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Waterfall Valley
Tue 11 Sep, 2012 10:45 pm
A couple of posts in a row for me!
Recently (weekend of the 1/8, if I recall correctly) spent a weekend at the Waterfall Valley hut with my housemates (and a couple of extras!). We'd been tossing up a potential house camping trip since early in the year, and finally decided on the hut as a good start, given the general lack of gear that everyone else was experiencing, as well as the fact that it would be a nice introduction to walking in Tas.
It did turn out to be a nice introduction to walking in Tas, but not perhaps in quite the way I had expected. I had figured on a reasonably easy stroll to the hut after we'd made the ascent to Marion's Lookout, not realising how much snow there was about. It turned out to be a fair bit tougher than I had thought, and adding in a bunch of people relatively inexperienced in walking at all, let alone in deep(ish) snow... Made for an interesting inward journey! But a good introduction to bushwalking, in the sense that one should always expect the unexpected and be prepared, especially in Tassie!
The original plan had been to walk into WVH on the morning of the Saturday, hopefully arriving around 1, therefore leaving us enough time to climb Barn Bluff on the same day. However, with the predictably late start and the time added by all of us continually falling over in the snow, we didn't make it to the hut until 3ish, meaning BB was out on the Saturday. We figured that instead of heading out to Mt Inglis on the second day as planned, we'd instead just head up the bluff the next day. That was before we froze our boots...
Biggest lesson learned on this trip? If you want to pitch your exciting new tent inside (the side balcony), but it requires pegging down in order to be stable, don't use your boots as peg replacements. They will freeze solid, and they won't be enjoyable to put on the next day. And nor will you get to climb any of the peaks you wanted to on that day either, for fear of frostbite of the toes. Needless to say, we slept in the hut the next night
So with frozen boots and wussy toes stopping our Barn/Inglis plans on the Sunday, we instead waited for our boots to thaw, and in the afternoon headed across to Lake Will. I'm sure all of those who have been will agree that it's a beautiful place, and well worth the sidetrip.
The trip ended with us walking out in a typical Tassie drizzle, which was just another part of the introduction to bushwalking in Tas. Thoroughly exhausted and hungry by the time we returned to the visitors centre, we all gorged ourselves on lovely unhealthy food. A succesful trip, all in all!
A few photos:
We really did have a lovely day 1
001 by bigggbird, on Flickr
Everyone looking tired after the climb to Marion's Lookout. I warned them it would be a tough start, and I think they agreed with me afterwards!
057 by bigggbird, on Flickr
There was a fair bit of snow around! Saw a couple of XC skiiers, I think they had the right idea!
086 by bigggbird, on Flickr
Everyone was a lot more energetic on the morning of the first day compared to the afternoon!
097 by bigggbird, on Flickr
A common occurrence on the way in
116 by bigggbird, on Flickr
The clouds and snow made for some beautiful scenery
196 by bigggbird, on Flickr
212 by bigggbird, on Flickr
Took a while to get everyone out of bed the next morning...
266 by bigggbird, on Flickr
Eventually made it to Lake Will, which was beautiful!
292 by bigggbird, on Flickr
The trip was more challenging than first expected, and we didn't manage to tick any Abels off our list, but it was still a wonderful weekend spent with great people!
Thanks for reading
Recently (weekend of the 1/8, if I recall correctly) spent a weekend at the Waterfall Valley hut with my housemates (and a couple of extras!). We'd been tossing up a potential house camping trip since early in the year, and finally decided on the hut as a good start, given the general lack of gear that everyone else was experiencing, as well as the fact that it would be a nice introduction to walking in Tas.
It did turn out to be a nice introduction to walking in Tas, but not perhaps in quite the way I had expected. I had figured on a reasonably easy stroll to the hut after we'd made the ascent to Marion's Lookout, not realising how much snow there was about. It turned out to be a fair bit tougher than I had thought, and adding in a bunch of people relatively inexperienced in walking at all, let alone in deep(ish) snow... Made for an interesting inward journey! But a good introduction to bushwalking, in the sense that one should always expect the unexpected and be prepared, especially in Tassie!
The original plan had been to walk into WVH on the morning of the Saturday, hopefully arriving around 1, therefore leaving us enough time to climb Barn Bluff on the same day. However, with the predictably late start and the time added by all of us continually falling over in the snow, we didn't make it to the hut until 3ish, meaning BB was out on the Saturday. We figured that instead of heading out to Mt Inglis on the second day as planned, we'd instead just head up the bluff the next day. That was before we froze our boots...
Biggest lesson learned on this trip? If you want to pitch your exciting new tent inside (the side balcony), but it requires pegging down in order to be stable, don't use your boots as peg replacements. They will freeze solid, and they won't be enjoyable to put on the next day. And nor will you get to climb any of the peaks you wanted to on that day either, for fear of frostbite of the toes. Needless to say, we slept in the hut the next night
So with frozen boots and wussy toes stopping our Barn/Inglis plans on the Sunday, we instead waited for our boots to thaw, and in the afternoon headed across to Lake Will. I'm sure all of those who have been will agree that it's a beautiful place, and well worth the sidetrip.
The trip ended with us walking out in a typical Tassie drizzle, which was just another part of the introduction to bushwalking in Tas. Thoroughly exhausted and hungry by the time we returned to the visitors centre, we all gorged ourselves on lovely unhealthy food. A succesful trip, all in all!
A few photos:
We really did have a lovely day 1
001 by bigggbird, on Flickr
Everyone looking tired after the climb to Marion's Lookout. I warned them it would be a tough start, and I think they agreed with me afterwards!
057 by bigggbird, on Flickr
There was a fair bit of snow around! Saw a couple of XC skiiers, I think they had the right idea!
086 by bigggbird, on Flickr
Everyone was a lot more energetic on the morning of the first day compared to the afternoon!
097 by bigggbird, on Flickr
A common occurrence on the way in
116 by bigggbird, on Flickr
The clouds and snow made for some beautiful scenery
196 by bigggbird, on Flickr
212 by bigggbird, on Flickr
Took a while to get everyone out of bed the next morning...
266 by bigggbird, on Flickr
Eventually made it to Lake Will, which was beautiful!
292 by bigggbird, on Flickr
The trip was more challenging than first expected, and we didn't manage to tick any Abels off our list, but it was still a wonderful weekend spent with great people!
Thanks for reading
Re: Waterfall Valley
Wed 12 Sep, 2012 7:29 am
Sounds like fun! It's always challenging to take inexperienced walkers in those kind of conditions.
I wouldn't do Mt Inglis until summer. It is a nice open walk, about 4-5 hours return from Barn. You could either do it as a day trip from one of the huts, or spend the night out on Fury Divide. There is a lovely tarn right out in the middle of it!
I wouldn't do Mt Inglis until summer. It is a nice open walk, about 4-5 hours return from Barn. You could either do it as a day trip from one of the huts, or spend the night out on Fury Divide. There is a lovely tarn right out in the middle of it!
Re: Waterfall Valley
Wed 12 Sep, 2012 6:58 pm
Boots thaw quickly enough once you get them on, and if you socks are good enough you don't feel any colder.
Re: Waterfall Valley
Wed 12 Sep, 2012 8:26 pm
Apparently my socks weren't good enough then, as I definitely felt colder Oh well, lesson learned; just be tougher next time!
Will definitely take your advice on that one I think pazzar... Though I won't be doing any walking at all this summer! Well, not in Tas at least
Oh well, lesson learned; just be tougher next time!Will definitely take your advice on that one I think pazzar... Though I won't be doing any walking at all this summer! Well, not in Tas at least
Re: Waterfall Valley
Wed 12 Sep, 2012 9:07 pm
biggbird wrote:That was before we froze our boots...
done that. 3 hrs one morning getting everyone's boots flexible enough over the little stove to actually get onto our feet.Put your boots in a dry bag and then sleep with them in your sleeping bag. Much nicer in the morning.
Re: Waterfall Valley
Sun 16 Sep, 2012 12:17 pm
^Haha yes, was definitely a struggle to pull them on... And then so cold once we got them on! Boots in the bag might be the best plan next time, thanks for the tip
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