Mt Tyndall

[Taurë-rana]

I'm struggling to get away overnight at the moment, but day walks are still a priority. It's easier when I can fit a family thing in as well and that's what I did yesterday - husband and son went in to Lake Spicer in the 4WD, and having done it before and not fancying a day in the vehicle I looked around for walks that would fit in. The drive in to Lake Spicer is spectacular, although Lake Spicer itself is a little disappointing.
I discovered that the track up Mt Tyndall starts only 4km past the turnoff to Lake Spicer, so I got dropped off there at 10.30am, with a hopeful rendezvous back there at 4pm. I had the notes from here http://www.thesarvo.com/confluence/disp ... dall+Range and here http://bushwalktracknotes.blogspot.com/ ... range.html.
The peak was clear but there was cloud around the peaks to the west. A 10 min walk along gravel tracks led to the registration box and a pad across the buttongrass and into the trees. It is fairly overgrown through the trees, but before long they thin out to give good views all round. As I climbed higher I realised that there was rain slowly heading my way from the SW, so I kept up the pace to try to reach the top before it got to me. I found the climb harder than I expected, the track is easy to follow but it just keeps going up, steeply!
I reached the plateau after about one and a half hours, with the weather closing in from the west, and the peak to the south just starting to have cloud swirling around it. The track is well cairned on the plateau, but as far as I could see didn't lead off to the peak so I went cross-country to reach the top, taking a GPS reading of the last cairn before I went, and racing the clouds. Easy walking over low vegetation and between scattered giant conglomerate boulders led me to the summit where I got fantastic views of... well, nothing at all to the west, Lake Plimsoll to the north and mountains to the east and south with their heads in the clouds. I can imagine that the views would be stunning on a good day.
I made my way back along the edge of the cliffs but the fog and drizzle caught me before I got back to the cairns. Fortunately a large sheltering rock appeared here so I put my wet weather gear on and had lunch and a cup of tea (there's just something about a cup of tea on a bushwalk). By the time I was ready to set off, it was pouring, so I tried to find my way back to the cairned track but was amazed at just how difficult it is to navigate with no view and resorted to the GPS. Once back on track I followed the cairns to a lovely sheltered, grassy campsite, then down to Lake Tyndall but lost the pad (but GPS'd the last cairn) and ended up on the wrong lake. After consulting the map I figured out where Lake Tyndall was and went to have a look, but somehow it's not quite the same in the fog and rain I'd been hoping for a swim and a sunbathe, and I think that in good weather this would be a lovely place to potter round and explore with lots of tarns, easy going and navigation, interesting boulders and rock faces etc. The views would be spectacular as well.
By this stage it was time to be heading back so I once again set off across country as the mist had lifted and I could see where to go. Predictably though it started raining again and I had to follow the GPS back to the last cairn I'd marked where I picked up the pad to follow back up over and down the mountain. It was fairly slippery on the way down and I was thankful for my poles which saved me from several tumbles. The last bit pushing through the bush left me completely soaked of course, then there was some nice mud on the buttongrass.
Safe and sound back at the carpark, the sun came out long enough for a wash in the creek and a cup of coffee while I waited and waited to be picked up. Fortunately a fellow walker turned up and we chatted until my lift finally got there a bit after 6pm, they'd had some dramas as well. We had a meal at the Tullah Chalet with some good wine which relaxed the sore muscles and made the trip home a more comfortable.
It wasn't the most enjoyable day, but I got some practice in navigating in the fog. I don't think I would have done so well with just a map and compass. If you want to see what it looks like in the sun, eggs has some lovely photos here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=718&start=0&hilit=tyndall
I will go back some time when the weather forecast looks a bit more promising.

[eggs]

Devon Annie

Well done navigating through the bad weather.
I was curious about your reference to the Lake Spicer road.
About 23 years ago we walked up that road till it meets the ridge that runs up the west side of Lake Rolleston.
[You can see this open ridge to the right of the lake in a photo of Lake Rolleston I put up from our Mt Murchison walk http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1732
This was one of the original access tracks to the Tyndalls before the new track to Mt Tyndall went in.
Although it was only a pad, it is more gentle than the new track and I would love to try it again - possibly as a round trip over Mt Tyndall.
We turned back just prior to the cliffs around Lake Huntley, but the section from there up is very open and should be straight forward.

But the road itself is my query - there was a locked gate on it last I looked. How do you get past this?
And when we walked the road, the section over the first major rise was very steep and bouldery - I could not imagine even a 4WD getting over it?
Is this road maintained - or am I underestimating the ability of 4WD up virtual cliff faces?

Also - have you thought about using the road to access Walford Peak - which I believe gives a grand view of Lake Huntley?

Regards,
Brian

[Taurë-rana]

Eggs, the road was very bad, but has been upgraded for mining exploration, particularly that bad hill. It's still for "proper" four wheel drives though and it would not be sensible to go in by oneself. Some of our bunch went in before the upgrade and had a very long day. 4 wheel drives can nearly go up cliffs at times, and winches are very useful.

I had a look at the possibility of going up Walford Peak but I really wanted to go up Mt Tyndall (perhaps not the best decision). I wanted a view of Lake Huntley too, I still don't know if you can see it from Mt Tyndall.

How do you get past the locked gate? With a key
Actually, you talk very nicely to Parks, who give you lots of conditions before you can go in.

I wondered if you could get up Mt Tyndall via Lake Rolleston, I was originally going to walk in to Lake Rolleston to have a look as it's such a spectacular lake, but decided that off track walking in such a remote spot and unsure of when I was being picked up might not be sensible.

It would make a great through trip to go in that way and down the other side, and Lake Huntley looks as though it would be awesome. This would be high on my "to do" list.

[eggs]

Thanks for this info

I presume Parks would be the office in Queenstown?

You cannot see Lake Huntley from the top of Mt Tyndall. You have to work your way through the boulders across the top and onto the eastern side.
From there - if you head through the gap you end up on top of the 300m cliffs which is where some of my photos were taken - or you can work your way over the northern or southern rises to get views across the lake [the northern arm is the start of the exit via Lake Rolleston ridge].

Walford looks directly across the lake into the cliffs.

[Taurë-rana]

Yes, it is the Parks office in Queenstown.
I was hoping to go through to the cliffs over Lake Huntley, next time!

[billshep]

Annie, You can do a very nice Ring of Tyndall walk by ascending on the track you took to the summit, then going over the ridges between Glacier Valley and Lake Rolleston, past Niche Lake, and descend to the 4wd road above Lake Rolleston, mostly open going. best on a bonny day of course! The old huts between Lake Rolleston and Lake Plimsoll were patched up by Queenstown Green Corps a few years ago and are useful as it is very poor camping country.
cheers, Bill

[Taurë-rana]

Thanks Bill, I will make the effort to do this some time in the not too distant future. The 4WD club mentioned that the huts had been done up, but I don't think they knew who had done it.
DA