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Day 1: Parking Lot to Windemere Hut
The first day is the best as it has the most to see. Right away we hit a big elevation gain up to Marion's lookout. There were even chains to pull on as we got up to the top. Crater Lake is visible and we began the descent down to go past Cradle Mountain. The picture of Cradle is so iconic in Tasmanian, it was surreal to actually see it in person. We did not make any time for side trips, but we should have climbed Cradle Mtn - such amazing rock, all columns of dollerite. Kitchen Hut was our stop for our snack, and we laughed thinking of the Germans we'd met at the hostel starting the hike late and having to sleep in this cold, drafty hut. Click Read More below...
We hit the trail again for some great views of Barn Bluff (another great side trip that would be good to do) and then descended down into Waterfall Hut. A beautiful hut, this was the first taste we had for the huts on this trip (not too different from the USFS huts in Alaska.) We had some lunch (cracked pepper vitathin crackers, Shapes crackers, salami, cheese strings and chocolate) and made our way to Windermere Hut. We could see Windermere lake but no hut, and as this was the end of the day, I was desperately waiting for the hut to come into view. Finally, finally it did and we shared the hut with Adam and Ian, a father and son team.
Day 2: Windermere to New Pelion
We were first up and out of the cabin. Not cooking breakfast and just eating an energy bar makes a big difference. As a result, we were the only prty that day that summited Mt Ossa, the highest mountain in Tasmania. It was a steep climb, but beautiful and the only part of the trip that I WISH we had a camera for (mine had broken by then.) The pillow plants and rock made it seem like we were walking through a country garden. The last bit to the summit was dicey - a steep snow ridge that I was scared of sliding off of and some steep scrambling. But we were down before the bad weather came in, picked up our packs and moved on. The next section was big rock - the Acropolis and other cool mountains and then we descended intow forest (and didn't come out of it for the rest of the trek - ugh.) We were at New Pelion by 2 but my feet were really sore, and I was glad to get to the hut early. Here we met the group who were hiking with a guide and that night the whole group slept in the hut with us. Sleeping pills are imperative on these trips and there is always someone snoring.
Day 3: New Pelion to Kia Ora
It rained this day and we were pretty wet by the time we got to Kia Ora. It was not a long day but there was not much to see. I spent most of this day looking at my feet to make sure I wouldn't slip and didn't notice much of anything else. This night we met the group of Emergency doctors who were great company. They shared their candy with us and made us laugh. We had Joe to chat with and a newly-married couple from AU. This was a really fun night. Day 4: Kia Ora to Narcassis
A shitty day. It poured nonstop and we got soaked. When we pulled into Narcissis, I had a little cry because my feet hurt so bad. We were the only ones in the hut that night and tried desperately to light the fire, but didn't work, so we snuggled instead. Kind of nice way to finish the trip...
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