Bushwalk Australia

Hi guys,
For a while I have wondered if it is possible to climb Mount Gell from the old forestry tracks to the west of the mountain (near Mount Alma).
PM's are welcome

Have often wondered this too

I know someone who tried it a few years ago. The trail shown on LISTmap that goes close isn't really passable for any vehicles; too many trees down. It sounded like the scrub was pretty ferocious too. They didn't make it up to the top going that way.

Thank you for the excellent information
I thought the scrub might be ferocious, TASVEG 4.0 mentioned "short rainforest"

The vehicle track effectively ends at the apiary site - it used to go futher but that is now so overgrown it's more or less useless. As for the scrub *shudder*.

Hahah sounds hectic..
Thank you the information

north-north-west wrote:The vehicle track effectively ends at the apiary site - it used to go futher but that is now so overgrown it's more or less useless. As for the scrub *shudder*.

The satellite imagery still shows a white gravel track in places?
I’d always thought of having a crack at it from the highway…just to be different.

Lostsoul wrote:The satellite imagery still shows a white gravel track in places?
I’d always thought of having a crack at it from the highway…just to be different.

I'm not sure if there's a way of finding out the date when the last imagery taken. I've been turned back in other places - e.g. by a lovely open forestry road in the satellite photos, that had pretty much completely revegetated. We figured that 12 extra kms of scrub before the scrub we were expecting would start, wasn't going to be enough fun to pursue.

Lostsoul wrote:

north-north-west wrote:The vehicle track effectively ends at the apiary site - it used to go futher but that is now so overgrown it's more or less useless. As for the scrub *shudder*.

The satellite imagery still shows a white gravel track in places?
I’d always thought of having a crack at it from the highway…just to be different.

Have a look at the ESRI images. On the State Aerials you see a whitish patch about 5km in, and around 1k past the fork depicted on the scanned 1:25,000 maps, the road is tracable on ESRI that far. I'd have to check my GPX files, but I'm fairly sure that's the last apiary site and as far as the road is clear. And the road beyond the right-hand option at the fork no longer exists either.

If I remember correctly the road was rehabilitated beyond the last apiary site in the mid/late 90's.

You can check ESRI imagery dates here - https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/wayback/ ... 15663%2C15

LISTMAP also has an imagery index with the date of imagery. (in this case its from 2008)

The light patch further out is actually a tarn/lake/mud

Thank you for the information

Still gonna do it

Tempted ...

The first time I climbed Mt Gell (many years ago...) we came directly up from Wombat Glen, initially on old King-billy pine logging tracks and then a cut track to the boulder field.

The open area about half way up just northwest of Mt Gell is a frost hollow created by a dolomite sinkhole. There used to be a taped track to it but there is unlikely to be anything now. Apparently, from the sinkhole to the Cheyne Range ridge crest is horrible scrub...

But, the emergency services map shows a route form the old logging tracks to the ridge crest. I suspect that this line follows one of PWS's "imaginary" routes.

Jon MS wrote:The first time I climbed Mt Gell (many years ago...) we came directly up from Wombat Glen, initially on old King-billy pine logging tracks and then a cut track to the boulder field.

The open area about half way up just northwest of Mt Gell is a frost hollow created by a dolomite sinkhole. There used to be a taped track to it but there is unlikely to be anything now. Apparently, from the sinkhole to the Cheyne Range ridge crest is horrible scrub...

But, the emergency services map shows a route form the old logging tracks to the ridge crest. I suspect that this line follows one of PWS's "imaginary" routes.

Would that be the old Linda track?

No, Linda track goes up to the east onto Mt Arrowsmith, not to the north onto Mt Gell.

Lostsoul wrote:Still gonna do it

Reubs wrote:Tempted ...

Please do a trip report when you do.

Jon MS wrote:No, Linda track goes up to the east onto Mt Arrowsmith, not to the north onto Mt Gell.

The Linda track is still tracable from the Beehive Track to Wombat Glen, both on the list's arial imagery and on the ground. Some years ago we walked it, quite an adventure but we made it. Because much of it was benched it was quite obvious (mostly) even if you couldn't always walk on it. We lost it on the hillside above Wombat Glen and had to bash down to the Highway, though it is still very obvious across Wombat Glen. It is also visible elsewhere alongside the Lyall Highway, particularly after fire.

tastrax wrote:If I remember correctly the road was rehabilitated beyond the last apiary site in the mid/late 90's.

It may have been, but it was 2016-17 when I walked it and the apiary site was as far as it was any use.
I know some people who did Alma using that road, but they left it a bit early and had a very hard scrub bash through the flatter lower ground even before reaching the gunge on the ridge.

I did the Linda Track from the canal road to Arrowsmith in maybe 2018 (somewhen like that). Some parts were good, some were too overgrown to even try to stay on line (one upper creek gully particularly lingers in the memory).