MAD MISSION: TRUE TASSIE Trails

THE TASMANIAN TRAIL IS A 470KM-LONG ADVENTURE FILLED WITH EXPERIENCES FOR EVERY TRAVELLER – FROM ADEPT AND SKILLED LONG-DISTANCE RUNNERS TO THOSE WHO WANT SHORTER AND MORE RELAXED EXCURSIONS FOR RELAXATION AND PHOTOGRAPHING.

PIOTR BABIS SHARES WITH TRM READERS HIS 2022 (IM)POSSIBLE7 PROJECT WHERE HE TOOK ON SEVEN OF TASMANIA’S BEST TRAILS ON OFFER.

WORDS: PIOTR BABIS IMAGES: LIAM CROZIER

It was November 2020 and day 3 on a stretch of the 470km-long Tasmanian Trail.

I remember mentioning to my friend who was crewing me that day, that it would be amazing to do all major Tasmanian trails as one single project.

The idea stuck in my head. I thought of doing it at the end of 2021, but that winter I did ‘Everesting’ at Cradle Mountain and satisfied my need for the adventure.

The following year (2022) was a bit complicated because of my visa situation and a possibility of moving to NZ, but once I knew I’d be sticking around I decided to give it a go.

Some of my past adventure projects brought a bit of media attention and I thought it would be a good idea to add a fundraiser to this project, so I decided to support Westpac Rescue Helicopter Tasmania.

The total accumulated distance of my original project was 380km with nearly 20,000m of elevation.

Tasmanian trails are well known for their difficulty, with most being exposed to harsh weather conditions. Roots, sharp rocks and deep mud is quite common; Parks & Wildlife recommend about 30 days altogether for those trails to be completed.

Logistics was another challenging aspect, since the trails are located in different parts of the island.

The project required one flight and about 1600km of driving. In the end, I decided to cover 7 of the iconic trails.

• Southcoast Track 85km, 4000m

A 6-8 day hike that starts with a small plane flight from Hobart to Melaleuca to access the trail that provides a sneak preview of the landscape and rugged coastlines and river inlets from above prior to commencing.

• Federation Peak 43km 2500m

A remote peak in the Eastern Arthur Range. Declared by Sir Edmund Hillary as ‘Australia’s only real mountain’ it’s known for its exposed ridge and notorious for muddy approaches.

• Western Arthurs Traverse 45km

A range that contains 22 peaks and 20 hanging lakes. The ‘lollipop loop’ is ranked by many experienced bush walkers as Tasmania’s greatest walk and is undoubtedly the most spectacular, but it’s also one of the most dangerous walks in the state.

• Frenchmans Cap 45km

The hardest of Tasmania’s Hut-based bush walks. Out and back tracks climbs to the summit of a prominent and outstanding 1446 meter peak in Franking-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.

• Overland Track 80km

Arguably Australia’s premier bushwalk. The internationally renowned track stretches from Ronny Creek to Lake St Clair.

• Three Capes Track 52km

The journey in Tasman National Park leads through a myriad of natural landscapes and exhilarating cliff top outlooking Cape Pillar, Cape Hauy and stunning views to Cape Raoul.

• Freycinet Peninsula Loop 29km

Internationally renowned as one of the most breath-taking coastal peninsulas in Australia, the Freycinet National Park showcases beautiful crystal waters, stunning granite peaks and thriving wildlife.

‘If anyone can do it, it’s you’ I heard a few times, and while I was flattered and grateful, I have never been delusional. To complete the project within the proposed timeframe would be very difficult. My body can break, my mind can quit, logistics can fail or I might run out of time.

It’s hard to define all the reasons I decided to do my (Im)possible7 adventure.

To start with I genuinely love the outdoors and it seemed like a fun way to spend a week! I’m not sure how much longer I will be in Tasmania and linking all those trails would be a great tribute to this island I am calling home. I feel like having a ‘crazy’ goal adds a lot of excitement and motivation to my life. It will also be an attempt to find my breaking point, a race against my mind and body. Every physical or emotional struggle makes you a stronger person.

We kicked off in November 2022.

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 1 FEDERATION PEAK Scary Monster Isn’t So Scary

We had a solid plan A & B, but even plan Z couldn’t prepare us for what would unfold over the coming days. Weather for the weekend was already looking bad, so after a chat with mate Lincoln Quilliam and arranging a crew for the first few days I decided to take advantage of upcoming good days and start early.

We started at 5.30am after a good night of sleep at the trailhead. I was joined by crew member Liam Crozier for our very first adventure.

The track was reasonably okay, and the rainforest and Moss Ridge was absolutely beautiful. We had a few glimpses of Federation Peak, but it wasn’t until we got on the top of the Ridge that we saw it all in its full majesty.

There were plans to climb it, but they all fell apart either due to weather or track closure. Despite this, I was very excited, and a bit nervous, to finally stand on top of ‘Australia’s only real mountain’. Having Liam in front was very reassuring, and we were both really surprised when a group of walkers informed us that the worst part was behind us. We looked at each other in disbelief.

We were blessed with good weather and mostly dry wall but it didn’t seem nearly as challenging as we both expected. The views from the summit were glorious, 360 of the entire south-west.

Despite an extra 7km of road approach due to a landslide and a conservative pace we completed the round trip in a reasonable 14h 40min. At the very end, I felt some tiny pull at the back of my knee. I hadn’t thought it would cause any problems, until it did...

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 2 SOUTH COAST TRACK

Hallucinations & A Hard Slog

Weather for our initial flight day wasn’t looking certain. Me and crew member Joseph Nunn decided to start at night, hoping we could catch an afternoon flight. That idea gave us only about 15min of sleep and 14hrs to complete what we thought was an 84km track. Not ideal after a big day at Federation, but it gave us bigger chances to fly out of Melaleuca asap.

The track, especially the beginning of it, was terrible – and mud wasn’t even the biggest problem. There was a huge amount of branches and trees on the track; even the boardwalk sections were overgrown. Seemed like it hadn’t been maintained for years.

About 20km in, our hope of finishing in 14hrs was gone with my knee starting to give me a hard time. A circular redness at the back of it made me think it was a bit of some sort. Despite this, the sunrise from South Cape Range and crossing New River Lagoon with a view of Precipitous Bluff were the highlights of the first part of the day.

It was really hot though, and we easily drank 15-20lt of water throughout the trip. My knee was getting worse with the pain and stiffness. My pace was dropping.

About 50km in we heard the plane over our heads…and well, we weren’t even close to making it. At the top of Ironbound Range we got caught by rain, which gave us some motivation to pick up the pace, and the last 20km were theoretically easy but I was too tired and my knee was too painful to move efficiently.

With plenty of river crossings and couple of beach sections, we had just a 10km homestretch to the airport, which was never ending, and suddenly Jo and I realised we were both in a state of hallucination.

For me, it was seeing lights out of the corner of my eyes and weird shapes on the boardwalk started to look alive. The most spooky one was a bush that looked like a leaning guy with a hat on...at this point I was technically awake for 40hrs. My coordination was off and I had a hard time keeping on the trails.

Suddenly the wind picked up and it started to pour down with rain; an adrenaline spike, and we picked up the pace.

We got to the airstrip soaked to the bone. Not a single light was turned on and we had to check our phones to navigate to the shed where our drop bags from Hobart were. I couldn’t be bothered to go to the walkers hut. We just pulled out our sleeping bags, spare food and crashed in a tiny ‘terminal’.

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 3 MELALEUCA Resting & Waiting

We woke up to the sound of heavy rain. Not a good sign.

The weather started to clear later in the day, but both flights had already gotten cancelled. We had no choice but to wait until 10am the next day.

Taking a plane out into Melaleuca was a risk we decided to take, and unfortunately it didn’t pay off, but at least we had beautiful and safe weather for Federation Peak and most of the South Coast the previous days. Besides, a rest day was a good idea considering the state of my knee. I’d sent a photo of it to some people I knew, including medical professionals, and the most common diagnosis was that it was a bite.

With that advice, I loaded up on antihistamine, had a few cold plunges in the river and hoped for the best. Apart from a couple of orange-bellied parrots, there was no one around. What a beautiful and peaceful place – not the worst location to get stranded in.

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 4 FRENCHMANS CAP Million Dollar Views

We got picked up at 10am as planned.

The 45min flight back to Hobart was absolutely amazing with aerial views of the entire south-west and Federation right in front of our eyes. It was a fantastic time to reflect on the first two days of the project.

I got picked up by crew member Mel Yeates and after collecting Matt Pearce and Gareth Hinds we headed to conquer Frenchmans Cap. My knee felt okay and I set a good pace. We met a few groups who were aware of the project and cheered for us. A late start gave us the rare opportunity to experience a sunset from the very top, as we made it to the summit in 5hrs – just in time for the show. Unfortunately the last 15km were slow, my knee had started to feel really stiff again. Knowing how stubborn I could be, Matt and Gareth left me behind shortly before the end to let me rethink my plans.

But seriously, there wasn’t that much to think about. And rather than doing Overland, we drove back to Hobart.

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 5 THREE CAPES

Hope Dies Last

After the 2.5hr drive back to Hobart, I made the decision to head to hospital. If it was a bite, then chances were I’d need medicine, but I also needed to know if it was an injury and if I could keep going without causing further damage.

Unfortunately the latter was true. The diagnosis was tendinopathy – tendon inflammation. It’s hard to say what was the reason – a long running season, stress and a last minute decision to start early, working too much, not enough recovery…the list goes on. I do try to take care of myself as much as I can, but perhaps it simply wasn’t enough this time around.

It didn’t matter though; what mattered was that I wasn’t told to stop so I got an injection and my knee got strapped.

A couple hours later I was on the way to Three Capes. The 30km was quite efficient, but later on my knee once again started to stiffen. The last 10km were slow, and I started to doubt if I should keep going and punish myself and my crew any further with a slow pace.

I had pushed through enough pain and completing four tracks was already a great achievement. I thought of doing the Freycinet Circuit next and then call it off.

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 6 FREYCINET PENINSULA CIRCUIT An Ability To Suffer

I only had about two hours of sleep after

Three Capes followed by three hours of driving up north and a couple hours of waiting for crew member John Cannell to join me for this track. At last I was hopeful that this wouldn’t be my last day; so long as my knee wasn’t getting worse, I could limp my way through the last two tracks.

Track conditions were bad though, and made me feel like I was back on the south coast. With the weather quite average, there were lots of fallen trees and tight deep mud pits, but we closed the loop in 5.5hrs.

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 7 WALLS OF JERUSALEM Strength From Indomitable Will

Walls of Jerusalem was my backup for Federation Peak in case of bad conditions, and now I had to use it as a replacement for Western Arthurs. The forecast was terrible, it was a proper whiteout, even at low elevation. My car was covered in snow when I arrived in Campbell Town where I met Mel again and James Brady, who helped me on this track.

The Walls covered in snow were beautiful, it was a proper winter wonderland. The weather got better though and we managed to reach the summit of Mt Jerusalem.

I remember chatting to Mel that evening that in a way, I felt my (Im)possible7 project hadn’t challenged me enough. I mean, I was in pain, discomfort and forced to move slowly, but I had not found my breaking point.

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 8 OVERLAND TRACK Relentless Forward Progress

I knew I wouldn’t be fast, but considering there was 80km to cover, I had to be consistent. I was moving fairly okay and coming to Narcissus I promised myself that I would not let this last part of Overland Track defeat me. Entering the Cradle Mountain race in 2019 was where I had the biggest bonk.

In the winter of 2020 I decided to run Overland again, this time out and back. Severely sleep deprived back then, I found myself at a very low point mentally.

This time, I managed to finish the track after the sunset in just over 15hrs. There was not much celebration, since I knew the (Im) possible7 project wasn’t finished.

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 9

LAKE RHONA & MT ANNE

Slow Can Be Strong

James and I arrived at an empty Lake Rhona car park, and it left me slightly worried. There was a log crossing over Gordon River 2km down the track, but we were hopeful about it, considering past dry weeks.

It wasn’t the case. The log was almost fully submerged. We knew there was another one up the river, which we quickly found, but it didn’t look any better. We decided to give it a go though, and while James’ crossing was quite smooth, I got pushed off the log and had to fight my way back. Quite an experience.

A few hours later we were at Lake Rhona and we had it all to ourselves. The two of us made it back safely and I asked to be dropped off at Mt Anne trailhead.

I knew I didn’t have enough time to do the whole loop, but wanted to at least experience part of the iconic trail.

I was hoping to make it to the summit of Mt Anne but considering that snow at Mt. Eliza was knee deep with freezing temperatures and a setting sun, I decided to turn around.

I crawled to my tent and had a few hours of sleep before the final day.

(IM)POSSIBLE7 DAY 10 WESTERN ARTHURS

Do You Like To Suffer?

We started with the first light and when we got to the top of the ridge, we were surprised how much snow there was. I was moving slow and the track conditions made it even slower.

Descent to Lake Cygnus had the only piece of metal on the whole track, and because I couldn’t fully extend my leg, my stride was very shallow. Every moment up the metal staircase it felt like my tendon was tearing out of the bone. I managed to contain the screams inside me and kept going. Lincoln asked me if I liked to suffer...no answer needed to be given.

We decided to turn back at Lake Oberon. Snow conditions on the other side of the Arthurs looked even worse and there was no need to put myself and my crew into another all-nighter.

In the end, Lake Oberon was absolutely spectacular, what a great spot to decide to finish the project.

We got back to the car park at the very last light. What a day! What an adventure!

Coming To An End

(Im)possible7 project came to an end with 440km and 21,000m of vert on equally beautiful and challenging trails. It took nine days and 15hrs to cover nine of Tasmania’s multiday walks and a one day trip.

Despite a cancelled flight from Melaleuca and sustaining some weird knee injury at the end of day one, it was a personal test of patience and resilience. To experience so much natural beauty of this place and connect with so many people in such a short period of time was staggering and overwhelming.

Thank you to all my crew, especially to Mel for the help with both the project itself and fundraiser side, all my amazing crew, Fern Tree Tavern for hosting the fundraisers, Find Your Feet and all the sponsors and contributors.

We raised nearly $13,000 towards Westpac Rescue Helicopter Tasmania.

INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: Piotr is a Polishborn, Tassie local who’s spent the last 10 years working and travelling around the world. Having fallen in love with Tasmania in 2018, he’s an ultra runner and adventurer who believes the pain cave is his new comfort zone.