Tasmania – The Overland Track 22 April – 1 May 2017

I spent a very enjoyable ten days on the Overland Track in late April. I think this was my tenth time along the track so therefore I am quite familiar with the country it traverses but at no time did I find the walking tedious. I last visited the track three years before – again in late April and I wrote about that occasion singing the praises of the walk when the fagus, the native deciduous beech  is changing colour.

My motivations this time were much the same. It would be a fagus and fungi walk, similar to what I have been doing at the time of the year for the past three years (and also at earlier occasions). It would be timed to hopefully coincide with the period when the fagus leaves would be changing colour from green to orange.

Another motivation was that one of my sisters and her husband had recently moved to Tasmania and the walk would provide another chance to visit them. Indeed they gave me a lift to Cradle Mountain and joined me on the first day and night of my walk.

So after alighting from the mini bus at Dove Lake, we set off up the track on the east side of the lake which soon climbs up and over Hansons Peak and then down to the Twisted Lakes. On the way, the weather was overcast and misty. The mist provided beautiful soft lighting to photograph the deciduous beech that fringes the Twisted Lakes. The beech leaves had very nicely changed colour, perhaps being as good as they get and the scene was incredibly beautiful.

A little light rain fell, so we retreated to the Rangers Hut for lunch. It was a shame to see the area behind the hut had been used by many people as a toilet.

After lunch, we continued down the track to Lake Rodway and arrived at Scott Kilvert Hut early in the afternoon. It was now quite wet so we decided to sleep inside the hut. Later a lot more walkers arrived and the hut ended up quite crowded. It was the Saturday night for the Anzac long weekend after all.

Next morning, in unchanged weather, I farewelled my sister and brother in law. They were walking back to Dove Lake, while I continued on to Cradle Cirque and then to Waterfall Valley. I had no fixed plans and on this walk I wanted to spend a bit of time in the Cradle Mountain area, but the weather forecast was for much the same weather for the next few days. Not the best weather to climb peaks to get a view. So I decided to continue past Waterfall Valley and arrived at Windermere Hut for a late lunch.

The moorlands around Windermere are very attractive and its a place that rewards time spent there. It was a bit too wet to venture too far from the hut however.

It was at Windermere that I met the rest of my cohort. These were the people that had set out on the track on the same day as I had. They proved to be a very nice group – an extended family from Brisbane, three couples, six walkers from the Tamar Valley and two girls – doctors from Melbourne. I ended up walking with this group all the way to Windy Ridge.

Day three of my walk was perhaps the wettest day. I set off quite early in the morning – at 7:50 am and walked non stop to Pelion Hut, arriving there just before noon. All the way it was misty with light rain. No expansive views, but very beautiful.

Pelion Hut is a good refuge from bad weather. When I arrived, there was a small group of police and paramedics. They were extracting a girls with a broken ankle. She had been on her way back from a day trip to Mt Ossa when she had her accident and had spent two nights out with no shelter. Other walkers had seen her gear in the hut and altered rescue authorities. They had located her and carried her to the hut but visibility had been too poor for a helicopter to get in. They were hopeful that one would be able to make it later that day. When I arrived at the hut, it was quite misty still, but after an hour or so, things did clear enough for the rescue helicopter to land and the whole party was able to leave.

The weather however was not good enough for a side trip to Mt Oakleigh – not that afternoon nor the next morning. So on day four, I set off for Pelion Gap. I walked slowly as its not very far to Kia Ora Hut and I was looking for fungi to photograph.

When I arrived at Pelion Gap the weather was still quite misty, but it was not raining. There was new trackwork going up Mt Ossa so I set off up it to investigate. At the least I intended to climb to the large band of fagus on the side of Mt Doris for some photos. The track work was very good and so was the fagus. But also the mist seemed to be starting to lift, so I continued on…. and eventually arrived at the summit of Mt Ossa. At the tip, there was still mist. I waited, and some patches of blue sky passed overhead but this mist persisted. I was able to pick up a weather forecast on my phone – it looked like soon was coming. I then descended. On my way down, I passed the six walkers from the Tamar Valley. Like me, they were only intending to climb to the side of Mt Doris, but they also ended up climbing to Ossa – and they were rewarded with good views.

At Kia Ora Hut, the next morning, we woke up to light snow falling outside. The peaks had a light dusting. Very nice.

After a later start, I set off for Du Cane Hut and the waterfalls. I only visited the two lower falls – Ferguson Falls and D’alton Falls as I was also looking for and photographing fungi.

During the day it snowed on and off. Between the snow squalls it would clear up enough to at least see the base of the peaks.

Bert Nicholls Hut at Windy Ridge was a good refuge from the snow. Next morning it was sad to farewell my cohort of fellow walkers. They all planned to walk to Narcissus and catch a ferry out that day. I was only half way through my trip.

I only intended to do a short walk to Pine Valley, so I was the last to leave the hut. I was hoping for the mist to clear from The Geryon, so I waited around a while. During this time I swept out the hut and cleaned all the tables – but the mist still shrouded the peaks, so with no more chores to do, I set off down the track.

I soon arrived at Pine Valley Hut and after lunch I wandered up the valley in search of fungi to photograph. I found a fair bit out, but not nearly as much as during the previous three seasons. The abundance was perhaps only ten percent as much, but there was still a fair variety out, but you had to search carefully for interesting species.

The forecast, the next day was not that great, so I decided to stay in the valley. This time I walked a long way up  the old track towards the Geryon Climbers Camp and also up the Labyrinth Track photographing fungi.

Next morning, at the helipad in Pine Valley I was able to get enough mobile phone reception to download a forecast. It looks like the weather would be improving that day, and then the night and the next day would be fine before deteriorating to more snow. So I took advantage of this fine spell and headed up with all my gear to camp at The Labyrinth.

The fagus was very good around the first two lakes, and again it looked very attractive in the mist. At Lake Elysia, I met two other walkers I had seen earlier in the hut – Nick and Ben. Ben was a photographer and he had a large camera set up waiting for the mist to clear. This mist eventually did clear and we had a fine afternoon.

More mist appeared on the peaks during the afternoon golden hour, but it had all evaporated by sunset time – a shame as it added a lot of atmosphere to photographs.

That night was cool but I awoke to a clear fine day with only a small amount of frost. I was hoping for an atmospheric dawn – mist was forecast and there was some around – but only in distant valleys.

I waited till the sun hit my camp and then slowly and reluctantly packed up and started walking back down to Pine Valley. That day I continued in fine sunshine to Narcissus for lunch and then to Echo Point Hut for the night. I had the hut all to myself.

Next morning the weather and changed back to the usual poor conditions. I walked down to Cynthia Bay, stopping a few times to photograph fungi.

At Cynthia Bay, I headed to my accommodation for that night – in one of the small bunkrooms and enjoyed a nice hot shower, then back to the shop for a beer and lunch. It snowed on and off during the afternoon and I was not able to search for fungi was much as I was hoping. I did manage to complete the Aboriginal Cultural Walk and found some nice fungi along that.

Then next morning I caught the bus to Hobart.

More photos from my walk are online – go to this menu page.

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3 Responses to Tasmania – The Overland Track 22 April – 1 May 2017

  1. Michelle says:

    Your photos are beautifully composed. I leave for the Overland in 2 days – first trip – can’t wait.
    Know it is the photographer and not the camera, but what camera do you use? You are a hiker so guessing it will not be a super heavy one.

    • Dave Noble says:

      I think for that trip I used my Sony A7rII, a Sony/Zeiss 16-35 mm F4 Lens, a Sony 50 mm f 2.8 macro lens and a a Pentax M 150 mm f3.5 lens on an adapter.

  2. Keith says:

    Hi Dave, Magic places the Overland and Labyrinth. I look forward to my next trip there, and your blog and photos are inspiring. You get great DOF and focus of your fungi photos. Very good. I struggle to get decent DOF on fungi or similar subjects.

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