Panorama Hill - Sat. 15th November 2014

You are invited to attend the Boots N' All walk to Barn Bluff on Sat. 15th November 2014. The walk is best suited to those blessed with persevering endurance and a head for heights.  Barn Bluff is an outstanding wilderness peak in the spectacular vicinity of Cradle  Mountain. The view from the summit is sensational and well worth the effort. It will be a long and fantastic day. The walk begins from Dove Lake car park at Cradle Valley.  A stiff climb up Marion's Lookout will bring walkers to the Overland Track, which is followed south for 6.5 km to the Barn Bluff track junction. The track follows around Cradle Cirque and Bluff Cirque to the peak itself. Vehicles proceeding beyond boom gate at Pencil Pine need a current Parks sticker.

Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please text Kent Lillico on 0428 451 528 or email kentlillico@southcom.com.au to to book in.
The departure time is 7:00am from the Door of Hope Church car park to meet Kent Lillico and North West Coasters at Moina at 8:20 am. However, you still need to contact the walk leader, Kent Lillico, per details above if intending to walk. The leader should be notified of any other people you intend to bring along.

You should always contact the walk leader if intending to participate in a particular Boots N' All walk.

To access this area from northern Tasmania: Roads to Cradle Mt. are well signposted, and the area can be accessed from several directions. From Sheffield, go south along Claude Rd through Gowrie Park and westward down into the Forth Valley (now Cethana Rd.), continuing up the other side to Moina, where you can meet Kent at the T junction opposite the defunct roadhouse. Turn south into Cradle Mt. Rd. After approx. 20 km, turn left (still called Cradle Mt. Rd.) and approx. 4 km south, you will arrive at the Pencil Pine area and the boom gate, which should open when you drive up to it. Another 7 km or so will bring you to Dove Lake car park.

Warnings:
 Rated hard because of the distance - just over 10 km each way. Not a walk for tender feet or new boots, but apart from a stiff climb for the first 30 minutes and the steeply imposing peak itself (350 metres altitude in  under 2 km) not technically difficult with long sections on the  well-formed Overland Track but clambering over
boulders on the mountain itself.  The following codes [from our 2014 walks calendar] apply:
    B    Boulder field ; walkers need to be able to confidently step from rock to rock.
    C    Climbing sections using rocks and vegetation as hand holds.
    D    Drive distance requires early departure
    S    Steep incline for at least part of the way
    E    Exposed alpine conditions ; can be dangerous in poor weather if not fully equipped; see www.sutas.org.au/bush-walking/bush-walking for some guidelines.
    L    A long day's walk ; it will take the full day.

If you are unsure of equipment requirements, Visit the Boots N' All section of the sutas.org.au website per link below and read
"Clothing suggestions for exposed conditions"
Map details: 1:100000 map is Sophia and 1:25000 map is Cradle.
Map reference:
Short ref. is 103801
Zone      Easting        Northing    Latitude    Longitude
55G        4 10 420    53 80 305    -41.72401    145.92299

Barn Bluff will earn you 4 points on the Hobart Walking Club Peakbagger's Guide (2000 revision) which can be found and downloaded (as an Excel spreadsheet) from
http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm  The same web page contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.