by north-north-west » Tue 06 Jun, 2023 4:45 pm
Southern part of the track is reasonably well marked now - aluminium posts, usually with arrows. Gets a bit vague in a couple of spots but as long as you keep your wits about you getting to the southern end of Petrarch is easy enough. Section immediately in from the turnoff is a little overgrown but not too bad. North of the Petrarch beach it gets a bit trickier, mostly because of the lack of markers. The pad through the forest is reasonably clear but then there's a dodge and weave through higher and thicker shrubs that can be more awkward to follow. Pick a lead and, if it peters out, backtrack. Once on the open ground towards the north of the lake it gets a lot better and clearer, but parts of the track up to Byron Gap are very muddy. Like, leg disappearing into the sludge up to the knee muddy.
If you get to the beach early enough, you can move on and camp at the northern end, on the grassy flats just below the trees. If you'd rather camp at the southern end, it pays to take the time - if you have it - to check out the route to the north to make sure of it. Only takes ten minutes or so to get to the end of the thicker vegetation.
Don't know about the forest part of the descent to the OT because last time up the Cuvier I went out over Manfred, but it's often a bit of a mess; tends to have a lot of treefalls and sometimes unreliable markers. Just have to hope that that section has been taped recently.
The buttongrass bits will be wet, but it's nowhere near the bogfest it used to be.
"Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens."