Higgs Track to Zion Gate

[rwildman]

We did this walk as part of a much longer walk but this was a section I'd never done before and it proved more interesting than I could have hoped.
The Higgs Track starts at the base of the Western Tiers about one hour south west of Launceston or half an hour from Deloraine, meandering through the forest till it meets and crosses Dale Brook.Then it starts a steady climb following the creek until the track bursts out of the forest onto the moor which shelters Lady Lake hut. This is only three kilometres and takes about an hour. We started the walk late in the afternoon so for us it spelt the end of the day's walking at the hut. And what a delight this hut is! It has space for about 8 people, boasts a fine view across the open moor to the the plains below and even has a water tank and a toilet.

The lovely Lady Luck hut

Next morning we followed the very clear track up and over the hill and then down to Westons Lake, the edge of which contains a super flat and grassy camp area right on the water.

Grassy camp spot on Lake Westons

The track then follows a small valley up and over a low saddle until it enters the valley of Lake Nameless. There are thousands of lakes in this area which also remain unnamed so why this ended up with such a moniker is hard to know. On the far side of the lake the track ends at the old sandstone Ironstone hut, probably named after the dominating mountain of the same name in the range to the east. We had had quite a cold night at Lady Lake hut and the wind, even at this time, around 11am, was still chilly so we hid on the sunny side of the hut and had an early lunch.
Now the task was to follow the 'roughly cairned' route from the hut to Zion Gate at the start of the Walls of Jerusalem. Chapman's guides say it should take about 10 hours to do the 15km trek so we set off with all eyes peeled for cairns. Peter, one of our group, had done this walk some 5-6 years before and by sending the keen-eyed young ones ahead they managed to find the route by following the cairns successfully. So what did we do? We immediately started following the cairns which led to the summit of the hill behind the hut, Forty Lakes Peak. Three quarters up this slog, we realised what was happening and made a beeline back to the easier slopes on the far side of the hill. And sure enough, within a few minutes we started picking up cairns which were where we expected them to be.

We were actually trying to follow these cairns because this was the route taken by a Mr Ritter in the days when cattle were driven up to the Walls of Jerusalem for summer grazing. Apparently it stayed away from the boggier sections and also met the long tarns, the watery split in the plain ahead, at the sweet spot for a crossing.
The map I include in this story actually shows Ritters Track but at the time, we only had a rough idea of where it went. Because of this, I had penned a route across the plain which we thought would always be a backup in case we lost the cairns.
Having made good progress following the cairns, we seemed to be heading too far south and it was then I remembered Chapman's other warning that there was another cairned route which veered off to the south and whose destination was Lake Pillans. Were we on this track?
We didn't know so to be sure we backtracked and started following our artificial route (the blue line on the map). After about 7kms of avoiding swamps, tarns and rocky hills, we found ourselves at the side of a beautiful tarn which had some lovely grassy areas - just perfect for a camp spot. And it was about 4:30 by this stage so we decided to camp, bathe our feet in the cool clear water of the tarn and prepare for our night in.

First night's tarn

Next morning we wandered up the hill in front of us, avoiding tarn after suspended tarn and then descending into boggy valleys, always still looking for the mysterious cairns. We skirted Lake Gwenty, accidently discovering a long forgotten stone semi-circular fisherman's shelter and a nearby camping spot right on the lake. A pad leading around the lake fooled us into thinking it would go on but it disappeared as we had expected.
We lunched at the lovely Pencil Pine Tarn and found ourselves mid afternoon standing over the view of the Long Tarns. Oops, had we got the crossing place wrong because it sure looked like we had lots of water in front of us. Luckily our trusty blue path suggested a crossing was possible a short distance to the north so we belted down to it.
Crossing wasn't too hard except we had a close call when the last of our group, Laura, slipped and was grabbed by Peter, who also started to slip and then grabbed by me. We all fell apart in fits of laughter when we had fallen onto dry land on the other side. A moment of abandoned joy!
The time was getting on and so we only walked a little further to a viewing platform which revealed a delightful Lake Nutting in front of us, complete with a fur forest of pencil pine on one side and a small camping area right next to a small tarn just behind us. Mt Jerusalem, where we were headed tomorrow, could be seen dominating the skyline to the south.

Second night's camp

Last morning - Mt Jerusalem in the background

After another wonderful night under the stars, even though it was too cold to spend any more time out than was necessary, we started the last half day up and down scratchy hills and swamps again until we approached the last descent to the creek at Zion Gate. Time for lunch on an actual track, well of sorts, and then off to Dixon's Kingdom and Lake Ball for a night's rest. Almost immediately we started on the track we came across the first of four tiger snakes that we were to see along the route.
After I got home I discovered I had a map of the area which showed Ritters Track but I wouldn't have missed what we did for anything,cairn or no cairn.

Map showing route from Ironstone Hut (Black dotted= Ritters Track, Blue=suggested route, other colours =our route per day

Walkers: Rob WIldman (70), Chris Smith (69), Peter Laffan (63), Laura Espinosa (45)
Walk Dates: Feb 2nd - Feb 5 (for this section).

[vagrom]

That's a great recommendation for anyone looking for an interesting, alternative way to the Walls, made a bit safer for newer visitors with the tech. aids available today - mostly GPS. Did anyone of you notice a bit of compass swing from all the Ironstone/Dolerite that dominates the Central Plateau ?

Six or so years ago the Mersey Forest Rd was closed for quite a while because of a land-slip so everyone walked in from Lake Ada. In any talk of the current ~$800 round trip from Lonnie to the Walls another alternative might be to try and tee-up a deal with Deloraine's taxi driver who might save walkers a bit with a Higgs drop-off and an Ada pick-up. Could it be done for 4 or $500? It's a long slow drive in from Liawenee but that makes it a safe place for fishos and walkers to leave their cars.

Higgs walkers could enter the Walls via the Zion Gate and exit via the Bernes Valley and Hut 5 track. Anyone wanting to see the famed climb from the normal entry could do a loop with the 7km road-bash down to the Lake Myrtle Track.

[vagrom]

The map for sale: Lake Mackenzie 1/25k ( - you can see the huts ), thirty entries below this one, shows the entire route between Lady Lake and Iron Stone Huts. Anyone thinking of visiting these parts ought to grab it. For $10 incl. postage. Being sold by Bluetongue of Qld.

[IDP]

Just last week I completed a lovely circuit from Lake Mackenzie - Lake Mackenzie, Blue Peaks, Turrana Heights, Turrana Bluff, Long Tarns, Mersey Crag, Richea Ridge, Daisy Lakes, Lake Thor, Walls, then Ritters to Lake Nameless, Ironstone Mtn, then back to Mackenzie via Lake Explorer.

I did Dixons Kingdom to Lake Nameless in a day and found that I was following the cairns pretty easily. Probably a little to the southeast of your route

The bash in behind Lake Mackenzie from Explorer Creek/Fisher River to get back to the car park was a little annoying at the end because of the height of the dam level. But there is a semi-taped track that can be found

[rwildman]

Hi IDP, that loop sounded great. I had never been to the top of the flat plain and had only come in from Lake Ada myself (doing the loop back to Lake Fanny) and I had decided that, because we had a transport pickup wherever we wanted it, we would walk all the way down through the lakes to Grail Falls and then out via Moses Creek Track. While it was pleasant on the track section, the real surprise for me was what they had had to do at Dixons Kingdom to accommodate the crowds. We were lucky we only met one or two others but as soon as you reach a track section the emphasis from the walkers seems to be about how far you can go in a day rather than soaking it all up.
I would definitely recommend to others to do the Lake Mackenzie loop like you have done but I would definitely take more than a weekend to do it, probably 4-5 days would be ideal. Thanks for the feedback.

[north-north-west]

I did Higgs/Ritters a few years back - first night at Lady Lake, second at Gwendy, up Jerusalem from the back rather than going through Zion Gate, then my usual off-the-books Walls camp. Return was Thor, Daisy, Turranna, Fisher Bluff, Blue Peaks, Lake Mackenzie, Mt Mackenzie, Nels Bluff, back to Westons for the last night and down via Syds. Cairns and intermittent pads are enough to stay on the right line most of the time - only occasion I totally lost the cairns was the last few hundred metres to Powena Creek. It helps to have a rough line of the route marked on your map. Really neat route through some rarely visited terrain.

[rwildman]

Hi north-north-west, This was a Plan B walk as the Frankland range (our original destination) was being blown and washed away. If I'd organised to do this walk I probably would have spent more time in this area as its lovely walking and planned a more circlular route. However, for all the others who hadn't walked in the area, this was a good intro. And we also had the pleasure of a complete through walk to the lovely walking country around Junction Lake.

[north-north-west]

Very different to Wilmot-Frankland. Easier walking, for one thing. But CPCA/Walls is always good value; so many areas you can just go awandering through.

[IDP]

Completely agree NNW that they are very different - as it happened the Wilmot-Frankland Ranges was the trip that I took only 2 days before the walk from Lake Mackenzie I described above. Both enjoyable walking for different reasons. That’s the beauty of Tasmania.

[wello26]

Great report on a walk I'd love to do one day.

What would Higgs Track as far as Lady Lake Hut be like at night with a head torch? Is it well marked with reflective panels?

[north-north-west]

What would Higgs Track as far as Lady Lake Hut be like at night with a head torch? Is it well marked with reflective panels?

No, but it's a fairly wide, clear track (by Tassie standards). Night walking it isn't uncommon. You would have to be careful on the top stretch to the hut from the edge of the scarp, though - it isn't exactly direct.