Tiger Lake and Solitary Hut

Solitary Hut at Tiger Lake Sat. 9th February 2019

Our first true wilderness walk for the year takes us into the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, but to a less frequented area of the beautiful alpine area. The added interest of this walk is the visit to the "Solitary Man's Hut", a hideaway built illegally about 1984 by a man who was trying to get away from the pressures of urban life. Various websites describe visits to the hut, and hint at his story. In some versions, he was a Vietnam War veteran, but this version is contested in others. Perhaps do a web search for "Solitary Hut Tasmania" to find some of the stories, and see http://redrucksack.com/Redrucksack/Black_hole_2_files/Solitary%20Hut.pdf
Anyway, there is agreement that it is a beautiful part of the national park, and well worth a visit.
Walk route:
From the Walls of Jerusalem car park (743m altitude), the track climbs steadily and steeply for 2 km in a southeasterly direction, to reach Trappers Hut (1068m alt.) Branching off from the main Walls of Jerusalem track, and now much more level, continue somewhat more easterly along a mountain valley for about 2.6km to reach George Howe's Lake (1158m altitude), before turning north. Tiger Lake is reached after 0.5 km, and the hut is a further 300 metres north, along the eastern shore of the lake. Your leader suggests you may like to swim in the deeper or shallower parts of Tiger Lake near the hut. There should be plenty of time to browse the diary of "Solitary Man". Total walk distance is about 6 km each way. The walk is rated "medium" because of the distance, steepness and somewhat rough track with rocky patches. It should be suitable for energetic and resilient older children who are used to the conditions, and requires a moderately good level of fitness.
There may even be time for a coffee stop at Mole Creek on the way home.

Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Chris Langerak on 0409 808 152 to book in. The departure time is 8:00 am Sat. 9th February from Door of Hope car park. If you wish to meet with the group at any other place, please arrange with the leader. Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of departure time. An alternative meeting point could be the toilet block at Mole Creek 8.45 am. 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. Please note that if you are bringing your vehicle, it will need to have a current valid Tasmanian Parks Pass.

To access the area from Launceston, 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. A little under 6 km further, cross the Fish River bridge and turn left up the Walls of Jerusalem road. The track begins at the car park, 1.2 km up the road.

Warnings:
The following codes [from our 2019 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        http://bootsnall.sutas.org.au/Pages/Equipment_Safety.htm for some guidelines.

Map details:

Tiger Lake: 1:100000 map is Mersey (Tasmap 8114) and 1:25000 map is Pillans (Tasmap 4437)
Short map reference: n/a

Zone Easting Northing Latitude Longitude

55G 4 40 394 53 73 937 -47.0358 146.16995

No peakbagger points will be visited on this walk. 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).