Late December is high season for alpine wildflowers, with the scoparia in
particular showing many hues of red and yellow, along with white, sometimes in
masses across hundreds of metres. While much of the route to Western Bluff was
burnt in the bushfires of early 2016, there will hopefully be plenty of un-burnt
vegetation, as well as areas that are bursting with new growth. The relatively
level terrain for much of the route will hopefully make this a special day out
to walk off those Christmas excesses! A clear day will provide panoramic views
of the nearby Walls of Jerusalem, further south and west to the peaks of the
DuCane and Ossa areas, west to Cradle Mountain, and north to Mt. Roland and the
coast. The walk is mostly over low alpine vegetation, with some areas of boulder
field to be traversed towards the summit.
The walk is about 14 km in total, and should take 6-7 hours depending on the
group and the weather on the day. There is about 250 m of climbing altogether
although it is mostly gentle and spread over some distance and so is not very
noticeable. Energetic older children and teenagers should be able to cope with
this walk. The walk is graded medium.
Walk route:
The walk starts at the Lake Mackenzie road (alt. 1150m), close to the
Devil’s Gullet carpark, heading north, then northwest to skirt around rocky
spots, and rising fairly steeply over the first km to reach 1280 m. Continuing
northwest then north, but now relatively flat, the route keeps to the high
ground for another 3 km before traversing a ravine and reaching the high ground
of Western Bluff. A further km west brings you to the summit, with a dramatic
drop to the Mersey Valley to the west, and expansive views to the south and
west. Return by the same route.
Meeting Times and
Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please contact Phil
Dawson, email pidasms@gmail.com or
ph. 6382 3561 after 6:30 pm. The departure time is 7:30
am from Door of Hope car park. Meeting points along the way could
be 8.00 at the Mole Creek Road roundabout at the western end of Deloraine, 8.20
at Mole Creek or 8:35 at the Lake Mackenzie (Devil’s Gullet) Road junction with
the Mersey Forest Road. If you would like to arrange to meet there 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 reach 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 uphill to the western exit, and to the roundabout
at start of Mole Creek Rd. A further 24km will bring you to Mole Creek. 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 a turnoff to Cradle Mountain and Sheffield, and about 300
metres further, take the turn on left to Devil’s Gullet/Lake Mackenzie. Follow
this road for 13 km to where the ground on the left becomes more level with open
leads between the vegetation, which is where the walk starts.
Warnings:
The following codes [from
our 2020 walks calendar] apply:
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.
Make sure you have a good supply of drinking water – suggest 1 litre per person.
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. Click this link for a more detailed
discussion of Preparation,
Food and Safetyguidelines
for Boots N’ All walks, and especially preparation for exposed alpine
conditions.
Map details:
Western Bluff general
area: 1:100000 map is Tasmap 8114 (Mersey) and 1:25000 map is 4439
(Mole Creek)
Map references:
Short ref. 401923
Zone Easting
Northing Latitude
Longitude
55G 4 43 920 53 82 490
55G 4 40 220 53 92 480 -41.61716 146.28246
Western Bluff 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).