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Showing posts with label Hartz Peak Climbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hartz Peak Climbs. Show all posts
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Hartz Peak and Mount Snowy - 6th November 2010
Hartz Peak and Mount Snowy - 6th November 2010
This walk connects Hartz Peak and Mount Snowy south of the main peak, with some off-track and route walking. It provides great views while traversing along the ridge. Emily and Arthur Tarns are features of the return walk. The walk starts with a standard ascent of Hartz Peak. It is advisable to carry extra water, as you are unlikely to find any until descending to Emily Tarn after the ascent of Mount Snowy.
The route then heads along the ridge to the south. The first part of the ridge consists of buttresses, and you need to descend to the right/west to boulder-hop around their lower ends. If tempted to climb back to the ridgeline, you'll get a good view and there are some good cliffs to look down, but you need to get past a good few buttresses before the ridge-top is easily navigated. There is no need to do any rockclimbing or even actual scrambling at any point going in either direction. If you find that you need to, you've missed the easiest way and can either proceed if comfortable, or go back a bit and find an easier way. Eventually the ridge starts to drop steeply towards the Hartz/Snowy saddle. There is a little scrub here and you may have to wade through some scoparia, but it's pretty easy to tell where you're going. Descend to the saddle. Note that from this point you can walk along the south ridge to Adamsons Peak. I gather it's a bit dry and scrubby, and it would be best to get some directions from someone who knows the best way.
From the saddle there is a cairned route up Mount Snowy. It's occasionally indistinct, but basically head for the big scree patch and there are cairns up the middle of it. You'll know when you're at the top - it's the highest bit.... Good views of Hartz Peak from here, as well as the ranges to the south. Descend again to the saddle.
From the saddle there's a cairned route which drops off to the right/north and heads for Emily Tarn. This passes through alpine shrubberies which can be a little moist underfoot at times. The way is also occasionally indistinct. In clear weather you can see Emily Tarn though. (Maybe when it's foggy, people who haven't done this walk before might be advised to leave it for another day actually.) Emily Tarn is lovely, with the cliffs and crags of Hartz Peak ringed above it, and with a great view of Mount Snowy. There are good spots to put up a tent here, but please don't take lots of people there, it's pretty fragile. Oh, and there aren't LOTS of tent sites, certainly not together.
The return track continues around the right of the tarn and then climbs to a cushion-plant lawn in a tiny saddle between Emily and Arthur Tarns. This bit is definitely moist underfoot, and is becoming a little degraded. The track descends slightly to Arthur Tarn which sits perched above a steep drop and can be very visually attractive. Below Arthur Tarn the track drops down the outlet creek, and winds down a little before entering the creek bed which it follows for a couple of hundred metres. You need some navigational smarts below here, keeping a lookout for cairns and tags. The track then undulates across the plateau to return to Ladies Tarn. As a useful guide in clag, it would be a good idea to have marked Ladies Tarn in your GPS to give you something to aim at. The track has some apparent false leads in a couple of places. If the track peters out, backtrack a little and cast about for another route. This plateau walk can be wet to very wet underfoot, and will boots will probably be most comfortable. The track emerges just above Ladies Tarn, and you turn right to retrace the walk to its beginning.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Hartz Peak - 24th October 2010
Hartz Peak - 24th October 2010
Very nice day for a quick climb up Hartz Peak, with a cool breeze and continual sun.
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Saturday, July 24, 2010
Hartz Peak - 17th and 19th July 2010
Hartz Peak - 17th and 19th July 2010
Had a couple of walks up Hartz Peak last weekend, actually hoping for good photographic light, sun on snow etc. It wasn't too bad, but while Huonville and elsewhere had pretty good weather, it was cold, windy and often cloudy at Hartz. Nevertheless, it was nice to wander about, and the snow and ice was quite attractive.
There were some people out in the most horribly innappropriate clothing. They only went to Lake Esperance, and I think they found it rather uncomfortable. The bald man with no hat in the icy and occasionally wet wind was obviously uncomfortable. His daughter (well, I hope she was his daughter) was in fashionable, around-town gear. They were a bit uncommunicative when I passed them on the track.
Here are a few photos from the weekend at Picasa.
Add to Cart More InfoSunday, June 27, 2010
Hartz Peak - 26th June 2010
Hartz Peak - 26th June 2010
The BoM provided their usual pessimism-laden forecast. The weather station at the Hartz Mountains was tending to bear this out early on, but the sun came out in Huonville. The weather observations showed slow improvement, so after an early lunch I headed up there. It was chilly but dry with a cold breeze, and the sun came in and out making for a pleasant walk. Hat and gloves were a must though, and after pottering about on the summit and nearby taking photos, my hands were cold enough to need the second pair of gloves. Later I would find that the highest recorded "apparent" temperature for the Keoghs Pimple weather station was around -5.5 Deg C. No idea what it would have been in the strong breeze blowing from the west high up on the peak. Nice views though, with a bit of ice and snow making for interesting surroundings.
The views from Hartz Peak are really very impressive. With a bit of cloud and rain about, Saturday wasn't the clearest, but the southern ranges were quite obvious. Here are views from Mount La Perouse, through Pindars peak, Mounts Wylly and Victoria Cross , Precipitous Bluff and the Ironbound Range. This last is the largest obstacle along the South Coast Track, and can be seen in this photo as the range in the far (and hazy) distance to the right of centre with the pyramid on its top. The south coast track crosses this range, climbing most of the way to the top.
Mount Picton lies across the Picton River valley from Hartz. In this valley forestry operations continue, most especially below Hartz on the western slopes where they cannot be seen from this vantage point. Some of the forests being harvested were excised from the national park. My view is that these forests should not be harvested, but instead amalgamated into the surrounding national park and World Heritage Area to complete the contiguous protection of the upper Huon catchment areas. These forests are worth more protected and standing than mulched up for export to Asia as woodchips. The good thing about the weather on Saturday was that it concealed the forestry scars high on the slopes of Mount Picton, usually visible from here. This view is of Mount Picton across Hartz Lake.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Hartz Peak - 1st May 2010
Hartz Peak - 1st May 2010
Ian Cartmel had some visitors from his Slimfit Group in Frankston who were looking for some exercise. He chose Hartz Peak for them, and invited some locals to join them. A good walk ensued. Some cold breezes cooled the party on the summit and in the early part of the descent. The views were Ok but not as clear as they are at times. Phil "entertained" us with some old jokes at the summit, then proceeded to jog down most of the mountain. Not bad for a bloke of his seniority. But crikey Phil, the hat's appalling. Looks like something from Braveheart, or maybe When The Boat Comes In...
If you Slimfit blokes get sent a link to this, you can see some other photos around Hartz Peak here. Rollover for explanations of the photos.
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Hartz Peak - 5th April 2010
Hartz Peak - 5th April 2010
Had a cool walk to Hartz Peak over Easter. The Mountain Rocket (Bellendena montana) had entered its red fruit phase.
The mountain tops were mainly shrouded in cloud, but it did have some gaps which provided some views to the Picton Valley, Mount Picton and even Precipitous Bluff and the Ironbounds very briefly.
The lack of views at any great distance meant I tended to look more downwards for photography subjects. Here is some lichen on dolerite.
The later afternoon was de-hanced by several of those now notorious Easter Forestry burns. These burns resulted in days of smoke pollution hanging around the Huon Valley from Mountain River to Southport. Idiots!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Hartz Peak - 30th January 2010
Hartz Peak - 30th January 2010
On 30th and 31st January they ran Targa Wrest Point, a sort of mini-Targa Tasmania along the roads in Kingborough and the Huon Valley which have been deemed either uneconomic or not suitable for inclusion in the real Targa. It's quite spectacular, and I noted that the cars were going to pass the end of the Hartz Mountains Road 4 times during Saturday. I made sure I got there before they closed the road, and was duly barricaded in. Anyway, having photographed the cars driving once in each direction I headed up to the Hartz. Scenery spectacular as always, but today some sights closer to the ground.
While trying to photograph these Alpine Sundews (Drosera arcturi)...
...I noticed this fellow behind them. He came out quite well. He avoided becoming stuck on a sundew too. Not sure a sundew could 'eat' a grasshopper this big though. My book Wings (Elizabeth Daley) identifies him as a Tassie Hopper, Russalpia albertisi.
On the way back down the steep bit above Ladys Tarn this White-Lipped Whipsnake (Drysdalia coronoides) evaded me. I've seen these little snakes several time in this vicinity. It is understood that generally whip snakes pose little danger as they have very small mouth and fangs, however Snakes and Lizards of Tasmania (Hutchinson, Swain & Driessen) says "if handled these snakes bite repeatedly". I'll avoid handling them then! My mum was pretty sure one bit her once, but even the doctor wasn't sure when she eventually went to see him.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Hartz Peak - 11th January 2010
Hartz Peak - 11th January 2010
Early start today, and some nice early light for photos. This gave way to increasing heat. Today has reached 37 degrees at Grove, 29 degrees at Keoghs Pimple (at Hartz). The P&WS were busily putting out the Fire Ban signs this morning. I note that they have removed the water tank from the Waratah barbecue shelter - better take your own water if you're heading there to cook and picnic. The Mountain Rocket (Bellendena montana) and other flowers are providing some summer colour right now.
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Hartz Peak - 3 October 2009
Hartz Peak - 3 October 2009
Some shots from an ascent in light snow late last year. Add to Cart More Info
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Hartz Peak - 26th January 2009 (55)
Hartz Peak - 26th January 2009 (55)
What better way to spend a public holiday - climbing Hartz Peak. Mind you, it was fairly busy up there. The carpark was basically full (largely because of the bizarre group angle parking of some large 4WDs - thanks guys), and so I made a new car space which didn't inconvenience anyone who can drive a 1.8m-wide car through a 4m-wide space....OK, so I've got over the fact that so many people were cluttering up MY mountain. ;-) The top of the mountain was crowded too (you know, like Mt Everest has become - they even do ER doccos there now...), but in fact, the noise has been worse with a pack of HWC prats before now, so it was alright. Everyone was happy and suitably appreciative of the delightful views. The funniest moment was when someone told me I was "nearly there" when I was half way up the steep slope above Ladies Tarn. Cheers mate!
The view was actually quite hazy, but attractive nonetheless. Anyway, what better way to spend a day off work than wandering about a Tasmanian alpine plateau. I noted that there is this forestry coupe high up below Mt Riveaux. They really shouldn't be harvesting big trees here. The valley in between Hartz and the rest of SW Tas is largely unprotected, but quite inappropriately splits off some of the most magnificent forests in the world and makes them available for turning into toilet paper...
It was interesting to see the Waratah still out. I've been slack (oh, and busy) and haven't been up here for a few months, but there are still some Waratah plants with good displays and healthy flowers, which make a colourful splash on the alpine heath. In fact there were quite a lot of flowers out, and I'll post a separate blog with some more pictures.
Just finally, I love the view of Federation Peak past this boulder, and I think it would be best at sunrise, so I'll have to be there one day to catch it. This is high up on the western side of Hartz Peak. This same boulder makes a good foreground for shots of Hartz Lake.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Hartz Peak - 23 October 2008
Hartz Peak - 23 October 2008
What better activity for Hobart Show Day than a bushwalk somewhere quite a long way from Elwick! The weather forecast was good, and with a dusting of snow on many peaks during the week, Hartz looked like a good idea for a half-day trip. When I started from the car park just before 8am, the sun was out in a blue sky with almost no cloud. However there was a chilly breeze which continued blowing throughout. The views were pretty good today, all the main peaks with snow on them. The walking was great today. Sunny and clear, the light snowfall had transformed the landscape without putting more than a dusting underfoot in most places, and generally the track was dry and clear.
Many of the pandanni (Richea pandanifolia) had a plug of snow sitting in the crown of the leaves. Interesting sight. The leaves of these pandanni are very purple. At other times or in other places they range through various pink and red shades, in addition to the green.
Mt Snowy makes a good alternative walk at the Hartz Mountains National Park. With this much snow around however, it would probably be a quite wet trip around the base of Hartz Peak. The best way to do Mt Snowy is as a circuit which includes a traverse up the long curving southern ridge of Hartz Peak. This provides good walking and extensive views. I will have to plan a Mt Snowy trip soon. Camping is quite possible at Emily Tarn. There is space for a few tents (not many), however the surrounding area does require care as it is quite fragile.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Hartz Peak - 4th August 2008
Hartz Peak - 4th August 2008
Lovely clear day today, above the Huon Valley fog there wasn't a cloud in the sky at 10am. I was keen to have a look at the Hartz in the snow, and I hoped there might be a little less of it than last time I was there. All was good. There was some snow underfoot on the plateau, and more once above Ladies Tarn, but it had been a bit trampled by people who've been up in the last few days, which made it easier in most places. The only tricky bit was the very steep slope up to Hartz Pass, back down much of which which I managed to slide on my first attempt. This was of course a welcome feature of the hill on my return, where I made use of my bum-boggan to make a rapid descent.
Good views today, with quite clear air. I was joined at the summit by a bloke who had carried his (quite large) son to the top. I remember carrying my lot up there. The youngest are 12 now, so that stopped a long time ago. Anyway, this bloke agreed with me that the view was indeed difficult to equal. The air was actually completely still for part of the time I was at the summit.
I was interested to note that neither the bloke I met at the summit, nor the couple I passed on my return had filled in the log book. None of them were particularly well-equipped either, but then maybe I overdo it. (Although the young lady looked like she was dressed for shopping.) They won't come looking for you just because you're listed in the logbook, but once they've decided you are lost, the logbook would help. The other reason the logbook can be useful is if someone else gets lost - they can find out who was on the track and might be able to help with working out where a lost walker might have gone. As far as the amount of clothing people carry is concerned, today was a nice winter day, and the likelihood of sudden weather changes was low, however, people don't seem to consider what would happen if they were injured.
Hartz Lake was partially frozen over with what seemed to be a pretty thin skin of ice. I assume it may have been completely frozen over at times recently. This is a big lake, so it must have been fairly cold for it to freeze over. The ice persisted into the early afternoon today, although the sun was shining on it. As soon as a breeze got up, the waves started to break up the sheet of ice.
The mist in the forest on the way there today was really quite attractive. This particular section of the road is not very close to current forestry operations. I heard some quite bizarre bird calls here this morning, and I'm wondering if in fact I was hearing a Lyrebird.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Hartz Peak - 17th July 2008
Hartz Peak - 17th July 2008
Very enjoyable walk up Hartz Peak this morning. When I arrived at the parking area, there was only a slight breeze, and the car said it was 3°C. BoM says it was 2.4°C at nearby Keoghs Pimple, so maybe the car is quite accurate. Started walking just before 8am, and shortly before this there was a moment when the sun shone pink and gold through the misty clouds (above). Seemed to promise an improvement from the grey. Mt Picton made a good spectacle, so here are a couple of views. The first one has Mt Anne and Mt Weld to the right of the picture. Picton is also quite spectacular right now from Vinces Saddle, especially when the rising or setting sun catches the snow cover.
Overall it wasn't too bad. Higher up the breeze picked up a fair bit and there is some annoyingly loose snow on the track in places, which slowed progress a little. Just below the pass and on the almost flat section around the western side of the peak ridge were the deepest, and I did a bit of uncoordinated and unbalanced floundering at times. The valleys were all filled with cloud, but at view-height, the clouds were racing around with the wind, opening and closing vistas in seconds. There were a few moments when the whole south-west could be seen clearly, but most of the time the view was largely or completely obscured.
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Friday, March 7, 2008
Hartz Peak - 8th March 2008
Hartz Peak - 8th March 2008
Went with a couple of new chums and an old lag for a walk to Hartz Peak (Map). The old lag was well equipped for the conditions, and Mick (Miguel) has been in Tassie for a while, so the chill wasn't too much of a shock. He also has experience on high mountains in Bolivia. But Steve is fresh from geological surveys in the deep north of the country, and the cold was a little more invigorating for him. In fact, on top of the mountain the ladies picked him from his red cheeks (and accent).
Good walk today with high cloud making for a textured sky and improving some of the photos. Views were quite good, with most mountains visible. There was cloud around the peaks to the south and west, which obscured some of the more distant ones, but gave the Eastern Arthurs and Southern Ranges a slightly different aspect for once. Good views northwards, with Frenchmans quite clear. Chilly breeze at times, but the winds were a lot calmer than early in the morning.
The crew were as follows:
Old lag, Phil Rush, not even reciting poetry, but we did learn some interesting facts about some of his more colourful customers. He doesn't earn as much as Troy Cassar-Daly for an evening's entertainment - I just don't understand why. Phil got to the top of the hill first today. Phil spent most of his time (about 70 years as far as I can tell) as a teacher driving from one school to another, drinking tea, killing snakes and eating morning tea.
Mick (Miguel) once called his wife from the top of a 5200m peak in Bolivia and told her he was waving to her! At work, Mick does all the difficult jobs but gets paid the least. Mick and his wife served as missionaries in Bolivia with SIM for about 13 years. He speaks fluent Spanish, is an accomplished joiner, and is keen to make his own musical instruments. He hasn't yet fixed our ukelele. (Joke, Mick).
Steve thought it was quite cold - actually it was for much of the time, so that's OK. Steve has been attacked by a taipan twice, and a freshwater crocodile once. Steve COULD tell us what he's been doing for a living (somewhere oop norf), but then he'd have to kill us. Steve appeared to have a large sack of junk food with him today, but it kept him well fed. He works as a surveyor, and I suspect he could be as mathematically adept as Phil. They both seem to enjoy playing with the GPS anyway, but only Phil knew off pat how many hours there were in a year (8784, this year only!). Steve has been picking pears for Clark's at North Franklin, and apparently the pear is imperfectly shaped, such that it is difficult to pick. (Me: Dear God, you made the pear the wrong shape! God: For whom, you or the tree? Me: Oh....good point God.)
All in all, the scenery was well received. As far as I'm concerned, this peak has the highest view/effort ratio of any peak in Tasmania.
Add to Cart More InfoSunday, February 10, 2008
Hartz Peak - 11th February 2008
Hartz Peak - 11th February 2008
Yes, sadly, another Hartz Peak climb (Map here). I had hoped for a nice sunrise morning on the plateau, perhaps with a quick clamber to the summit to see the view. Mmmm. What sunrise? What view? Shouldn't complain. The cloud was restful, the drizzle was light (if horizontal), and the wind wasn't as strong as it could have been. So, no view, no sunrise to photograph, and the wind made it very difficult to get nice close-ups of some of the attractive plants. There was only one thing for it; climb to the top. Actually, I did enjoy being on my own on this long weekend. This was an early-ish walk, setting out at 7am. One of the ladies heading up the hill as I arrived back at the start assumed I had abandoned the attempt. I think I was a little obscure in my response. The sign says it's a 4 hour walk, and used to say 5 hours, so maybe that's a reasonable assumption at 10am. 
The Mountain Rocket (Bellendena montana) is just turning from its flower phase (above, and earlier, properly in flower) to its fruit phase (right). The fruit takes over from the flowers, and is very distinctive, flattened and hanging down, the resulting shape giving rise to the common name.
Actually I was taken by the appearance of the leaves on this plant, especially with the water droplets. I'm pretty sure it's the Mountain Pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata). The fruits, and I think the dried leaves as well, are now used as premium food seasonings. To quote from "Wildflowers of Tasmania" (King and Burns, 1986) "Tradition has it that the berries were used by early settlers as a substitute for pepper, and the practice still persists in feeding the leaves to unsuspecting strangers under the pretence that they are delicious." Who knows!
Now this one took me a while, but I think it's Lomatia polymorpha. I'm sure it's a Lomatia, but picking between the various pictures of L. polymorpha and L. tinctoria was a bit tricky. Apparently it's widespread on mountains and flowers in January. Check! The leaves also vary in shape to trick amateur botanists.
I think this last one is the Dwarf Leatherwood, Eucryphia milliganii. Interesting historical fact: "The name 'leatherwood' was originally given to Acradenia franklinii, possibly on account of the toughness of its wood, but by 1903 was being transferred to the Eucryphias, which produce honey". ((King & Burns, 1986)
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