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| Lake Skinner |
Mt Snowy South had been on the list of day walks I wished to complete for quite some time now. But for whatever reason it was one I still hadn't done....so a free Sunday this week meant it was time to tick it off the list. I had done its sister peak Nevada Peak nearly 18 months ago as a club trip, so it was nice to be going back to the area. I thoroughly enjoyed Nevada Peak as upon arrival at the summit we were greeted with fairly spectacular South-West views!
We agreed to meet at the TUU car park at 8am and I was expecting 10. Dr Alex was a last minute addition to the group and a couple of new members to the club had signed up to the walk as well. However, by 8.15am it was apparent that Dr Alex would not be turning up, so we left without him as a group of 9. We stopped at Huonville for some snacks and to fill up with petrol and then we were on our way to Judbury. At Judbury it was my time to shine as I was suppose to be navigating a rather complex set of roads to the start of the walk. As usual I failed dismally at this task....I blame the bizarre instructions I had printed from the internet. After re-reading them a few times they actually made sense....just an early start meant I was a bit slow this morning. The instructions said we were meant to pass the Snowy Range Trout Farm....well I never saw it....! The instructions here are as good as you are going to get: http://mhanna.customer.netspace.net.au/skinner_snowy_sth.htm
Anyways....eventually the signs on the forestry roads indicate the correct route, just look out for "Lake Skinner Car park." The roads deteriorate somewhat, especially towards the end...but at the moment are still manageable in 2WD. Just take it slow...
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| Boulders galore! |
We arrived at the car park at about 10am and started walking at about 10.15. No one else was at the car park, so it was nice to have the track to ourselves! The track is very obvious at least initially and even appears to have had some work done to it, with new duck boarding at the beginning. We climbed through the forest and it became very humid....everyone except Emmanuel shed a few layers early on. Onwards and upwards we climbed to Lake Skinner, chatting away. After 1 hour and 15 minutes we reached Lake Skinner. I had been told that Lake Skinner was a very beautiful part of the state and this view was affirmed upon arrival. The water was incredibly clear and the trees surrounding the lake gave it a very eerie feel. More than anything its size astounded me! We stopped for a break at this point and a few members decided they would go for a swim on the way down.
We found the track that crosses over the river and followed that knowing it would lead to the summit. The track becomes less obvious but still easy enough to follow....just know that you have to cross the river and follow the cairns as they lead up hill. We reached the plateau and continued to follow the cairns until they eventually stopped. I had expected this and we decided to make our own way to the summit from here. We initially headed straight up the boulders but then moved to the left and followed the pineapple grass up to the summit. It took a little longer than expected but eventually we made it! We ate lunch at the top and were greeted with stunning views in most directions (there was a bit of cloud hanging around). I decided that it wasn't the best idea to linger at the top too long given the cloud looked like it was coming our way and I was conscious we needed to re find the cairned route further down.
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| Lunch at the summit |
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| South-west views! |
Down we went following the pineapple grass....by this point the cloud was really starting to roll in...making it difficult to know which way would take us to the cairns....Pierre and Emmanuel found cairns....but Dan and myself thought we were too far right to be on the same route we came up on....Mackenzie volunteered to go on a bit of a wild goose chase across the boulders to see if there were cairns elsewhere....but couldn't seem to find any. After a while of standing around debating where we were...we decided to follow the cairns and it proved to be the correct route anyways! A lesson learnt in how fog can disorientate you and why carrying a GPS is probably a good idea! :P
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| Down the mountain |
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| Negotiating a few tricky bits |
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| The fog setting in |
We then made our way back to the cars...Emmanuel kept us all entertained with his endless chatter and controversial topics!
All in all it was a great day walk. Ended up taking approximately 7.5 hours but you could do it a bit faster if you didn't stop for a swim.
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| Lake Skinner on the way back |
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