|
|
STORMPLANET - Tasmanian Wilderness Photography
All images protected by
copyright.
Cradle Mountain
May 3rd - 5th 2006
On Tuesday May 2nd, we set out for Cradle Mountain to
complete the
Overland Track. The plan was to stay in a cabin that we had booked
on Tuesday evening and then set off early the following day, starting
from Ronny Creek and ending up at Lake St Clair on Sunday. I had been
analysing the weather for a week or so leading up to the trek and as the
time drew nearer, it was becoming obvious that the trek would be either
very difficult or not at all possible. As it turned out, both scenarios
came to fruition and we were only able to complete a couple of shorter
walks, returning to Cradle Mountain each evening. A combination of a
Bushwalkers Alert, appalling weather and a sick team member made the
decision a foregone conclusion, a disappointing result after all the
planning and preparation, but safety is always paramount and the
Overland Trek will be there for a while yet...
On Wednesday we completed the Dove Lake Circuit in appalling conditions,
the scenery was largely obscured by driving snow and low cloud, but the
occasional glimpse was possible of the amazing terrain around us. We
were under the influence of a deep cold front that was passing over the
state, with strong westerly winds.
Unbeknown to us on this day, two walkers had set off their EPIRB beacon
yesterday afternoon, after setting off from Cradle to complete the
Overland Trek, and the signal indicated that they were near Marions
Peak. Search and Rescue (Police, SES, NPAW) had a small team dispatched
and by the following day, a full search and rescue operation was
underway. A helicopter was called for but we were experiencing a
blizzard and there was no way that they were going to fly a chopper
there in such conditions.
The following day we set off for Kitchen Hut via Marions Peak, believing
that now that the cold front had passed we might be able to get some
walking under our belts. We still weren't aware of any search and rescue
operations as we headed for Marions. The conditions were fairly
miserable, the snow had abated but the rain, sleet and graupal never
ceased and as we started to climb the peak, the winds became much
stronger. Climbing to the lookout on Marions Peak was difficult, with a
full pack it was a job to stay upright with the driving winds, I had my
Kestrel with me, I measured winds at 72kmh over the space of a couple of
minutes, but the gusts would have been around 50% higher again.
So, we decided not to go on and commenced our descent, meeting up with a
couple of walkers attempting a day walk from Cradle. They advised us
that there was a search and rescue operation underway for 2 walkers that
had gone missing yesterday, and we advised them that the climb to
Marions was pretty bloody awful and none too safe. We returned to Cradle
via Wombat Pool and spent the afternoon in the Cradle Mountain Lodge
bar, of course...
During the afternoon we found out that the two missing walkers had been
located, by chance, safe and well by a Victorian bushwalker. As it
turned out, they were not far from Marions Peak and were found on the
same track we were on, not long after we were there! We were surprised
by this as we'd not seen them, but the visibility was poor and it would
have been difficult to hear them under such conditions. Had we stayed on
longer or set off on the walk half an hour earlier, we probably would
have come across the lost walkers ourselves.
So, for us the Overland remains only partly conquered and for that
reason we are already planning a return bout in Spring, to finish what
we started!
Wednesday May 3rd - Dove Lake Circuit
Near impossible to take a decent photograph in today's conditions, it
snowed for most of the day but I was able to capture some of the scenery
and take in the turning of colour with the Fagus that grows around the
lake.
Below: Dove Lake, the track and a glimpse into the conditions on the
day.
Click on images to view
 
Thursday May 4th
Click
on images to view
 
 
Below: The next set of images were taken from
Marions, look closely and you can see the track taken to reach the
summit and probably get a feel for what the conditions were like. Once
off the peak the wind abated and the walk down to Wombat Pool was a much
more pleasant experience! The last photo was taken from the door of our
hut on Wednesday, showing that morning's snow cover.
Click on
images to view
Click on any image to enlarge. All
images available for
purchase.
|
T a k i n g A u s t r a l i a b y
S t o r m ! 
