Mt. Albert - Sat. 11th May 2019

Your leader has planned a leisurely day, with time at Scottsdale on the way to the walk for morning tea or coffee at a cafe.
Mt. Albert is part of a cluster of peaks in the north-east, offering views to the north and east coasts. A fairly short walk (under 1 km each way), it does involve some very steep climbing through forested slopes (gain 300 metres altitude to reach 1120 metres above sea level), with a couple of moderate rock scrambles close to the summit.  If the party is energetic and has made good time to the main summit, the group could traverse to the southern summit as well. The summit offers views of the north-east region, including part of Bass Strait and the east coast. Despite the steep ascent, the walk is not particularly difficult, and reasonably fit adults and energetic children would manage and enjoy it.

Walk route:
From the start at Mt. Albert Rd, the track climbs very steeply in an easterly direction for about 800 metres, with some scrambling over rock sections to reach to the summit. Allow about 3 hours return, including time spent admiring the view.

Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Peter Davies on 6344 8235. The departure time is 8:00am from Door of Hope carpark in South Launceston. If you wish to arrange an alternative meeting place, please discuss with Peter. Even if you plan to meet the group elsewhere, 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: proceed from Launceston via Northern Outlet, turning off at University Connector to head for Lilydale Rd. Follow through Lilydale and continue through Lebrina, Golconda, Nabowla and Lietinna to Scottsdale (70 km from Launceston via this route). Follow the Tasman Highway for 20 km SE through Tonganah and over Billycock Hill before turning right into C423 (Carisbrook Lane) and continue 3 km to Ledgerwood. Continue for 5 km on Ringarooma Rd. to pass through Ringarooma. 1.5 km east of Ringarooma, turn right into Mathinna Plains Rd. (still C423). Follow south for 12 km to reach Mt. Albert Rd. Turn left and continue 8 km, past Mt. Victoria, to reach the start of the walk. Roads are gravel from a few km south of Ringarooma.
Those familiar with the area will know that there is an alternative route (gravel surface) from Targa (Myrtle Park) past Mt. Maurice via Diddleum Rd. and Ben Ridge Rd. which reaches Mathinna Plains Rd. about 2 km north of Mt. Albert Rd.
 
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. You should always carry wet weather gear as well as warm clothing in case of sudden weather changes.
If unsure of equipment requirements for bushwalking, see www.sutas.org.au/bush-walking/bush-walking for some guidelines


Map details:

Mt. Albert: 1:100000 map is Tasmap 8415 (Forester) and 1:25000 map is 5642 (Victoria)
Map reference:
Short ref. 728219
Zone      Easting        Northing       Latitude        Longitude
55G      5 70 340      54 23 935     -41.33300     147.84061 

Mt. Albert 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.
Other peakbagger points in close vicinity are Mt. Victoria (4 km west along Mt. Albert Rd and about 4 hours/5km return) - 2 points, Mt. Blackboy (turn right about 11 km east of Mt. Victoria car park - you would need to follow the gps route as the relatively new road is not marked on maps - the actual walk is about 1.5km return and can be done in about 1 hour) - 1 point and Mt. Young (turn right into Evercreech Rd. about 15 km east of Mt. Victoria Car Park and continue about 500m south. Track is to east of road, and about 1 km return - allow an hour or so) - 1 point. Tracks and waypoints for these are included in the GPX and Google Earth files linked below.

Mt. Victoria: 1:100000 map is Tasmap 8415 (Forester) and 1:25000 map is 5642 (Victoria)
Map reference:
Short ref. 702237
Zone      Easting        Northing       Latitude        Longitude
55G      5 70 340       54 23 935    -41.33300    147.84061 

Mt. Blackboy: 1:100000 map is Tasmap 8415 (Forester) and 1:25000 map is 5641 (Saddleback)
Map reference:
Short ref.733161
Zone      Easting        Northing       Latitude        Longitude
55G      5 73 390      54 16 280     -41.40167     147.87798
Mt. Young: 1:100000 map is Tasmap 8415 (Forester) and 1:25000 map is 5642 (Victoria)
Map reference:
Short ref.799206
Zone      Easting        Northing       Latitude        Longitude
55G      5 80 065      54 20 810     -41.36024     147.95723

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).