Mt. Murchison and Lake Sandra

[tasmaniac]

After an unforgettable Anzac Day day-walk up Mt. Murchison last year I would love to revisit this amazing area sometime over summer and I'm wondering about the possibility of camping at Lake Sandra and using this as a base to go off exploring the mountain. I have heard of it being done but I know nothing about it. I'm hoping someone can enlighten me a little. Firstly does a track exist from the road to Lake Sandra and from there to the summit of Mt. Murchison? Where does it start? Difficulty factor? Walking time? What are campsites like at the lake, how sheltered, etc? Also if anyone has any pics of that area, that would be great.

[PeterJ]

...... Firstly does a track exist from the road to Lake Sandra and from there to the summit of Mt. Murchison? Where does it start? Difficulty factor? Walking time? What are campsites like at the lake, how sheltered, etc? Also if anyone has any pics of that area, that would be great.

Yes there is a track but it is not over obvious in parts, but is no problem to follow. It starts at pole D55 on Anthony Road. There was no track from Sandra to Murchison, but is open country and so long as weather is clear, it is obvious where to go. You follow the cirque around on the western side to to summit. From memory the lake is a bit out in the open and didn't appear to have much in the way of great campsites; but then I was not looking for one so I could stand to be corrected on that score.

Anthony Rd to Sandra 1 hour, Sandra to Murchison 2:30. Moderate walk.

If you have to walk the road between the two track it is 45 minutes of less than pleasant road bashing.

[jose]

Also if anyone has any pics of that area, that would be great.

L. Sandra has plenty of room to camp - as you can see here.

[walkinTas]

Hmmmm! You might like to read this. Most minimal impact sites would encourage walkers to camp 20 to 30 meters from streams and lakes. The larger the party the more important the choice of camping sites.

[PeterJ]

This photo is back in the days of slide photography (Nov 1994), so is all I have of Lake Sandra. It is looking in the other direction to the one from Jose, but it gives a bit of an idea of the surrounds and bushes (as they were then anyway).

[jose]

Hmmmm! You might like to read this. Most minimal impact sites would encourage walkers to camp 20 to 30 meters from streams and lakes. The larger the party the more important the choice of camping sites.

Yes, we do always keep minimal impact and hygiene in mind. This photo may look like a lot of campers fitting into a small area but it was for one night only and, had you visited the lake next day apart from footprints on the beach, you would not have known a group had stayed overnight.

Quote from the website you referred to "Look for low impact campsites. Sandy or hard surfaces are better than boggy or grassed areas." The ground is rather soft and boggy 20 - 30m back from the lake so we chose the firmer ground beside the lake. This also prevents tracks forming in the soft ground from people walking back and forth from tent to lake. I had not intended my picture to look like I was recommending Lake Sandra for large parties so I'm sorry about that - PeterJ's picture is much more appropriate.

I think it is sad to see how degraded Lake Rhona has become, so you are quite right to bring the subject up. In an area that is frequently used, I wouldn't camp on the beach as it spoils the scenic nature of the surroundings for other walkers.

[Chrisbulldog]

Hi Tasmaniac. Yes ive been interested in this walk too since I was in the area last year. Ive got an Englishman who i met on another walk wanting to go up Mt Murchison , so was interested in going on to Lake Sandra then continuing down to the road. Was mainly interested in a walk not camping though. Would necesitate some sort of car shuffle , but i don't think that is a concern. From what I can ascertain , the total time would be about 6 hours roughly. Anyway let me know if you or anyone else is interested , if so might propose it as a forum walk. Cheers Chris.

[tasmaniac]

Thanks guys for the info and pics. I can't wait to get up there. I'm not sure when that will actually happen, maybe between Xmas and New Year. I can't see that a car shuffle would be necessary, that's probably going to be the easiest part of the walk.

[Chrisbulldog]

Hope you enjoy it Tas. Just in reference to the car shuffle bit , the account ive read of the circuit is " unless there is a car shuffle , you'll face an unpleasant 45 minutes back along the highway to the car." Lets know how you get on , and whether its easy to find the track from the lake down to the highway. Cheers Chris.

[north-north-west]

That sounds like a tempting alternative if I get off the ferry early enough . . .

[tasmaniac]

Well, we finally got the chance to do this walk. We did it over a cruisey 3 days, camping on the beach in glorious weather. One thing I don't understand is why anyone would feel it necessary to go around to the western side of the lake and cross the scrubby creek and climb what looks like a fairly rough and steep ridge. From the highpoint above the lake it looked much easier and way shorter to go up the obvious spur directly behind the beach. It turned out it was dead easy. If you skirt around to the left of the small hill behind the beach and across to the spur and straight up it, the only "scrub" you'll find is a bit of scoparia near the bottom of the spur which can be easily negotiated. I does stop being easy about 200m from the summit when you hit the tilted rock slabs. I didn't look like fun so we didn't attempt it.

[sandym]

Bumping up this topic as we just did this walk today after reading about it here. We hiked up Mt Murchison - wonderful track, wonderful walk, then continued on the ridge heading west around the cirque that encloses Shaded Lake - quite a cirque, by the way. There are bits of a pad and a few cairns as far as the end of the "difficulties" beyond that, we found no evidence of cairns or a pad. The first say half kilometre along the ridge from Murchison involves quite a bit of scrambling up and down on short cliffs. Some folks might find at least one section here interesting. The further you go, the easier the terrain, and, after about half a kilometre it is an easy ridge walk. We skirted the little subpeak due west of Shaded Lake on the north side but hiked up the next little bump.

With some judicious route finding, the bush down to Lake Sandra was not bad at all. On the map, there is a fairly obvious spur ridge between Sandra and Gaye which is pretty clear of bush. We were ambling along the little ridge line to the southeast of Lake Sandra when we stumbled onto the track which was not at all where we were expecting it. The track at the upper end (Lake Sandra end) is difficult to follow so keep your eye on the red paint splotches and cairns, and it does seem to wander about a bit. As you descend into forest there really is only one way to go - the bush is mighty thick - and you can't really miss the track the lower you go.

Walking back along the road took only 40 minutes or so and was not really a big deal.

[tasmaniac]

Well Sandy I'm glad you had such a great walk. I personally think Murcho is equal to or better than any other mountain day walk in Tassie. If it was in a National Park it would get "loved" to death and wouldn't be quite as special as it is now. I found that section beyond the summit a little too "interesting" for my liking. Good work and thanks for posting.