Rimons Hill

Friday 9th May 2014

Rimons Hill

It was a beautiful day today so I chose to walk to Rimons Hill. Actually I had planned to include Mount Jackson as well but the walk to Rimons Hill ended up being much longer than I had planned so that plan was abandoned.
To get to the start of the walk head out of Judbury west on Lonnavale Road for 5.5 kms. and turn into Plenty Link Road. This road is not signposted and does not appear on maps but is a good 2WD road. Follow for 9.5 kms. to a road on the right and drive this for 2.8 kms. to a parking spot on the right where the road has been blocked off. I actually drove further up Plenty Link Road and took an alternative and longer route but ended up at the same place. I had intended to drive much further towards Mount Jackson but discovered that the bridge across the Puzzle River no longer was trafficable!!

The Puzzle River bridge which I hoped to drive across

I set off at 0740 and the first obstacle that I had to negotiate was the Puzzle River crossing. The banks of the river were almost vertical where the bridge had been so I had to take to the scrub and after a scramble made it to the opposite bank. After a short distance I turned right onto a narrow track and walked through a pine plantation. It was quite dark and cold and there was frost on the ground. I had to cross the Puzzle River twice more but these were easy crossings. Before long I reached a more substantial road, which I walked to meet Puzzle Road. This was crossed and I headed into a cleared area and took a wrong turn and ended up scrub bashing for a short distance. When I realised my mistake I backtracked and found a more acceptable route. This eventually met a better road which I walked uphill.

Looking North West from where I was scrub bashing

There were nice views of the Plenty Valley from here. I continued on past a large quarry before reaching the forestry track on the right that I wanted to take. This is becoming overgrown with Blue Gum regrowth but was not too bad and was easily walked. There were great views of the Huon Valley along here and also I could see Rimons Hill at last. I must have been walking along in a dream because I missed the turn that I wanted to to take and started heading downhill. It was a bonus really because I did see the rear end of a wombat as it scurried off down the track. After realising my mistake I backtracked uphill!! and found the right track which I followed all the way to Rimons Hill summit. This track is slowly overgrowing but was quite easy to walk. It took me 3'30" to reach here but I did waste some time with a few wrong turns.

Summit Cairn

I added a couple of rocks to the cairn as it seemed quite minuscule. There were no views at all from the top but that is what I had expected. I can actually see Rimons Hill from my place and there is no evidence of any rocky outcrops where one might hope for a view. The views on the way up make up for the lack at the summit. It was rather cold at the top and after a quick lunch I headed back down taking just over two and a half hours to get back to the car.
I suspect that it would be possible to drive quite close to the start of the track either via East Puzzle Road and Puzzle Road or from White Timber Trail, although I don't know that for a fact. I must check it out one day. This was an enjoyable walk with some nice views and even though it was quite long it was not that tiring.
Distance: 21.0 kms.
Time: 6'30"
Ascent: 865 metres
Click here to download GPX track.

Plenty Valley

Plenty Valley

Huon Valley in fog

Huon Valley later looking towards Jubury

Access from Judbury - Alternate in red