Mount Arthur - Northern Tasmania

Friday 8th August 2014

Along Mount Arthur Ridge

This was my second walk in Northern Tasmania. The start of the walk is reached by driving out along Lilydale Road and then turning into Mountain Road and following this for 3.7 kms. to a sign which states " No parking past here". There is a small parking area adjacent.
On the drive out the range had appeared cloud free so I was hoping for a good day. I set off walking up the road and soon encountered a sign indicating the start of the track. This was about 230 metres from the car park.

Forest Track

The track was easy to follow and was marked quite well with tapes. The track climbed steadily through dampish forest and at about 2.5 kms. from the start the rocks began to increase in size. There were a few trees down caused by the recent windy weather, but nothing too bad. As I started to climb through the rocky section the cloud started rolling in and pretty soon visibility was reduced a fair bit. When I finally reached the summit ridge the cloud parted a little so I had some fleeting views.

Nearing the Ridgeline

At this point I was still about 1.0 km from the actual summit but could not see where that was. I just carried along the summit ridge, passing many masts and towers and solar panels and wind generators and other stuff.
As I neared the summit the large cairn appeared out of the mist so I had to climb up to it. Surprisingly as I reached the top the cloud lifted completely and I was treated to the good views. The reverse usually happens.

Summit Cairn

Actually climbing up to the cairn was quite tricky as the rocks were rather slippery and there were some very deep holes between the rocks that I would not like to have fallen in. Climbing back down was probably worse.

Summit Ridge

After about ten minutes the cloud returned as I made my way back along the ridge. As I was descending, I came across a group of what looked like school kids and teachers on their way up. They were having a rest just where the rocks started. I continued on down and managed to slip over once where this group had made it a little slippery but arrived back at the car okay, just a little dirty.
This was a good walk and would have been better if I could have seen better where I was going along the top. Never the less I enjoyed it.
Distance: 8.6 kms.
Time: 3'50" ( the sign states 5 hours return)
Ascent: 700 metres
Click here to download GPX track.

Fungi along the track

Along the summit ridge

Along the summit ridge

Along the summit ridge