Bushwalk Australia

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 10:59 am**

Hi everyone, here's a selection from the Southern Ranges traverse we did last summer (it took a while to get it together...)

These shots are all from day 1, read the report here: http://peopleandotherstrangecreatures.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/southern-ranges-pt-i-mystery-creek-precipitous-bluff/

I'll continue posting from the rest of the trip as I get the write up together

EM5, Nokton 17.5 and m.ZD 75mm

Missy on Moonlight Ridge

Sam on Hill One, Federation Peak to the far right

Precipitous Bluff

Mt La Perouse and the Cockscomb

Tasmanian Purplestar and Alpine Sundew

Pigsty Ponds

Dwarf Pandani

Last light on Mt La Perouse

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 11:11 am**

Lovely shots Nick, hoping to head down there in a few weeks' time. Hopefully we get weather like yours!

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 11:55 am**

We had ridiculous weather - 6 days of sunshine with about 3hrs of mist thrown in... I reckon New River Lagoon would have been 25C when we waded down to Prion!

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 12:35 pm**

Great photos nickthetasmaniac. Such a beautiful area. I was there last February. The first few days the weather was brilliant. We climbed Pinders Peak and had awesome views with not a cloud in sight. After that the weather turned nasty and for protection against againt the rain and wind we camped in a little pandani forest beside Reservoir Lakes (pandanis are one of my favorite plants so I wasn't complaining). From memory we had about 150mm in 24 hours (well, the nearest town had that so give or take a few mms). It's an area I would love to go back to.

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 12:39 pm**

Some of the ridiculous wind-pruning we saw makes me think it's not a place I'd want to be in average weather... I'd love to go back though, we didn't get to do the Hippo or Victoria Cross, both of which look pretty awesome. I'd also like to explore the Cockscomb a bit

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 4:07 pm**

Great photos and report Nick! You've captured the feel of the area so well. And you're not wrong about how lucky you were with the weather. A few years back we only got as far as La Perouse before a front - the "weaker" of two that were forecast - almost literally blew us off the mountain. We retreated just in time. We got snowed on in Margate that afternoon!

I wrote this about getting to the summit of La Perouse:

If you were inclined to celebrate your ascent with a football game, the top of La Perouse would not look out of the question. But the winds that blast here most of the time, and prompted walkers to build a massive (and sheltering) summit cairn, would rule out most forms of football most days of the year. A quick and grateful look towards the indented coast; a peek over the edge towards the classic cirque lakes called Swallows Nest Lakes; an admiring photograph over the striking doleritic Cockscomb; a quick celebratory drink; these would be the best you could ask of La Perouse, even on a good day.

I'm looking forward to the rest of your report!

cheers

Peter

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 4:33 pm**

whynotwalk wrote:Great photos and report Nick! You've captured the feel of the area so well. And you're not wrong about how lucky you were with the weather. A few years back we only got as far as La Perouse before a front - the "weaker" of two that were forecast - almost literally blew us off the mountain. We retreated just in time. We got snowed on in Margate that afternoon!

I wrote this about getting to the summit of La Perouse:
If you were inclined to celebrate your ascent with a football game, the top of La Perouse would not look out of the question. But the winds that blast here most of the time, and prompted walkers to build a massive (and sheltering) summit cairn, would rule out most forms of football most days of the year. A quick and grateful look towards the indented coast; a peek over the edge towards the classic cirque lakes called Swallows Nest Lakes; an admiring photograph over the striking doleritic Cockscomb; a quick celebratory drink; these would be the best you could ask of La Perouse, even on a good day.

I'll get to La Perouse in the next instalment but it was definitely a highlight - I'm trying to think of a witty analogy for how still it was but I got nuffin, it was, ah, very still... Definitely footballable

Swallows Nest Lakes would have to be the best example of glaciation I've seen I reckon!

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 7:56 pm**

Love the photo of the cockscomb etc.......that angle always reminds me of a sleeping dragon. The foreground makes it an awesome photo Nick....lets see some more.

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 8:04 pm**

tibboh wrote:Love the photo of the cockscomb etc.......that angle always reminds me of a sleeping dragon. The foreground makes it an awesome photo Nick....lets see some more.

Agreed, that photo is beautiful Nick. Perfect. The others are nice too

Posted: **Wed 04 Dec, 2013 9:01 pm**

nickthetasmaniac wrote:We had ridiculous weather - 6 days of sunshine with about 3hrs of mist thrown in... I reckon New River Lagoon would have been 25C when we waded down to Prion!

It was like a bath when I waded it in February. It was so warm! I had 4 average days at the start, followed by 5 absolutely perfect days.

Posted: **Thu 05 Dec, 2013 4:56 pm**

Great shots......more please ! :wink:

Posted: **Thu 05 Dec, 2013 8:06 pm**

Moar!! lol part two please! Love the photos too. I was down that way at the beginning of the year, heading for Pindars, but went as far as Maxwell's ridge when the weather got to me...yep, soft...lol, but i reckon it was blowing 80 - 100 km an hour the day before across hills 1 - 4, and Pindars kept disappearing in the clouds...then the sleet came...looks like you had magnificent weather though! Looking forward to the next installment.

Posted: **Mon 09 Dec, 2013 5:13 pm**

nickthetasmaniac wrote:We had ridiculous weather - 6 days of sunshine with about 3hrs of mist thrown in...

Funny, I had about three hours of sunshine with at least 6 days of wind, rain, fog etc thrown in.
Pity we can't average that out.

Posted: **Mon 23 Dec, 2013 10:59 am**

That fourth picture looks absolutely stunning!

Bushwalk Australia

Southern Ranges pt.1

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