The starting point of the track at Ronny Creek Carpark
Cradle mountain valley is the starting point of one of the best walks in the world, the Overland Track. We gave up in taking this walk, cause it is an extensive 7 days walk, covering 67kms of mountains and valleys and lakes, carrying all your camping gear & food on your backpack, and it is an expensive walk too (the track requires $190 per person during the peak season from Nov – end of April, and we must be equipped with good quality rainproof gear and merino jackets to keep us warm at night). So no oh. . .! but we came here to challenge the summit! Above the sea level of 1545metres, it can be snowing anytime, even in the summer. People die in this mountain mainly due to hypothermia or heart attack.
The day before, we check the weather at visitor information centre. For the next few days, the weather is forecasted to rain, rain, and RAIN! Still the weather forecast for us today is partly cloudy, with few showers. We still decided to go to the summit, but we were warned by the guide to wear warm clothes and rainproof gear. The national park map sells at $8.50 which is a good investment for sure. We bought the map at the caravan park, 50cents less. We wore a t-shirt, fleece jacket and a down jacket to keep us warm during the hike, should be safe gua!
Many Pandani plant around the NP. Pandani is only found in Tasmania
They look alike the guardian of Cradle Mountain, transformed to a plant and look after the land, mountain and lake.
Climbing to the summit of this famous mountain is by far our toughest challenge. We took 9 hours to complete the walk. Under the foggy weather, the sun seems to be taking a day off =.= but still considering ourselves lucky, cause it didn’t rain the whole day.
A: We did not join the Overland Track, but we are walking in one the tracks still!
We were so excited after 20 minutes of our walk, greeted by the orange colour Decidious Beech tree. There are plenty of these trees, which will cover the valley in orange colour around Anzac day (25th April) then falling off in the winter.
Black Currawong, it’s yellow eyes matches the leave colour perfectly =)
The first lookout we went is Marion Lookout, well this picture described our view:
Marion Lookout
To get to this lookout it took us about 1 and half hour from Ronny Creek carpark. It has some steep ascending hike at the last part of the walk. We spend half an hour waiting at this lookout, hoping to get a view of Dove Lake
We actually waited more than half an hour there for the Mr FOG to go for a small break, but no surprise. This view should be one of the best opportunity for photography.
We actually waited more than half an hour there for the Mr FOG to go for a small break, but no surprise. This view should be one of the best opportunity for photography.
Confused by the weather, we weren’t sure if we should go up the summit since it’s a long walk and the weather doesn’t look promising. Still, we decided to go after many people intended to climb the summit too.
This is the way to the starting of the steepest part of our climb.
Less than an hour of easy walk from Marion Lookout, we reached the Kitchen Hut. It is not a place to cook, but an emergency hut where people who get stranded in the unpredictable weather can spend a night here.
From here, the return hike to the summit takes 2.5 hours. But we took longer than that. Unfortunately, the thick fog leads us to a wrong trail. We couldn’t see the ice pole (trail marker), and thus spend about an hour going on a wrong direction as we didn’t realise we skipped the pole. Actually the trail is marked clearly, so people shouldn’t get lost =P The climb up the summit is really tough, a grade 5 hike. Very steep rock climbing, and it is not accessible at all during rain or snow as it is very slippery. The temperature gets cooler 1̊C every 100m. The wind is still bearable that day. It is best to have a walking party, helping each other and giving moral support =)
Ahhh, the TOP!
By the time we are up there, the fog is still as thick. Once in a while, the wind blows the fog away, giving us the precious few seconds to look at the valleys. Well, it must be really beautiful on a fine day. We would come here again if there’s chance during summer since it’s the best time to walk the cradle mountain.
After all that hike, the way down is just as exhaustive! Always check with the visitor info centre on the track conditions and which track is easier to walk. After the down climb, we took the Horse Track back to the carpark. This track takes 2.5 hours, it is not tough, but most of the broken wood track is covered in water (there are many creeks in the area). So our feet are wet and cold.
Well it was not the best day to go to cradle mountain at all. But still we cherish the beautiful nature formation, the colour of the forest, the huge delorite rocks and glacier pools.
And this fat Wombat bid us farewell~ ~ with a mouthful of grass. . . What a cutie! Now, time for some rest and a huge dinner!
The next morning, the hope to look at the special shape of Cradle Mt (so called because the two peaks of the mountain join up and looks like a baby cradle) from Dove Lake
If we only have few days in Tassie, the place we would go is certainly Cradle Mountain
On our way back to Devonport, still, foggy every way.
Back to Devonport again!! Since we need to ride the ferry back to Melbourne Tasmania
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