Hartz Peak

Monday 2nd October 2017

Hartz Peak

A friend expressed interest in walking in some snow so I thought we would walk to Hartz Peak and then across to Mount Snowy but only if the weather was good. When we arrived at the car park the weather was not the best...blowing a gale and low cloud over the range.
We set off with the hope that it would clear as the morning wore on.

As we gained some distance, we started to come across some snow beside the track and once we neared Hartz Pass the cloud started to lift from the peaks and we were presented with glorious views.

Bruny Island

Snow climb to Hartz Pass

Hartz Range

If there is snow around there is always a reasonably deep patch on the climb to Hartz Pass and this was indeed the case today. We plodded our way up through it to be greeted by a gale blowing at the top of the pass.

Hartz Pass

Hartz Pass

Hartz Pass

Hartz Pass

 We carried on along the track towards Hartz Peak, where it was sometimes quite difficult to maintain one's balance, as the wind buffeted us.
The views to the east were still good but most of the western peaks were shrouded in cloud.

Hartz Peak

Mount Snowy and Hartz Peak

Hartz Lake

To the west

We headed off up to the summit while still trying to maintain our feet and sunk into the shelter to get out of the gale. There were a few isolated patches of snow around the summit area.

Heading to summit

Scree field

Just below summit

Mount Snowy

Around summit

We decided against going over to Mount Snowy, mainly because the route is on the windward side of the ridge, and it would have been most unpleasant walking. We retraced our steps back to the car.
A great walk as always, despite the weather, and I think my companion was quite pleased with his walk in the snow.
For route details see previous posts.