Day 1
11 images Created 19 May 2019
On arrival at the Cradle Mountain visitor centre, the feeling was more like a ski resort than a parks office at the start of our planned nine-day trek. We found out later the road to the visitor centre closed shortly after we came through and quite a number of the 34 starters booked to start with us had abandoned.
Sorted and geared up we were dropped at Ronny Creek to sign-in for the trek and take a final photo before heading off on some wide duckboard and the gentle slopes up to Crater Lake. In lovely old forest and relatively sheltered conditions, we made good time and were happily easing into the track. But as we climbed up to the exposed saddle between Crater Lake and Dove Lake ahead of the final push to Marion’s Lookout, this was all about to change.
At the saddle we received our introduction to the conditions, somewhat worse than forecast, that would hammer us for the rest of the day. Gales, with gusts to 100km/h and a mix of horizontal sleet turning to snow and blizzard as we climbed higher. It was here on the exposed plateau and ridges that we faced the full force of the storm. The trail, non-existent was followed from pole to pole, constantly falling off the side of the narrow duckboard (where it existed) and into deep drifts of snow.
Battered and a little less enthusiastic we were pleased when the historic Kitchen Hut emerged from the bleak whiteness. Arriving at the hut around 1.30pm after about three hours on the trail, we found it full of trekkers sheltering and as it turned out, considering their options. With effectively no room in the hut and with three hours left to Waterfall Hut, we decided to push on.
We did get some respite from the weather for a short time, but before long we were on the very exposed Cradle Cirque and taking the full force of the weather. We passed an emergency (ex-Antarctic) shelter, before pressing on and sometimes pausing to wait while white-out conditions passed. More falls from duckboard and stumbles through snow drifts and we gratefully reached the downhill and less exposed run into Waterfall hut.
Trudging on downhill for what seemed much longer than it was, we finally reached the signposted turn-off to Waterfall Hut. The ranger advised that including us 16 had arrived but he was expecting around 14 more trekkers… of which only three more ultimately arrived. Turned out that quite a number had pulled out or had decided to stay in Kitchen Hut and we were glad we did not take that option.
We grabbed a sleeping spot and did our best to get some warm food and drinks into us and to dry off some gear and be ready for the next day, with the weather not tipped to change much. Thanking ourselves for packing the plunger coffee we wolfed down a freeze dried dinner and snuggled down early in our sleeping bags listening to the fierce winds and snow continue to batter the little hut until morning.
Day 1: 13.2km, 6hrs. 500m+ ascent (420m of ascent from Ronny Creek to Marion’s Lookout)
Sorted and geared up we were dropped at Ronny Creek to sign-in for the trek and take a final photo before heading off on some wide duckboard and the gentle slopes up to Crater Lake. In lovely old forest and relatively sheltered conditions, we made good time and were happily easing into the track. But as we climbed up to the exposed saddle between Crater Lake and Dove Lake ahead of the final push to Marion’s Lookout, this was all about to change.
At the saddle we received our introduction to the conditions, somewhat worse than forecast, that would hammer us for the rest of the day. Gales, with gusts to 100km/h and a mix of horizontal sleet turning to snow and blizzard as we climbed higher. It was here on the exposed plateau and ridges that we faced the full force of the storm. The trail, non-existent was followed from pole to pole, constantly falling off the side of the narrow duckboard (where it existed) and into deep drifts of snow.
Battered and a little less enthusiastic we were pleased when the historic Kitchen Hut emerged from the bleak whiteness. Arriving at the hut around 1.30pm after about three hours on the trail, we found it full of trekkers sheltering and as it turned out, considering their options. With effectively no room in the hut and with three hours left to Waterfall Hut, we decided to push on.
We did get some respite from the weather for a short time, but before long we were on the very exposed Cradle Cirque and taking the full force of the weather. We passed an emergency (ex-Antarctic) shelter, before pressing on and sometimes pausing to wait while white-out conditions passed. More falls from duckboard and stumbles through snow drifts and we gratefully reached the downhill and less exposed run into Waterfall hut.
Trudging on downhill for what seemed much longer than it was, we finally reached the signposted turn-off to Waterfall Hut. The ranger advised that including us 16 had arrived but he was expecting around 14 more trekkers… of which only three more ultimately arrived. Turned out that quite a number had pulled out or had decided to stay in Kitchen Hut and we were glad we did not take that option.
We grabbed a sleeping spot and did our best to get some warm food and drinks into us and to dry off some gear and be ready for the next day, with the weather not tipped to change much. Thanking ourselves for packing the plunger coffee we wolfed down a freeze dried dinner and snuggled down early in our sleeping bags listening to the fierce winds and snow continue to batter the little hut until morning.
Day 1: 13.2km, 6hrs. 500m+ ascent (420m of ascent from Ronny Creek to Marion’s Lookout)
