Problems with the minibus meant we had to make last minute arrangements for Sue and Sandra  to drive us to Scotts Peak.  Pat’s son Neville took us over by boat to the foot of Mt.Giblin.
Showers were falling around the mountains so it wasn’t a very auspicious start.  I was the last to start walking and just followed up where Alan had disappeared in a band of scrub.  I thought voices were coming from somewhere well to my right and when we emerged into the open the first boat load was still below us on a different ridge; they had managed to strike thick scrub and a gully.
Conditions improved and once on the crest of the mountain we only had one or two brief snow storms blowing into us.  The two peaks of Giblin were visited.  One short but scrubby climb through a dip caused Dave T  some anguish as a twig poked him in the eye.  He had some discomfort from its effect for the next few days and Robyn washed his eye with salty water each day until it was sufficiently improved.
Camp was made near Jones Pass where we had to scout about in thick scrub for water.  Next morning was mild as the remainder of the Giblin ridge was traversed to a low point overlooking the Frankland River.  On the last section Pat, Dave T and myself opted to skirt a wooded knoll whilst the others went through.  Our route proved easy enough, but the rest came upon a barrier of bauera and were forced to drop to the valley floor early.  As a consequence we did not meet up again until lunch time beside the river. The remainder of the day was spent reaching Richardson Creek with many swampy flats to be crossed.

Greystone Bluff from Little Cinder Hill Nov 1996

Dave T persuaded us to start at 7am and it was as well we did, for the scrub protecting Cinder Hill made it a long hard day before a suitable camp site was reached.  From the descent off Little Cinder Hill until the very top of cinder Hill the scrub was unrelenting and we took 5 minute turns leading.  The section took 5 1/2 hours and covered a mere 1.5 kilometres.  Water was very scarce and a few snow remnants near the summit were the only source for the day; other than that carried.  A camping site was spotted down the south west ridge and at 5:50 we trudged towards it (arriving at 7:15), but I would have preferred to have just been able to rest.

Mount Giblin from Greystone Bluff

Water remained a scarce commodity until Pine Creek was reached for lunch the next day.  Mostly the descent was fairly reasonable except for a short bit of very thick and high bauera.  Drizzle commenced during lunch and became rain as we made our way up the clear ridge to a small perched plateau part way up Greystone Bluff.  The rain ceased before we even set up tents and sun found its way through.

Cinder Hill in late afternoon.

By mid morning we were under the cliffs of the quartzite summit block and looking onto a delightful flat bowl, just beckoning as a tent site.  Whilst making for the high point of the mountain the clouds parted and conditions remained fine until mid afternoon when snow showers commenced.  During the afternoon I wondered around the maze like walls of quartzite that formed the perimeter of this exquisite area perched high in the wilderness.

Campsite bowl on Greystone Bluff

Campsite bowl on Greystone Bluff

Snow continued falling during the night, which was punctuated by a period of thunder and lightning, including one stupendous flash that I could see so very clearly even though my eyes were shut.  Morning revealed a vista of white and we were thankful for Chris and his navigation to get us off and down the ridges to Badger Creek depression with all it’s Huon pines.  Just as we finished putting up the tents heavy rain began to fall.

Snow at campsite in the morning.

Huon Pines in Badger Creek depression.

Fortunately the rain ceased during the night, although its affect was noticeable from the impressive waterfall dropping off Greystone Bluff.  We worked our way down to the Davey River valley and onto a long distinct hill where views of the Crossing River were obtained.  Thick scrub was encountered for a period after leaving the hill, whilst heading north to a campsite overlooking the Crossing Plains.

View down to Crossing River

Inspection and tentative sampling of the Crossing River revealed that it would be dangerous to negotiate, so we walked up the plains to the Dodds River then on the Crossing River campsite.  The next day it was out to the road.

Crossing the Dodds River

Back in 1991 Dave Tucker took a 3 day walk from the Gould Plateau, over the top of Mount Gould and to The Guardians and out via The Labyrinth. I thought I would like to do this walk again and that was the plan when we set off from Hobart on 17^th October. The previous day had been pretty cold and wet in Hobart, but as predicted by the bureau all was fine on the Monday; however the site of Mount Wellington covered quite low down in snow that morning was somewhat disconcerting. This was further added to with the view of the snow clad peaks and hills of Mount Field then the site of snow beside the road on the approach to Derwent Bridge. Plan B was hatched when Mounts Olympus and Rufus came into view.

Walled Mountain

We were on the only ferry for the day, soon after 1PM, and walked into Pine Valley to a campsite about 20 minutes upstream from the hut. During the walk from Narcissus we thought the warm sun would melt a lot of snow fairly quickly and there was some evidence of this happening. Nevertheless the walk next morning to The Labyrinth was through plenty of snow and it was nice to be the first to people to make our impression on it and not be following others footsteps. The two of us, Greg Kidd and me, turned off from the track at the bottom of the descent from The Parthenon, crossed the Cyane Lake outlet creek, climbed the hill above and trudged over to set up camp near Lake Eurynome. We cleared the snow away, put the tent up, had lunch and then climbed Walled Mountain where a very impressive and dangerous looking cornice shed the odd bit of snow every now and then down a huge drop. We were easily able to retrace our footsteps back down, but as we moved out to the sunnier areas the snow had diminished considerably. On arrival at camp the snow had nearly all melted, leaving the tent surrounded by pools of water.

Mount Gould

Day three was delightful, again with a cloudless sky and hardly any breeze. The face of Mount Gould that we could see was now free of any white patches and we were soon at the base of The Minotaur. There was a pad all the way up this rather steep mountain side; I knew it was steep just from looking as well as my recollection, but I had no memory of a pad being there in 91. Once on top, Gould looked just as steep as did from The Labyrinth, which was enough to convince us to take the easier way around the side slopes. This was free of rocks and on arriving at a little perched plateau lunch was had followed by a very steep climb to the top of Mount Gould. It is not a peak for the fainthearted but once back to the packs was when the first serious impediments arose.

My memory was lots of scrub, particularly scoparia low down and some notes suggested sidling. However at what level to sidle? It was a bit of a climb to reach the cliff line so I made the decision to proceed at the level we were at. This entailed a bit of scrub, but then some lines of Fagus forced a more circuitous route until we dropped down lower to see if the going was better there. It wasn’t . So a way had had to be forced through a bit of pointy scrub until the open part of Gould Plateau was reached. The day finished well though, with camp at a scenic spot on the plateau.

Mount Gould

An early start saw as the bottom in nice old forest, although a muddy section in the middle of the descent had to be negotiated. Now the area doesn’t seem to get as many visitors as in days of yore and on exiting the forest a pad was followed that continued over a floodplain. Then it ended at a barrier of Teatree and bottlebrush. After a bit of searching including on the close by river bank, we gave up looking and went back to the forest where a red arrow, that had not been noticed, pointed sharply right. Close on half an hour was lost by all this and when we eventually walked along the near the river my GPS indicated that we had got to within about 30 metres of the track, if only we had known.

Once I could walk the lakeside track beside Lake St Clair in something less than the signed hours, but nowadays I need the whole 5 hours to get to the visitor centre. It has always seemed a tiring walk and this was no exception; no wonder I am usually happy to catch the ferry.

The bureau forecast fine weather for 3 ½ days and they were spot on. Just before reaching Cynthia Bay the increasing high cloud let out a few spots and soon after starting the drive home close to 5 PM it began to rain.

Photos from the walk

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All did not go according to plan. More often than not the weather improves as you move away from Hobart towards the East coast, but this time it was very much the reverse. We left sunny town and drove into increasingly duller conditions culminating in heavy rain at Buckland. But things got better soon after we turned off on the way to Bluff River Gorge.

We arrived to see three walkers heading there too. Soon we too were walking along the 4wd track following their boot marks and along with my trusty GPS meant we were assured of an easy path to the start of the walk. Whilst all in our party queried why I didn’t turn off where they thought we should go, I responded by saying the GPS says this way and any way that is where the three fellows boots were headed too. Some 800 metres on I started to have doubts and took a close look at the map on the GPS and the paper map. Heck, we had gone too far. Yes the track was where every one said it was and lesson number one is to remember that once you pass one waypoint the GPS just points to the next and says where to go for that one. I should also have noticed that the waypoint name had changed.

Parts of the walking track in the gorge have become a bit overgrown. Ouch, those stinging nettles hurt. It seemed that lunch would be in the sun, but then rain spoiled the party and we were fortunate to have a nice overhang to avoid it. Lunch over and the rain stopped, but as we got close to the river doubts arose as to getting over. Anyway we next ended in a bit more overgrown track, but by now it was wet and not very enticing to push through.

Next came a voice from above and we met up with one of the aforementioned three walkers. He was trying to find his companions who were doing some work on the track where it crossed the Bluff River. They had walked directly to that end, which explains those boots marks I assumed were heading to the start of the gorge track. You won’t get over they said and we didn’t.

The rain then started up again and so we arrived back at the cars a bit wet.

Well I have plans to return soon and this time am determined to get it right.

Note the waterfall where usually there normally may be the odd drip

After such a lot of wet easterlies, Freycinet had at last several days of fine weather, which made delaying the walk for a couple of weeks well worthwhile. With so much rain in the area over winter we didn’t even bother to see if the preferred route beside the lagoons between Hazards and Wineglass was doable. Instead the conventional slog along the beach was used, then came the pleasure of the bush track from the end of Hazards Beach through masses of flowering plants, especially the Thryptomene which was very thick and spectacular.

Given the time it takes to get to the campsite on the spine we had to keep moving and still ended up cooking in the dim of evening. This was the first time trying out our new light weight tent and, as reported by others, one has to erect it with the crossover of the poles given attention; not as simple as some tents. It is a Macpac Macrolight, a bit like a bigger version of the Microlight, and proved to be suitable for a walk to this type of location.

Slaughterhouse Bay from The Hump

On the middle day we headed out to the objective of the walk, The Hump, and arrived without any hassles, helped along by the GPS. Lunch out in the open overlooking Slaughterhouse Bay was decidedly warm as it can often be on the peninsula even at this time of year. On heading back we discovered that others sometimes visit here, when a pair of spectacles was spotted lying on the ground; someone would have been cursing when they realised they were missing. An attempt to see if there was a better way back to camp confirmed the outward route was the best, and what proved to be a detour added 30 minutes of swamp avoidance to the return walk. Still we arrived with more than enough sunlight left to enjoy a pleasant early tea.

The final day was again still, sunny and balmy with the flowers no less delightful. By the time we reached the junction with the Isthmus track we were not keen on more beach walking, so opted for the final leg on the track. A brief diversion left us in no doubt that circumnavigating the very full lagoons would have been slow, wet and arduous . In fact throughout the park every creek was flowing vigorously, something that we had not seen for many long years.

Rock formation The Hump

Masses of Thryptomene

Pea flowers

The old vehicle track was followed from the western end of the dam to a junction where the right hand branch was taken leading into an ever narrowing gully. Part way along we branched off on a faint track which did eventually run out but it wasn’t a lot of climbing left by then. On the top of the hill a track was met and walked along until it reached the top end of Catchpole Gully. From here we crossed a fence and followed a track along the dry and quite pleasant country, part of which we have discovered is private property. Eventually a fence was reached and fortunately a small tree was over it (looked like it might have been put there rather than fallen) and so we were back in the reserve for the final walk back down to the dam.

A map of the route can be viewed

The track to Lake Belcher was followed to the saddle below Mawson Plateau, then the short climb to the plateau followed by a pleasant walk over the top.  We went to the western side for views over Lakes Belton and Belcher befpre crossing to the opposite side overlooking Lake Dobson.  The descent route was via the ski area and the final descent was via the old and partly overgrowing Golden Stairs. From Lake Dobson we had no choice but to walk up the road to the Wombat Moor car park.

View over plateau to Florentine Peak

Pool on plateau

Grass mound

We went in from the end of the Maggs spur road, after lunch, and soon after crossing  the first creek I realised that we shouldn’t be going uphill so much.  I had thought the track to Lake McCoy left at the end of a logging track, but  I was mistaken and on retracing my steps discovered that if I had been more observant I would have seen a marker for the track to Pelion going straight ahead.  So that wasted 30 minutes or so before reaching the creek flowing out of the nice valley leading to the foot of Mt Pillinger and our campsite for the night at Wurragarra Creek.

Cloud built up over night and it remained that way for the remainder of the day until a light shower started as we got close to the Pinestone valley campsite.   It did not last long and this enabled us to cook and have tea in the open, but a much heavier shower caught us out just as we were finishing our cup of tea.  This was all in accord with the weather forecast, as was the next morning when we looked out to be greeted by the predicted fine day.

Wandering about the beautiful area of marsupial lawns, pines, pools and just simply stunning scenery  occupied  the morning.  The afternoon was spent moving camp to the plateau on the eastern end of Doris where there are great views, and it was most pleasant in the calm and sunny conditions where we were able to cook and have tea sitting on the edge of the scarp.   We managed to get a fairly early start next morning and walked out in a fine and somewhat warmer day.

We arrived at Mole Creek and stopped at the newly opened Café Bozzey, which had good coffee and cake at very reasonable prices.  It put us in mind of the service and quality of the Possum Shed at Westerway near Mt Field  and we certainly hope to stop there again on future trips.  Our other stop was for tea at Campbell Town where we discovered Café 100, which had good food on offer.  When driving up first day we also stopped at Campbell Town at Red Bridge Café, so as well as a bushwalk to a lovely area, there was also nice refreshment places along the way.

Mt Ossa from Pinestone Valley

Cathedral Mt from Mt Doris

View the photo album

With a fine forecast we set off from Lake Dobson, took the Urquhart Track and then endured the Jeep 4WD road to the ski huts. From here it became pleasant walking again and we decided to head to Newdegate via Tarn Shelf, joined the new boardwalk from Lake Newdegate and spent an enjoyable lunch break amongst the white flowering Cushion Plants, Epacris and colourful Scoparia. Return was via K Col and the climb over the rocks to the Rodway Range. For a change we located the old Golden Stairs to see what that track now looked like. Parts were a bit overgrown but nonetheless it was not difficult to follow until the very bottom.

Quite a number of people did the Newdegate Pass circuit that day and most chose to go the opposite way to us; over the Rodways first. Sue did mention that I was the oldest person out on the track and that gave me an uneasy feeling; it is always nice to know that someone else is the oldest and not you.

Cushion Plant Newdegate Pass

Scoparia at Newdegate Pass

Click here for the photo album from walk

Newdegate Pass at EveryTrail
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Tuesday 28 December 2010

Originally planned for mid December, but conditions on the day meant that the walk waited until more favourable weather. Even so at the time of arrival for the start at Wombat Moor it was quite cool and the peaks were all under cloud. We turned off the track before reaching the Woodland Mosaic and gently ascended over the wet moor, avoiding where pineapple grass wherever possible as it makes for uncomfortable walking. A wooded ridge edge was reached after 20 minutes and this was skirted until an easier descent point could be found and then it was through the woodland, over a small creek and finally into the narrow northern end of Monash Valley (an unofficial name, but seemsappropriate as it sits at the foot of the summit plateau of Mount Monash).

It was soon after this that the scoparia started to become noticeable with many waist high bushes in a very healthy state flowing in many colours. There were bushes of a variety of shades of pink, various reds from dark through to rusty, then there were the whites and creams. Quite some time was spent just wondering through this area, but it was not just the Richea as so many other plants were in flower as well; such as Orites, Boronia, Waratah and Epacris.

Lunch was at the southern end of the valley before turning west and finally north over the Boronia strewn upper plateau on the way back to the car.

Click the image below to view the photo album

Monash Valley Mount Field

To view a map of the site click here.

Monash Valley at EveryTrail
]]> http://bushwalks.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/monash-valley/feed/ 0 peterjf http://bushwalks.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/pelion-circuit/ http://bushwalks.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/pelion-circuit/#comments Sat, 13 Nov 2010 06:18:20 +0000 peterjf https://bushwalks.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/pelion-circuit/ Continue reading →]]> 18 – 22 October 2010

I last did the Pelion Circuit in glorious weather in 1993. With this latest walk we waited until there was a good forecast, which by good fortune meant only one day delay. On the first day the predicted showers looked a bit ominous as we drove through heavy rain from Mole Creek, but the worst had passed by the time we pulled up to start the walk.

The initial track was one slightly further south than the conventional Arm River Track. It was from an offshoot of Maggs Rd and although no quicker it avoided the steepness of the normal route. It was obviously used frequently and several sizeable logs had been chainsawn through the ease the way. Much of the upper section follows a narrow valley with numerous pencil pines and is most attractive.

In the days prior to the walk there had been snow and rain about and this left plenty of water with the creeks well up, including Douglas Creek at Pelion which would have been very difficult to cross if it was not for the bridge. We all favoured staying at Pelion hut instead of continuing on to Frog Flats. Morning revealed a light snow cover but it didn’t take long for it to melt and it has disappeared by the time we reached the Pelion West turnoff. Just before the first small cliff line of the mountain we debated whether to take a direct route for the big cliffs on the southern side of Pelion West or continue up a bit before doing so. The direct route was chosen, but in hindsight the longer way would have been easier. It took us 2 hours skirt under these massive cliffs with considerable amounts of snow on the slopes under them. Even though this route avoids the summit boulders, there was still a short 80 metre section of large rocks that needed great care to negotiate. Camp was on the high ridge on the western side where a group of small pines provided shelter from the cool breeze. Nigel and James climbed Pelion West.

Under cliffs of Pelion West

Pelion West

Although the following morning was cloudy it did not take all that long for it to break up as the day got progressively better and better. The packs were left on the upper slope of Achilles as we journeyed out to Perrins Bluff; a trip that took us a little over 2 hours with scrub, rock and snow and much the same for the return. Whilst Nigel and James ascended Achilles, I decided to go down to Leonards Tarn. I was aware that it was best to keep to the far right of the grassy descent gully, but progressed down to the first of the Fagus and realised that I should have turned right earlier.Thinking this would only be a narrow band at this point, I chanced pushing through to where I should have been. However it wasn’t easy and would have been better and quicker to have backtracked and gone round. It is deceivingly longer to get down to Leonards than it looks, but after finding a nice campsite it was delightfully pleasant wandering about and taking photos at this beautiful location.

Heel of Achilles

Pelion West from Leonards Tarn

Morning brought another fine day and more time strolling about this delightful spot before embarking on the long and unrelenting 2 hour climb up the boulders to the Thetis summit. Getting off was harder than it ought to have been because we missed a cairn and went over a lot a large boulders that were not easy with a pack on. Camp that night was in a pleasant bit of snow gum woodland with the final morning was taken leisurely over the moorland before dropping back to the Overland Track. It was almost 6 pm when we arrived back at the cars as the first drops of the predicted late rain fell.

Thetis and Paddys Nut

There is a photo album on the web.

Pelion Circuit