Which way...

[hanger]

Hi all, first post here.. I just love Tasmania and go there every year, this will be 6 years in a row now and it's still as exciting as the first time.
I love my hiking and I love my fly fishing, now getting to do both at the same time is just the best.
This year I want to hike and fish Lake Nameless, Looking at the map I can get there either from Lake Mckenzie or following the Higgs Track.

Is one way better than the other, longer, shorter, faster, more scenic, which way would you recommend for a first time out that way.

Thanks

[Bap]

Even though it is steep and uphill I like Higgs track it's a great climb through a mature forest.

[corvus]

Higgs Track is really nice with lots of Sassafras trees in the rain forest and you will have the bonus of Lady Lake Hut once you reach the Plateau,from there to Nameless is a pleasant walk with a couple of lakes to wet a line in on the way.

[Phil]

Agree with the above 2 comments. Lady Lake Hut gives a pleasant welcome to the top of the plateau. I walked through to Lake Nameless a couple of weeks ago from there; it really was fantastic walking, thoroughly enjoyable!! There are some wonderful lakes along the way as corvus alluded to and it is very pleasant walking, not too arduous at all.

some pics.........

http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4949

Phil

[Son of a Beach]

Both routes are excellent walks. If you go from Lake McKenzie, following Explorer Creek, there is only one small hill just after walking around McKenzie, and after that, it's all pretty flat and easy. The track does peter out a bit just before Lake Explorer, but the navigation is not difficult if you're experienced at it.

If you're really into off-track walking, my preferred route would be to walk in to the Blue Peaks, then keep going to Little Throne Lake, then cross country and off track to Lake Halkyard then Lake Nameless, then out Explorer Creek (a great circuit, starting and finishing at Lake McKenzie). This way, there is very little in the way of hills, there is no covering the same ground twice at all, but you still start/finish in the same place (within a few hundred metres), you pass by dozens of top fishing lakes, and great scenery, you get to optionally climb TWO of the smallest and easiest mountains there are (Forty Lakes Peak, Little Throne).

In fact, if I was to do it, I would skip Lake Nameless altogether, and camp somewhere in between Lake Halkyard and Little Throne Lake. There's plenty of good camping right through that area.

Of course, all this assumes some good off-track navigation skills. Even when on track, the Blue Peaks track is poorly marked in some places and easy to lose. The landscape in some parts on that track is also devoid of significant land marks making navigation even more difficult, and to top it off, there's iron in the rocks which interferes with compasses. So you've been warned. If you're prepared for all of that, then this is one of the best circuits you can do anywhere with easy walking and lots of lakes.

PS. Links to trip reports on these two tracks which can be easily joined into a circuit with a bit of off-track navigation:

Blue Peaks Track
Explorer Creek Track

[walkinTas]

You won't go via Lake McKenzie - Explorer track at the moment. The water level was only a foot or so below the overflow when I was there a fortnight back.

[BarryJ]

It's now 1.41m below full (http://www.hydro.com.au/water/lake-levels); does anyone know how low it needs to be to allow walkers to traverse the shoreline?

[Son of a Beach]

Not sure, bu the shoreline is only part of the problem. The Fisher river also needs to low enough to ford. But so long as there's been little rain in recent days, that should be OK.

I don think the dam level would need to be terribly low, but the lower it is, the straighter the lines you can walk.

[walkinTas]

Is it possible Nik to go up the Blue Peaks Track to the top of the cliff and then cut across to the Explorer Track?

[Son of a Beach]

Not sure which cliff you mean, wT, but the first part of the Blue Peaks track is well vegetated but after a while it's all very open and I would GUESS it would be fairly easy to cut across. You'd have to cross the Fisher River somewhere.

[corvus]

Never mind rain ! what about snow melt still think Higgs Track would be the most reliable for ease of access.

[Son of a Beach]

Not sure which cliff you mean, wT, but the first part of the Blue Peaks track is well vegetated but after a while it's all very open and I would GUESS it would be fairly easy to cut across. You'd have to cross the Fisher River somewhere.

Hmmm... There is a ford marked on the map, near a couple of buildings (hydro huts?). Might be worth checking out one day.

[walkinTas]

By "cliff" I meant that big rocky thing to the right in the photo! Blue Peaks track is only 1.3 km from the explorer track (according to GE) but I have no idea what the country is like in between. When I was looking at it the other week I was wondering how hard it would be to cross over.

[Son of a Beach]

Never mind rain ! what about snow melt still think Higgs Track would be the most reliable for ease of access.

Yes, Higgs Track is certainly more reliable. But I prefer Explorer Creek track when it is accessible (which is most of the time). It's shorter, easier, and passes near a lot more lakes. Both are excellent options though. A through walk from Lake MacKenzie to Lady Lake would be even better of course, if you could arrange the car shuffle/swap, but otherwise, the circuit of the Explorer Creek and Blue Peaks tracks makes for an even more interesting and varied walk without having to cover any of the same ground twice, and without having to do a car shuffle/swap.

By "cliff" I meant that big rocky thing to the right in the photo! Blue Peaks track is only 1.3 km from the explorer track (according to GE) but I have no idea what the country is like in between. When I was looking at it the other week I was wondering how hard it would be to cross over.

Oh, yes, I see what you mean.

If I was to do this, I'd go well past that cliffline. There's quite a bit of vegetation in the area of that hill that could make it quite difficult. Further in, the terrain is much more open and easier for off-track walking.

In fact, I know of two people on these forums who attempted something similar once when the lake level was up, and found it exceptionally difficult. When they did eventually get to the fisher river, it was too flooded to cross (didn't stop them trying, but they had to abort after getting very cold and wet, and nearly swept down stream).

[Son of a Beach]

Just thinking out loud... having never actually tried this... but I think if I was to try to join the northern end of these two tracks (ie, if the lake was too full to walk around the edge to the Fisher River), I would aim for the points marked on this screenshot of the map (from theLIST):

Either of the two points on the Blue Peaks track would probably be OK. The northern point on the Explorer Creek track would be easier, as it is the usual location to ford the Fisher River (and avoid having to ford Explorer Creek separately). However, the southern point looks interesting just out of curiosity to see what buildings are there and the wier. On my older version of that map, it is marked as a "ford" rather than a weir, so presumably it is easyish to cross there. But then you'd have to bash your way through to Explorer Creek up a reasonably steep hill, and then find a suitably place to cross it (or wander back up north to the usual crossing place).