Artists Pool
Technically the Overland Track starts at Ronny Creek, however I'm not really one for technicalities so I decided to start my walk at Dove Lake. Instead of heading for Waterfall Valley on the first night I was going over to Scott Kilvert Hut for the night. This trip was really an extension of my Penguin Cradle Trail walk on which I'd copped a fair bit of rain, the weather this morning was looking a little more promising though and by the time I got off the shuttle bus at Dove Lake I could see a few patches of blue sky above me.
Conditions this morning were looking somewhat promising.
Leaving the Dove Lake Carpark I crossed Dove River and headed around to the left on the Dove Lake Circuit Walk for a few minutes, just after passing Glacier Rock I left the lakeside track and started ascending towards Hansons Peak. The tracks around Lake Dove are all maintained to a very high standard as it's a very popular tourist area so the walking was pretty good. It's wasn't exactly easy though (especially when lugging around all my gear for the best part of the next week!), with the climb to Hansons Peak featuring a haul up a fixed chain. Still, once I'd arrived on the summit of Hansons Peak this morning that was pretty well the end of the the climbing for the day.
The view back down towards the Lake Dove carpark from Hansons Peak.
The cloud was starting to lift off Cradle Mountain.
The author on Hansons Peak.
Hansons Peak offers 360˚ views taking in Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain, Lake Wilks, Little Horn, Twisted Lakes, and Lake Hanson so needless to say if the weather is on your side then it's a great place to stop and get your breath back for awhile. Leaving the summit the track dropped through some fairly rocky country down towards a tiny emergency shelter below Little Horn. With a towering backdrop of rocky bluffs and Pencil Pines and decent sized tarn in the foreground this little hut punches above its weight in the scenery stakes I think.
Twisted Lakes
Approaching the emergency hut below Little Horn.
The small emergency hut below Little Horn is in a particularly pretty spot.
Leaving the emergency hut I picked up the Lake Rodway Track and started my gentle descent down to Scott Kilvert Hut. The Lake Dove area can be pretty busy with day walkers although the eastern side of Dove Lake is generally a lot quieter than the western side, and indeed since leaving the carpark this morning I hadn't bumped into another walker. Now that I was dropping down towards Scott Kilvert Hut I was thinking that it was fairly unlikely that I'd see any day walkers as I was getting to the extreme end of the distance that most day walkers will tackle. The track down here was a little rougher as I dropped below the cliffs of Little Horn and then passed by the achingly beautiful Artists Pool and the brooding Flyns Tarn.
Heading down to Lake Rodway I was leaving the main daywalk area around Lake Dove.
The Lake Rodway track is pretty good...
... although it is a little rougher than the Overland Track.
Little Horn
Artists Pool
Flynns Tarn
Flynns Tarn
Soon enough the large Lake Roadway came into view and 10 minutes later I arrived at the empty Scott Kilvert Hut. After enjoying my lunch (yes, it was a short day) I unpacked my mat and sleeping bag in the hut loft and was contemplating my afternoon when I heard someone approaching the hut, bugger I thought to myself thinking that I'd be sharing with some other walkers tonight. It turned out that the person I'd heard was a track worker called Sirus who had walked over from Waterfall Valley to make sure everything was OK at the hut and was heading back to Waterfall Valley Hut that afternoon, so I was still a chance to be enjoying my own company tonight.
Lake Rodway has just come into view... my days walk was almost over!
Lake Rodway
Lake Rodway
Scott Kilvert Hut... my nights accommodation.
Scott Kilvert Hut.
I suppose it would be possible to take a dip in Lake Rodway... once global warming really kicks in!
After chatting to Sirus for an hour or so I left him to his chores and went exploring around Lake Rodway. The weather was now pretty looking very good so I spent the rest of the day enjoying the sun and soaking in the views, the country around here being particularly pretty. With the sun going down behind Cradle Mountain the temperature quickly dropped so I figured that it was time to make a tactical retreat back to the hut. It turned out that I did indeed have the hut to myself so I spread my gear out a bit and cooked up dinner while reading tomorrows notes. With dinner finished and the sun well and truly set it was time to climb into the loft and settle in for an early night of reading in my sleeping bag.
I spent the afternoon exploring around the hut.
Lake Rodway
The back wall of Cradle Mountain.
Cradle Mountain blocks out the sun fairly early near Scott Kilvert Hut.
Lake Rodway
Little Horn
Flynns Tarn and Little Horn.
The Dirt.
I walked around 7 kilometres and climbed around 260 metres on today's easy walk. I caught the shuttle bus from Cradle Valley to Dove Lake Carpark this morning which made things even easier. Water wasn't a problem today although I'd treat it if grabbing it from one of the lakes. The first legal option to camp is at Scott Kilvert Hut. While I've called this an easy walk the track is a little rocky and steep in a few spots and the climb of Hansons Peak generally means hauling up a fixed chain. 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.
Little Horn
Flynns Tarn
Mt Emmett
Mt Emmett
Watching the sun go down from the helipad... the temperature was dropping quicker than the sun I think!
Cradle Mountain
Those old polartec fleece tops were on the heavy side... but gee they were warm and comfortable.
One last shot of Little Horn.
I had the hut to myself so room wasn't an issue.
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