Mount Wellington - 10th May 2011

Walked from Ferntree heading for the summit. From the city a dusting of snow across the upper half of the mountain was visible, which often means quite deep snow across the plateau, at least deep enough to make walking uncomfortable. Having reached the Springs via Fern Glade and Radfords Track, I headed for the Icehouse Track. Near the top of this, the snow became evident. It wasn't very deep generally, but in places it would have been deep enough to make walking more difficult, except it was really firm and dry, even providing a nice grip. Made for very nice walking across the summit plateau. I met two blokes on the plateau who reported the Zig-Zag Track was really quite icy, which confirmed as best my intention to return via the Panorama Track.

Up the Icehouse to the south and down the Panorama in the north makes for a sort of "Grand Tour" of Mount Wellington. There's a bit of road walking required to use the Panorama, but on a weekday it was fairly quiet and safe. I completed the walk with a descent to Junction Cabin down Hunters Track, ascending to The Springs and finishing with the short descent back to Ferntree. Two (different) blokes at Junction Cabin had ascended via the Old Hobartians Track from Lenah Valley, and I think being an old Hobartian, I should probably do that one sometime. It has a side connection (roughly, I think) to the bottom of Lost World, which might make for an even "grander" tour.

Boulders on the summit plateau of Mount Wellington - 10th May 2011

Boulders on the summit plateau of Mount Wellington - 10th May 2011