ferry - lake st. clair

[pinarello]

hi all

just wondering if it's manageable to walk out from narcissus bay in the morning in order to catch the bus to hobart leaving cynthia bay at 11:45?

i know i have the ferry option, I assume there is one running that sort of ties in with the bus schedule, but it seems to be nicer to walk all of the OT.

thanks for your thoughts
petra

[Drifting]

Do you have the Chapman OT book? He's usually pretty accurate on times. If not, and no one else answers with first-hand knowledge, I can look it up for you.

[flatfoot]

I recently read some blog posts covering a trip by a German hiker. These two blog posts gives some good insight into what is possible and what might be a little ambitious.

http://mattdownunder.com/2009/overland-track-2008-day-7/
http://mattdownunder.com/2009/overland-track-2008-day-8/

You can get to the index post covering the entire trip here:

http://mattdownunder.com/2009/overland-track-2008/

Overall this series of blog posts are a great read. There are some great photos too.

[Erica]

I've only walked it once, and can't actually remember how long it took us, but I think the walk is meant to be about 5 hours, so that'd make it quite an early start. Another option might be to walk from Windy Ridge (or Pine Valley, depending on where you're planning on coming from...) to Narcissus (about 3hrs from either) and then another 2-3 (I think) hours on to Echo Point, where there is a beautiful (but old) little hut beside the lake, and then its only a short walk the next morning to Cynthia Bay.

[corvus]

hi all

just wondering if it's manageable to walk out from narcissus bay in the morning in order to catch the bus to hobart leaving cynthia bay at 11:45?

i know i have the ferry option, I assume there is one running that sort of ties in with the bus schedule, but it seems to be nicer to walk all of the OT.

thanks for your thoughts
petra

petra ,
The walk around the Lake from Narcissus to Cynthia Bay is around 6 hours so you would need to be on the track well before 5:00 am to be safe ,a better alternative is to Camp at Echo Point which is a fantastic area with a white Silica sand beach ,there are also Leatherwood Trees in this area that you would normally only see on the West Coast enjoy
corvus

[pinarello]

thanks guys!

erika and corvus: how long would it then take to walk from echo point to cynthia bay?

ta
petra

[corvus]

thanks guys!

erika and corvus: how long would it then take to walk from echo point to cynthia bay?

ta
petra

I would allow at least 3+ hours.(nice easy walk)
corvus

[pinarello]

well, thats sounds like a handy solution.

i also had a look at that blog of the german guy, which makes it sound rather attractive to walk on to echo point and stay there overnight. the thought never crossed my mind so far; therefore i appreciate your ideas very much!

petra

[turtle]

I walked round in September. It had rained very hard the night before and there were big trees down and streams not tracks. It was I think seven hours but I walk slow. The little hut at Echo is about half way. It would be a great walk this time of year as you could just leap in the lake for a swim pretty well most of the walk if you were hot.

[eggs]

I logged our times from Narcissus to Echo Point at 2 hrs 25 min and Echo Point to Cynthia Bay at 3 hr 7 min.
[We also did a return side trip of 2 hrs 40 min to Byron Gap as a branch off the Narcissus to Echo Point section. The track was much less used and needed care to follow, but it was a very pretty walk with good views at the gap. I understand there is a great pandani grove just a short distance down into the Cuvier Valley side, but we did not check this out at the time]

The stay at Echo Point was a real highlight of our OT track walk - well worth doing.