After a couple of aborted attempts in 2019, Tracey and I finally summit'd Mt. Emmett in the first week of January. Left Dove Lake car park very early in the morning to hook up with a group from the Launceston Walking Club, who'd been thwarted in their attempt on Barn Bluff the day before due to weather.
Dull conditions initially with low cloud kissing the summits of Cradle, Barn and Emmett, but made for comfortably cool walking. The intersection with the OLT and Lake Rodway tracks was quickly met and the latter followed briefly before leaving it and heading over the first 'hill' to the NW of Emmett.
The going generally is pretty easy to Mt Emmett... numerous water channels to follow up the first hill, then a decent pad extends down the other side and across the saddle which makes navigating the scorparia simple enough. About the only scrub bashing required is further up where the pad gets a bit vague through the snow gums, but you're talking a 100m section, if that.
Once at the giant rock pile (technically piles, as there are two summits) that is Mt. Emmett, we skirted around the south-eastern side of the north-western 'summit' to take the sting out of the climb. The boulders themselves are fairly sizable, but manageable and grippy, at least in the dry. We've previously canned trips to Emmett because of rain and/or snow, and now feel justified in having done so... trying to summit in those conditions isn't something I'd recommend unless you like doing things the hard way!
As we ascended so did the low cloud and mercifully by the time we came up onto the grassy saddle between the two high points, we had clear views all around. Brilliant. The final scramble to the true (south-eastern) summit is a stout one but all in all our group made great time and the views from the top are just stellar. Obviously being in amongst the likes of Cradle and Barn Bluff with steep valleys all around makes for a fantastic vista.
We decided to go over the lower (by all of 8m, apparently) NW summit for the return journey, the NW face is definitely quite steep and we felt that sidling it on the ascent was the smart move. Great views looking over Lake Rodway and the back side of Cradle though.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-mUVPvdoxQ&feature=emb_title[/youtube]
Full trip report and more photos at http://www.benderandxing.com/2020/02/02/mt-emmett/
- Moody start to the morning just after 5am...
- Low mist whilst rounded the western side of Cradle
- Part of the group pose with the previous day's lost summit - Barn Bluff still in cloud
- Heading out along the Lake Rodway track
- Pushing up the first hill
- The view from the first hill, looking east towards Mt. Emmett
- Pushing through the only real bit of scrub as we come up onto the western side of Mt. Emmett.
- Western base of Mt. Emmett, about to start the scree scramble
- Views opening up southwards to the Pelion group
