Choose a diary entry31/03/2004 - Retrenched! 02/04/2004 - Farewell Lunch 03/04/2004 - Preparation 1 04/04/2004 - Preparation 2 05/04/2004 - Packing 06/04/2004 - Sydney to Hobart to Mt. Field NP 07/04/2004 - Tarn Shelf, then into the Southwest 08/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 1 - Up Alpha Moraine 09/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 2 - Lake Cygnus 10/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 3 - Lake Oberon & Square Lake 11/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 4 - Lake Oberon to Lake Cygnus 12/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 5 - Lake Cygnus to Junction Creek 13/04/2004 - Western Arthurs Hike - Day 6 - out to Mt Field NP 14/04/2004 - Back to Hobart for resupply and on to Southport 15/04/2004 - Southport, Hastings springs, Cockle Creek 16/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 1 - Cockle Creek to South Cape Rivulet 17/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 2 - South Cape Rivulet 18/04/2004 - South Coast Track - Day 3 - back to Cockle Creek, then Hobart 19/04/2004 - Hobart to Lake St. Clair 20/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 1 - to Vera Hut 21/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 2 - Tahune Hut and the Summit 22/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 3 - Tahune Hut to Vera Hut 23/04/2004 - Frenchmans Cap Hike - Day 4 - out to Derwent Bridge 24/04/2004 - Derwent Bridge / Lake St. Clair to Hobart 25/04/2004 - R&R in Hobart 26/04/2004 - Hobart, buying a new Camera 27/04/2004 - Hobart to Port Arthur 28/04/2004 - Port Arthur Historic site, then to Fortescue Bay 29/04/2004 - Tasman Trail Hike - Fortescue Bay to Eaglehawk Neck 30/04/2004 - Eaglehawk Neck to Hobart, Targa 01/05/2004 - Hobart R&R, Salamanca Markets 02/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 1 - to Wombat Flat 03/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 2 - to Mt. Ramsay 04/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 3 - Mt. Ramsay to Huskisson River 05/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 4 - Camped at Huskisson River 06/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 5 - Across the Huskisson 07/05/2004 - Tiger Trails Tarkine Hike - Day 6 - Out, then to Strahan 08/05/2004 - R&R in Strahan 09/05/2004 - Dissapointing Gordon River Cruise 10/05/2004 - Strahan, R&R, Preparation for Overland Track 11/05/2004 - Strahan to Lake St. Clair 12/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 1 - Lake St. Clair to Pine Valley Hut 13/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 2 - the Labyrinth and Acropolis 14/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 3 - Pine Valley Hut to Kia-Ora Hut 15/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 4 - Kia-Ora Hut to Mt. Ossa to Pelion Hut 16/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 5 - Pelion Hut to Windermere Hut 17/05/2004 - Overland Track - Day 6 - Windamere Hut to Cradle Mountain Village 18/05/2004 - Sick!, Cradle Mountain to Launceston 19/05/2004 - Recovery 1 20/05/2004 - Recovery 2 - Doctor, and Cataract Gorge 21/05/2004 - Recovery 3 22/05/2004 - Recovery 4 23/05/2004 - Recovery 5 24/05/2004 - Launceston to Bicheno 25/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 1 - the Hazards to Cooks Beach 26/05/2004 - Freycinet Hike - Day 2 - back to Bicheno 27/05/2004 - Exploring Bicheno 28/05/2004 - Bicheno to Launceston 29/05/2004 - Exploring Further in Launcestion 30/05/2004 - Cataract Gorge 2 31/05/2004 - Launceston to Liffey Falls to Deloraine 01/06/2004 - Trowunna, Devils Gullet, Walls of Jerusalem National Park 02/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem Hike - Day 1 03/06/2004 - Walls of Jerusalem - Day 2 - Out, then to Hobart 04/06/2004 - Mt. Field NP, Styx Valley & on to Triabunna 05/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 1 06/06/2004 - Maria Island - Day 2 07/06/2004 - R&R in Launceston 08/06/2004 - Flying Back Home

Tasmania Diary

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Thursday, May 13, 2004

Overland Track - Day 2 - the Labyrinth and Acropolis

Today I was aiming to go to both the Labyrinth and the Acropolis.
I left the hut at 7:45, and climbed up toward the Labyrinth. The climb was fairly steep in parts, and first went through Myrtle, then into Snow Gums, with Pandanii and Fagus. The Fagus was interesting – One of Australia's only deciduous plants, they were all yellows and reds.
A little before I reached the crest of the ridge, cloud closed in. I stopped and sat down at the ridge, to see if the cloud would lift. After an hour, nothing had changed. I decided to continue on to the first lake, to see if I could see anything. Things seemed to be improving, and I continued a bit further, and as I got to the turnoff for the lookout, above Cyane Lake, the clouds started lifting.

I climbed to the lookout, which was further than I expected, and from the top, there were some excellent views emerging from the cloud, of the lakes and mountains of The Labyrinth and, across the valley, The Acropolis. I stayed at the lookout for about an hour, as the cloud lifted, then decided I better head back if I wanted to do the Acropolis, as it was already later than I'd intended going back.
On the way back, I had a quick closeup look at one of the lakes. It took quite a while to get back to the hut, and I arrived at 12:50. I ate a very quick lunch, and was off again for the Acropolis at 1:05pm.

The Acropolis track went through rainforest for a few minutes, and came to Cephissus Falls, which were fairly pretty. After a littler more distance on the flat, in lush rainforest, the track started ascending steeply. The ascent continued for quite some time in the rainforest, before changing to Eucalypt, and then briefly to Fagus. There was a section of Fagus, where the ground was carpeted with yellow leaves.
The track then reached the ridgeline, and there was sparse Eucalypt, and great views of the imposing Acropolis.
After walking alon the fairly flat ridge toward the Acropolis, I started climbing the foot of it. There were small patches of snow around, and on the track. The snow was getting more prevalent as I ascended, and after climbing the foot of the mountain, the track contoured for some time, through mostly snow, with some rocks. The snow was quite soft and fresh in places making the walking a bit difficult.


Finally the track headed up for the top, and was hard going, as there were sections of snow over vegetation, which collapsed underfoot, or grass under snow, which was very slippery. Therew was one slightly sketchy rock part to climb, and eventually gained the summit ridge, and it was only about a 100 metre scramble over rocks to the summit.
I reached the summit right on the turn-around time I'd set myself, of 3:15pm. As I came up to the summit, a breathtaking vista to the north greeted me – Mount Geryon, which has a sheer Dolorite face composed of rock pillars. It was right there, very imposing. Also visible, was almost all of the Labyrinth, and many other mountains like Falling Mountain, and also Lake St Clair.
I only got to spend about 10 – 15 minutes on the summit, since I was past my turn-around time, before I started on the descent. There were several sections where I slipped and slid down the snowy track, as it was very hard to get reliable footholds. I had gone up virtually without pausing, and the descent was the same.

When I got into the forest, it was sunset, and as I got into the rainforest, some parts were quite dark, with the trees blocking the light. I got back to the hut at 5:10pm, and wouldn't have wanted to have got back much later.
One of the couples in the hut stoked the coal stove up during and after dinner, and the temperature went up to 26C! Unfortunately it wasn't very nice when we went to bed, since the temperature dropped so far.

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