Snug Tiers

Saturday, 15 March 2014

Snug Tiers

Friday 14th March 2014

Wettest section of track

The plan for this walk was to reach a line of cliffs that overlook the Woodbridge area and then to climb up Morrison Hill to the rocky outcrop on the summit, both of these locations being in the Snug Tiers area.
I drove up to the place where I normally park the car in Van Morey Road. The last 2 kms. is gradually deteriorating and is now 4WD territory. I could have driven further on but I don't mind the walking. After kitting up, I set off at 0750 walking along the road which was quite dry. The last time I was up this way I walked to Cataract Falls and the track had been so wet that I had to walk through water a lot of the time. At 1.7 kms. from the start I turned left at a junction and walked along the track for a couple of kms. before heading east to where I would hopefully find an old track that would lead me to the cliff line.

Burnt section of plain

As it turned out, I did find the road, but it didn't matter as the area had been burnt and it was possible to walk anywhere. I followed the track for a short while but it petered out so I just walked across the plain in the general direction of the cliffs and soon came across them. I was pleasantly surprised as they were quite high and the views were better than I expected. After spending some time walking along the top of the cliffs I headed back to the main track and started walking back west towards the turnoff to Morrison Hill. This track was very overgrown but it was heading in the right direction, so I kept going until it ran out and then I had to take to the scrub. This is where the fun started, or not.

Cliff Line

The scrub was very high and consisted of cutting grass and bauera and progress was very slow. I battled on and finally the scrub thinned out and was replaced with thin trees growing so close together it was difficult to get through. I then started going steeply uphill and finally came to a sheer wall near the summit. There was no way up so I skirted around to the left and eventually found a way up and reached the summit. Morrison Hill is 755 metres high but only about 130 metres above the surrounding countryside, but it sure was an effort to get there. However, the views were quite good, also better than I expected, and I spent some time here and had lunch.

Morrison Hill

I wasn't looking forward to the scrub bash again, but it had to be done, so I headed off and did come across the remnants of an old road, but it was no easier walking along it as it was so overgrown. Anyway, I finally broke out of the scrub, much to my relief, and walked back to the car. Overall this was a good walk despite the scrub bashing.
Distance: 14.3 Kms.
Time: 6'20"
Ascent: 380 metres
Click here to download GPX track.