The November long weekend has always been popular for bushwalk camping trips.
Ben is keen to take young walkers for a couple of nights at Lees Paddocks, a
buttongrass plain in the upper Mersey area, close to the Overland Track and
surrounded by Cathedral Mt, Pelion East and Mt. Pillinger. The picturesque Lees
Hut is well worth visiting. Short side trips to approx. 3 scenic waterfalls may
be made along the way, and the plan is to explore the Devil’s Cauldron, and
possibly a day trip as far as Reg Wadley hut, further up the Mersey River. The
track to Lees Hut is approx. 16 km return, but relatively flat (less than 100
metres gain in altitude). Track conditions vary, and can be a little rough
underfoot in places, but NO scrub! The walk is rated as “medium” due to
the distance involved.
Because of the exposed alpine conditions, walkers must be fully prepared for
poor weather, and being a camping trip, you will need to carry a lightweight
tent, food, sleeping bag and other equipment as advised by leader. 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.
As this is a camping
trip involving young people, you need to contact the leader by Tuesday 27th
October to book in, and allow the leader to make car sharing arrangements.
Walk route:
From the car park about 1.5 km short of the very end of the Mersey Forest Rd, a
short stretch of 500 metres brings you to the suspension bridge over the Mersey
River. The track turns left and continues through about 1 km of private
property, and into wooded areas following the course of the river upstream, but
generally 100 metres or so away from its banks. There are a couple of
open, somewhat boggy areas to be traversed, and Lewis Falls and Oxley Falls are
possible visits on the way upstream. After about 5 km of mostly forested track,
the scene changes to the open vistas of Lee’s Paddocks, with about 1 km of
buttongrass and other vegetation to be traversed to reach Lee’s Hut. Short
diversions to low waterfalls and cascades on the way there or back. Explore
further up the river as a day walk from Lees’ Hut. On the final day, walk out by
the same route.
Meeting Times and
Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Ben
Lundie on 0409
996 951 The departure time is 7:30
am from Door of Hope car park. Other meeting places en-route will be
Deloraine (train park) at 8 am [only if people need to meet there] or
preferably, Mole Creek (toilet block) at 8:20 am and Devil’s Gullet turnoff by
8:30 am. 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. 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.
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 [unless
the group is meeting others at 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 [at toilet block] 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, a little over 14 km, by which time you are south of Lake Rowallan. The
Lee’s Paddocks car park is on right, about 1.5 km short of the very end of the
road.
Warnings:
The following codes [from
our 2020 walks calendar] apply:
D Drive distance requires early departure
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 adequately
equipped.
Walkers are
advised to wear boots due to uneven surfaces. Gaiters recommended due to
off-track walking and a strong likelihood of leeches. Some walkers prepare with
Aerogard or similar products. You should always carry wet weather gear as well
as warm clothing in case of sudden weather changes. For equipment guidelines,
see our Safety
and Equipment page.
Map details:
Lees Paddocks area: 1:100000
map is Mersey (Tasmap 8114) and 1:25000 map is Cathedral (Tasmap 4236)
Map references: Short ref. n/a
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.
For GPX (.gpx) and Google Earth (.kml) versions 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).