I had a leg injury a few weeks ago. As I’d like to do Three passes at the end of January, I thought that I should give my leg a proper test if it’s capable of such a demanding adventure.
I chose Mt Cheesman as it offers more or less 3 options of what to do at the top: continue to Mt Olympus, turn south to Mt Izard or go north to Mt Cockayne. I parked at Hogs Back car park from where I started the ascent. I headed towards pt1552 from where I followed the ridge to Mt Cheesman. This is not the most efficient way to get to the top though as the ridge is quite rocky and requires quite slow travel. More energy efficient would be to follow the line between the creek and pt1552 straight towards the top.
It was pretty windy at the top of Mt Cheesman so I opted for the easiest option which was to follow the ridge north. The fact that I left my lunch in the fridge also played a role to take it easyish that day. During the next few hours, I climbed over Mt Cockayne, Nervous Knob all the way Hamilton Peak. I tried to make it easier for myself by sliding around pt1834 to stay sheltered from the north-weste winds but I can tell now that it wasn’t a good idea – the slopes of pt1834 are steep and slippery and without any scree they get quite slippery at places.
When I finally reached Hamilton Peak, it was still pretty windy so I started my descent to Broken River Ski Club. I got back to the car by following the Dracophyllum track. It was a great and demanding trip which will certainly boost my progress in 52 Peaks Challenge that I signed up for in 2021!
Tramped on 28th January 2021.
Rough stats: 2000 m up, 25 km, 8.5 h
Max elevation: 2031 m
Min elevation: 799 m
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