Walls of Jerusalem camping trip  3rd-5th November 2018

By November, high spring has reached the alpine wilderness, and while weather can be very changeable, there can be delightfully warm and sunny days which highlight the spectacular beauty of the world-renowned Walls of Jerusalem National Park.
Walk route:
As a backpacking and camping hike, this trip begins with a fairly demanding ascent from the car park (alt. 700 metres) to the plateau (about 500 metres altitude over about 3 km distance), and includes further shorter but steep hauls at Herod's Gate and Damascus Gate (alt. 1380 metres) before descending slightly to the Dixon's Kingdom campsite (alt. 1270 metres). There are a couple of long, fairly level, stretches in between, but the total walk distance to the campsite is about 11 km, so a good level of stamina is needed with camping gear and food for 3 days needing to be carried. Carrying a heavy pack into the wilderness requires a good level of fitness and appropriate equipment. Your walk leader will need to be confident in your experience before allowing you to join this walk. You need to check equipment requirements with Peter and discuss sharing of tents etc.
This walk is rated "medium" and is suitable for walkers who have had some experience with steep and rocky tracks as well as off-track alpine walking, and able to keep going for sustained distances (up to 60 km over 3 days). Because of the exposed alpine conditions, walkers must be fully prepared for poor weather. Please see the warnings below.

Day 1(Saturday) : Walk from the Walls of Jerusalem car park to Dixon's Kingdom camping area. Side trip (without heavy packs) to Solomon's Throne (alt. 1470m) from Damascus Gate high point if weather permits.
Day 2 (Sunday): climb Mt Jerusalem and walk around and through the Walls.
Day 3 (Monday: walk out.  Back to Launceston by 5 PM.

As this is a camping trip, a checklist of essentials is a good idea. See http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=28383 for a suggested list. However, much of this gear can be shared with a partner - perhaps a more experienced walker who already has some of the big ticket items such as tent and stove. Make sure you are prepared for wet and cold weather no matter what the forecast is. 

Meeting Times and Places:

If interested in going on this walk, please phone your walk leader, Peter Davies on 03 6344 8235 by end of Tuesday 30th October to book in. The departure time is an early 7:30 am from Launceston, but Peter will discuss meeting arrangements when you register for the walk, because cars should not be left at Door of Hope for the entire weekend. Suggested meeting places if coming from elsewhere are at the Deloraine train park at 8 am or Mole Creek toilet block 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 should always be notified of any other people you intend to bring along, and 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: proceed along the Bass Highway to Deloraine (about 51 km), but do not turn off at the eastern exit into Deloraine. Instead, continue across Meander R. and up hill to the western exit, and to the roundabout at start of Mole Creek Rd. A further 24km will bring you to Mole Creek (sometimes used as a meeting place for our walks - check with leader). Continue west past Mole Creek, on what is now Liena Rd, making sure you turn south at the caravan park 4 km from the town. The road continues west until about 14 km from Mole Creek, it branches south, now called Mersey Forest Road. A little over 6 km south, you will pass turnoffs to Cradle Mountain and Devil's Gullet (Lake Mackenzie) but keep going south, crossing the Mersey at Lake Parangana and passing the turnoffs for Bare Hill and Arm River. Another 17 km should see you cross below the Rowallan Dam. Continue south along the east side of Lake Rowallan, for a little over 5 km, and about 100 metres past the Fish River bridge, you will see the Walls of Jerusalem on the left.  Follow this road for 1 km to reach the car park and the beginning of the Walls of Jerusalem walking track.

Warnings:
  The following codes [from our 2018 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.

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 & References:

Walls of Jerusalem area: 1:100000 map is Mersey (Tasmap 8114) and 1:25000 maps are Rowallan (Tasmap 4237) and Ada (Tasmap 4436)
Solomon's Throne: (Short ref. 415693)
Zone      Easting     Northing     Latitude       Longitude 
55G       4 41 610   53 69 480  -41.82441  146.29689
Mt. Jerusalem: (Short ref. 437697)
Zone      Easting     Northing    Latitude       Longitude  
55G    4 43 870    53 69 905  -41.82075  146.32414
The Temple: (Short ref. 422695)
Zone      Easting     Northing    Latitude       Longitude 
55G     4 42 315    53 69 590 -41.82347 146.30539
King David's Peak: (Short ref. 407702)
Zone      Easting     Northing    Latitude       Longitude 
55G 4 40 885 53 70 370 -41.81634 146.28825
Several peakbagger points are in the area of this walk, but whether they are reached will depend on weather conditions and the fitness and energy of the party.
Solomon's Throne - 1 point
The Temple - 1 point
Mt. Jerusalem - 2 points
King David's Peak  - 2 points
(in the area, but very unlikely to be visited)
Howells Bluff - 1 point
Great Pine Tier - 1 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).