Projection Bluff - Tues. 27th December 2016

After a year of several changes of plan for Boots N' All walks, we are now finishing the year with yet another change. Two in fact! Firstly, this walk was originally listed as Mon. Dec. 28th, which is clearly a mistake that somehow slipped through! The plan was always to be the day after Boxing Day... Secondly, we have decided to change from the originally listed Ironstone Mountain as there is still some road damage that would necessitate a further 3 km walking, making  it close to 17 km round trip with a 700 metre gain in altitude. We have aimed to keep the post-Christmas walk fairly relaxing and accessible to a greater number of walkers. Sorry if you had set your heart on Ironstone. We'll keep it "in reserve" as some road closures still haven't been resolved. This walk is rated "medium" due to the off-track walking and steep and somewhat rough descent, but is suited to moderately fit walkers with some bushwalking experience. Energetic and resilient children should be fine!

Walk route:
The Projection Bluff walk is only about 8.5 km [one way only, as we will do a car shuttle], and only marginal gain of altitude, in fact, mainly losing altitude as we would start from Pine Lake [alt. 1200 metres], turn north, then north-east at Adams Peak, cross a relatively flat alpine plateau to the summit, still only alt. 1257m, then follow the eastern escarpment of the plateau south and come down to the carpark on the Liffey Bluff side afterwards. The walk is not tracked except for the final descent from plateau to highway, but the open alpine meadows make fairly easy walking, and bands of scrub are mostly easy to avoid (but do wear protective clothing for the few patches that we might need to pass through. The walk passes the ruins of two alpine huts, and offers views to the Meander area from near Adams Peak, and then extensive views of the north, including the Liffey Valley, from the summit and eastern escarpment.


Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Basil Tkaczuk, ph. 6331 1155 (if replying by email, please do so by Monday 10 am) to book in. The departure time is   8:30 am from Door of Hope carpark in South Launceston. The alternative meeting place/time is at the "train park" in Deloraine at 9 am. (If coming from east, cross the bridge and turn right at the roundabout). 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. Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of departure time.

To access this area from northern Tasmania: 
To access the walk 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 (unless heading for the 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 to Pine Lake, approximately 25km from the junction. A car park and boardwalk on the west side of the road mark the starting point for the walk. [At this point, drivers will need to shuttle their vehicles just over 2 km back down the highway to the Projection Bluff parking area, and be ferried back to Pine Lake.]

Warnings:
E...   Exposed alpine conditions – can be dangerous in poor weather if not fully equipped
    Make sure you have a good supply of drinking water - suggest 1 litre per person.
 Walkers are advised to wear strong shoes or boots. Gaiters recommended due to off-track walking. You should always carry wet weather gear as well as warm clothing in case of sudden weather changes, even at this time of the year!
If unsure of equipment requirements for bushwalking, see www.sutas.org.au/bush-walking/bush-walking for some guidelines


Map details:

Projection Bluff: 1:100000 map is Tasmap 8214 (Meander) and 1:25000 map is 4637 (Breona)
Map reference:
Short ref. 765817
Zone      Easting        Northing       Latitude        Longitude
55G     4 76 700      53 81 970     -41.71372      146.71991

Projection Bluff is worth 1 peakbagger point. 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).