Frenchmans Cap is a mountain in the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
region of
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
, Australia. The mountain is situated in the
Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park
Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers is a national park in Tasmania, 117 km west of Hobart. It is named after the two main river systems lying within the bounds of the park - the Franklin River and the Gordon River.
Location
The Franklin-Gordon Wi ...
.
At
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
, it is within the top thirty
highest mountains in Tasmania.
[
]
Location
The mountain lies east of the West Coast Range
The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
The range lies to the west and north of the main parts of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.
The range has had a significant number ...
, yet due to its prominence, it can be seen from Macquarie Harbour
Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately , and has an average depth of , with deeper places up to . It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by the ...
. It lies south of the Lyell Highway
The Lyell Highway (Route A10) is a highway in Tasmania, running from Hobart to Queenstown.
It is the one of two transport routes that passes through the West Coast Range, the other being the Anthony Road.
Name
The name is derived from ...
from which it can be viewed from various locations, and south west of Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park
Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park is located in the Central Highlands area of Tasmania (Australia), northwest of Hobart. The park contains many walking trails, and is where hikes along the well-known Overland Track usually begin. Majo ...
.
The peaks of the Frenchmans area include Frenchmans Cap (),[ Clytemnestra and Philps Peak (both ), and Philps Ridge ().
]
Etymology
The mountain lies in the traditional lands of the Aboriginal Tasmanians, most likely the Toogee nation. The traditional names for Frenchmans Cap are trullenuer (trul.len.neur), toindy (toin.dy) or mebbelek.
Even though the peak was an early landmark for ships sailing the west coast, the first recorded use of Frenchmans Cap was in 1822 in connection with Macquarie Harbour Penal Station
The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement, established on Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour, in the former colony of Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, operated between 1822 and 1833. The settlement housed ma ...
, from where the peak was visible. The origin of the name is attributed to its appearance from some angles as looking like a Frenchman's cap, notably the Liberty cap worn during the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
(1789–1799).
A variation of that was reported by Henry Widdowson, who wrote in 1829 that the name was derived from "its generally being covered with snow and bearing some resemblance to the shape of dress which invariably adorns the head of a French Cook".
History
The distinctive shape of the mountain was used as a guiding beacon by many, largely unsuccessful, parties of escaping convicts as they attempted to struggle through the dense scrub of Western Tasmania to the settled districts further east. It was mentioned as a geographical reference in the account later dictated by convict Alexander Pearce to authorities, following his capture.
The earliest European recorded to have ascended was James Sprent and his trigonometrical party in 1853.
In 1941 the Frenchmans Cap National Park
Frenchmans Cap National Park was a Tasmanian national park that used the course of the Franklin River around the lower reaches of Frenchmans Cap and adjacent mountains and ridges as its boundary between 1941 and the 1990s.
Despite status as a na ...
was created and its boundary was in effect the Franklin River
The Franklin River is a major perennial river located in the Central Highlands and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. The river is located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderne ...
. This park was subsumed into the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park in the 1990s.
The country around the mountain is invariably referred to by the books and the material written about the Franklin River. Johnson Dean's book gives a graphic account with maps and pictures the nature of the country.
Access
Access to the mountain is usually via a multi-day bushwalk from the Lyell Highway
The Lyell Highway (Route A10) is a highway in Tasmania, running from Hobart to Queenstown.
It is the one of two transport routes that passes through the West Coast Range, the other being the Anthony Road.
Name
The name is derived from ...
. Parks and Wildlife Service
The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Government of Western Australia, Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management A ...
and other authorities in Tasmania give advice about the access and preparation needed – due to the changing conditions of the area.
The track is repeatedly overgrown, due to the vegetation and the rainfall of the area.
The walk to the peak along the well marked track typically takes two days. The first day of about will bring walkers to Lake Vera Hut. Water is plentiful (and drinkable) in all seasons. Walk time from Lyell Highway
The Lyell Highway (Route A10) is a highway in Tasmania, running from Hobart to Queenstown.
It is the one of two transport routes that passes through the West Coast Range, the other being the Anthony Road.
Name
The name is derived from ...
to Lake Vera is between six and eight hours. This part of the walk was historically very difficult, including two steep and prolonged ascents separated by the boggy Loddon Plains. The so-called "Sodden Loddons" were almost always muddy and crossing them took two hours or more. In wet weather the mud was frequently waist high, while in the dry it was only knee high. However, since 2013 track upgrades have seen the North Loddon Planes duckboarded, and the trail diverted around the South Loddon Plains through Philps Lead. This has allowed for significant environmental rejuvenation and reduced the difficulty of the first day. It was financed by donations from Dick Smith after he visited and was dismayed with the state of the trail.
The second day's walk is shorter at , but steeper. After walking along the shores of Lake Vera the next two hours are spent struggling up the steep inclines to Barron Pass. Once on top the walker is presented with a dramatic view of Frenchmans Cap. From Barron Pass it is approximately another two hours to Tahune Hut, depending on fitness and pack weight. Water is often plentiful before Barron Pass, but scarce from there until reaching Lake Tahune. Walk time from Lake Vera to Lake Tahune is about four hours.
There are two lakes on the way to the summit – Lake Vera, and Lake Tahune – there are huts at both of these locations. Lake Vera Hut was built in 1979 and sleeps 20 people in two two-tier bunk configurations. It is heated by a coal stove.
Three huts have been built at Lake Tahune. Tahune #1 was built shortly after WW2 - it was destroyed by a bushfire in 1966. Tahune #2 was completed in 1971 - a prefabricated design that slept 16 people snugly, also in two two-tier bunks and was heated by a coal fuel stove. The hut was replaced in 2018 by Tahune #3 - an architecturally designed building that boasts excellent thermal properties as well as a hydro-electric power supply. Tahune #3 sleeps 24 people comfortably with heating provided by electric ceiling panels. From Tahune, the summit is an ~2.5hr return trip - this should only be attempted in good weather.
If the weather is clear the view includes the West Coast beaches, Lake Burbury
Lake Burbury is a man-made water reservoir created by the Crotty Dam inundating the upper King River valley that lies east of the West Coast Range. Discharge from the reservoir feeds the John Butters Hydroelectric Power Station, owned and op ...
and the many peaks – such as Tasmania's tallest, Mount Ossa – in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.
The plus walk to Frenchmans Cap is typically completed as a return trip on the same track.
Alternative access
There is an option to make it a round trip by walking on from Lake Tahune to the Franklin River at Irenabyss, crossing the river and exiting at Victoria Pass, which is also on the Lyell Highway. The walk from Irenabyss to Victoria Pass traverses rugged country and is recommended only for highly experienced parties. Many parties visit Irenabyss as a long day walk. Lake Tahune to Irenabyss takes about 4 hours. Irenabyss to Victoria Pass takes about 12 hours.
Climbing
For climbers, Frenchmans Cap offers a variety of trad routes on generally sound, quartzite rock. In keeping with the name of the mountain some of these climbs also have French names including ''A Toi La Gloire'' (better known as The Sydney Route), a , 13-pitch, grade 17 climb on the south-east face and ''Tierry Le Fronde'', a , six-pitch, grade 16 climb on the Tahune Face.
Serious climbing has occurred since the 1960s, as detailed in a 1990 article in ''Rock'' by Stephen Bunton. Jon Nermuts Tasmanian climbing page serves as the main information resource for routes on the main face as well as Gerry Narkowicz's description in ''Climb Tasmania''.
Painting and photography
Frank Hurley
James Francis "Frank" Hurley (15 October 1885 – 16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces durin ...
's black and white images from the 1950s which are in the National Library online collection, are probably the most evocative and easily accessible images close up of the features around Frenchmans Cap.
Literature
Barry Maitland
Barry Maitland (born 1941 in Scotland) is an Australian author of crime fiction. After studying architecture at Cambridge, Maitland practised and taught in the UK before moving to Australia, where he became a Professor of Architecture at the ...
's 2008 mystery novel ''Bright Air'' contains a vivid description of a climb of Frenchmans Cap. It also features in ''For the Term of His Natural Life
''For the Term of His Natural Life'' is a story written by Marcus Clarke and published in '' The Australian Journal'' between 1870 and 1872 (as ''His Natural Life''). It was published as a novel in 1874 and is the best known novelisation of life ...
'' by Marcus Clarke
Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (24 April 1846 – 2 August 1881) was an English-born Australian novelist, journalist, poet, editor, librarian, and playwright. He is best known for his 1874 novel ''For the Term of His Natural Life'', about the co ...
and the non-fiction book ''Hell's Gates: The terrible journey of Alexander Pearce, Van Diemen's Land cannibal'' by Paul Collins (Hardie Grant, 2002). A more recent book is by Simon Kleinig in 2012.
See also
* List of highest mountains of Tasmania
The Australian island state of Tasmania has a diverse range of geography but a prominent feature is the mountains of the island.
Overall Tasmania is comparatively low-lying with the highest point at . Tasmania has ten peaks over the height of . ...
* Walk to the West
''Walk to the West''
was a book published to celebrate both the sesquicentenary (150 years) of the Royal Society of Tasmania in 1993, and the event from which the book is made – the ''Walk to the West Coast of Tasmania'' by James Backhouse Wa ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
* Histories o
Lake Tahune Hut and Lake Vera Hut
*
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Mountains of Tasmania
Hiking and bushwalking tracks in Tasmania
Climbing areas of Australia
Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park