Mt Field East Loop - Sat. 6th February 2021

Southern walkers, and those from further away that might find accommodation in the area, have yet another reason to visit Tasmania's beautiful alpine areas, this time on the plateau
of the Mount Field National Park. The Mount Field East circuit offers beautiful alpine lakes and scenery, along with rainforest sections. While there is a steep climb over the first section, the highest part of the walk is relatively flat, apart from the side trip to Seagers Lookout, and of course, Mt. Field East. A reasonable level of fitness is required, but the walk should be suitable for resilient and energetic children with some experience of alpine track walking.
Walk Route
From Lake Fenton, car park (alt. 1000 m), the track crosses Lady Barron Creek and continues a little over 1 km to the Seagers Lookout junction, a side trip of about 500 metres each way, but worth it for the views. Back on the main track, continue to climb to reach Windy Moor (alt. 1200 m) where the track levels off for the next kilometre or so to reach the junction at the base of Mount Field East. Continue up Mount Field East (some boulders and scree) to reach the viewpoint at the summit. Returning to the track junction, follow the track south for about 500 metres before descending steeply to Lake Nicholls. The track levels off at the 1000 m contour over the next 2 km, before descending a further 100 m alt. towards the road. The Old Pack Track is mostly alongside the road, and about 2 km with 100 metres rise returns you to the car park.

Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Dan Hutchison on 0457 765 907 to book in. Meet at the Lake Fenton carpark at 10am for the walk. If coming from Hobart, you could arrange to meet with Dan at Montrose Foreshore Community Park carpark at 8:30 am. Walkers could also meet at 9:30 am at the Mt Field Information Centre to carpool from there. Please negotiate any alternative travel arrangements with the leader. You must contact the walk leader per details above if intending to join this 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 Hobart: From Hobart (city), head north-west on the Brooker Highway. At Granton, follow the Lyell Highway (A10) to New Norfolk. Once at New Norfolk, either follow B62 for 19 km to Bushy Park, or continue a further 15 km to the junction of the Gordon River Rd at Rosegarland, and a further 4.5 km to Bushy Park, then follow Gordon River Road (B61), turning right into the Mount Field National Park after 30km. After reaching National Park continue past the Visitor Centre on Lake Dobson Road for 10km reach the Lake Dobson car park. Total distance from Hobart is 84 km. Allow 1.5 hours because of the winding roads.

Equipment and Warnings:
Bring sturdy shoes, wet/cold-weather gear, plenty of water, lunch and snacks.
Optional: trekking poles, gaiters and camera
  The following codes [from our 2021 walks calendar] apply:
     S    Steep incline for at least part of the way
     E    Exposed alpine conditions; can be dangerous in poor weather if not adequately equipped.
     D Drive distance requires early departure
M…  Marshy or muddy sections – be prepared to walk with wet feet.
Click this link for a more detailed discussion of Preparation, Food and Safety guidelines for Boots N' All walks

Map details: Mt. Field East: 1:100000 map is Tasmap xxxx (Tyenna) and 1:25000 map is xxxx (Dobson)
Map references:
Short ref. 709773
Zone      Easting        Northing       Latitude        Longitude
55G 4 71 020 52 77 500 -42.65442 146.64643

Mt. Field East (alt. 1274 m) is worth 2 peakbagger 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.
For GPX (.gpx) and Google Earth (.kml) versions of the track: Click here to browse our collection.
Direct links: GPX for this walk ...  KML for this walk
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).