MOUNT FIELD NP & Lake Newdegate

 

1/ Russell Falls is in south eastern Tasmania, inside the famous Mt Field National Park. It is only one hour drive from Hobart. This area is also famous for two other water falls, plus some giant eucalyptus trees. There are many great walks in the Mt Field National Park. This is the view from the base of Russell Falls.

2/ This photo shows Russell Falls from the top.

3/ The pathway to Russell Falls is first class and goes through a lovely fern glade.

4/ This photo shows a lovely stream near Russell Falls.

5/ The walk to Horseshoe Falls goes the Tall Trees area, which has giant eucalyptus trees.

6/ I stretched my arms in this photo to give you some idea of the girth of this giant eucalyptus tree.

7/ This photo shows the height of these forest giants. I estimated that the tallest trees was about 80 metres high.

8/ This is a fallen forest giant. It forms a pathway about 2 metres wide to a stream in the distance.

9/ This is a lovely stream new Horseshoe Falls. The ferns and stream give off a feeling of deep serenity.

10/ This is Horseshoe Falls, which is the second most visited water fall in the Mt Field National Park. It is about half an hour walk past Russell Falls. This fall does vaguely look like a horse shoe.

11/ This photo shows the track to Lady Barron Falls. It also passes through many lovely, fern glades

12/ This photo shows the gushing waters of Lady Barron Falls. It was beautiful, but much smaller water fall than Russell Falls.

13/ This is the Mt Field Railway Station. Until the 1960s visitors from Hobart could catch a train to the Mt Field National Park. The Russell Falls is quite close to this station.

 

1/This gallery shows a trip our club made to Mt Field West in the summer of 2014. We camped out in the wilderness and then returned by the longer K Col Track. This rejoined the Tarn Shelf Track, which then returned us to the Rodway Ski Tow. This image is looking towards Mt Field West from the south west. The trip to Mt Field West is rated at hard and requires 4.5 hours to reach this mountain. It is only suitable for experienced trekkers.

2/ The trip began at the Lake Dobson car park. We then ascended to the Rodway Ski Tow west of Lake Dobson. On the left is the Tarn Shelf that leads to Lake Newdegate. On the right is Lake Seal. We returned via Lake Seal the next day. Note how these alpine lakes are at different altitudes.

3/ We then followed the Mt Field West Track. The first obstacle we ascended was the Rodway Range. This area has abundant alpine vegetation. This image looks towards the north. In the distant right is the Watcher peak.

4/ This is a close up of the Watcher Peak. This peak is 1294 metre high dominates this area. We would come near it on our return journey.

5/ This image looks north into the Lake Hayes Valley. It is a typical glacial valley. On the distant right is the Watcher Peak.

6/ We then entered a large plateau with a plethora of alpine vegetation. This image was taken near Clemes Tarn. Notice how the vegetation is in distinct zones.

7/ This plateau is littered with numerous ponds. This image looks to the north west.

8/ This image shows how the vegetation covers the ground almost like a carpet.

9/ This image looks north at Mt Field West, which is on the right. It was taken from a protected area near the Col Petersen Hut. We camped in this area that night. Our journey continued along the ridge that you can see on the left of this image.

10/ I included this image to show you the plethora of brilliant flowers that we saw in this rugged alpine wilderness. This image looks towards Mt Field West.

11/ This image was taken on the plateau, as we approached Mt Field West. You can see one of the route markers on the left.

12/ The Mt Field West Plateau has numerous ponds and tarns. These testify to the very heavy rainfall that the mountain receives.

13/ This image shows one of our trekkers checking his GPS. You need to know your exact position, as this area is frequently covered by clouds. This image looks to the north east towards the Watcher.

14/ This is the rugged summit of Mt Field West. This image is looking towards the north west. The summit is 1435 metres high.

15/ This image was taken from the near the summit and looks towards the cliffs of Mt Field West. It is looking towards the north west.

16/ The plateau on the saddle of Mt Field West is quite flat and is covered with ponds.

17/ This image shows our trekkers enjoying the vast panoramic view from the summit of Mt Field West.

18/ The plain to the west is 400 metres below the summit. This image looks down the cliffs of Mt Field West at recently logged areas.

19/ The view from the summit of Mt Field West is simply awesome. This view looks to the south west at the vast wilderness of the South West National Park.

20/ This is another view from near a tarn on the plateau on Mt Field West. It is looking east towards the Watcher.

21/ Our group now returned to the south east and camped near the Col Petersen Hut in a protected area. This image looks west towards Bunyip Creek.

22/ This image was taken at sunset. It shows Bunyip Creek flowing into the Lake Hayes Valley.

23/ Soon after dawn we diverted north onto the Col K Track. This track takes you close to the Watcher before diverting east towards Lake Newdegate. This image shows us crossing alpine vegetation. as we advance towards the Watcher.

24/ This image looks down at a distant Lake Hayes.

25/ This image shows the rugged cliffs near the Watcher.

26/ This image looks east towards the Watcher.

27/ We now entered a boggy are of ponds and tarns near the Newdegate Pass. This image shows a dense mat of cushion plants.

28/ This image looks north east across the ponds and cushion plants of the Newdegate Pass.

29/ The ponds were quite dense in some areas. We were now approaching a scree field that led out of the Newdegate Pass.

30/ This image shows our trekkers descending a field of scree to get out of the Newdegate Pass area.

31/ This image shows our first view of Lake Newdegate and a distant Twisted Tarn. You can see this area in winter in the next gallery.

32/ This is the lovely Lake Newdegate. It is a typical glacial lake surrounded by mountains.

33/ This image looks across Lake Newdegate framed by a pandani towards the Newdegate Pass.

34/ We now journeyed north east on the Tarn Shelf Track towards Twilight Tarn. This was our first sight of the emergency hut at Twilight Tarn.

35/ This is the old hut at Twilight Tarn. Many cold trekkers have found shelter here.

36/ We then crossed the Broad River near Lake Webster, as we returned home.

37/ We then passed near Lake Seal. This image looks across Lake Seal towards Mt Bridges, which is 1202 metres high. Soon after this were back at the Rodway Ski Tow.

 

1/ This gallery shows photos made on a club trip to Mt Field East in the summer of 2014. We camped at the Mt Field National Park camping area over night before setting off the next day.

2/ We then drove up Lake Dobson Road to the car park near Lake Fenton. Another car was left at the start of the Lake Nicholls Track for an easy exit on our return.

3/ We then ascended through forest and scrub near Mt Seager. This image shows the rocky path that we were following.

4/ This image looks back at a distant Lake Fenton from where we had begun our journey.

5/ We then had to cross a large boggy area called the Windy Moor.

6/ The boggy area ended, as we approached Mt Field East.

7/ The beautiful sights of Tasmania are not all large. The Mount Field National Park is famous for its wealth of alpine flowers.

8/ This is a scoparia. These are abundant in the Mount Field National Park.

9/ This image shows our trekkers ascending Mt Field East through a vast field of scree.

10/ This image shows a trekker on the summit of Mt Field East.

11/ There is a vast panoramic view from the summit of Mt Field East. This image is looking to the south east.

12/ This image is looking towards the farm lands to the east of the national park.

13/ We then descended through forest towards Lake Nicholls.

15/ This image shows our first view of a distant Lake Nicholls.

16/ This is the emergency shelter at Lake Nicholls.

17/ The area around Lake Nicholls has some interesting trees like this king billy pine.

18/ Every king billy pine has its own unique shape.

 

1/ This gallery shows photos taken on a winter trip on the Tarn Shelf Circuit in the winter of 2014. Our journey began at Lake Dobson, where we parked our bus. Our bus then moved back to the end of the Lake Nicholls Track on Lake Dobson Road for our later quick departure.

2/ There is a very large shelter at Lake Dobson. It is used by the skiiers, who ski on the nearby trails.

3/ This is the sign at Lake Dobson, where many walks start. Mt Field National Park has many attractions. Note though the walking times involved. If you are inexperienced then double these times. We were walking towards Lake Newdegate and then on to Twilight Tarn and Lake Webster. We would regain the Lake Dobson Road to end our journey.

4/ The Lake Dobson Track was on boardwalks, where these were needed. However, most track in Tasmanian national parks are very rough and many are just defined routes through the bush. You really must wear boots and expect to get these muddy.

5/ This is image is looking back at Lake Dobson from near the Rodway ski tows. You can see the first clumps of snow to the left of this rock.

6/ The road ascends for 200 metres from Lake Dobson, before you suddenly meet the ski tow. Quite suddenly the landscape becomes covered by snow. Near this point we took the Tarn Shelf Track, which heads towards Lake Newdegate.

7/ This shows a trekker on the Tarn Shelf boardwalk. This is a very boggy area with numerous ponds and tarns and the boardwalk was really needed.

8/ This image shows the boggy area that is the Tarn Shelf.

9/ Finally we reached Lake Newdegate, which is the largest lake in this area. It was covered by a mysterious cloud.

10/ This image shows the old hut at Lake Newdegate, where we stopped for our lunch.

11/ This emergency shelter at Lake Newdegate has been a welcome stop for many weary trekkers.

12/ We then continued our journey to the north east to see this distant view of the Watcher peak.

13/ This shows our group at the next landmark, which was Twisted Tarn. You can see the tarn to the right. The snow and cloud transformed the area into a really mysterious place.

14/ This strange sight is scree covered in snow. It makes for a very strange artistic effect, but this covering made it much harder to walk on.

15/ This is Twilight Tarn the next tarn that we met on our journey.

16/ This image shows a distant Lake Webster. The cloud had begun to clear by the late afternoon. We continued past Lake Webster to regain our bus on the Lake Dobson Road.