Billy Browns Falls and White Timber Mountain

Saturday 15th August 2015

Billy Browns Falls

Billy Browns Falls

 A couple of friends and I did two short walks in the Judbury area today. I chose Billy Browns Falls for the first one because I wanted to check out the flow from the recent rain. See earlier post here for details. 
 The start of the track now has a new sign.
 Note: The bridge over Judds Creek was washed away in 2018. It has now been repaired but the road is not suitable for 2 WD vehicles.

Start of track

 It took us 1'30" for the return walk which agrees with the sign. The track was quite wet and slippery in places but we were rewarded with a good flow coming over the falls.

White Timber Mountain

White Timber Mountain Summit "Can"

 After completing Billy Brown Falls we continued driving up Judds Creek Road to White Timber Trail, where we turned right and drove to the start of the ascent track for White Timber Mountain which is marked by a small cairn. The Trail had a covering of snow and ice in places, but was easily negotiated with a 4WD. See here for previous post on White Timber Mountain from Crabtree. 

Car Park and White Timber Trail

 We set off after one of my companions had recovered from a fall caused by a very icy rock and soon we were clambering through the snow. The walk up was fairly taxing with snow the entire way and it was quite deep in places but we made it okay and settled down on the northern side in the sunshine for lunch. The walk back down was much easier than the ascent.
A good short little walk.
Distance: 2.0 kms
Time: 2'13"
Ascent: 130 metres

The Track

The Track

The Track

Snow capped mountains to the west.

 For some variation I suggested that we return to Judbury via White Timber Trail and Jacobsons Road. This proved to be a very interesting drive with quite deep snow on most of the road until we started descending on Jacobsons Road. Luckily someone had been through previosly and created some ruts, although they did not always line up with our vehicle.
Overall a great day.

Mount Hull

Sunday 9th August 2015

Mount Hull Summit Cairn

There are many routes that can be taken to reach Mount Hull, but the one I chose starts from the end of Montrose Road (Upper) off Main Road.
I found a place to park on the side of Montrose Road about 100 metres before the locked gate and set off up the Montrose Trail. This climbed steadily up beside Islet Rivulet which was flowing from the recent rain and snow melt. As I got higher, I started to encounter snow on and beside the track and it became considerably colder. The trail was in good condition and walking was easy although it was uphill for 3.4 kms. before the East West Trail was met. Along the way the trail intersected the Chapel and Goat Trails.

Montrose Trail

Montrose Trail

Intersection Montrose and East West Trails

On the East West Trail there was evidence of recent motor bike activity and later on as I ascended Mount Hull I did hear a couple of bikes. I walked along the East West Trail in a south westerly direction to the cairn which indicates the start of the Mount Hull track. There were limited views of Hobart and the Derwent from here. I think I located the cairn although it was mostly covered by snow, but a tape in the tree assured me I was on the right track.

Hobart and Derwent

East West Trail

East West Trail

Mount Hull track cairn

I set off following some tapes but soon lost them so I just headed up the ridge following the line of least resistance. The going was slow because of the snow as I had to be very careful with foot placement and did sink up to my knees in places where I found a hole. Eventually I did reach the summit plateau where I came across a few more tapes. It took me 1'20" to walk the 1.0 km. from the East West Trail to the summit. Of course this would be much quicker without the snow cover. The summit is marked by a large cairn of rocks. On the ascent were some views of the surrounding snow covered mountains.

Start of ascent track

Mount Wellington showing the landslide on North West face

Summit Plateau

Summit Plateau

Summit Cairn

By now it was lunch time so I found the only dry spot available on top of the summit cairn and had a short break. I did not stay long as there was a wind blowing and it was very cold, although apart from that it was very pleasant up here.
Not wanting to retrace my steps  I just kept heading in a north easterly direction down to the East West Trail. It was quite treacherous going down and even though there was less snow than the other side it was very slippery and I managed to fall over many times. Luckily I did not sustain any injury and was glad to reach the trail in one piece. From here I simply walked back to the car.
This was a great walk and I would say that the snow made it more enjoyable, although somewhat slower than normal. I would guess that it would be at least an hour less without the snow covering.
Distance: 12.1 kms.
Time: 5'36"
Ascent: 740 metres
Click here to download GPX file.