Cathedral Plateau

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Cathedral Plateau

Postby Taurë-rana » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:01 am

I went on my first walk with the Hobart Walking Club to the Cathedral Plateau a couple of weekends ago. There were 5 of us, including 2 of the most experienced bushwalkers in Tassie who I felt privileged to be walking with. We walked in late to reach Tent Tarn just as it started raining. :( It's a nice spot to camp though, apart from the mozzies which threatened to carry us away.

The next day was perfect, and we visited Cathedral Mountain and Twin Spires, which offered a chance to see whether my nerve was still good for climbing with exposure - getting out to the detached spire required some scrambling with likely death from a fall. It was probably some of the scariest climbing I've done for years and I was pleased to find that I was no more (and no less) worried about it than I would have been 20 years ago.

2 of us then went on to Bishop's Mitre and Bishop Peak while the others headed back to camp. The plateau is a fantastic place to walk, varying between open and fairly easy and extremely scratchy, especially when you have shorts on! There are extensive views of the plateau and the mountains of the Lake St Clair - Cradle Mt NP. As has been mentioned before here, you sit on the edge of Cathedral Mountain and look down over the OT. You can also see right back along Lees Paddocks.

We packed up and headed out to the cars, getting out at about 6 after a long but fantastic day. The next day it rained again!
Chalice and Rogoona.jpg
Chalice and Rogoona.jpg (158.43 KiB) Viewed 20456 times
Chalice Lake.jpg
Chalice Lake.jpg (125.24 KiB) Viewed 20456 times
Du Cane Hut and Falling Mountain.jpg
Du Cane Hut and Falling Mountain.jpg (120.9 KiB) Viewed 20456 times
From Twin Spires.jpg
From Twin Spires.jpg (134.23 KiB) Viewed 20456 times
Bishop Bluff.jpg
Bishop Bluff.jpg (139.16 KiB) Viewed 20456 times
Peak bagging points: 170ish
Recent walks - Picton, Wylds Crag, Rogoona
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Taurë-rana » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:07 am

Geryon.jpg
Geryon.jpg (109.88 KiB) Viewed 20454 times
High Tarn.jpg
High Tarn.jpg (103.82 KiB) Viewed 20454 times
Lees Paddocks.jpg
Lees Paddocks.jpg (130.76 KiB) Viewed 20454 times
Looking towards Kia Ora.jpg
Looking towards Kia Ora.jpg (114 KiB) Viewed 20454 times
Pelion East and West.jpg
Pelion East and West.jpg (110.48 KiB) Viewed 20454 times
Peak bagging points: 170ish
Recent walks - Picton, Wylds Crag, Rogoona
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Taurë-rana » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:10 am

Rogoona and Chalice.jpg
Rogoona and Chalice.jpg (151.16 KiB) Viewed 20450 times
Scoparia 2.jpg
Scoparia 2.jpg (203.54 KiB) Viewed 20450 times
Tent Tarn.jpg
Tent Tarn.jpg (141.55 KiB) Viewed 20450 times
Through the scrub.jpg
Through the scrub.jpg (186.54 KiB) Viewed 20450 times
Twin Spires 1.jpg
Twin Spires 1.jpg (101.18 KiB) Viewed 20450 times
Peak bagging points: 170ish
Recent walks - Picton, Wylds Crag, Rogoona
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Taurë-rana » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:10 am

Twin Spires.jpg
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Peak bagging points: 170ish
Recent walks - Picton, Wylds Crag, Rogoona
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby ollster » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:11 am

Top photos, an area I'd love to visit soon. I am somewhat dismayed to hear Twin Spires is a scramble though... :(
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Taurë-rana » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:16 am

ollster wrote:Top photos, an area I'd love to visit soon. I am somewhat dismayed to hear Twin Spires is a scramble though... :(


It's only a scramble if you want to go out to the second spire - the highest and points one is just a walk.
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby ollster » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:19 am

Taurë-rana wrote:
ollster wrote:Top photos, an area I'd love to visit soon. I am somewhat dismayed to hear Twin Spires is a scramble though... :(


It's only a scramble if you want to go out to the second spire - the highest and points one is just a walk.


Hurrah!!! :D
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby ILUVSWTAS » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:49 am

Taurë-rana wrote:
ollster wrote:Top photos, an area I'd love to visit soon. I am somewhat dismayed to hear Twin Spires is a scramble though... :(


It's only a scramble if you want to go out to the second spire - the highest and points one is just a walk.



Yeh thats cleared things up for me, I also had not heard it was difficult. That's Paul though!! If it's a peak, and it exists, he will climb it!!

Nice photos Rachel, definately somewhere i'd like to visit soon!!
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby frenchy_84 » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:54 am

ollster wrote:Top photos, an area I'd love to visit soon. I am somewhat dismayed to hear Twin Spires is a scramble though... :(



no code brown though
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby ollster » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 11:54 am

ILUVSWTAS wrote:That's Paul though!! If it's a peak, and it exists, he will has climbed it!!


Fixed!
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby johnw » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 12:19 pm

Nice images Rachel. Some those views from Twin Spires look very high and airy, particularly looking down over Du Cane Hut and Lees Paddocks.
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby stepbystep » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 12:23 pm

Nice pics Rachel, love the pic of Pelion E&W and the High Tarn pic.
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Phil » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 1:46 pm

Great pics Rachel, thanks for sharing!!

I had the same experience of Tent Tarn.......mosquitos!!
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby tasadam » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 1:47 pm

Nice to see you've been up there too. Great spot eh? We camped up top, meaning had to carry full packs up there.

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Did you find the cairned route up from Tent tarn? I've heard there's supposed to be one, but I didn't find it. Some good scrub there..
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby GerryDuke » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 1:51 pm

Thanks also Rachel. Nice.
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Taurë-rana » Tue 18 Jan, 2011 2:31 pm

ollster wrote:
ILUVSWTAS wrote:That's Paul though!! If it's a peak, and it exists, he will has climbed it!!


Fixed!


Well, he actually seems to have found a whole lot more peaks to climb, which is why we went up Bishop's Mitre - Bob Brown's and MJD's list of high places in Tasmania. Only Paul and I went across to the unattached spire, just for fun.

Adam, we followed the cairned route from Tent Tarn some of the way.

And John, the plateau is airy - it's mainly open so you can see a long way most of the time, then on the edge of the plateau you have these amazing views down into the valleys and across to the iconic OT mountains. It would be a good place to get people just starting out hooked on walking - however with no real tracks and high altitude it's still a place to be treated with caution in case of bad weather. I think it would be pretty hard to work out where you were in the mist up there.
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Nick S » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 5:13 pm

Great photos Rach
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby ILUVSWTAS » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 5:27 pm

tasadam wrote: Some good scrub there..



Really?? I've heard there's nothing really over waist height??
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Taurë-rana » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 6:35 pm

Well the trees are higher than waist high, and there's lots of at least waist high scoparia and other prickly type stuff. You probably could walk round it all if you weren't worried about straight lines!
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby corvus » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 6:37 pm

Great Photos Rachel,
Tent tarn is a magic camp site and appreciate your comments as to navigation ,when we did our wee stroll from there up to the gap between Curate and Bishops and down to Lees we had to sit for a couple of hours or so to let the clouds /rain dissipate and even then it was a hairy trip off the Mountain :lol:
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby ILUVSWTAS » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 6:47 pm

Taurë-rana wrote:Well the trees are higher than waist high, and there's lots of at least waist high scoparia and other prickly type stuff. You probably could walk round it all if you weren't worried about straight lines!



Isnt that a part of being a good navigator?? NOT walking in a straight line??
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Nuts » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 6:56 pm

Well done Taure:, No4 really catches the rugged landscape well. I also like that view of Geryon, so many are taken from the almost opposite side.
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby tasadam » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 7:24 pm

ILUVSWTAS wrote:
tasadam wrote: Some good scrub there..



Really?? I've heard there's nothing really over waist height??

Nothing above waist height HERE either. (Taken from here, description here).
Wasn't that bad though, just a bit more interesting when your pushing uphill through it with full packs.
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby ILUVSWTAS » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 8:27 pm

Yeh sorry to say Adam, that looks like pretty good open walking to me!!

It is always a little harder with a full pack on though. But there's alot of buttongrass in that first shot!!

Try these for some nice scrub.....
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby ollster » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 9:31 pm

I'm so disappointed I missed that one! That looks like awesome fun. Sigh.
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby Taurë-rana » Wed 19 Jan, 2011 11:48 pm

ILUVSWTAS wrote:Yeh sorry to say Adam, that looks like pretty good open walking to me!!

Must admit, I'm with him although I know buttongrass can be hard work. I've ridden a motorbike over stuff like that, now that was interesting!

The scrub on the plateau is more prickly than difficult, especially when you are wearing shorts :oops:
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby naturelover » Thu 07 Feb, 2013 5:33 pm

Hi, I've just read your report two years down the track, as I'm about to go up there, and it was fab to have such an inspiring preview!! Ya muchly. Loved the photos. Now I can't wait to go.
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Re: Cathedral Plateau

Postby dplanet » Mon 11 Feb, 2013 8:49 pm

Taurë-rana wrote:
Adam, we followed the cairned route from Tent Tarn some of the way.

And John, the plateau is airy - it's mainly open so you can see a long way most of the time, then on the edge of the plateau you have these amazing views down into the valleys and across to the iconic OT mountains. It would be a good place to get people just starting out hooked on walking - however with no real tracks and high altitude it's still a place to be treated with caution in case of bad weather. I think it would be pretty hard to work out where you were in the mist up there.

A high sensitive gps might help.
ILUVSWTAS wrote:
Taurë-rana wrote:Well the trees are higher than waist high, and there's lots of at least waist high scoparia and other prickly type stuff. You probably could walk round it all if you weren't worried about straight lines!

Isnt that a part of being a good navigator?? NOT walking in a straight line??

Agreeable.
ollster wrote:I'm so disappointed I missed that one! That looks like awesome fun. Sigh.

Camped in one of those scrub. Lucky me!
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