The view from Mt Oakleigh this afternoon.
I woke early this morning, yes, one of the joys of everybody sleeping in the one room in a hut. After a quick breakfast I said my goodbyes and was on my way. The aim for today was to get to Pelion Hut, drop my pack and then make the climb Mt Oakleigh. This little side trip would make it a solid days walking and add an extra 10 kilometres and 500m climbing to the day. The mist was down again this morning and the first 2 hours walking provided only tantalising glimpses through the fog. Unfortunately the mist didn't clear until after I'd passed by the Forth River Lookout, so there would be no views today.
The early morning sun was lighting up Barn Bluff as I left Windermere Hut this morning.
Early morning on the Overland Track.
I'm heading into the mist.
There is a lot of duck boarding over Button Grass plains on this section and it always makes for quick walking. When the sun started poking through the gloom it was lighting up the Button Grass in a golden glow, the wet grass glistening in the light. At the same time the Snow Gums were appearing like ghost apparitions in the mist, yes I couldn't think of many places I'd rather be.
Button Grass
The duck boards make for fairly quick walking.
Snow Gums in the mist.
After the quick walk across Pine Forest Moor it was time to drop down to Frog Flats where the Overland Track crosses the River Forth, this is the lowest section of the Overland Track. The track drops slightly over 200 metres, however it is very well graded. The bridge over the River Forth provides another traditional place to stop and have a drink, grab something to eat and prepare for the 160 metre climb up to the Pelion Plains. An hour after leaving Frog Flats I was at Pelion Hut and preparing for the next part of the days adventure.
Eventually I dropped out of the mist.
The Overland Track crosses the River Forth at Frog Flats. I'm thinking that this is the lowest point along the Overland Track.
While I was having a quick lunch at Pelion Hut a couple of friends from last night, Julie and Jess turned up and it was soon decided that they would climb Mt Oakleigh with me this afternoon. So after lunch we grabbed our day packs and set off to cross the Pelion Plains. After crossing Douglas Creek on a suspension bridge we took a left fork and headed across the Button Grass towards a slight saddle in the crest of Mt Oakleigh. The walk across the plains was damp (very damp!) so we took a bit of a meandering route to try and not get too wet, after jumping a deep creek and shimmying across a branch over another deep creek we reached the bottom of the climb. The climb up Mt Oakleigh is one of the more interesting on the Overland Track in my opinion. You have to pass through a wide range of environments, from Button Grass, to Eucalypt, to Myrtle, to Pandanis and Snow Gums before finally alpine grass. After reaching the summit ridge it was an easy walk to the west to some rocky pinnacles overlooking the Forth Gorge. On a good day like today the view from up here was absolutely breathtaking, standing on a pinnacle 100's of metres above the valley floor with the cloud swirling at my feet is another experience that has stayed in my memory over the years.
There is a good suspension bridge over Douglas Creek on the Arm River Track.
Heading across the rather damp Pelion Plains towards Mt Oakleigh.
The summit of Mt Oakleigh is a fairly flat plateau.
Mt Oakleigh
After a bit of a rest on the summit and numerous photos we started to make our way back down. Our walk back down was reasonably uneventful until Jess managed to fall waist deep in one of the creeks on Pelion Plains. Reaching Douglas Creek I figured that after 3 days it was time for a decent wash so I stripped off and jumped in... well it wasn't one of those lingering tropical waterfall plunge pool types of swims, I'm thinking I was in and out within thirty seconds! Pulling on my clothes it wasn't long and we were back in the hut feeling very fresh and clean. Pelion Hut is large hut, it sleeps about 60 people so I had no problem grabbing my own room this afternoon. I'm thinking that the hut is so big because it not only services walkers on the Overland Track but it is also at the end of the Arm River Track (a short cut into the middle reaches of the Overland Track) After cooking dinner the rest of the night was spent in convivial chat with with the other hut visitors before I settled into my sleeping bag for another early night.
I'm thinking that the true high point on Mt Oakleigh is that low ridge in the distance.
Mt Oakleigh
That's Pelion East on the left and Mt Ossa on the right.
Mt Ossa from Mt Oakleigh... tomorrows adventure!
The Dirt.
I walked 24 kilometres and climbed 720 metres on what I'd call a hard days walking. Over the three days of my Overland Track adventure I'd walked 49 kilometres and climbed 1730 metres. Pelion Hut is the only option today if you want to sleep under a roof (Old Pelion Hut is for emergencies only). Some people camp down at Frog Flats although I've never stopped there. I'm thinking that there was some scrambling on the climb up to Mt Oakleigh, there was also some pretty wet country as I made my way across Pelion Plains to the base of Mt Oakleigh. Water was generally fairly easy to find again today. Once again I was using the House of Chapmans notes and maps out of their Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair & Walls of Jerusalem National Parks book.
Relevant Posts.
Dropping back down to Pelion Plains. Pelion Hut is on the tree line towards the left of the photo.
Lake Ayr
Crossing Douglas Creek on my way back to Pelion Hut I decided to suck it up and have a quick swim.
Pelion Plains
