Summit Walk mid September ?

[Eka1970]

Hi all, this my first post on this forum . My partner and I are planning a trip to Tasmania Mid September and have booked 3 nights at Cradle Mt - Is it advisable to the summit walk this time of year .. We are both fairly fit and active but have relatively only basic bush walking experience. Alternatively Can you suggest other options walks while we are there , thanks in advance

Kim

[gayet]

You could have blue sky days, or perhaps be snowed in. Base your decision on the conditions at the time. Take or wear wet weather gear, have something warm with you, use walking poles if you have them as they will help in getting to the top.

If its a bit dodgy on the climb, wander around Dove lake, take in Crater Lake and falls, meander through Hounslow Heath. Apart from a bit of a climb from Dove Lake up to Crater there are no troublesome bits on these. There are a multitude of walks available if Cradle Mt summit looks dubious in the conditions.

Wherever you go will be worth it though.

[Eka1970]

Thank you Gaye .

Kim

[Tortoise]

Hi Kim,

As Gaye said, anything can happen. We've certainly been having plenty of snow and wild weather this August, and blue skies can turn to freezing conditions any time of year. But you could have gorgeous weather too.

As you haven't had much experience, and are from sunny Qld, I'd suggest erring on the side of caution. If there's any ice or snow around, I'd give the summit a miss. There's a lot of scrambling up and over rocks to get there, which can be pretty treacherous if wet or icy. You may have heard a tourist slipped to his death from near the summit a few years back.

But there are still plenty of beautiful walks to do, as Gaye said. It's less likely to be icy lower down. You could do a longer walk up (one of various ways) to Kitchen Hut, across the Face Track, visit Twisted Lakes and go back down over Hansen's Peak. It's steep but there's a chain to hang onto if you need it. Or do that walk the other way, or up or down via Lake Wilks. If you do a higher circuit like that, and have heaps of time and energy, you could even add a down-and-back visit to Artist's Pool, which is on the way to Lake Rodway.

Using the shuttle bus, you could start your walk at Ronny Creek and finish at Dove Lake if you like. It's very pretty up via Crater Falls, and that would give you a fair bit of variety with the higher bits.

Have fun

[Eka1970]

Hey,tortoise
Thanks for your reply , we were defiantly looking for a longer walk , so this looks like a great option:) thanks . I was a little worried that the sumitt would be a little challenging at this time. We will just have to keep walking and come back in summer one year ! So looking forward to our trip., rain, show or shine

[Tortoise]

You'll definitely need to come back, no matter what happens! My first walk was the overland track a long time ago. I've been coming back to walk in Tassie on every possible occasion since, and finally got to live here.

Now I can pop up to Cradle for the day, or the afternoon, or the weekend, or a longer trip. Got to try out my snow shoes there last week, and am seriously impressed with them. I've discovered soooooo many gorgeous walks in Tassie that aren't in any books. It's just endless, really.

Watch out, or you'll be bitten by the bug and will have to start moving south.