Mt. Tyndall – Sat. 18th November 2017

Less well known to people in northern Tasmania, the Tyndall Range, north of Queenstown, is one of the well-kept secrets of the Tasmanian wilderness. Relatively easy to access (even as a rather long day trip from Launceston), the top of the range can be reached after not much more than an hour of climbing, after which, the open alpine areas, combined with rugged backgrounds, are a delight to behold, and in many ways, equal the beauty of the Cradle Mountain area.
Because of the long drive from Launceston, your leader proposes that the group drive in and climb Mt. Tyndall on Saturday 18th, and instead of driving back, camp overnight at Tullah (or book into accommodation of you prefer a bit of luxury and your budget permits!).
The walk to Mt. Tyndall is not particularly long - a little under 4 km from where cars are parked off the Anthony Road to the top of the mountain, but quite steep, rising from 500 metres altitude to 1100 metres over about 2 km, with a somewhat gentler few hundred metres rising a further 79 metres to reach the summit. If the weather is kind and the party energetic, there may be time to explore the area around Lake Tyndall, a kilometre to the south, before heading back off the range. This walk is rated "medium" and is suitable for walkers, including energetic and reslient older children, who have had some experience with tracks of varying quality - muddy at the start and then a very steep and rocky path, and able to keep going for sustained distances. Because of the exposed alpine conditions, walkers must be fully prepared for poor weather. Please see the warnings below.


Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone your walk leader, please phone or text Kent Lillico on 0428 451 528 to book in. The departure time is 7:00 am on Sat. 18th from the Door of Hope Church car park, Launceston. Suggested meeting places if coming from elsewhere could be Sheffield at Claude Rd. turnoff at 7:50 am or Moina at 8:20 am. If you would like to arrange to meet the group at these places or elsewhere, please arrange with the leader, and please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of the listed time. The leader must be notified of any other people you intend to bring along.

To access this area from northern Tasmania: The area can be accessed from several directions, but from Launceston, proceed as if heading for Cradle Mt, the most common route being Bass Hwy past Deloraine to Elizabeth Town, then left into Railton Road, following through to Kimberley. Cross the Mersey R. bridge and turn left into Bridal Track Rd, continuing through to Sheffield. 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. Turn south into Cradle Mt. Rd. After approx. 20 km, you will reach the Cradle Mt. turnoff. Do not turn left, but continue a further 27 km or so to reach the Murchison Highway. Continue south about 20 km to reach Tullah. The Anthony Road turns left about 3 km south of Tullah. The starting point for the walk is about 30 km further, but you will need to navigate using a GPS waypoint (see map and track information below), or follow the leader, to find the exact turnoff, as there are several turns to the left providing service access to a power line, including the destination turn.

Warnings:
  The following codes [from our 2017 walks calendar] apply:
    D    Drive distance requires early departure
    M   Marshy or muddy sections – be prepared to walk with wet feet.
    S    Steep incline for at least part of the way
    E     Exposed alpine conditions ; can be dangerous in poor weather if not adequately equipped;
Click this link for a more detailed discussion of Preparation, Food and Safety guidelines for Boots N' All walks, and especially preparation for exposed alpine conditions.

Map details:
Mt. Tyndall: 1:100000 map is Sophia (8024) and 1:25000 map is Tyndall (3835).
Map reference: 831565
Zone      Easting        Northing    Latitude       Longitude
55G       3 83 200     53 56 650  -41.93347   145.59115

Mt. Tyndall is worth 2 peakbagger points. For listing of peakbagger points, see 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.

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).
When you have downloaded the track file, double-clicking on the Google Earth (kml) track should open Google Earth and zoom in to the location if you have Google Earth installed on your computer. The .gpx version of the track should import into mapping software or devices that support gpx tracks and waypoints.