Walking for pleasure for 60 years

If the weather is kind there are some pretty good views from this hill. Most of the walk is along a section of the Penguin Cradle Trail although the last klick or so will be reasonably easy off track. But not Grade 4 off track. It's about 11km or so and in the order of 5 hours give or take. If the weather is rubbish we won't bother. 

Leanne Hays will show photos from her Gordon River Kayaking Odyssey.

I have organized with the Maydena Bike Park a shuttle to take us to the start of the walk. Costs will be $12.50 per person for the bus. We will walk to both Abbotts and Marriott lookouts. First along a road and the second through scrub to get there. We will drive down the Saturday and do the walk on the Sunday and either people can head home then or stay the Sunday night and head home the Monday. We will do a couple of shorter walks on the Saturday and Monday in the area. I have limited the walk to 10 people as the busses are small, so if you would like to come let me know. We can camp at a few options or there is accommodation choices at Maydena. 

Training Day for prospective members

With summer and longer days it is time to explore more parts of the PCT and see what damage repair is needed and carrying on from where we left off last year. The extreme wind and flood events of 2022 have certainly put our normal maintenance schedule out of whack. Come along for a pleasant day in the bush …. or maybe even a mountain view.

We will be leaving from Scotts Peak Dam and will have a crack at the following peaks on Lake Pedder:  Mt Giblin, Folded range, Secheron, Mt Llord Jones and Terminal Peak. We will be base camping on one of the beaches on the lake and walking or paddling from there. Feel free to join us if you only want to do part of the trip or just want a paddle. Day 1 will be an approx. 9km paddle to our base camp.

Grade  Kayak  K2      Walk  4-5

Map   Scotts Solitary Mcpartlan

My only visit to Mount Kate was of the no view variety so I thought I would try again and see what views there are to be had. Although technically a Grade 4 walk (off track) I had put down as Grade 3 because it is an easy walk in mostly open alpine terrain. If you want to try a walk in trackless wilderness but are unsure of your ability to do so this is the walk for You! 

If you have overindulged in Easter eggs then this easier midweek stretch may suit you.

From the Gnomon carpark, thinking walk up the Gnomon  onto Mt Dial from there we can either retrace our steps or car shuffle required drop down to the Ferndene carpark.

Obviously a discussion prior to our walk will decide which option we take.

Afterwards there  could be time for coffee and cake

This will be an off track walk up on the plateau. The plateau around here is usually fairly easy going (relatively speaking) and usually not particularly scrubby. However, nothing is promised. Hopefully it will just be a good wander out to this hill and back. And one never knows when one might stub one's toe on an old hut chimney. I estimate it to be in the order of 12km or so.

This is an easy walk for prospectives or those looking for a gentle workout. We leave from the Boom Gate carpark and head off up the boardwalk through the alpine scenery including some nice, ancient Pencil Pines near Ronnie Creek. On arrival at Dove Lake we can inspect the new constructions at Dove Lake before taking the bus back to our start point. If we have time and the desire we could join the tourists on a circuit of Dove Lake. A pretty walk on, hopefully, a pleasant day.

Club Meeting with Reviews and Guest Speaker Matt Piercy who will describe his 12 day walk into Vanishing Falls.

Clarks Timber is a hill near Double Lagoon up on the Central Plateau. It is not a long walk if the boon gate is still open, but an off track walk. There is a bit of low scrub and a bit of a climb up onto the summit, but not a difficult walk. On the way we will stop at some stone ruins built in the 1940's by a local shepherd. If you would like to come and explore a not so visited area come and join me. 

We will be base camping at Lake Burbury for this one. Head down Saturday morning and set up camp, if we have time will go for short paddle. Sunday we will paddle @ 8km over to the start of the walk and climb Marble Bluff. Monday we will head home. Feel free to join us just for the paddle if you like.

Grade  Kayak  K2      Walk  5

Map  Gormanstom Owen

Syds and Western Creek Tracks climb onto the Great Western Tiers south of Chudleigh virtually parallel to each other and no more than 3 km apart.  Syds Track offers very interesting scenery and vegetation as it meanders up to the escarpment and the open plateau.  From here it is simply a matter of following the relatively easy gradient onto the Mt Ironstone - Bastion Bluff massif and thence to the summit itself.  Excellent views of peaks and lakes are to be enjoyed.  From the trig we could wander down to Lake Ironstone for lunch before returning via the plateau and Western Creek.

Annual General Meeting plus Member Photos and Reviews.

Meet 7.30am York St Latrobe and drive to carpark of Ben Nevis.  Walk is just under 5kms out and back.(up and down) one write up says - A short track to the summit (1368m) that can be hard to find and difficult to get to but it is easy to follow.  Track is off unmarked forestry road Schuloffs Rd (off Telopea) not much room for cars. Anyhow its continuing our quest to see the North East Mountains but please be flexible with day/date as we want clear views and not white outs as our prior climbs have been on a few occasions! Limit 10.

I have not visited Mount Arthur since I was a 17 year old and I think the weather was pretty damp and I didn't see anything. So I thought I would visit it again and hope to get nice weather and great views. It is not a long walk, but a steep one. If you would like to join me give me a call.

Autumn, as the days are cooling a little but plenty of daylight still, is generally a pleasant time to be in the bush. Parts of the track could do with a touch up before winter and with a later 8am start, what else would you be doing on a weekend? Join us for a day out on the PCT.

Executive Meeting

It’s less than a month to the shortest day of the year. It’s getting colder and darker so climbing a freezing mountain is not in the least appealing. So I’m going to di di over to the East Coast for a spot of car camping in the Bay of Fires area and climb 2 or 3 of their nice low hills such as Littlechild, Pearson, Doctor’s Peak. Et al. The main attractions though will be the beach, hopefully better weather and O'Maras around the campfire. Will be going for a few days. You don’t have to come for all – pick & choose as you wish. If the weather is too bad even for there, I guess I’ll just stay home on the couch and watch Collingwood kick derrier.

Theme Night: Bities in the Bush. How to survive attacks by dangerous insects, snakes and leeches. Jenny Tudehope, David Wools-Cobb & Alan Keely.Walker Out

Autumn, as the days are cooling a little but plenty of daylight still, is generally a pleasant time to be in the bush. Parts of the track could do with a touch up before winter and with a later 8am start, what else would you be doing on a weekend? Join us for a day out on the PCT.

Frenchmans Cap in the snow is wonderful and dangerous. Be equipped for cold. Snow shoes/ crampons/spikes/ice axes recommended. Text me on 0428 451 528.

The annual combined NWWC-LWC “Snowshoeing Surprise” is on again. As previously, the “Surprise” is that I won’t decide where we are going and what time we’ll start until probably just a few days before the trip date when we’ll have a better idea as to where the best snow and likely weather conditions exist. Perhaps it’ll be to Cradle, the Central Plateau, the Walls or the Ben. Beginner snowshoe users are welcome – if you don’t have your own pair maybe you could borrow some from a friend. Alternatively, they can be hired from both Paddy Pallin and Aspire Adventure Equipment in Launceston (contact me for details). Note: If there is inadequate snow for this trip (heaven forbid!) I’ll endeavour to replace it with a suitable non-snowshoeing day walk.

With low tide at about 1pm I thought that it would be good to start from George Town (map) and paddle with the outgoing tide to either Greens Beach or Low Head (or both) before returning with the incoming tide. Alternatively, if the wind is exceptionally light a coastal trip from Beechford to Low Head is a possibility. I’ll obviously decide on the destination much closer to the date. Note that the viability of this paddle will be dependent on there being a suitable weather forecast and the trip might be changed to Sunday, 10 September if the forecast is more suitable on that day. Another combined NWWC-LWC trip.

A social activity with the Smithton walking club.                                                                                                                                 We will meet at Stanley around 10 am, have a bit of a wander around then gather for a lunchtime meal at the Stanley Hotel

 With the other club members we'll go for a leisurely stroll to Highfield House. Hopefully a few members will decide to stay overnight at the Stanley caravan park and confirm a walk for Sunday.