Mt.
Rufus Sat. 21st November 2015
This walk takes us into the heart of the World Heritage wilderness area, and begins from the delightful Lake St. Clair. The summit of Mt Rufus has fantastic and expansive 360 degree views of numerous mountains including Frenchmans Cap. The walk is about 18km, and depending on which route is taken on the day, passes Shadow Lake and curious rock formations. It is a 2.5 hour drive from Launceston. Your leader, Kent, expects it will be a long day with a late return home. Park entry fees apply - If you are a passenger in a car with a Parks sticker, you are covered by the driver's Parks registration. See www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=1558 for a more detailed description. This walk is rated medium-hard due to the distances and steep climbs, and is suitable for experienced walkers who are familiar with uneven tracks and exposed alpine conditions.
The walk begins at the Cynthia Bay car park (alt. 740m), and assuming your leader takes the Shadow Lake route up, continues north on the Overland Track for a few hundred metres to Watersmeet, where the Shadow Lake track heads west. A further 4 km with steady climbing will bring you to Shadow Lake (alt. 960m). A little under 4 km generally south west, and continuing to climb, will reach the saddle (alt. 1160m) between Mt. Hugel and Mt. Rufus, where the track turns sharply south, then south-east, climbing steeply over the next 1.5km to reach the summit (alt. 1416m). The likely return route follows east along a flat ridge for about 1 km before dropping south-east, then heading north-east, then steadily east, in a fairly direct line back to Cynthia Bay, about 7 km walk from the summit.
Meeting Times and Places:
Kent Lillico is away
until 18th November. If you are interested in going on this walk, please
phone or text your walk coordinator, Kent Lillico Ph.0428 451 528 (text
preferred) or email
kentlillico@southcom.com.au by Friday night 20-Nov-2015 to book in.
The departure time is 7:00 am on Saturday
from the Door of Hope Church car park, Launceston. The alternative
meeting place is the Deloraine bridge… on the Eastern side of bridge 100
metres up the Lake Highway… Look for the statue next to the river of the
lumberjacks holding hands on the purple head…
See also alternative route via Poatina (below)
Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes
ahead of departure time. However, you still need to contact the walk
leader per details above if intending to walk. The leader should be
notified of any other people you intend to bring along.
To access this area from northern Tasmania:
From Launceston, head towards Deloraine on the Bass Highway (50 km)
and take the first (eastern) turn from the highway into Deloraine.
Continue into the town and turn left immediately before the bridge
(meeting place - see above). From Deloraine, head south along the "Lake
Highway" - now Highland Lakes Rd. (but the first bit may be called
Meander Rd!). Make sure to turn left after 7 km at signposted junction
for Highland Lakes Rd. Continue south through Golden Valley, up
past Quamby Bluff and Projection Bluff, and south along the western side
of Great Lake. 52 km from the junction and 59 km from Deloraine, you
pass through Liawenee, and continue another 9 km south to junction of
Marlborough Rd. Turn right and follow through this gravel road, past
Bronte Park to the Lyell Highway (about 30 km). Turn right, and head
another 30 km west to Derwent Bridge. Just across the bridge, turn right
into Lake St. Clair Rd. and another 5 km will bring you to Cynthia Bay
and the Lake St. Clair car park, about 128 km from Deloraine, and 178 km
from Launceston. Alternatively, you might arrange with the leader to
meet at Lake St. Clair, and from Launceston, take the route through
Perth, Longford, Cressy, Poatina and Miena to reach the Marlborough Rd.
via eastern and southern shores of Great Lake and then continuing per
above. The distance is almost identical, and travel time would also be
similar.
Warnings:
The following codes [from our 2015
walks calendar] apply:
D Drive distance requires early departure
S Steep incline for at least part of the
way
L A long days walk in excess of 3 hours
each way
M Marshy or muddy sections be prepared to
walk with wet feet.
E Exposed alpine conditions ; can be
dangerous in poor weather if not adequately equipped; see
www.sutas.org.au/bush-walking/bush-walking for some guidelines.
Unsure of equipment requirements? Visit the Boots N' All
section of the sutas.org.au website per link above and read "Clothing
suggestions for exposed conditions"
Map details:
Mt. Rufus: 1:100000 map is Nive (Tasmap 8113)
and 1:25000 map is Rufus (Tasmap 4233)
Short map reference: 333619
Zone Easting
Northing Latitude
Longitude
Mt. Rufus is worth 2 peakbagger points. For listing of peakbagger points, see the Hobart Walking Club
Peakbagger's Guide (2000 revision) which can be downloaded (Excel) from
http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm The same web page
contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.
GPX version of the track:
Click here
to download. Google Earth version of the track:
Click here
to download.
Right-click on the file and save target as to a location of your choice.
(Suggest you click the Last modified at top to sort by date to get the
most recent at top to find the file for the next walk).