Tasmania – The Overland Track 15 – 20 June 2019

I was pleased to be able to join my sister Alicson, for a walk along The Overland Track. Her husband, Shane, was originally coming along as well, but a knee injury not long before the walk, meant he would be wise to stay at home. But we were very grateful for his help with the logistics – driving us to the start at Lake St Clair and picking us up at Cradle Mountain.

In winter, there is no need to book a spot on the track, or pay a fee, and you can do the walk in the usual North to South direction, or do it, as we intended to do, from South to North.

Before setting put, we had consulted various weather forecasts. This meant delaying our start to avoid some particularly bad weather, but left us with a shorter period, so once we started we could not sit out any bad spells.

We got dropped off around 10 am on the first day at Cynthia Bay, and were soon walking along the track around Lake St Clair. Recent rain meant the track was wet and slippery and we had to be careful. but on the other hand, the rain had resulted in some nice fungi being out. Here is some we saw on the way to Narcissus –

In winter, daylight hours are much shorter, particularly in our case walking close to the solstice. We knew we should arrive at Narcissus before 4 pm, otherwise it gets too dark to see the track clearly, especially in the forest sections (which is most of the way). So we could not stop too many times for photos.

Along the lake, we stopped at Echo Point Hut and had a late lunch inside the hut. Then shouldered our packs again for the last section to Narcissus.

The last part of the track to Narcissus was underwater, and it was hard to keep our feet dry. This part of the track had board walk – but the supports have failed and the planks are often submerged after rain.

When we arrived at the hut, there was another walker there. he was on his way south. Soon a party of four kayakers arrived. They had paddled up the Lake. More walkers turned up well after dark – at 8:30 pm.

It was pleasant and warm in the hut. The gas heater took the chill off. Outside was misty and cold.

Next morning, it was still misty and cold outside, but the weather looked like it would be OK. Our plan was to do a long day of walking (for winter) up to Kia Ora Hut.

This meant having breakfast in the dark in order to be away by 8 am. On the way to Windy Ridge, we made good progress, and we were rewarded by view of the Acropolis through the trees. However, by the time we arrived at the Bert Nicholls Hut at Windy Ridge, the mist had rolled in again obscuring any views of the peaks. It was too early for lunch, but we stopped for a short break.

We then continued over Du Cane Gap, having a lunch break at Campfire Creek. We had considered visiting some of the waterfalls in the Mersey River – but thought we would not have time, so missed them. At Du Cane Hut – we stopped for another short rest and sheltered in the hut to get out of the rain that had just started.

From there, it was not far to Kia Ora. There were about 7 other walkers at the hut. They had all had shorter days – 2 from Bert Nicholls and the others from Pelion Hut. Again, we had a pleasant time chatting around the gas heater in the hut. Unfortunately, the other walkers told us that the heater at Pelion Hut was not walking, and the heater at Windermere Hut had run out of gas.

It rained most of the morning on our third day, while we were walking over Pelion Gap to Pelion Hut. It was quite wet and cold, but still quite beautiful. The Pinestone Valley was particularly moody shrouded in mist.

We only paused at Pelion Gap for  short time. My sister wanted to check phone reception and if possible send a progress SMS to her husband. But we had no reception. And the weather was not very encouraging for us to consider climbing Mt Ossa or Pelion East.

The north side of pelion Gap is very sheltered. Most of the way to Pelion Hut lies in a very nice forest. Again it was quite moody with the mist. We did a short side trip at one place to view a waterfall.

We reached Pelion Hut for lunch. That gave us all the afternoon to wander around. The Pelion area is well worth spending some time in.

Quite a few walkers were in the hut that evening. There were now 4 of us walking North and we were joined by 7 walking south. It was quite chilly however, with no working heater.

The weather forecast for the next day we knew was the worst for our trip – a fair bit of rain and then wind and snow. This forecast turned out to be very accurate. We walked to Frog Flats in heavy rain, but conditions were not too bad. The track was very wet as we climbed around Pelion West. Then as we emerged into Pine Forest Moor, the snow started. Snow driven by strong wind. The track was also very wet with long sections under water.

We reached Windermere Hut about 5 hours after we set off, only stopping for one short break. It was good to get inside the hut for lunch even though the hut was quite cold. In the hut, a mother and her adult daughter were playing cards in down jackets and gloves. All our clothing was wet, and with no heater there was little we could do to dry things. We took all or wet things inside the hut so it would not freeze up. No photos on this day. Six in the hut that evening.

That night there was more snow, but not too much fell to impede walking. The weather was a lot calmer by morning. It was partly clear, a little breezy with the occasional snow flurry.

it was beautiful wandering around the Windermere area the next morning with our cameras.

It was a short and very pleasant walk to Waterfall Valley. The track was not icy and we made good progress arriving by lunchtime. Lunch in a warm hut next to  a working heater!

We spent the afternoon wandering around the valley, taking photos, then heading back to the warm hut.

That evening there were 8 in the hut.

After a cold night, then next day was not too bad. it was misty, but fairly still, and no rain or snow.

We packed up and climbed up onto Cradle Cirque. on the way up, it  was quite icy and we put microspikes on our shoes. These are like mini crampons and are small, light and easy to carry, but also very quick to fit on shoes or boots to allow you to walk on icy boardwalk or rocks with confidence. Trekking poles are also very useful in these conditions.

This last day was perhaps the highlight of the walk – walking around Cradle Mountain. Trees, shrubs and rocks were plastered with snow and ice. So beautiful. The cloud ceiling was quite low however, and we didn’t get a full view of Cradle Mountain.

Along the way, phone reception re-established meant my sister could call her husband. Good news – Shane was on the way. He made good time and met us on Marions Lookout. From there it was a steep descent to Crater Lake and then more descending to Ronnie Creek and the end of the track.

We were soon on one of the shuttle buses back to the Visitor Centre, we we enjoyed fish and chips before heading to my sister and brother in law’s place. It had been a fantastic six days.

A lot more photos are online on my website.