On my way up through western Tasmania the other week, I called in for lunch at the visitor centre at Lake St Clair. I know the area quite well, having visited several times in the past, and having even completed a Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair full adventure once.
It's been smartened up a lot in recent years. Here's the new official start/end point of the 5-10 day epic.
Here's a view of part of the King William range, which I remember conquering about 25 years ago.
The Franklin River used to be a very distant destination. You walked for a day or two to get a glimpse of it, or you rafted down it, at risk of life and limb, for a week or more. Now you can peruse the upper reaches at least, via a very comfortable, well-made walking track off the Lyell Highway. It was magnificently green.
And here's Frenchmans Cap, a particularly iconic South-West Tasmanian wilderness destination, glimpsed in the distance from a highway car-park. It's typically a 5-day walk into Frenchmans. I did it once, when it involved days of trudging across the muddy 'Sodden Lodden' Plains. I understand they've built boardwalks recently that take most of the challenge out of the Sodden Lodden, but it's probably still a good hike.
I stayed the night in good old Queenstown. 'Queenie' was once a busy mining mecca, with its massive copper mine, whose smelters denuded and poisoned the surrounding hillsides. While I was there I don't think I saw any locals on the streets at all. Just a few tourists. There's talk of the Mt Lyell mine opening again soon maybe.
Upper reaches of the Franklin River
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