Playing in the snow is fun; spending time waiting in queues is not.
How are the two related? If you live in Melbourne (as we do) and wish to visit the snow, this usually involves entering an alpine resort. The alpine area closest to Melbourne is Lake Mountain (named after Surveyor-General George Lake; there isn’t a lake there) in the Yarra Ranges, just outside of Marysville. But a visit to any alpine resort will generally mean queueing to:
– hire snow gear (chains, skis, poles, sleds, snowshoes, clothing, etc)
– enter the park/resort and pay entrance fees
– put chains on and, later when you’re exiting, take them off again
– be directed where to park
– resort facilities
– ski/toboggan runs
In the queue to enter Lake Mountain Resort
So it’s no wonder we are looking for ways to reduce the number of queues we need to join on our snow day. The answer was to buy all our own gear.
For us this didn’t mean shelling out a fortune because we’re not planning to go skiing. Having grown up in Queensland I have no skills in that area, and while Stephen’s background was almost the complete opposite, we’ve decided that snowshoeing is an activity that we can both enjoy in the snow with minimal practice. After having now shelled out only a small fortune for chains (for the car), snowshoes and poles, we’re set and ready to go. We didn’t have to buy a lot of extra specialised clothing since most of our hiking gear is adaptable to snowshoeing.
This was our first walk with our own snowshoes and poles. We’ve just bought MSR Revo Explore Snowshoes from Bogong in Melbourne’s CBD. We were very lucky to snag the last two pairs they had this season! While MSR aren’t the cheapest brand, and Revo aren’t the cheapest option in their range, I wasn’t settling for anything less. (See my previous post Snowshoeing at Mt Baw Baw for a comparison of snowshoes that we’re hired at various resorts in Victoria.)
Now fully equipped, we planned to go snowshoeing the very next day – a Sunday. We did our best to get our the door early. There are always more tourists of a Sunday, so we didn’t want to be at the end of the line. On the other hand, because the Mini is so neat and zippy we’ll always catch up to a convoy of cars eventually. Eh!
Sign – Welcome to Yarra Ranges National Park – on the road to Lake Mountain
Snow-covered forest through the bare tree trunks
Lake Mountain Alpine Resort Entrance sign
A frosted forest
Young trees are slowly growing beneath barren limbs of trees devastated by the Black Saturday fires in 2009
The least enjoyable part of a snow day is getting out of the car once you’ve arrived, and getting kitted up to walk. The cold is biting! And it’s doubly – triply! – cold if it’s windy, but we don’t wear our boots in the car – or all of our layers – so by the time we’re finally ready to lock the car and head I’m generally shivering (or nearly) despite wearing all my layers.
The sounds around the carpark remind me of a crèche or kindergarten. Lots of young children, most of whom are excited and impatient to get going, some of whom are content to play with the first snow they see, and then there are those who have changed their minds and don’t want to get out of the car. Voices – excited, petulant, upset, coaxing, calm, or quickly getting frustrated – hang in the air on every side. For someone unused to children, it provides extra impetus to get going quickly.
Up at the main buildings it’s like the shopping mall at lunch time during school holidays – people everywhere. Here is where we stop to strap on our own snowshoes instead of heading over to the building on the right to queue up to hire snowshoes and poles. Leaving the tobogganists and snowman-makers and snowball-fighters and other wanderers to their own devices we headed up main trail out of the village with a big sigh of relief!
Ski fields are very colourful places – just remember to mind your step!
Setting off at last
Lake Mountain is popular because it’s close to Melbourne, and because it’s pretty family friendly. There are toboggan runs to keep kids amused for hours. If, like us, you’re looking to enjoy nature with half of Melbourne in your pocket, you can do that too. Once on the trail we quickly left the noise of the resort behind, and then the novice cross-country skiers. It was nice to go off (groomed) track when we found the snowshoe trail and walk on fresh, soft snow instead of compact trails.
Pretty good use for old skis – Snowshoe trail marker at Lake Mountain Resort
This style of snowshoe makes for easy walking – MSR Revo Explore
Walking on fresh, uncompacted snow is not only more pleasant but sooo much quieter! All snowshoes create noise on ice when the mental teeth crunch through the icy crust or compact snow on the trail. Being made of a hard plastic, ours also flap noisily when walking on compact surfaces – on soft surfaces it’s almost more of a shuffle.
Stand aside, they’re grooming the trail
‘Cordoroy’ – easier to walk on, but much noisier and less fun
From Snow Gauge (trail junction) we chose Echo Flat Trail to continue up to Helicopter Flat. Despite some cold fronts coming through recently, the amount of snow did seem to be a bit low this weekend. Lake Mountain is only 800m above sea level, so as long as there’s something on the trails I guess we should be thankful.
Lake Mountain Trail Map
‘Snow Gauge’ junction is lacking a bit of snow
Not much snow across Echo Flat
Arriving at Helicopter Flat we were surprised at the number of people gathered – and the tent that was set up (sorry about the dud photo – didn’t notice until I got home). Turns out there was a cross-country race on that we’d stumbled into the middle of.
Turns out there was a race on today – Helicopter Flat seemed to be the finish point for one group
Competitors in the cross-country ski race
We waited for a break in the skiers – I think we’d come in towards the end anyway – and continued on along Echo Flat Trail to The Camp (junction).
Winter vs summer – Echo Flat trail
I’ve never seen an iced-over pond before
The Camp was a busy junction. It has green (easy), blue, (more difficult) and black (most difficult) trails intersecting there. Standing out of the way we had a quick break for a snack, drink – and a couple of fungi photos.
‘The Camp’ junction was pretty busy today, too
I think these may be Golden Jelly-bells (Heterotextus peziziformis). They were common on the dead tree trunks
Maybe Golden Jelly-bells? (Heterotextus peziziformis) on dead trunk with snow
Refreshed, we decided to stick with the easy-rated Echo Flat Trail. We’d seen other fresh snowshoe tracks, and shortly after leaving The Camp we caught sight of the snowshoers.
Other snowshoers heading off into the mist
There were more in the group than we’d expected. We left Echo Flat Trail and followed after them for perhaps 30m or so, but the snowshoe track crosses the middle of the valley and they looked like they were going pretty slowly crossing the creek. After watching their slow progress for a few minutes we decided to back-track and stick to our original plan of following the ski trails.
Blue sky was starting to show as we reached The Gap. Pausing just long enough for a drink and a photo, we headed uphill to Triangle Junction.
Snow looking like a woolly blanket on a tree trunk
‘The Gap’ junction marker
Even if you lose your map, if you can find a junction there are good, permanent signs and a map on the posts
Echo Flat Trail, just before Triangle Junction
Our initial aim was to walk the Panorama Trail and checkout the views from the lookouts (assuming it wasn’t cloudy), but although we hadn’t come far our feet were talking to us, so we instead decided to head back along Royston Trail – our first blue grade trail for the day, but as it was down hill all the way back it didn’t really matter. In fact, it was the best ski trail of the day because there was plenty of deep, ungroomed snow on the side of the trail. Perfect for snowshoers!
Setting off down Royston Trail – the ungroomed snow here was very welcome
Even dead the trees are magnificent, but I wish they were still alive
Yarra Ranges NP sign at the bottom of Royston Trail
The cafeteria, shop, first aid, and public toilets and change rooms are all in the large building on the lower side of the village. We knew it would be packed inside; lucky we weren’t famished. We decided to stop in near-by Marysville to find lunch instead. It was interesting to see the old-style skis and snowshoes they had on display. How our equipment has changed!
Queue here for food at sporting venue prices. Good luck finding a table
I’ve never seen this type of snowshoe before, but why not give it a go?!
Old school snowshoes and skis with Stephen’s MSR snowshoes (grey) for comparison
There’s just one more photo I’d like to share – it’s from our drive back through (The) Black Spur. The road winds its way through a forest of fern trees which are dwarfed by giant mountain ash, standing straight and pencil thin, their crowns seeming to reach for the clouds. It’s not the safest place to be during storms or high winds, though – I’ve seen YouTube clips of trees falling across the road like a giant tipping over wooden building blocks – but unless you’re stuck in a painfully slow convoy, it’s a great drive!
Magnificent Mountain Ash – driving through Black Spur
If there’s a way to condense the whole of Tasmania’s famous 6-day Overland Track down to a day walk, surely the Mt Field East circuit has to be it – what’s more, it’s so close to Hobart!
Start/Finish: Lake Fenton Car Park, ~11km along Dobson Road from the Visitor Centre at Mt Field National Park, Tasmania Distance: ~9km Time: ~4hrs (plus lunch break) Difficulty: Medium Note: National Park Permit required, as with all National Parks in Tasmania; passes can be obtained from the Visitor Centre near the entrance of the park.
About the only thing I knew for certain before visiting Mt Field National Park, was that it’s the place closest to Hobart that you can see Fagus – also known as Deciduous Beech (Nothofagus gunnii).
We’ve been to Cradle Mountain around Easter time to see it changing colour before, but the question in my mind was: how much harder would it be to spot in summer when it’s leaves are all still green?
Fagus in autumn
Fagus changing colour
Fagus leaves
Of course I’d heard and read interesting things about the park, but unless I have a memory to link them to (e.g. linking the Fagus to a previous Tassie holiday), I find they just don’t stay put. So I just have to go and find out for myself. It’s also much more fun that way.
Armed with a Park map as well as Chapman’s Day Walks Tasmania, we thought we’d make a final decision on which walk to do when we got there. Due to a little sunburnt from the Taste of Tasmania festival the previous day – and that was with temps in the low 20’s – and given today was looking like it’d be pretty similar for Hobart, I didn’t pack a heavy jumper, instead planning to rely on my Gortex jacket if it turned windy. By the time we’d made lunch and were ready to go it was already about 10am – not really an early start.
Mt Field National Park is roughly a 1 hour drive north-west of Hobart, along the River Derwent past New Norfolk, through Bushy Park (where they grow lots of hops), and around the rolling hills, closer and closer to the mountains until you come to Westerway; a small town supplying the nation with its blackcurrant requirements over about 30 hectares, with a few hectares given over to luscious raspberries and sour gooseberries. Despite how much I love summer berries, given our late start we thought it better to stop on the way back.
Follow the River Derwent west to New Norfolk
The car-lifting kangaroo is probably my favourite road sign in Tassie, but the message is a sober one
Not much traffic on the road makes for an even better drive
Nearing Bushy Park – what a fantastic day for a drive
Hops. Lots and lots of hops grow at Bushy Park, about 45min north-west of Hobart
Turn left to Mt Field National Park at Bushy Park, along the Gordon River Road (B61)
Looking over Bushy Park’s fields and fields of hops
Approaching Westerway, neither of us were yet paying much attention to the clouds on the horizon
Turn left again at Westerway as signed and follow Gordon River Road (Ginger Creek is now on your right) for a few more kilometres to the park’s entrance. If you haven’t noticed the old railway tracks running alongside and crossing the road multiple times by the time you’ve arrived at the park’s entrance you must have been asleep the whole way (if so, I hope you weren’t the driver!). There used to be a train servicing townships from Bridgewater (the suburb on the north-side of the bridge over the Derwent that you’re most likely to cross if you’re driving up the Midland Highway to Launceston or Devonport) through to, and just beyond, Westerway. The trains would also bring logs back to the paper mill at Boyer (read more here). It would be nice to have trains operating in this part of the state again like they do on the west coast. Our train ride on the West Coast Wilderness Railway was a real highlight from a previous trip.
When you reach Mt Field National Park (about 7.5km from Westerway), drive past the picnic area about 400m and the Visitor Centre is on the right. It’s signed; you won’t miss it. There’s a cafe/shop there too.
One of many railway track crossings – no trains use the track at present (taken on the way back)
Convoy – We weren’t the only ones thinking it was a nice day to visit Mt Field National Park
There’s even fagus on the welcome sign at the entrance – Mt Field National Park – A Park for all seasons
Visitor Centre at Mt Field National Park
Inside the Visitor Centre at Mt Field National Park
Inside the Visitor Centre – they didn’t need the fans or fireplace the day we visited
As we already had a Parks Pass you may wonder why we bothered to stop at the Visitor Centre. Besides simply being interest to have a look, we wanted to check the condition of the road up to Lake Fenton and even more importantly – to log our walk. The sign in book for all walks is just outside the front door of the Visitor Centre, so before leaving I duly logged our intended walk – Mt Field East circuit from Lake Fenton Car Park.
We hadn’t stopped long, but as we walked back to the car Stephen pointed out the clouds which were coming over the range above us were thick and black. Despite this, we headed off along Dobson Road into the Park. It wasn’t long before it started to spit, and as we climbed the slightly corrugated (dirt/compacted gravel) winding road up into the mountains, it soon turned to sleet, then small hail was bouncing off the windscreen. We watched the temperature fall to around 10oC, which had me hoping that what I was wearing would be warm enough!
Setting off along Dobson Road with ominous clouds rolling in from the west
It snows here in winter, which is probably why there are orange road markers, too
Wet, but the road surface was pretty good
Getting close to Lake Fenton, the rain, sleet and hail had eased, but no blue skies yet
Fortunately the road wasn’t boggy, and there wasn’t much traffic so we didn’t have to pull to the side more than a couple of times. The poor MINI was getting a splattering again! (Mud and dirt does show up very well on a British Racing Green car!)
The hail had passed and changed back to a light rain by the time we’d driven the 11km to the small car park near Lake Fenton. We were lucky – there was one spot left. We got out, put on our Gortex jackets… and then the rain stopped. Typical. Regardless, we took or wore everything we’d brought with us. For once we hadn’t over-packed!
The short track to Lake Fenton starts at the top corner of the carpark. Summer is a great time to visit Tasmania – so many plants are flowering. I felt like I was in heaven before I’d taken 10 steps!
The track starts to the left of the sign (behind the Britz van)
There’s a short, lovely track between the car parks and Lake Fenton
Thymeleaf Purpleberry (Trochocarpa thymifolia)
Top view of Tasmanian Waratah (Telopea truncata)
Purple Cheeseberry (Cyathodes glauca) – I think
Wiry bauera (Bauera rubioides)
Tasmanian Waratah (Telopea truncata)
Lake Fenton is part of a catchment area supplying drinking water to Hobart. As such, recreational activities such as camping, boating, swimming and fishing and not allowed. After reaching Lake Fenton we had to stop and refer to the walking notes (a couple of times) to make sure we were setting off along the right path.
Arriving at Lake Fenton, part of Hobart’s water supply
Cross the outlet or overflow pipes
Over the wall and follow the track
My first sighting (this trip) of Deciduous Beech, aka Fagus (Nothofagus gunnii) in its spring and summertime green
Cross the outlet pipes and follow the track over the wall and around the north side lake until you come to a sign (a very weathered one on this trip) marking the turn off to Seagers Lookout and Mt Field East – but while there may be, or at least was, a track that continues around the northern edge of the lake, the water catchment committee and Parks & Wildlife Tasmania are trying to discourage people from walking that track. The Seagers Lookout/Mt Field East Track that we were taking is quite clearly well used, and there was little chance of us missing it at this point.
Under grey clouds the forest seems to be leached of colour. Then Stephen pointed out that the spots of white on the ground, which I’d taken to be petals or leaves, were actually small hailstones.
The sign, although quite weathered, was a reassuring sight
The patterns and colours of gums trees are amazing
What at first I thought were petals were actually small hailstones on the path
Small hailstones collected between the rocks along the path
The path was clear over the tangled roots of the grey forest
The track climbs steadily, but not steeply, up to the junction to Seagers Lookout. Had we started walking earlier maybe we would have done this side trip. As the sign there indicated it would take more than an hour to return to this point we chose to continue along the Mt Field East track.
Scoparia (Richea scoparia) are very common around alpine areas of Tasmania
The grey forest gave way to more diverse flora further up the slope
We saw a number of these scats on our walk – Spotted-tail or Tiger Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) I hope
It’s not particularly steep, but it is a steady climb amid the summer flowering plants
Rust coloured mosses and lichens on a boulder
Track junction – Stephen is on the track to Mt Field East, to the right is Seagers Lookout
Lake Fenton can be seen as the trees give way to a small swampy area. I was surprised, but also very thankful, to see the boardwalk – the ground looked very boggy beneath. Not something I would care to step in. Before long you’re back on rocks and climbing up, past some very impressive boulders, to cross a boulder field. This was where we had our best view over Lake Fenton and south-west toward the Mawson Plateau and Mt Field West.
A glimpse of Lake Fenton. The weather was still unsettled
Natures arch
Crossing the boulder field is not very hard – just look for the next marker
Boardwalk!
Glad I’m walking over, not through, that bit!
Scoparia (Richea scoparia) with exposed stamen at the end of the terminal spike where the petals have fallen off
Magnificent and enormous boulders form cliffs on one side of a boulder field
Looking across Lake Fenton to Mt Mawson and the ski fields above Lake Dobson (not visible behind the ridge in the mid-distance)
The area between the boulder field and the top of the hill is quite marshy – I’m not sure if it’s technically a small moor or not. There are plenty of woody shrubs to about 1m tall that do not appear to be present on the large moors. While very wet, you can mostly avoid stepping in and muddying the water as there are plenty of rocks forming the track through this section. No need for more boardwalk.
Gets a little wet through here, but there are plenty of rocks to step on
Mountain everlasting (Ozothamnus ledifolius) – I think
Still following the track markers up the hill, though the path is pretty clear
Rigid candleheath (Richea sprengelioides)
Alpine Finger-orchid (Caladenia alpina)
Old Man’s Beard – I’m not sure what it’s species name is here – I certainly hope it’s native!
Not the ususal smooth trunk on this tree
I think it’s Naturalist Peak and Mt Field West in the far distance
A lovely soft clump of a bryophyte species on a tree trunk
This is possibly Cushion plant eyebright (Euphrasia gibbsiae ssp. pulvinestris)
Mountain teatree (Leptospermum) I think
Looking back across the heath toward Lake Fenton
The Track over the hill is dirt and stone, but wasn’t boggy
Yellow orites (Orites acicularis) I think
Moss and heath (Epacris spp, I think)
Possibly a sphagnum(?) moss with Alpine coral fern (Gleichenia alpina) I think
Pouched coral fern (Gleichenia dicarpa) with a Pineapple grass (Astelia aplina) poking through, and some sphagnum moss towards the top right of the photo
Scoparia (Richea scoparia) beneath what could well be a Snow gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora)
Entering the shelter of trees on the other side, the track rises over, then follows the curve of the hill around to the left. It seemed a never-ending display of wildflowers and other flora were just waiting to be discovered.
We passed by spiky lawns of Pineapple Grass (Astelia alpina) which were just starting to flower, and through banks of Scoparia (Richea scoparia) in all it’s colour variations, which delivered us to the edge of Windy Moor, whereupon a wave of nostalgia swept through me.
Flowers of a Pineapple grass plant (Astelia alpina)
Close up of the flowers of a Pineapple grass plant (Astelia alpina)
A white Scoparia, or the closely related Bog Candleheath? (Richea spp)
We can see Mt Field East, having rounded the hill
The Scoparia and Mountain Everlasting bush is plentiful around here
Mt Field lies directly ahead, across Windy Moor
Gazing upon the browny-green moor, with Mt Field East in the distance, and low, grey clouds overhead, I felt like I was back on the Overland Track. I felt like I was where I longed to be. I felt like I was home.
And I knew precisely what was ahead of us.
Starting out across Windy Moor to Mt Field East
There’s no boardwalk, or even duckboarding here. But then, there aren’t crowds of tourists trampling all over the place like a herd of Brown’s cow’s turning everything into muck, either. If you haven’t got gaiters on already, now is the time to don them (or kick yourself for leaving them behind) ’cause you’re about to find out just how water- and mud-proof your hiking boots are, and when some of the ‘puddles’ are more than ankle-deep, you’ll want those gaiters.
With only a small, tree’d hillock providing a windbreak, there’s no prizes for guessing how Windy Moor got its name. The clouds had not cleared from the previous storm front, yet the westerly wind was intent on pushing more rain clouds in our direction.
Walk on the rocks where you can
A slight rise means less water-logged ground where trees can grow
Windy Moor is wider than it first appears
As usual, follow the track markers
A creek runs through the middle of Windy Moor
Getting closer to Mt Field East
Silver snowdaisy (Celmisia asteliifolia)
Close up of Mountain Buttercup (Ranunculus collinus) flowering in a streamlet
Mountain Buttercup (Ranunculus collinus) flowering in a streamlet
Close up of possibly a Field daisy, (Brachyscome decipiens)
A lot of work must have been done to create the stony path across the moor, and indeed much of the whole Mt Field East track. I’m not sure how much the Friends of Mt Field Landcare group are responsible for (whether it’s more maintenance, or everything) but their work for the benefit of all bushwalkers cannot go unthanked or unappreciated.
Sticking to the rocks on the path (though not always possible) will help prevent damage being done to this most fragile of environments. A footprint can scar a cushion plant for decades – if it ever recovers. Cushion plants are actually a community small plants rather than one large, spreading plant, and they’re quite often composed of more than one species. Their dense outer foliage is what protects the plants from the elements and allows them to survive, grow, and reproduce.
Cushionplants are bright spots of green in the landscape
This cushionplant may never recover from being trampled. If it does, it could take decades.
Cushionplants can be composed of different species – this looks like it could be Dracophyllum minimum (darker, spiky) with possiby Ewartia catipes (lighter, clustered)
There are even more species making up this cushion plant
Heath cushionplant (Dracophyllum minimum) with something else poking through?
Despite the earlier storm, the edge of the moor was quite distinct as the track became a lot drier and tree’d at the base of Mt Field East. Now sheltered from the wind blowing across the moor we were befriended by a cloud of midges. Rather more numerous than those met earlier on the walk, and so rather more annoying. I was glad we had insect repellent mixed in with our suncream, but I wasn’t sure how long its effectiveness lasted.
Climbing to the summit of Mt Field East is possible by following a series of cairns. You’ve got to keep your eyes open and stick to the track, apparently. Well, we had our eyes open, alright – we’d been watching another bank of clouds approaching from the west. A couple of bolts of lightning dispelled any regrets I may have harboured about coming this far and not at least attempting to climb to the top.
Off Windy Moor and moving up the lower slope of Mt Field East
The cairns marking the route up to the summit are not immediately obvious
Midges captured in the shot at the junction of the circuit with the side track up to Mt Field summit
When outlined against the skyline, the cairns are much more obvious
Walkers coming down off the summit of Mt Field East
We weren’t the only ones on the track that day, it seemed. As we turned to continue on to Lake Nichols we saw two other walkers making their way down from the summit as the storm approached. We didn’t stop to watch them, but followed the track to the trees disappearing over the edge of the plateau, trying to hurry along whilst still taking a moment to appreciate the view.
Looking back at Mt Field East
Lake Nicholls is just below this plateau
Moving down through the forest involves a bit rock scrambling across a couple of screes, but as on the climb up above Lake Fenton, the path is marked by poles and is not hard to follow.
Amongst the silvered trunks of the forest
Looking back, it’s a reasonably steep path, but the rocks make it easier
Pandani (Richea pandanifolia) in flower
At the top of a scree section – just look for the track markers
There are plenty of track markers along here to guide you
Although a little steep, footing is quite sure along the track as it remains fairly rocky. Further down towards the lake the path does become a more soil than rock, but it wasn’t muddy. Still, we were walking in summer. Winter and spring conditions are probably much wetter due to snow/melt.
Flowers of the Mountain Pinkberry (Leptecophylla juniperina subsp parvifolia)
Further down the slope the understorey is bursting with flowers once more
What really caught my attention along this section of the circuit was the incredible diversity of mosses and lichens growing on the trees and rocks in this protected area of the park. I noticed some above, earlier, but I was probably more distracted by the diversity of wildflowers. Here it was like exploring a coral reef, but a terrestrial one – a world of unusual colour and form and things that look like plants or branching corals but aren’t either.
A striking type of lichen I think. I wonder if it’s a member of the genus Usnea – the same as Grandfather’s Beard
Possibly a jelly fungi, even Tremella mesenterica. You can see from my finger, these ones are only a couple of milimetres wide at present
What a marvellous host tree!
This plant looks very happy with its leaves spread out to catch the rain
Spores beneath the leaves
Other bryophytes the tree is hosting
These bryophytes remind me of a shag-pile carpet
Lichen on the trunk
Lichen sporing, looking a bit like extremely delicate lacework adorned with burnt popcorn
Bryophtyes and maybe lichen on a rock add splashes of colour to the green
I’d spent quite a few minutes at the base of the tree, marvelling at the species around it, and as I regretfully left I wondered just how far ahead Stephen was…
Fortunately, the answer was ‘not far’, because as it turns out I was just a short walk from the Lake Nicholls hut. Chapman notes that it makes good shelter in wet weather, and yes – we can attest to that! We were grateful for the opportunity to take off our packs, hang up our wet jackets, and sit down somewhere comfortable and dry for lunch.
Approaching Nicholls Hut
Sitting down for lunch in the nice, dry Nicholls Hut
Nice view out the window of Nicholls Hut
No camping allowed in Nicholls Hut
The Hut at Lake Nicholls
We didn’t cool our heels for too long in the hut, as nice as it was; we didn’t want to get cold and stiff or lose too much time. (Our thanks again to the Friends of Mt Field Landcare group who do such a great job of maintaining this hut and track.)
After crossing the outlet stream to the lake, there’s a very short rise up to a rocky ridgeline that the track follows for a good kilometre or so. Now walking through wet sclerophyll forest there are fewer types of flowers blooming, but the diversity of other vegetation was getting better and better!
The rocky path along the ridgeline above Lake Nicholls
Absolutely stunning bark on this snowgum
Stinkwood (Zieria arborescens) – the leaves apparently have an unpleasant smell when crushed
Lichens (& bryophytes?) in fantastic colours
It reminds me of a coral community
A lovely green bryophte with spores
The top of a immature celerytop pine – sorry about the focus
A slightly larger celerytop pine (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius)
Stephen’s also found something to photograph
A withered banksia flower
The track markers have changed to old, fading red blobs of paint
Fairly sure this is a Hard water fern (Blechnum wattsii)
I think there’s even a hornwart in this photo
Green, red and aqua-grey bryophytes
This marker is very faded, but the track is pretty clear at least
Bryophytes and lichen on a rock
A sporing liverwort, possibly
Good thing we hadn’t taken off our gaiters because soon enough we came across another wet section of track. It doesn’t last too long, and the puddles weren’t too deep. The slope of the track increases as the track descends towards the Lake Dobson Road.
Don’t cross the sticks, continue along the clear track
A few more puddles to cross yet, but they weren’t deep
The yellow track markers have reappeared, but it was the bryophytes and lichens on the rocks that I was more interested in by now
Bryophytes and lichen – some the same, some different, all marvellous
I think there may be different lichens here than I saw previously, possibly sporing
Sometimes there are such interesting mixes of bryophtyes
Continuing down toward the road
Scrubtit (Acanthornis magna), lower centre – apologies, I couldn’t get a better shot
To the left is a steep path down to Dobson Road, while the track turns back up the hill
The first turnoff to Dobson Road marks the lowest point of the circuit. Our walk didn’t exit to the road along this quite steep looking track, but continued uphill on the same track towards the Lake Fenton Car Park (as signed). The path is very lush, mossy (‘bryophyte-y’) and provided a nice view of Mount Monash directly ahead as the clouds lifted.
Lichen, I think. Life grows everywhere here, given half a chance
Lush, green, wet sclerophyll forest
At first glance you might this this was moss, but it’s a different type of bryophyte I think
Close view of some bryophytes by the side of the track
Nearing the end of the track where it joins Dobson Road again
Mt Monash dominates the skyline in this section
Back at the road, but a little way to go until we’re back at Lake Fenton Car Park
A newer wooden sign (the wood was still brown when we were there!) at the next bend in the road leads you up a short track to meet the road a turn or two closer to Lake Fenton Car Park. The bleached, silvery grey, twisted tree trunks against the grey, jumbled dolorite boulders is quite a contrast to the green forest we’ve just emerged from.
The newer sign, although something’s been trying to eat the sign, by the look of it
Starting up through the greyed forest ‘short cut’ back towards Fenton Lake Carkpark
The twisted trees speak of the harsh conditions in this alpine environment
How they grow amongst the boulders is amazing
Back at the road, no more shortcuts
When you step onto the road this time, there are no more shortcuts – it’s simply a matter of following the road back to the start. It was about 1km from the forest to the carpark. Given the weather and time of day it’s not surprising we were only passed by a couple of cars. The most surprising part about this walk was that the road is lined by Fagus! They grow quite tall and bushy in protected spots. I really was quite astonished to see what I had thought to be – if not a rare plant, then certainly one that required effort to find – growing so happily beside the side of the road.
The tall green ‘bush’ behind the rocks along the Lake Dobson Road are Fagus in their summer foliage
Stephen stopped to read the sign, but it’s not a shortcut back to Lake Fenton Carpark
We’re the last ones back to Lake Fenton Car Park
Although it was getting late by the time we made it back to the Visitor Centre and logged out – it was closed, but that’s why the log books are kept just outside – we still (just!) had time to stop at the raspberry farm at Westerway for some fresh fruit and an ice-cream.
Couldn’t pass up fresh raspberries (and an icecream) from the farm at Westerway
You don’t have to look far to see where the fruit’s being grown
We got talking to one of the members of the family who own the farm and it turns out that they’re the last growers of blackcurrants in the country! Growing up in Queensland, blackcurrant juice (or cordial) wasn’t something we drank as kids, or that I readily identify with but, by the sounds of it if you grew up in Tasmania or Victoria it’s something you may become quite passionate about. Not just where the berries are grown, but also the percentage of juice being used, trademarks on recipes and brand take-overs.
Ice-creams finished, we were back in the car for the drive home. As the weather hadn’t cleared the grey clouds made a dramatic background against the rolling countryside as we drove back down the valley. Tasmania is not just scenic around the edge. Like most of the roads in the state, the road is single carriageway until you get closer to Hobart, but the surface was pretty good.
One of the blackcurrant fields
A straight road across the gently rolling countryside
There is some lovely countryside around this region
The field of green is poppies just after flowering
Late afternoon sunlight over the River Derwent
While I certainly had fun taking lots of photos on this walk, I also found enjoyment in trying to correctly identify species in for this post. My main references were:
The first book is a very good field guide and although I found the second book very useful, there are some notable gaps in the information contained, for all its’ nearly 400 pages of species photos and descriptions. Unfortunately, I haven’t – yet – bought a field guide to Australian bryophytes, and since we have over 2,000 species of them it’s not a simple matter of Googling the answers, especially if you’re not sure where to start. I’ll endeavour to come back and update the titles of these photos once this situation has been remedied. Identifying species in cushionplants has also proved to be somewhat challenging.
I’ve done my best, but if anyone thinks I’ve mislabeled something, or if I haven’t been able to identify it myself, please – let me know!
Writing a guest post is not like writing for your own blog.
I felt quite spiffed, chuffed, honoured even, when Neil Fahey invited me to contribute to his well-known Bushwalking Blog.
He asked if I had a favourite local walk.
Umm…well…
Despite having lived in Melbourne for almost 5 years now, I found myself answering his question with a question my own: “How local is local?”
Strictly speaking, I honestly suspect the answer is ‘no’. Despite there being plenty of walks we have enjoyed doing around Melbourne, my favourites (i.e. that ones I’d most love to return to) all involve overnight stays. We don’t re-do walks too often as there are plenty in both Chapman’s and Tempest’s books that we haven’t done yet (and there is, of course, the 1000 Steps that I always find myself talking Stephen out of – shhh, don’t tell him).
Still eager to contribute a post, I suggested my very first – and possibly favourite – hikes in Victoria: Mt Sturgeon and Mt Abrupt, located at the most southerly end of the Grampians National Park, about 3 hrs drive west of Melbourne. To my surprise and delight, a quick search had revealed that neither of these hikes had been covered yet on Neil’s blog!
Awesome!
Although we hadn’t been for over a year, the trickiest part for me wasn’t remembering the details – it was trying to keep focused on describing the hikes rather than writing a tourist brochure for Dunkeld or the Royal Mail Hotel. (Look out – that could be coming in a future post. It’s drafted… but then, that and more of the Grampians region has been in draft post stage for at least 18 months now, so don’t hold your breath.)
What I finally sent to Neil must have passed muster because he posted it on his blog. Thank you Neil for the opportunity to contribute!
Here it is – please read, enjoy (hopefully), and please feel welcome to leave a comment:
Dayna's Blog 