6 Days around the Central Plateau

[lindsey]

Looking for suggestions- thinking about walking in on Higg's Track to explore some more of the Central Plateau. I visited this area a couple of years ago on a walk from Trappers Hut, via Little Throne, Forty Lakes Peak and out via Lady Lake Hut and am looking for other routes. Ideas welcomed!

[rucksack]

Lindsey, it depends on how quickly (or slowly) you like to walk, and how variable the weather, and how much you want to repeat any of your previous visit, but ...

If you are coming from Victoria, and perhaps relying on public transport, you could start from the western end of the Higgs Track (a taxi ride from Deloraine) and head up to Lady Lake Hut, and then on to Lake Nameless and Ironstone Hut, before swinging around the hut and heading south west to enter the walls through Zion Gate. It is a short stroll from there south down Jaffa Vale to Lake Ball, then head along the northern shore of the lake to join up with the Junction Lake Track, following that south to Meston Hut and Junction Hut and from Junction, you have two options depending on time, weather and inclination. One is down the Never Never to Hartnett Falls, then south down the Overland Track to Narcissus (and then either a boat ride or a stroll around Lake St Clair). The other option from Junction Hut is to head up to the Mountains of Jupiter and the Traveller Range and drop down into Du Cane Gap at the Gatepost, (and south from there along the Overland Track to Narcissus, as above). I prefer the latter to the former.

If you like a bit of off-track walking, or a bit of off-track walking mixed in with some tracks, (and this is a fairly easy off-track area, and a route that I have walked previously), after you pass Ironstone Hut, you can head first south south east, then from the western end of Julian Lakes, you can veer south south west / south west until you reach Lake Antimy. There is a hut there and a track heading along the western side of the Great Pine Tier, passing Silver Lake, Lake Sally, Lake Sonja and Solveig Lake - all on their eastern side, finally reaching the western end of Lake Ball. You could either loop up from there through the Walls via Jaffa Vale to Dixons Kingdom and out via through Herods Gate and Trapper Hut to the Walls car park, or head along the northern shore of Lake Ball and turn north on the Junction Lake Track, or continue on as my earlier suggestion, heading south on the Junction Lake Track and exiting via the Never Never, or the the Mountains of Jupiter and the Traveller Range. As I say, it really depends on your inclination and how far you want to walk each day; and the weather of course - that goes without saying. And, whether you are using public transport, or not. I have wandered around the Central Plateau quite a bit and I like it. For me, the interesting challenge in off-track walking up there is to be able to ‘successfully’ thread a path through the many lakes and tarns and not find oneself ambling along doing a bit of daydreaming, only to suddenly discover that you are half way along the ‘wrong’ side of a lake just when you need to change direction 180º across the water!

rucksack

[lindsey]

Thanks Rucksack
We will be using the Deloraine taxi into Higgs track for this trip. Previous trips have taken me to the Walls, Never Never, and Traveller Range, so have been researching the Julian Lakes, and am interested in the vegetation in that area and planning an exit route to meet the taxi.

[rucksack]

Lindsey, here is a suggestion: if you have already walked the Walls area, you could head for Lake Antimy from Ironstone Hut, then along the western side of the Great Pine Tier, passing Silver Lake, Lake Sally, Lake Sonja and Solveig Lake - all on their eastern side, until you reach the western end of Lake Ball, (as per my previous post). From there, bypassing the Walls entirely, head along the northern shore of the Lake Ball until you reach the Junction Lake Track; then turn left and follow the track past Meston Hut to Junction Hut. From Junction Hut, head north, following the Moses Creek Track past Cloister Lagoon with a side trip to Chalice Lake, (and even Cathedral Mountain too), before resuming the Moses Creek Track northwards to Jackson Creek and the car park at the end of the Mersey Forest Road. You might be able to organise a taxi to pick you up there. That should be doable in six days and the Cloister/Chalice area would be a nice ending to the walk.

rucksack

[lindsey]

Thanks for the suggestion. Our plan was in on Higgs track, via Julian, PIllans, Talley Lagoons, Silver and Sonja then over Chinamens plains and out past Lake Meston, Lake Myrtle and Lake Bill. We struck some windy weather with alternating snow, hail, rain, maybe even sleet- so detoured via Lake Ball where we were able to have a sheltered camp and use the hut for cooking. Chinamen Plains will be on the next trip. Great service again from the Deloraine Taxi!