The new edition is a major
upgrade from earlier editons - the guide has 224 pages (last edition
had 192) and has 141 colour photographs (previous edition had 75 black
and white photos). New additions are colour
topographic maps for all
major tracks and routes and gradient profiles for all major tracks and
routes. New areas included are the Picton Range and also an expansion
of brief notes of harder or lesser known walking routes. Overall the
new guide describes almost 200 days of walking (the previous edition
described 125 days).
Walks described are South Coast
Track, South West Cape, Port Davey
Track, Huon & McKays Tracks, Precipitious Bluff (Southern Ranges),
Picton Range, Federation Peak and
approaches (Eastern
Arthurs and Farmhouse Creek), Western Arthur
Range, Mt Anne, and Frenchmans
Cap. Included as brief planning notes are the West Coast (Strahan
to Port Davey), the Frankland Range, the Denison, Spires and
King William Ranges and also a new section of Other Routes which
includes Mt Hopetoun, Old River to Federation Peak, White Monolith
Range, Vanishing Falls, Mt Norold and the Prince of Wales Range. Here
is the Contents Page
If you are intending to walk here then I recommend you read the literature provided by National Parks. The timetables published by Tasmanian Wilderness Travel (TWT) are worth reading as well for access - they do change bus times each season.
For first time visitors to the region, be careful how you use the suggested walking times. The times given are the normal range for fit experienced walkers who are used to the conditions (experience elsewhere often means little in Tasmania as you will find out). The times are only walking times and most groups should add an extra 1 to 2 hours to each section to account for rest and photographic stops. Walkers not used to tasmanian mud and scrambling with packs often find they take much longer than the suggested times and this is normal. Some writers have stated the times in the guide are fanciful but they are not, as I have beaten every time in the book, but also have taken longer myself at the start of a trip when I am less fit and am loaded with 14 days food. Once you have done 1 or 2 days, you will know how your times compare to the given times and will be able to adjust your estimates accordingly. To suggest a time range of 2 to 7 hours would be not very helpful so I hope readers understand why I have given the average range (example - 2.5 to 4 hours) for fit experienced walkers.
Some have asked for an online version - see my online policy page about why this is still impractical for our books. Here is also an explanation of what our maps include and how we intend they be used.
In writing a guide book, there is a limit as to what can be
included and some useful and interesting information is left out.
As a free service I will be providing some of the extra information
that does not fit into the guide in these home pages. Weather
details, height bar charts and a history of exploration have been
placed into the new edition. If you have suggestions as to what else
you would like included
then drop me an email and if feasible I will place them onto the pages
here.
As a service to bushwalkers, I provide any major changes to the current edition. This has always been available since the first edition to anybody who sent a stamped, self addressed envelope to the snail mail address at the bottom.
