Mt Solitary, SW Tasmania

[Liamy77]

I just spent 12 hours near bushy park putting that out.... well at least it was cooler today ?!?

[bluewombat]

an adventure to say the least

Do tell us more
bw

[stepbystep]

an adventure to say the least

Do tell us more
bw

haha, I guess a trip report of sorts is in order...

After planning 3 attempts, driving out and abandoning once we got there with a motley crew on Sunday.

6 forum members(one of which we met in the carpark for the first time), one double kayak, 2 singles, an emo(some sort of strange short fat kayak) and a packraft!!! Add to the mix a howling North Easterly and a very hot day and there were a few circumspect looks on the shore at Scotts Peak Dam.

We decided to paddle as far as Scotts Peak and reassess... I fell in in the water and flipped my single before actually getting in and making a stroke in anger off to a flying start...

The group dispersed and waves were breaking over the various vessels.

Frenchy decided to pull out as he was really struggling in the packraft and decided upon a solo walk up Scotts Peak and a casual paddle back.

ILUVSWTAS was about to pull out as the emo also struggled in the conditions, but after negotiating a tow/paddle with the double crewed by Stu and Azza we still had 5 for an assault on Solitary.

In the lee of Solitary paddling was easier, although my rudder cable came loose and I ended up paddling on one side in order to keep a straight line for the last 2km...

Upon arriving on the shore we debated the best approach and immediately crashed into the worst scrub of the trip, out of the wind it was *&%$#! hot, now over 30 degrees and north northwest struggled in the conditions. After over half an hour of very slow progress we decided to leave nnw to make her way up as far as she felt comfortable with while the remaining 4 pushed on to attain the summit.

The day just got hotter and the wind dropped altogether as it switched to the NW, we pushed on steadily and got to the summit, took in the views, took pics, had some lunch and got really nervous by the sight of a massive fire burning across our path back to Hobart.

We were totally surprised 10 mins after leaving the summit to see nnw still coming up, she had made good time considering her early slow progress and we encouraged her to continue on to what is an excellent summit.

The paddle back was much easier with a strong NW'er at our back and myself and nnw flew home in our singles, the double and the emo still in tow formation took a bit longer but still made good time.

We met Frenchy back at the dam and everyone scrambled to get going as we were all getting nervous having heard the Gordon River Road was closed and the fire was at a volatile stage.

NNW paddled in just as we were about to leave, and celebrated by diving into Pedder for a swim, she had no need to get back to Hobart and I must admit I was pretty jealous as a swim would have been awesome.

Ultimately we got back to Hobart after a massive detour around the fire and I got home pretty exhausted at about 8.30pm

It was a big day!

[ILUVSWTAS]

Lol, that trip report is spot on, but it didnt seem as debacalistic as all that at the time....

A fantastic trip it was, and I again thank you for the planning Dan, and Thank Stu and Azza for the tow as in my short fat yak, it would have been a huge struggle to make it across in that wind!!

[north-north-west]

You were lucky.

The wind picked up a bit by the time I was heading back, and I had to keep a hard port rudder on the kayak almost all the way, just to keep it tracking reasonably straight, which is why the knee seized up the next day. But I was glad to see how well it handled the choppy stuff.
I should have known better than to try to keep up with you boys, though. You're all too young and fast for me . . . although, maybe that was part of the problem. Maybe it was being out in the wilderness with so many gorgeous sexy young men that made me go weak in the knees. If Ollie had been there I probably would have fainted dead away . . .

[sixfingers]

Well that settles my curiosity !!! as we were at Red Tape Creek about to depart for a return day walk to Lake Judd when these fast moving 4 wheel drives with kayaks 'flew' past.
We slogged it out in the 30 odd plus heat on the plains and mud while you guys went on a cruise !!!.
Thanks for the report, what a decent trip it must've been, except for the packraft of course.
We were happy to exit Westerway via Ellendale as we didn't fancy spending the night there with that fire and all the power was cut at Westerway and National Park so even the beer was warm.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Well that settles my curiosity !!! as we were at Red Tape Creek about to depart for a return day walk to Lake Judd when these fast moving 4 wheel drives with kayaks 'flew' past.
We slogged it out in the 30 odd plus heat on the plains and mud while you guys went on a cruise !!!.
Thanks for the report, what a decent trip it must've been, except for the packraft of course.
We were happy to exit Westerway via Ellendale as we didn't fancy spending the night there with that fire and all the power was cut at Westerway and National Park so even the beer was warm.

Ah yes I remember seeing a couple of guys standing at the carpark I think! Hope you had a good trip, despite the heat and mud.

[north-north-west]

Hot mud is supposed to be good for the complexion. You're probably supposed to remove the leeches first, but.

[sixfingers]

Hot mud is supposed to be good for the complexion. You're probably supposed to remove the leeches first, but.

We had a lovely day, my mate seemed to have a fixation with the mud and I was battling heat exhaustion on the way back and then there was the fire just to add the extra drama.
Great day though and yes that was us by the roadside!!!

Attachments

Playing in the mud, Lake Judd Track.jpg (177.98 KiB) Viewed 2549 times

[stepbystep]

...erk wonder how many people drop in that hole each year?

[north-north-west]

More importantly, I wonder if all of them get out?

[sixfingers]

Mind you there were hundreds of these sink holes and the plan to hit the track after no rain for weeks and the hot drying conditions to control this type of thing happening was fantasy, but still I'd be curious to go back in the winter to see if it got any worse!!.