Herringback

Wednesday 23rd July 2014

Herringback Summit

This was the second walk of the day. The start is reached by turning off the Huon Highway at Vinces Saddle into Vinces Saddle Road and following for about 3.0 kms. to Halls Track. Turn right into Halls Track and immediately park. Note The track passes through private property to communications towers on the summit and walkers are welcome as long as they respect the place.
I set off around a locked gate and up the road through cattle paddocks. There were plenty of cattle around but they more or less ignored me as I walked past. I went through an electric fence gate and two more gates as I climbed up. This section was a gentle climb but once I came to a sign which said "only 4Wd from here" it became steeper and steeper as I neared the summit. When I did arrive there were a couple of guys working on the first tower. I walked over to the second tower and climbed up on to a small concrete building where there were great views. I then simply returned to the car the same way.
An easy short walk and a little steep up near the top with good scenery.
Distance: 4.5 kms.
Time: 1'23"
Ascent: 306 metres
Click here to download GPX track.

From Summit

From Summit

From Summit

From Summit

From Summit

Tanina Bluff

Wednesday 23rd July 2014

Tanina Bluff

The plan for today was to do two short walks as either one by itself was hardly long enough for a decent outing. The walks I chose were Tanina Bluff and Herringback and this time all went to plan.
To reach the start of Tanina Bluff, drive north on the Midlands Highway and turn left at Mangalore onto the C185 (Elderslie Road) and just before Elderslie turn left onto Bluff Road and follow for about 7.0 kms. to a road that goes uphill on the left. Park here.
The first section of road was okay as vehicles had been driving up and over a large mound that was suppose to stop them and they had kept the road clear. The road went gradually uphill before a track on the left was taken. This soon deteriorated and became overgrown and finally petered out. I then just took to the bush and walked uphill, mostly through the scrub and occasionally on an old track that I stumbled across. The scrub consisted of small wattle trees which were fairly easy to walk through. As I neared the top of the ridge the track became more defined and I came to a clearing where there was a rocky outcrop over to the right. I climbed up this and there were good views from the south all the way around to north.
After this I followed the track around as it ascended Tanina Bluff. When the track ran out I just climb up the rocks to the summit past what looked like a communications tower that had blown over. The views from the summit were okay even though I was looking through the trees. I had a break and walked back down to the car.
Even though it is not a spectacular walk, I did enjoy it and the scenery was quite good.
Distance: 6.7 kms.
Time: 3'14"
Ascent: 480 metres
Click here to download GPX track.

From Rocky Outcrop

From Rocky Outcrop

From Rocky Outcrop

From Rocky Outcrop

Summit Cairn

Communications Tower

Small Cave

Craigow Hill

Wednesday 16th July 2014

Craigow Hill

There are a vast number of fire trails, old vehicle tracks and mountain bike tracks in the Meehan Range Recreation Reserve and today I thought I would check out some more of the old tracks, as well as some of the new mountain bike tracks on my way to and from Craigow Hill. I have actually been there before but via a different route than today.
The walk starts at the end of Belbins Road, which is just off the A3 before Cambridge.

Main Meehan Fire Trail

I set off a little before 0800. The weather was okay, somewhat overcast and quite cool. I firstly walked along the fire trail and then turned right and headed uphill slightly before coming to a bike track, which I followed for quite a distance up to Golden Hill. The initial section of this track went away from the fire trail and then returned close to it and then paralleled it up to Golden Hill. It was more pleasant walking on the bike path than on the fire trail.

Bike Track

The bike track finally returned to the fire trail and I guess the plan for the bike riders would be to ride back down the fire trail from here to where they started. The fire trail/track deteriorated markedly from here and I could see no evidence of bikes using it. It went quite steeply downhill and had large washout ruts that had to be negotiated.

Fire Trail going downhill from Golden Hill

After arriving at the bottom I turned left and walked along beside Cross Rivulet before crossing it. There was not a drop of water to be seen. The track then went steeply uphill for a while before levelling out somewhat. Along a good section of this track someone had used machinery to excavate large ditches across the track, thus making it impassible for vehicles.

Ditches across the track

It was quite easy walking and the track was in fairly good condition apart from the ditches, which were easily bypassed. The country up here was rather nice and consisted mostly of open bush.

Open country on the way up to Craigow Hill

The track followed the ridgeline up and when it finally levelled out I could see the trig marker for Craigow Hill. I simply made a beeline for it across country. There were acceptable views from here of the Derwent and I stopped for a short while for a snack. I didn't linger too long as a breeze was blowing and it was rather cold.

Trig Marker Craigow Hill

From Craigow Hill

From here I headed in a south easterly direction and picked up an old track which I followed along the ridgeline. Along here I was either following the track as well as off track, but all the while just walking along the ridge. The path went up and down a few small hills before coming to a working quarry. All along here were great views of Hobart, The Derwent and Mount Wellington.

View of The Derwent

At the quarry there were a couple of excavators working and one was perched precariously on the quarry wall. Before I took the photo it was around the other way with the last quarter of the track  hanging in free space. It looked very dangerous but obviously the operator was quite skilled.

Quarry operation

At the quarry I turned left and walked down an old track, through a gate which had been unceremoniously opened, and arrived at the main fire trail once again.

One way to open a locked gate

I walked along the fire trail for about 1.0 km. before turning right onto a new bike track that basically followed along the top of some high cliffs and provided great views. The track eventually met up with the fire trail once more which I walked all the way down to the start of the Clarence Mountain Bike Park. There were many bike tracks that I could have taken but I just stuck to the fire trail. From the bike park a track ran all the way along the highway to Belbins Road and then back to the car.
This was a most enjoyable walk with some great scenery and was quite easy with no scrub bashing required. The walk could be varied easily as there are so many tracks to choose from.
Distance: 16.5 kms.
Time: 5'13"
Ascent: 870 metres
Click here to download GPX track.

Grass Trees on Craigow Hill

Hobart from ridge

Hobart and Mount Wellington

Hobart

Derwent

Along the Cliff Top track

Add caption

An alternative shorter route

Click here to download GPX for this track.

Pebbly Bight

Thursday 3rd July 2014

Pebbly Bight

I have been putting off walking to Fishers Point as it is only a short walk and a fair way to drive so I thought I would extend the walk around to Pebbly Bight on the eastern shore and make it worth the drive down.
The gravel section of road from Ida Bay down to Cockle Creek was in poor condition with thousands of water filled pot holes and when I arrived, there was a closed gate before the Cockle Creek bridge which was only open from 10am to 4 pm. I parked here and started walking at 0830.

Cockle Creek

I immediately walked down to the beach and followed this around to the well known whale sculpture.

Whale Sculpture

After this I walked along the track for a short distance before emerging on to the beach again. The track basically followed the coast line around to Fishers Point, sometimes on the beach and sometimes on a track a little inland.

Pilot Station ruins at Fishers Point

At Fishers Point was the ruins of the Pilot Station building, built in 1843 and a solar powered navigation light on the point.

Navigation light on Fishers Point

After having a good look around I continued on heading south along the coast line of Pancake Bay. It was constant rock hopping from here and I had to be careful as the rocks were a little slippery and the kelp that had been washed up was super slippery and worse if it was wet. There were a few large trees down across the beach and these had to be negotiated as well.

Pancake Bay and First Lookout Point

I carried on to First Lookout Point where I came up to a gully in the rocks which looked very difficult to cross as the rocks were so slippery. I headed inland and immediately stumbled on to a track which went slightly inland, thus bypassing the point, before emerging once more on the beach.

Gully at First Lookout Point

Not long after emerging onto the beach I found an oceanographic buoy washed up in amongst the rocks. I took photos of it along with the serial number and have since contacted the manufacturer as per the instructions on it.

Looking towards Pebbly Bight and Second Lookout Point

From here it was more rock hopping to the end of the beach at Pebbly Bight. The rocks were more slippery here from the spray that was coming of the shore break. I stopped for an early lunch before retracing my steps back to the car except for the section from the whale sculpture, where I walk along the road.
This was a good walk on a good day and if one doesn't mind rock hopping, then it is enjoyable. No navigation is required as the walk just follows the coast around.
Distance: 11.9 kms.
Time: 5'06"
Ascent: 135 metres
Click here to download GPX track.

Rocky Bay

Pilot station building Fishers Point

Oceanographic Buoy

Pebbly Bight

Pebbly Bight