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Showing posts from January, 2014

Sentinel Range

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Wednesday 29 January 2014 The suggestion, and it was a good one, came from Greg for a walk to the Sentinel Range. An early start saw as the car park and ready to depart at 8:30am and it was not very long before the bottom of the ascent gully was reached.   My memory of this bit was a sidle below the range for a reasonable distance, but in fact it was quite short, so that is a turn-up because it usually the other way around. View west along the Sentinel Range Going up was a steep climb but with a comfortable temperature was achieved by the three of us in what seemed like pretty good time. After morning tea on the saddle above the climb, it was on to the summit of the high point on the range. By the time we arrived the cloud had broken up leaving just a few floating in the blue sky.  The views from the crest were now sparkling clear. Summit of Sentinel Range After retracing steps to the saddle we walked along the top to the next prominent peak, finding an overgrown pad

Snowy South

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Wednesday 8 January 2014 My first visit to the range was probably back some 31 years in 1982 (oh dear), on a trip to Nevada Peak, but I still remember arriving at the plateau there and seeing a spectacular south west scene ahead. That walk was via Lake Skinner and had delightful weather, on another occasion I remember sheltering behind the large rock at the lake to avoid the crap being thrown at us.  Some months ago the planned walk to Snowy South had to be cancelled and at any rate the weather was not suitable.  Good conditions prevailed this time and in fact it was fairly ideal because it was at the start of a predicted fine spell which gave quite a cool morning with a fair amount of sun and even by the afternoon it was still pleasant.  There was some high cloud about but not enough to detract from the day. It was in 2003 that I last went to Snowy South and my memory was driving past clearfell towards the end, but it was mostly trees beside the road this time.  It also seemed

Field East Circuit

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Thursday 23 January 2014 With such a promising day a walk to Mount Field East beckoned. We opted for the circuit, but without the actual ascent of the Field East summit. At the Lake Fenton car park there was a group of 6 from the Hobart Walking Club doing the same walk; except they were going up Seagers and the summit. The group was led by  a friend Chris and included Wendy, another friend. They did invite us to join them, but we wanted to have the flexibility to spend time at particular locations and go at a pace that suited us. The decision was vindicated when the group steamed past us soon after the start. On the ridge high above Lake Fenton there is a saddle with the most delightful garden of nature and that has been our regular morning tea stop on many occasions, and was again today. The Richea scoparia there was fantastic and quite a while was spent wandering about and taking photos. Richea scoparia Richea with Mount Field East behind. At the end of Windy Moor th

Mount Charles

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Wednesday 22 January 2014 It was an ideal day for a walk, with sunny and calm conditions without the temperature getting too hot; nevertheless we took advantage of the shade for rest stops and lunch. It was pleasant walking up to the Collins Cap firetrail and the area where steps have been put in, near the firetrail, was looking good and continuing to recover.  Even though we were walking at a reasonably good pace a couple of blokes much younger than us strode past. A section of bush running beside the firetail was still very much showing the damage from the bushfire of last January, but recovery was underway and most of the gums were shooting. Before and 12 months after bushfire Beyond that, the slashing beside the trail that had taken place at the time of the fire, was  somewhat of an ugly sight.   Once on the shortcut that avoids the big  arc of the fire trail,  we were quite surprised at the amount of growth of the vegetation there.  Once back on the firetrail the