Mount Pillinger is walked from the end of the Arm River Road, up the Mersey River valley behind Mole Creek. This is the same walk start as the standard walk-in to Pelion Hut on the Overland Track. Walk Description coming soon.
Having "walked around the mountains" previously, I was keen to try climbing both Mt Pillinger and Twin Spires on Cathedral Mountain. I had wondered if I might climb Mt Pillinger as a side-trip at the end of that earlier walk, but in the rain of my last day it didn't seem like a brilliant plan.
Mt Pillinger from Kia-Ora. |
I've found that if I want to really understand the shape of the land, I have to climb every mountain in an area several times, in various weathers and light. Then I start to understand how the hills and valleys, ridges and rivers, cliffs, peaks, creeks, lakes and forests all work together to give us the landscape. What can I see from here? How does it look from here? What shape IS that ridge I can see from over there? I've climbed the peaks of the Huon, and have started to get a three-dimensional understanding of what I can see. Mt Pillinger, and Cathedral Mountain, looked like really great places to view this spectacular area from - The Du Cane Range, the Pelions including Mount Ossa, Cathedral Mountain. I expected to see all these. In fact, when I got there, the view was indeed fit to inspire a lifetime of walking.
The walk description provides the explanation of the route. Suffice to say that I did indeed manage to find an "alternative" route, as usual, which fortunately only added about half an hour and two kilometres to my trip. I suspect my impromptu sidetrip actually heads back to a different point in the confused road network in the upper Mersey River Valley.
Mount Rogoona from Mount Pillinger. |
Mount Rogoona is stretched out across the view when viewed from here. When it's viewed from Lake Myrtle, it's steep and prominent, the view being really along the ridge. From Pillinger we see it side-on, and can also see to the left of it the ridges which have to be crossed to climb it from the saddle. I see from here that it's no wonder it took me a while and I have a strong recollection of wandering across those misty ridges, not always sure where I was, nor exactly where the top might be. Interestingly, it's hard to pick out exactly where Lake Myrtle lies, the hills on this side of it meld into the slopes of Mount Rogoona, and perhaps it's only really visible from Mount Rogoona. From here though, I can see the forested slopes which fall away into the Mersey Valley - this is where one of my earlier "impromptu routes" headed - I think this is what is called the Jacksons Creek Track, and it heads from Lake Myrtle down to the end of the Mersey Forest Road.
Twin Spires, Cathedral Mountain and the Du Cane Range from Mount Pillinger. |
Lees Paddocks from Mount Pillinger. |
Mount Hyperion (centre) with the south ridge of Mount Ossa (right). |
Mount Pelion East and Mount Ossa from Mount Pillinger |
Mount Pelion West and Lake Ayr from Mount Pillinger. |
See the 360 degree panorama. It shows all the above views, and I think it confirms Peter's sentiments about the views from Mount Pillinger.
No comments:
Post a Comment