Bishop and Clerk ... at last

[whynotwalk]

Looking towards Bishop and Clerk from near the Fossil Cliffs

Hi all - hard to believe, but in 33 years of bushwalking in Tassie, I'd never made it to the top of Bishop and Clerk on Maria Island. At just 620m it seemed like it would be a doddle. Hmmm ... not quite. A group of us spent a long weekend locked up in the Penitentiary, and to fend off cabin fever, we thought we'd "stroll" up B & C. We made it okay, but what a grunty little mountain it is! And how brilliant are those views?

There's more on my blog if you're interested http://www.naturescribe.com/2013/11/the-bishop-and-ballerina.html

cheers

Peter

[tibboh]

Only 620m but you start the walk at 0m, so still a good solid bit of altitude gain.
I haven't been up there either but haven't been walking in Tas for that long......maybe this coming year

[nickthetasmaniac]

Classic climb! It's pretty cool being surrounded by Mountain Pepper as you look down on the Tasman Sea

[headwerkn]

Always a magic place. My brother's ashes were scattered just up from that spot, so we visit every year on his birthday.

My last climb up Bishop and Clerk was back in 2005, shrouded in mist and in utter agony as my leather Scarpas tore layer after layer of skin off my heels. Got so angry at them I gave 'em away to St Vinnies the following week... oh well, the view from Mt Maria the day before made the trip worthwhile.

We do a lot of fishing around the eastern side of Maria and the coast is just spectacular, especially after some rain when all the waterfalls are flowing.... we were in Riedle Bay for open cray season and there were several falling right into the ocean with a drop of 10-20m or more. I'll have to dig out some photos.

Parks or a commercial operator could probably make a tidy bit of coin doing 2-3 hr tours around the Island Pennicott-style - it's the only way to really fully appreciate the place.

Cheers, Ben.

[Tortoise]

Thanks for posting, Peter.

Brings back memories of my first visit to Tassie in 1979. After doing the OLT, I was looking to climb whatever I could. I was a little surprised though, to meet a couple camped on one of the summit columns - in their tent. Guys tied to rocks secured somehow.

They had run out of water, and we had plenty. So we did a deal and all had hot chocolate.