New Year's Lake - Sat. 9th March 2019
CANCELLED DUE TO TRACK CLOSURES

We are sorry to report that the camping trip to New Year's Lake cannot go ahead due to track closures still in place after recent bushfires. This is because there are still active hot spots with the potential to flare up, and the operational needs of fire fighters. See Parks Tasmania website for further details.
ALTERNATIVE WALK FOR SAT. 9TH MARCH
As a result, we are unable to offer a camping trip this long weekend. Basil Tkaczuk will instead make a second attempt at the Breona Tier walk, which did not go ahead on 12th January due to lack of registrations.
See https://bootsnall.sutas.org.au/Pages/20190112_Breona_Tier.htm for full details.
Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this alternative walk, please phone Basil Tkaczuk on 6331 1155 or 048 664 402 to book in. The departure time is 8:00 am from Door of Hope carpark in South Launceston. The alternative meeting place/time is at the "train park" in Deloraine at 8:30 am. (If coming from east, cross the bridge and turn right at the roundabout). 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.

The original walk plan was...
This walk into the Walls of Jerusalem area is an overnight walk to New Year’s Lake into the Tasmanian wilderness “the land of 1000 lakes”.
Day 1: (Sat. 9th March) Walking in from Lake Ada, the 13 km track to New Year’s Lake is a reasonably good one with the first hour of the walk on a 4WD track. The second hour is on a well formed walking track and the last hour or two is off track following an open valley with a low scrub at times. Fine for energetic and resilient children. Camp will be set up at New Year’s Lake for 2 nights.
Day 2: (Sun. 10th March) The plan is to explore the area around the lake and venture towards Mt Jerusalem. Due to recent bushfire related restrictions on entry to the area, we will be exploring the area for the first time up the northern side of the lake and potentially head towards Mt Jerusalem. All walk decisions made will be made by the leader, based on his assessment of the group and the weather. If you are keen, even a dip in the lake, or bring your fishing rod to catch trout for dinner. Your leader hopes to have you back at the cars by 4 pm on the Monday 11th March.
Wanted:
If you have a (good clearance) 4 wheel drive and are coming for the weekend, and able to carry the packs etc for the first hour this will save carrying pack for the first hour. The 4 wheel drive track is of rocky base with one small creek crossing. You have to be prepared for a bit of “pin striping” on your paint work as the bushes at times get a bit close.
Walk route:
The walk from Lake Ada begins along an old vehicle track, part of which is still accessible to 4WD vehicles, and these can be left at the end of vehicular access overnight. Continuing west and north-west, camp should be reached in approx. 4 hours. Strong supportive walking boots/shoes will be required due to the nature of the tracks we will be walking on. It is highly recommended the wearing of gaiters due to the flora and “fauna” we may encounter on the way.

Meeting Times and Places:
As this is a camping trip, we will be sending a reminder email earlier than usual. Could you please contact Ian by end of Tues. 5th March if intending to participate?  A minimum of 3 walkers is needed to make the trip viable. Late entries may be accepted, but only if the walk was already viable early in the week.
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Ian Waterhouse on 0428 242 693  or 63271371 to book in. The departure time is 8:00 am from Door of Hope carpark in South Launceston. The alternative meeting place/time is at Liawenee turn-off at 9:40 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: 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 going to the meeting place across the main bridge and turn right to find toilets and old locomotive - see above). From Deloraine, head south along the "Lake Highway" - now officially 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 past Pine Lake. Continue south through Breona, Brandum and other groups of shacks along shores of Great Lake until Liawenee is reached (approx. 58 km from Deloraine). Turn right into Lake Augusta Rd. The dam is reached after approx. 11 km. Continue SW and then west past dams and levees, past some lagoons and turnoffs to reach Lake Ada - a further 10.5 km. Signage will indicate the end of the road for normal vehicles.  Sealed roads to Breona, good gravel to Liawenee, then somewhat rougher gravel road to Lk. Augusta).

Warnings:
     L    A long day's 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 fully equipped
 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.
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.
Unsure of equipment requirements?  Click this link for a more detailed discussion of Preparation, Food and Safety guidelines for Boots N' All walks

Map details:

Mt. Jerusalem: 1:100000 map is Tasmap 8114 (Mersey) and 1:25000 map is 4436(Ada)
Map references:
Short ref. 437697
Zone      Easting        Northing       Latitude        Longitude
55G      4 43 870      53 69 905     -41.82075     146.32414 

Should the party be energetic, and the weather kind, Mt. Jerusalem is worth 2 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).