Disappearing Tarn

[Jaxter]

I saw Disappearing Tarn on Mt Wellington for the first time on Sunday -it's an interesting shade of blue. I'm not sure how long it will last before it filters down through the rocks again.

[flyfisher]

Noice
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[the_camera_poser]

Wow- that's lovely. To quote Pauline Hanson- please explain!

Where does the water come from? Is it from a spring or surface run off? How often is it full?

[Jaxter]

The tarn is filled occasionally by rain - a friend went there a few weeks ago, just after we had heaps of rain here in Hobart, and said it was twice as full as in my picture. I'm not sure how often it fills, but the few people I've spoken to who've been there before said its usually empty. It sits in a small depression in the middle of a boulder/scree field (just before you get to Potato Fields for those of you who know Mt Wellington) and the water eventually drains out the bottom of the depression through the rocks.

Besides the water being a bright blue there were also a lot of bubbles rising - presumably from the water filtering through the rocks and trapped air escaping. We met another bushwalker while we were there who said that some friends of his went swimming in the tarn one time and said it was like swimming in champagne!

[the_camera_poser]

How cool! Thanks for sharing!

[dee_legg]

Given the rain we've had in Hobart today i think i might head up there tomorrow for a look, always wanted to check it out!

[Mickeymoo]

Nice shot of a very interesting little feature, I have been there a few times but it's always been dry, but have been wanting to get there when its full, Peter Dombrovskis also has a photo from this little tarn when it was full in his book called On the Mountain.

[flyfisher]

Certainly be good for water after today.

The clarity is fantastic.
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[Ent]

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[stepbystep]

Thanks Jaxter,
didn't know about this tarn, what a gorgeous spot, will head up tomorrow if poss.

[dee_legg]

Also SbS... should be very nice i hope, might even get a peak through the clouds, i haven't seen the mountain in days!

[stepbystep]

Also SbS... should be very nice i hope, might even get a peak through the clouds, i haven't seen the mountain in days!

I know, I live high on the hill in Lindisfarne with amazing views of nothing for the last few days
Very blessed to drive 20mins and be at at The Springs, with so many options.

[stewartp]

Went up today with a friend. Similar water level to that shown in the photo. Stunning.

[seashell]

We are thinking of going up there next weekend, but i have a few questions, i've been looking at the map, and i just want to make sure we don't miss it. So my questions are:

What side of the track is it on? How far off the track is it? What should we be looking out for? Is it before or after the track starts being marked by posts and cairns?

thanks

[Jaxter]

I thought the tarn would be easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for - there are no obvious markings. It is on the uphill side of the track, after the start of the track being marked by posts and cairns (it seemed like we walked for quite a ways on mainly rock scree - maybe 30min?). You can't see the tarn from the track (there might be glimpses, but I missed them), but its not far off the track - maybe 50m. I noticed that just before we got to it we went through a bit of a dip, like a dry creek bed.

Sorry if that's not very helpful! Hopefully others can describe the location better than I can!

[seashell]

Thanks Jaxter, every bit on info will help us : )

[dee_legg]

Yeah, its not easy to spot but you sort of tend downhill for a bit then you walk through the dry creekbed like dip then up on to a tiny rise which is just before youy hit the Potato Fields. From this rise you should be able to see it about 50m away looking NW. If you've missed this rise and end up on the Potato Fields just look back the way you came and head for the NW corner of the boulders, it's tucked away in there.

[seashell]

thanks for the info, it's taken me a little while to convince by husband to do this walk... great photos btw... so I want to make sure we don't miss it.