Paddys Lake and Black Bluff

[johnw]

One goal of our trip last month was Black Bluff via Brookes Track. It was a strenuous but pleasant walk up to Paddys Lake. These photos may give an idea of why we didn't get much further .

The scene from our partly sheltered position:


Andrew W tries some photography during the maelstrom:


The wind whips up a frenzy:

[eggs]

Well done.

Amongst all our delightful fair weather photos it is good to get some which show the normal Tasmania.

[Son of a Beach]

I got to Paddy's once, and no further than that. It looks just the same in your photos as I remember it. We had a a gale with sleet, and saw almost nothing. Camped near the shore of the lake overnight, and worried all night about the tent getting torn to bits (this was in the days when we camped in A-frame tents).

[johnw]

I got to Paddy's once, and no further than that. It looks just the same in your photos as I remember it. We had a a gale with sleet, and saw almost nothing. Camped near the shore of the lake overnight, and worried all night about the tent getting torn to bits (this was in the days when we camped in A-frame tents).

I shudder at the thought of trying to put up a tent in what we experienced, even our WE 2nd Arrow, let alone an A-frame . You'd have to find a sheltered spot and do it really, really fast. I don't know what the wind speed was, but the gusts were sufficient to knock us both over at one point !

Anyway Black Bluff remains a worthy objective. It was so tantalisingly close too...in better weather I'd guess we'd have been on top within another 45 mins. Hopefully we'll get up there again and have another go on some future trip. For variety and interest, might try Tastrekkers suggestion via the Tramway track next time...

http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=553&p=3683&hilit=tramway#p3673

Of all these routes, the Tramway Track is my favourite because:
* History - Old saw pit and wooden tramway
* Vegetation - All of these tracks feature changing vegetation from rainforest in the gullies to wet eucalypt scrub on the slopes to alpine shrubs up high. The Tramway Track has the added attraction of passing through the most northerly King Billy Pine forests in Tassie (and in the world for that matter).
* Starting altitude - Carpark is almost 200m higher than Loongana thus less altitude to be gained
* Climb is done in sections with levelish patches between - Once the Brookes Track starts climbing, it's fairly relentless
* Interesting Rocks - The link track from Winterbrook Falls to the ridge above Paddy's Lake climbs through some interesting rock formations and slabs

[tasadam]

The Exif info shows the photos being taken 9th May.
I went looking for weather stations nearby to see what the wind might have been blowing.
Went off on a tangent, reflecting to 2nd April when all that bad weather hit the state.
Found this
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/20080 ... 0804.shtml

Looks like the wind measurer got blown away....

[corvus]

Well done.

Amongst all our delightful fair weather photos it is good to get some which show the normal Tasmania.

eggs you meant occasional Tasmania for sure

[johnw]

The Exif info shows the photos being taken 9th May.

Correct.

I went looking for weather stations nearby to see what the wind might have been blowing.

This aroused my curiosity, so I had a look too. One comparable location I could find (ie similar elevation/exposure) with wind readings for that day was Mt Wellington. Not exactly nearby unfortunately, however Max wind gust was WSW 87 Km/h (at 14:40).
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/200805/html/IDCJDW7037.200805.shtml

Mt Read is another one I looked at but Max wind gust was only WSW 50 Km/h (at 23:52).
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/200805/html/IDCJDW7036.200805.shtml

The thing with the Black Bluff range is its dominant exposure above the surrounding area. Immediately we started descending, relative calm ensued and within maybe 5 or 10 minutes we were in a fine, clear day with little wind . This phenomenon was quite visible back at the carpark, where you could see thick cloud swirling around the summit but generally clear elsewhere. Have seen the same thing at Cradle Mtn, as probably have most others.

Maybe it was like the mountain in the Lord of The rings- it didn't want you climbing it that day...

[johnw]

Maybe it was like the mountain in the Lord of The rings- it didn't want you climbing it that day...

It certainly seemed intent on stopping us

[james cav]

I have been up to Paddys lake on two occasions and both times it has snowed us off the mountain and im a person who loves to walk in blizzard conditions. The first time my tent failed as did my brothers however once we returned to the car park the sun could not have been brighter. The second we were only there for the night but sure enough up she blew and down we came across some slippery ice covered rock sections that wernt there before.
On the fist occasion however, camped at paddys lake, my party consisting of my wife, brother and myself we all had a very strange unsettling kind of encounter. If anyone knows what im talking about please reply or pm if you dont want to look like a nutter. Ill leave that alone for now.

[Kainas]

On the fist occasion however, camped at paddys lake, my party consisting of my wife, brother and myself we all had a very strange unsettling kind of encounter. If anyone knows what im talking about please reply or pm if you dont want to look like a nutter. Ill leave that alone for now.

Well I am curious...

[tasadam]

I'm curious too, and this forum is a pretty friendly place so you aren't going to cop any flack or ridicule for elaborating...
Or if you do, let me know...

So are we talking ghosts or inter-gallactic thingys? Or something else?

There's already talk of the haunted tree stump at Windy Ridge...

And all you've done with your comment so far is tease our curiosity. Come on, do share

As for keeping things topical, my only trip to Black Bluff I was under-prepared. I was going with others, I hadn't checked the map or notes and didn't know what I was in for - that sure is a steep and persistent climb.
Also my knee locked up half way down, so I had to walk halfway down backwards. Not fun.
A beautiful day though, with great views. And no strange encounters for us.

[Son of a Beach]

My only time up Black Bluff I was a young teenager, and camped at Paddy's in a blizzard.

The nearest thing I had to an 'encounter' was an inexplicable and slightly embarrassing panic attack, when I was going to bed in the tent in the blizzard, and couldn't undo the buttons on the army trousers I was wearing (yes, I know army trousers are a bad idea for bushwalking now). My fingers were numb, I couldn't feel the buttons, and I was already nervous about sleeping in my first blizzard in a howling gale which felt like it was going to blow the tent into the lake. For some reason this produced a stupid panic attack. Really, I should have just got in the sleeping bag with the trousers on. Maybe my brain was numb as well.

In any case we never made it up the summit - the weather was terrible.

[james cav]

OK ill let this story go into this forum and see what comes. By the way im a fairly practical kind of person and dont fancy myself as a believer.
Anyway my first trip to tasmania was about 12 yrs ago. We, being my wife brother and myself, were all completely inexperienced bush walkers and recieved some of the worst advise ever on equipment. We had a $65 carabee tent, plastic ponchos, very cheap sleeping bags and god knows what else that didint help at all.
After seeing some of peter dombovkies photos we had decided to take a trip to tasmania and Black bluff to cradle seemed to be a good start to the walk or so I thought. Things started well enough with a nice farmer lady giving us a lift after we were droped at the wrong spot by the taxi we caught to loongana road. She had way more idea what we were doing than we did. So we were dropped at the foot of the track at which we camped for the night (although your not supposed to we later found out). The next day we headed up the track and discovered our first walk in tassie was going to be quite a challenge however in the end we reached paddys lake to be greeted by snow wind and hail that seemed to funnel from the ridge behind paadys campgound. So we pitched and tried to sleep.
I dont know when we all fell to sleep however at some point in the night I remember ( and please dont laugh ) seeing at the foot of our tent three or four weed covered creatures that must have been no more than 3 ft tall just looking at us. Ha Ha very funny. I dont recall anything else however in the morning I started to retell this strange dream to both my companions to which they both looked at each other then me and recanted the same experiance. This was just plain #*&&*ing wierd. By the way way my brother slept in a seperate tent which had the fly blown off. Hmmm simultanouse Hypothermia maybe.

[MrCAMEL]

seeing at the foot of our tent three or four weed covered creatures that must have been no more than 3 ft tall just looking at us.

Oh,
Not those guys again. You are not supposed to talk to those guys.

DId you talk to them?

[Kainas]

I dont know when we all fell to sleep however at some point in the night I remember ( and please dont laugh ) seeing at the foot of our tent three or four weed covered creatures that must have been no more than 3 ft tall just looking at us. Ha Ha very funny. I dont recall anything else however in the morning I started to retell this strange dream to both my companions to which they both looked at each other then me and recanted the same experiance. This was just plain #*&&*ing wierd. By the way way my brother slept in a seperate tent which had the fly blown off. Hmmm simultanouse Hypothermia maybe.

ha...that is funny...sorry you said not to laugh! Perhaps we should petition Nik for a ghost stories forum...

Seriously...you have given me chills.

[james cav]

I was thinking of posting this as a topic but as a new member i kind of thought NOT! Glad you like the recontruction though. I dont Know how I went back up there. Sick curiosity I suppose. There was more to the story outside the scope of encounters but my wife told me i was rambling so i left it there. All I can say is black bluff is one strange place to visit weather wise and otherwise.

[james cav]

Are you taking the *&^%$#! mr camel? I didnt talk to any one, i dont think I dont even know when i fell back into sleep. But if you care to tell more please inform me . After 12yrs this thing still has me wondering. Hmm have i been anal probed!

[tasadam]

Yeah, he's having a lend.
Thanks for sharing your encounter. Most strange, and certainly not something I had considered as an option when trying to imagine your definition of "encounter" before your explanation.
Dwarf Yowies. Strange indeed!
I have no explanation. The only weed covered creature I have seen is an avatar used by a member of a photographic forum, here.
People may not be able to resist the temptation to crack a joke or two about this, but as per the forum rules, we won't let it get personal.

You would have been fine to post this in a new topic by the way, if this gets too off topic for the title we can always split it.

[Kainas]

oh yeh, laughing with you not at you. Very much appreciate the tale (and am completely without skepticism), would love to know the explanation...be it spooky or scientific.

[Son of a Beach]

Maybe Black Bluff is the local equivalent of Caradhras (spelling?) in Lord of the Rings. The mountain itself almost seems to be out to get us.

[Kainas]

The mountain itself almost seems to be out to get us.

I love the thought (also appreciate a book reader...the movie was awesome but simplified the forces of the land into two evil wizards and a few nice races).

[Son of a Beach]

The mountain itself almost seems to be out to get us.

I love the thought (also appreciate a book reader...the movie was awesome but simplified the forces of the land into two evil wizards and a few nice races).

Yeah, the movies were good entertainment, but simplified what is probably the second-best faerie story of all time, into just a fairy-tale.

[corvus]

The BWT Strollers are going to Black Bluff this weekend and I can assure you if there are strange vibes up there I will as a sceptic be checking them out and may I say in all sincerity I would love to be proved wrong.

[Kainas]

Yeah, the movies were good entertainment, but simplified what is probably the second-best faery story of all time, into just a fairy-tale.

Okay, so I am taking this way off topic, but second-best? I am interested in knowing what you think the best is.

Oh, wait...we need a book topic in the between walks section.

http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1403

[GerryDuke]

I was lucky enough to visit Black Bluff on a perfect day. No strange happenings. As I neared the sumit the weather started to turn. I retraeated pretty quickly.

http://www.touringtasmania.info/black_bluff.htm

Gerry Duke

[Son of a Beach]

Had another semi-Caradhras day on Black Bluff yesterday (with the strollers). The weather over the rest of Northern Tas looked great from just below the plateau, but the closer we got to the top, the stronger the wind, and the colder the temperature, with stinging rain on the face. However, we persevered and reached the top of the trig point peak. (The actual summit appeared to be several hundred metres further to the south from what I could see, and the conditions were not suitable for doing that additional walking with no prospect of a view).

[johnw]

...The weather over the rest of Northern Tas looked great from just below the plateau, but the closer we got to the top, the stronger the wind, and the colder the temperature...

I'm starting to get the feeling that the weather up there is almost always like that . Did you guys take any photos?

...we persevered and reached the top of the trig point peak...

Well done to all who participated . I'm really inspired to have another go now, heaven knows when though .

[Son of a Beach]

Did you guys take any photos?

I didn't take a camera, but a few of the others did. I expect some of their pictures will appear in the gallery or walks forums sooner or later.

[stu]

A few photos from an overnight trip to Black Bluff & Paddys lake last weekend (12/13 Feb 2011).
We drove up from Hobart on the Saturday & had a lunch time start in warm conditions from the pretty car parking / picninc area beside the Leven River.
A very casual pace (including an encounter with a large & a little angry Tiger snake) saw us at Paddys Lake at 3.30ish, the little camp site at the southern end being empty which was very welcomed.
I darted up to the Black Bluff summit for great views in deteriorating weather as my girlfriend hung back at camp.
The next day was a little miserable so we had a late start, getting back to the car at lunch time for the long drive home.
I know most (northerners especially) probably do this walk as a day walk, but with the long drives it was really nice to camp beside this pretty lake & indulge in the full wilderness experience as we all love to do (if a little exposed).

The 'Chapman' pose beside Paddys Lake.

Paddys Lake from the ascent of Black Bluff

Summit Trig.

Looking along the Black Bluff Range toward the Abel.

Paddys Lake tranquility.