if he was taking his time. We took our time over lunch earlier than heading off to the world generally known as the Misplaced World Plateau.
The monitor was in nice situation with straightforward strolling so we determined that we might try to make it to Spring Creek for our in a single day camp. As we received nearer the world scarred by the fireplace completed and the monitor took on a extra muddy facet. We handed Sven who camped at a small campsite close to a flowing creek simply off the Misplaced World Plateau. It was getting late once we reached Spring Creek and we adopted the plain footpaths by way of the storm-damaged space till the footpaths disappeared.
We backtracked and adopted the subsequent most blatant monitor, they too disappeared. Then a 3rd time we noticed the error in our methods and located the monitor. The river crossing was broken by a fallen tree. We made it throughout to seek out that the marked campsite had been destroyed by timber felled from the storm. Again throughout the river once more to the lower than beneficial camp. With constructive attitudes, we laughed the time without work as an extended tiring day which made our minor however irritating errors multiply.
26km 10.5 hours together with all relaxation stops, lunch breaks, picture and/or video stops, siestas and time moving into circles!! and so forth
Port Davey Monitor Day 3
As soon as once more there was fantastic climate once we left Crossed Spring Creek once more for the third time as we set our sights on tenting at Bathurst Harbour by the top of the day. The strolling was fantastic and we briefly set our websites on climbing Mt Rugby, one of many highest mountains within the space which promised nice views of the environment. As we approached we determined that it might be extra prudent to present it a miss for now and proceed to Farrell Level on the North Aspect of Bathurst Harbour. The monitor up Mt Rugby seemed non-existent, no less than we couldn’t simply discover it.
We have been there in good climate. It was even heat sufficient for me to go for a swim and I hate chilly water. Bathurst Harbour is big. There’s a slender channel that must be crossed by row boat. Nationwide Parks present the boats for hikers. The winds and tidal circulate could make issues attention-grabbing for some teams. We arrived at tides that gave the impression to be operating out by way of the Bathurst Narrows at about 2 knots. we waited till late afternoon when the tide slowed to cross the 300-meter crossing. There are equipped row boats on both facet of the slender channel which required us to make 3 journeys to make sure there was a ship on both facet. The campsite on Joan Level was beautiful and the afternoon dinner spent watching the setting solar on one of many remotest harbours in Australia was magical.
13km in 8 hours together with all relaxation stops, lunch breaks, picture and/or video stops, swims, boat journeys and so forth
Port Davey Monitor Day 4
After we set off this morning the climate was grand. Low fog drifted outwards from the harbour onto the encircling valleys and low-lying nation. After one other temporary geographical error, we arrived close to what gave the impression to be a monitor which indicated that it went to Mt Beattie. We checked with the map and determined to present it a crack. And I’m so glad we did.
The views from the climb and summit of Mt Beattie have been beautiful. Bathurst Harbour, Mt Rugby, the narrows and Port Davey have been seen as was our final vacation spot for the day, Melaleuca. We lingered on the high for fairly some time taking within the vista. We determined to take a shortcut right down to the remaining sections of the Port Davey monitor. It was shorter each in time and distance.
It was a very popular day and we ran out of water whereas on the high of Mt Beattie. Fortunately the brief minimize took us to a small creek to quench the thirst. We sighted Sven once more who was busy making a cup of espresso for the afternoon. He invited us to partake within the ritual. It offered the vitality to make it to our vacation spot.
Melaleuca
Melaleuca, our campsite for the evening has a free hut to remain in. Valerie, Sven and I have been the one ones staying within the hut. There have been posters within the hut of Lake Pedder earlier than the dam was constructed. The outdated map confirmed the unique Port Davey Monitor which crossed the now flooded dam space en path to the small city of Maydeena. Will need to have been fairly a trek again within the 60s and earlier. Pleasant and useful volunteer rangers greeted us on the hut. Our meals bundle had arrived so we opened the field of wine and fruitcake after dinner. Solely a small quantity of wine and I used to be considerably tipsy, my tolerance when mountaineering was non-existent. Suffice it to say I slept nicely.
17km in 7.5 hours together with all relaxation stops, lunch breaks, picture and/or video stops, and so forth
The Port Davey Monitor is commonly ignored as one of many boring tracks of the South West. I loved the entire thing from Scotts Peak Dam to Melaleuca. There’s range and the area round Bathurst Harbour is beautiful. The nice climate on the journey added to the pleasure. Extremely beneficial. Click on on the hyperlink for Half II of the journey to the South Coast Monitor.
Whole of 75km in 4 days together with all facet journeys and so forth
Have You Hiked the Port Davey Monitor or although of mixing this hike with the South Coast Monitor? Bought a query about mountaineering? Go away me a message within the feedback part under.
Subsequent : Mountaineering the South Coast Monitor
Extra nice stuff about mountaineering in Tasmania:
Greatest Locations to Purchase Outside Gear in Australia:
Snowys.com.au | Macpac | WildEarth
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The creator, Brad McCartney from BikeHikeSafari is a small unbiased adventurer and outside gear tester who owns and runs BikeHikeSafari.com.
BikeHikeSafari is just not half of a giant weblog community and is proudly unbiased. All evaluations on this web site are unbiased and trustworthy gear evaluations of out of doors merchandise by the creator.
The creator, Brad McCartney is a really skilled triple crown thru-hiker, adventurer, and bike tourer having spent 1000s of nights sleeping in a tent and sleeping bag (Learn extra). He was a supervisor of an outside retail retailer and may be very skilled in what’s vital when utilizing and testing gear for evaluations like this.
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