The Abels books were always on the bookshelf at home, ready for me to flick through and find adventure, and one day I thought “Why not try to climb them all?” I handed in my three weeks notice, and made a blog site. The adventure began.
What is an Abel? In the easiest way to describe, they are mountains in Tasmania above 1100 metres in altitude, with a prominence from surrounding land of 150 metres. There are 158 Abels, with some very easy, and some are far from a Sunday stroll! I set a loose goal of 18 months to try to climb them all, and on 26 November 2015, along with my brother and my father, I went up the mountain in my old stomping grounds, Mount Arthur. I had climbed around 35 Abels before I started my challenge, but I thought I should start again to see how fast I could climb them all.
Over the next year and a bit I went out on many a mission, with some highlights being a 10 day trip into The Spires and surrounding mountains, a similar length Eldon Range traverse, a five day Du Cane traverse in heavenly autumn weather, and climbing Federation Peak with my father. By early April
2017 I had just climbed to the top of Mount La Perouse, on the Southern Ranges, by far, one of my favourite mountain ranges in Tasmania. It was my 126th Abel, and I was getting close to the end, the 18 month goal was feasible! However, I sat atop Mount La Perouse and wallowed. I had a serious run in with The Black Dog. I realised that I wasn't feeling joyful for the walking I was doing, and probably hadn't for the last dozen or so peaks. I didn't feel like I was bushwalking for the reason I love it, instead, I was pursuing a goal that wasn't necessarily
Eldon Bluff from near Lake Tahune en route to Frenchmans Cap, March 2018
{{title}}
Bushwalk
