Accident on Mountain Circuit!

Sunday, 9 August 2020

Hot off my last (and first) hike to the top of the mountain a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to do it again this weekend for two reasons; 1) I hadn't been for my normal midweek long hike due to the bad weather and 2) the aforementioned bad weather had brought snow which I thought would be fun and pretty to hike through.

So after cajoling Clare to accompany me (who in turn cajoled her father Greg), we set off at a brisk pace off from Cascade Gardens at 7.30 on Saturday morning.

Clare wasn't convinced that a snow hike would be that much fun and Greg was a definite NO, so once we reached Junction Cabin he peeled off for his own loop while Clare and I continued on and up towards Pinnacle Road via Hunters Track. By the time we got there we really were hiking through snow, so it was a relief to pop out onto the cleared and sunny road. It was also great that the road was closed to cars at that stage, so we had the place to ourselves and just a few other hikers/trail runners. 

Up on the road the weather was amazing, the views were fantastic, and compared to the previous 90 minutes, the walking was easy:

We reached the junction to Panorama track and quickly discovered that Clare's shoes were not going to allow her to make any forward progress on the tightly snow packed trail.  I had my orienteering spikes with me and I was still keen to get to the top - so we temporarily separated for her to return to the springs via the Organ Pipes track while I went up to the top then down via the Zig Zag track. My spikes were great and gave me all the traction I needed on the narrow trail through the snowgums.

The Panorama track meets the Pinnacle Road about 500 metres before the top so I just had a bit more road to go before making it.  

Along the way I noticed that the branches of the trees by the side of the road were encased in ice, making them sparkle like chandeliers - there must have been quite a wind up there in the previous days.

Once I made it to the top I didn't really have time to visit the shelter (I would have had it all to myself), but I did visit the fancy new toilets - which are HEATED! It was like walking into the aquatic centre ! 

As I started towards the Zig Zag trail I noticed that the rocks had horizontal icicles sticking out from them. I didn't get a good photo unfortunately but the formations were absolutely incredible. 

From there I headed down the Zig Zag, scooting past a train of reluctant hikers who had been stopped from driving up at the Springs by the closed roads. I had the best grip in the world, while they were slipping about like crazy.

I met Clare back the Springs where she was waiting (and monitoring my progress on google maps) and she had also ordered me a perfectly timed hot chocolate. From there we continued down the mountain meeting up with Jo on the way who accompanied us all the way back to the car. It was a fantastic trip out in incredibly good weather - once again making it obvious how lucky we are to live in Tasmania.

Oh and the accident? Well, after climbing 1200 metres all up, and covering 22kms of technical and partially snow covered trail, I tripped over my feet about 50 metres from the car, ON THE PAVEMENT - ripping my tights and banging my knee. 

As we were in South Hobart a lovely passer by stopped and offered to do Reiki treatment on my injury to which Jo and Clare enthusiastically accepted on my behalf. It turned out to be pretty good and although my knee (and tights) wasn't completely healed,  it was good enough to get me back to the car!