Barn Back

Sunday 22nd November 2015

Barn Back Ridge

 The Barn Back track follows a long ridge that runs more or less north/south and starts near the Southwood mill. My aim was to start opposite Denison Hill on Weld Road and walk up an old 4WD track to join the Barn Back track on the top of the ridge and return via Badger Saddle and Denison Road to the car. It mostly worked out but took longer than I was anticipating, due to major scrub bash.
I parked at the start of the track on Weld Road and commenced the climb.

Near track start

Rimons Hill

Denison Ridge foreground and Russell Ridge behind

Huon Valley

Weld Road

I soon reached a logged area where there were good views although it was a little hazy. After leaving this area behind the track meandered through some nice forest before intersecting the Barn Back track. It was a steady climb of 350 metres to reach here.

Track through the forest

I continued on in a northerly direction along the Barn Back track. It was pleasant walking mostly with a few boggy patches to dodge around.

Barn Back track

Nice forest on Barn Back track

Barn Back track

I eventually reached a good forestry road and walked along it until I reached the place where I had decided to cut through the scrub to Badger Saddle. There were good views here. It was a mistake really to leave the road at this point. Walking down along the edge of the logged area was fine to start off with but I soon encountered some cliffs with no way of getting down.

Denison and Russell Ridges

Huon Valley

 I had to walk across the coup until I found a place to climb down and eventually met the road I should have followed down. All good in hindsight. I then cut across to the edge of the cleared area and continued down. It was not easy going and was very steep, but I did eventually reach the track I was looking for. I knew it was there because I used it to access Punna Falls last year.

The cliffs that I had to avoid

I carried on to meet the track that follows the ridge line down beside Badger Creek and walked down this to Denison Road and then along Weld Road to the car.
This was a good walk with some nice scenery, but would have been better if I had avoided the unnecessary scrub bash.
Distance: 17.5 kms.
Time: 7'00"
Ascent: 725 metres
Click here to download GPX file.

Crib Hill

Sunday 15th November 2015

Mount Snowy from Crib Hill

 I intended to start at Arve Road near the Arve River crossing and walk up Crib Hill Road and then down, across Arve River twice and return to the car on an old track. I guess I convinced myself that I could see the tracks on Google Earth, but alas they were not there. It turned out okay despite this.
I parked the car in Crib Hill Road just down from the locked gate and set off uphill. It was a gentle climb of 400 metres over 4.0 kms. to reach the plateau that is Crib Hill. There was no distinct peak.
The walk was on a good forestry track through some nice forest in places with some remnant large trees.

As I neared the plateau I could see some views of the Hartz Mountains through the trees but better views were to be had at the end of the road where there was a forestry coupe. I climbed up into the cleared section so I could see more but alas the cloud had come over and covered the peaks. Never the less it was quite scenic.

End of road and forestry coup around the corner on this hill

Hartz Mountains

Hartz Mountains

Hartz Mountains

I had a snack and then walked back down the road to see if I could find the track I wanted that led down towards the river. I had not noticed it on the way up, and for good reason, because it was non existent. I had a good search but to no avail. The scrub was not very inviting so a scrub bash was not really an option. I decided to walk back down the road and approach the river from the other track. I checked out some side tracks on the way down but they simply came to a dead end.

I had seen the track that I wanted on the way up, so when I reached it, I followed it until it ran out also. The scrub didn't look too bad but it was about 400 metres down to the river and by this time I had had enough, so simply returned to the car.

The final track

Large trees across track

Although I did not achieve what I set out to do, this was quite a good walk, although it would have been better if the mountains had not been clouded in.
Distance:19.7 kms.
Time:5'12"
Ascent 645 metres
Click here to download GPX file.

Big Lagoon Beach

Sunday 8th November 2015

Big Lagoon Beach

After walking to Donnellys Creek a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would revisit Big Lagoon Beach in the same area, with some friends. We were expecting a fairly long walk as we intended to walk from the locked gate just off South Cape Road. When we arrived the gate was open, and on checking it, found that it had been vandalised and the lock removed, so we drove the 3.0 kms. to the second locked gate. This saved us 6.0 kms of walking on a road.
We set off along the old tracks and soon had a view of the mountains to the west.

Looking towards Moonlight Ridge

Lune Sugarloaf

The track was mostly dry and we reached Big Lagoon Beach in good time. There was a light breeze blowing and it was indeed a very pleasant day. We stopped at a large log for a snack before heading off on the long walk to the lagoon entrance. There were more rocks to negotiate on the point than I remembered from last time but we made it comfortably around to the sheltered side of the lagoon.

Big Lagoon Beach

Big Lagoon Beach

Big Lagoon Beach

Big Lagoon Beach

On the rocky point

On the rocky point

On the rocky point

We then walked back along the sheltered side to find another handy log to sit on for lunch. t was very peaceful sitting there with great views of the mountains and a large eagle flying overhead.

Across the lagoon to Adamsons Peak

Across the lagoon towards Moonlight Ridge

Southport Lagoon

After lunch we kept going along the beach. I wanted to take a different route back, so we kept on around the rocks at the end of the beach to a creek with very muddy sides. This necessitated taking to the grass verges to avoid the worst of the mud. We found a very convenient log that I had spotted on Google Earth spanning the creek and we availed ourselves of this, crossing without any disasters.  I did have my camera ready just in case. After this we just walked along the rocks some more before leaving the beach and heading inland through the button grass to pick up an old track. From here it was a good stroll back to the car.

Looking towards the lagoon from the return track

A great walk with pristine beaches, good views and lack of people.
Distance: 17.0 kms.
Time: 5'50"
Ascent: 140 metres
Click here to download GPX file.