Nevada Peak - 11-12 July 2020
Posted: Tue 21 Jul, 2020 2:10 pmBlog/more photos - http://www.benderandxing.com/2020/07/16/nevada-peak/
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_bTwUk6120
We'd completed both Snowys South and North in the past weeks, but had planned to save Nevada Peak for finer weather especially after a friend's comments regarding a long scramble over endless wet, slippery rock. The realisation that our 75th Abel was kinda a significant milestone for Tracey - so few women have completed this many, let alone all 158 - however necessitated a mindshift, and we decided an overnighter, our first since the late-March lockdown, was far more appropriate.
That and my 40th birthday present - a Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT - had been sitting in the cupboard since March, utterly unused and untested in the conditions it should rightly be used in!
We camped up late Friday just before the end of Russell Spur 3, where the road is closed due a long-damaged bridge crossing. Surprisingly another camper was already at the road's end, so we backed up to the nearest fork.
It's less than a kilometre of road from the bridge to the start of the marked logging snig track, then about another half-km until the timbered logway gives way to a very wet and muddy track through the cutting grass. Soonafter the familiar blue of PWS signage - with its highly optimistic '6 hrs return' - is seen where the trailhead proper begins... mostly underwater/under mud. The Walker Registration box is a short walk further in, which revealed very few walkers over the past 2 years.
The climb up the eastern side of the range doesn't vary much... a continual climb over a mostly faint but well ribboned pad, mud initially then becoming drier as elevation is gained, and plenty of wet, slippery timber to clamber over. While some obstacles have been cut or notched, it is clear the track hasn't seen any maintenance in a long time... from my understanding the track is now rated T4 and as such, will be left as is to discourage heavier usage. Doing it with a 20kgish pack definitely didn't make things easier for us, but friends' more recent day walk effort were in the 8-10 hr range. Based on an old post by Louise Fairfax aka. natureloverwalks, I can only assume the track used to be a lot easier to walk.
The forest remains relatively open until just passed the Wooley's Tarn turnoff. After a brief section of marsh, where the first view of Nevada itself is glimpsed, the track becomes narrower through tall scrub and pandani.
Eventually we broke out onto the low health and a straight climb through pineapple grass and snow to the eastern edge of the Snowy Range plateau. From here, a second steep ridge is sighted - behind it our intended camp site of Snowdrift Tarns - and the long, arcing ridgeline to the summit of Nevada Peak, which was shrouded in mist. From here there was no lack of patchy snow - and for a while, it was snowing still - and the small tarns were completely frozen. Across to the southwest, Snowy South was similarly hiding in low cloud. Hopes for a great view from the summit were dashed.
Snowdrift Tarns was accessed from a flattening of the second ridge to the far left of our access point. The smaller tarn was frozen over so, knowing the sensitivity of the area and the abundance of alpine cushion plant, we used it to access a suitably flat patch of hardier grass, pitched the tent, ditched our big packs for small packs and set our sights to the summit.
We'd heard two operating theories on how best to approach the summit. The 'official' route on ListMap, our various GPS apps and InReachs, as well as the GPX file provided by a friend who'd summit'd a month earlier, all recommended following the ridgeline to the south of the mountain, then up over the rocks. An old TasMap, another friend and The Abels itself suggested a direct ascent up the steep eastern slope, picking your way through a section of pineapple grass between the boulders. We both considered the latter option, unknowingly to the other, before taking the longer, less steep approach.
In terms of speed and efficiency, this wasn't the best option. The initial climb out of Snowdrift to the ridge was easy enough, but the few hundred metres of large rock and boulders was quite precarious in places. The snow pack was variable and some of the gaps between the rocks were genuinely big enough to fall through. Additionally, the misty conditions, brief snow falls and ice everywhere made for careful, slow and occasionally precarious progress. After a while, cursing the lack of opportunity to strap on my snow shoes, I instead reached for the microspikes, which helped immensely.
And then, less than 100m from the summit - the mist cleared! And the sun came out! Well, as much as it can sitting just off the horizon in the middle of winter. We had great views from the summit cairn for about 20-30 mins until the mist started gathering in again.
For the return trip back to the tent, we decided to test out the 'direct line' back down the eastern side. The folly of taking the long way around the ridgeline was soon realised. We were back down to the main tarn in less than 20 minutes. We ended up testing this route uphill, partially, the following morning for leaving, breaking out the snow shoes (finally!) and reckoned it would have taken not much more than half an hour to the top, even with the marginal snow cover.
All that said though, I will stress now that due care and respect has to be taken when crossing Snowdrift Tarns - it's a delicate, beautiful and still wonderfully unspoiled place. Let's keep it that way. Do your utmost to stay off the cushion plants and other soft flora in the area. It being half frozen/snowed over actually helped in this regard. Don't camp here in a large group... in fact unless you really want to, I'd recommend doing Nevada Peak as a day walk, because honestly dragging up a heavy pack through that track is very tough. We had a great - if very cold - night and pleasantly still conditions, but by all accounts it's usually very windy and exposed.
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_bTwUk6120
We'd completed both Snowys South and North in the past weeks, but had planned to save Nevada Peak for finer weather especially after a friend's comments regarding a long scramble over endless wet, slippery rock. The realisation that our 75th Abel was kinda a significant milestone for Tracey - so few women have completed this many, let alone all 158 - however necessitated a mindshift, and we decided an overnighter, our first since the late-March lockdown, was far more appropriate.
That and my 40th birthday present - a Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT - had been sitting in the cupboard since March, utterly unused and untested in the conditions it should rightly be used in!
We camped up late Friday just before the end of Russell Spur 3, where the road is closed due a long-damaged bridge crossing. Surprisingly another camper was already at the road's end, so we backed up to the nearest fork.
It's less than a kilometre of road from the bridge to the start of the marked logging snig track, then about another half-km until the timbered logway gives way to a very wet and muddy track through the cutting grass. Soonafter the familiar blue of PWS signage - with its highly optimistic '6 hrs return' - is seen where the trailhead proper begins... mostly underwater/under mud. The Walker Registration box is a short walk further in, which revealed very few walkers over the past 2 years.
The climb up the eastern side of the range doesn't vary much... a continual climb over a mostly faint but well ribboned pad, mud initially then becoming drier as elevation is gained, and plenty of wet, slippery timber to clamber over. While some obstacles have been cut or notched, it is clear the track hasn't seen any maintenance in a long time... from my understanding the track is now rated T4 and as such, will be left as is to discourage heavier usage. Doing it with a 20kgish pack definitely didn't make things easier for us, but friends' more recent day walk effort were in the 8-10 hr range. Based on an old post by Louise Fairfax aka. natureloverwalks, I can only assume the track used to be a lot easier to walk.
The forest remains relatively open until just passed the Wooley's Tarn turnoff. After a brief section of marsh, where the first view of Nevada itself is glimpsed, the track becomes narrower through tall scrub and pandani.
Eventually we broke out onto the low health and a straight climb through pineapple grass and snow to the eastern edge of the Snowy Range plateau. From here, a second steep ridge is sighted - behind it our intended camp site of Snowdrift Tarns - and the long, arcing ridgeline to the summit of Nevada Peak, which was shrouded in mist. From here there was no lack of patchy snow - and for a while, it was snowing still - and the small tarns were completely frozen. Across to the southwest, Snowy South was similarly hiding in low cloud. Hopes for a great view from the summit were dashed.
Snowdrift Tarns was accessed from a flattening of the second ridge to the far left of our access point. The smaller tarn was frozen over so, knowing the sensitivity of the area and the abundance of alpine cushion plant, we used it to access a suitably flat patch of hardier grass, pitched the tent, ditched our big packs for small packs and set our sights to the summit.
We'd heard two operating theories on how best to approach the summit. The 'official' route on ListMap, our various GPS apps and InReachs, as well as the GPX file provided by a friend who'd summit'd a month earlier, all recommended following the ridgeline to the south of the mountain, then up over the rocks. An old TasMap, another friend and The Abels itself suggested a direct ascent up the steep eastern slope, picking your way through a section of pineapple grass between the boulders. We both considered the latter option, unknowingly to the other, before taking the longer, less steep approach.
In terms of speed and efficiency, this wasn't the best option. The initial climb out of Snowdrift to the ridge was easy enough, but the few hundred metres of large rock and boulders was quite precarious in places. The snow pack was variable and some of the gaps between the rocks were genuinely big enough to fall through. Additionally, the misty conditions, brief snow falls and ice everywhere made for careful, slow and occasionally precarious progress. After a while, cursing the lack of opportunity to strap on my snow shoes, I instead reached for the microspikes, which helped immensely.
And then, less than 100m from the summit - the mist cleared! And the sun came out! Well, as much as it can sitting just off the horizon in the middle of winter. We had great views from the summit cairn for about 20-30 mins until the mist started gathering in again.
For the return trip back to the tent, we decided to test out the 'direct line' back down the eastern side. The folly of taking the long way around the ridgeline was soon realised. We were back down to the main tarn in less than 20 minutes. We ended up testing this route uphill, partially, the following morning for leaving, breaking out the snow shoes (finally!) and reckoned it would have taken not much more than half an hour to the top, even with the marginal snow cover.
All that said though, I will stress now that due care and respect has to be taken when crossing Snowdrift Tarns - it's a delicate, beautiful and still wonderfully unspoiled place. Let's keep it that way. Do your utmost to stay off the cushion plants and other soft flora in the area. It being half frozen/snowed over actually helped in this regard. Don't camp here in a large group... in fact unless you really want to, I'd recommend doing Nevada Peak as a day walk, because honestly dragging up a heavy pack through that track is very tough. We had a great - if very cold - night and pleasantly still conditions, but by all accounts it's usually very windy and exposed.
I did have my doubts while we were head deep in mist but when it cleared just before the summit, well, you appreciate little blessings like that.