Mt Picton

Mt Picton

23rd - 24th August 2014

A rare weekend off work mid semester hailed for an overnight trip to be organised.  I wasn't fussed where we would go but given the weather forecast was so glorious I though we would try for something in the South-West.  The destination of Mt Picton was agreed upon.  Mt Picton can be done as a long day walk but given the short winter days it was better suited to an overnighter.

Six club members ended up coming.  As usual we met at the TUU carpark before running up to the club sheds to grab all the gear.   Off we went and at Geeveston we took the Arve Rd as if heading towards the Tahune Airwalk.  We turned off just before the Airwalk and then followed the maze of forestry roads to the start of the walk (described in Chapman and the Abels book).  We decided not to drive the last 1km of road due to the deterioration of the road and instead happily walked to the cairn with a large stick with ribbons hanging off it.

The track was relatively flat through the forest until we crossed the river and then the fun climbing started!  A kind person has put rope in a few sections where the track is slippery and steep.   We were very thankful for these especially given the weight of our packs was pulling us backwards.  We were concerned that perhaps they might be old rope and snap at any point...however they proved to be sturdy and reliable!  After a few hours of climbing we finally arrived at a lookout point over two lakes and from here the wet forest turned into dry scrub.  We got our first glimpses of Mt Picton from here and the blazing sun made it feel like it was mid summer!  A rare treat this time of year!

The forest and river

We trudged onwards and upwards towards Steane's Tarn just below the summit block.  Initially I thought that we were meant to camp at Steane's tarn....so I sent James on a wild goose chase down to the tarn to find some suitable areas because there did not seem to be any obvious ones.  However, we soon figured out that the best camping was actually at the pools to the left of the tarn where the track goes over.  So James went for a scrub bash for no good reason whatsoever! :P

Camp at the small tarns

The small tarns were fine to drink from and it made for a nice little camp site with views of Federation Peak! The only downside was the ground was not very level so we had to pick our tent sites carefully!  After setting up camp we thought we would follow the cairns leading towards the summit to see if we could make it to the top before the sun set.  However, we lost them fairly quickly and decided to turn around and leave the peak til morning.  Then we wouldn't be so rushed.

Looking back at the Tarns at the point we got lost and turned around!

I had a fairly sleepless night given my tent rattled in the wind and I kept sliding down the tent because of the incline!  It rained for a few hours in the morning but stopped around 8am and we all got up. Lying in my tent I thought that we had missed an opportunity to climb the peak because it would be all clouded over. However, to my surprise visibility was good!  So we all got ready and packed our day packs and made our way to top!  We found a cairned route to the top, but as we had heard the cairns are vague and you really had to go looking for the next one!  About an hour later we were standing at the windy summit!  And what a wonderful site it was!  Views of the south west all around - a pretty spectacular way to spend your birthday!  We wrote in the logbook and took some summit photos and then back down the mountain we went. About half way down it started to rain again, so when we got back to the tents we quickly packed up and walked back to the cars.  Arriving back at the cars at about 4pm.

A rather rocky climb!

Awesome view from the top!

Overall it was a great overnight trip!  It was good to get out mid semester and have a weekend off!  The walking was medium level, not too long but the track was steep and slippery in a few sections.

Grade: Medium
Map: Picton
Time: 2 days