After a pretty cruisy 4 hour coach ride from Launceston through gorgeous emerald green valleys dotted with sheep and horses, tiny towns, quaint little villages and increasingly mountainous scenery, we arrived at the Cradle Mountain National Park visitor centre. As this was our last chance to eat 'bad' food for a week or more, we gorged ourselves on hot pies, steak sandwiches, salty chips, reasonable coffee and an assortment of junk! Time was getting away and we were keen to get ourselves to Scott-Kilvert Hut before dark so we jumped the shuttle down to the Tasmanian Parks office, handed over $178 for the privelege, read the rules, checked our maps, collected our (compulsory) track passes, signed the walkers register and arrived at Dove Lake in time for the obligatory photos at the historic boatshed. As the area we were about to enter is wilderness, we made sure we only relied on official topographic survey maps, even though the route is well marked.
Under a stunning clear azure blue sky, we began our long planned odyssey and headed off, skirting the left shore of a sublimely beautiful Dove Lake. The walk at this point is busy with day trippers and 'car park tourists' and we attracted a few looks of what may have been envy from some as they took in our trekking gear and huge packs. I suspect there were equally as many people thinking these guys have to be crazy to launch themselves into a wilderness with the next contact with the forms of civilisation we take for granted (cars, restaurants, electricity) some 80 or more kilometres away.
Before too long we'd left the tourists behind and began the hard, steeply uphill slog to Hansons Lake.....stunningly spectacular. In more than one or two places, we had no choice but to haul ourselves up the rocky slopes with the aid of chain links placed there by Tassie Parks Rangers. The reward for making the somewhat difficult climb from the lake was more than we'd hoped for.....this is a gorgeous lake with views out to the Walls of Jerusalem in the distance. We'd heard of the legendary beauty of this part of the walk and were far from disappointed. As the sun was on its descent behind Cradle Mountain, around which our track skirted the base, we stepped up the pace and headed off through gorgeous forests, tarns and down through creeks and rugged sections of track.
Eventually, we walked into a clearing and there was our home for the first night, Scott-Kilvert Hut. Such a sad story behind the creation of the hut which was to shelter us for the night though. A teacher and high school student tragically lost their lives in a blizzard here many years ago so the school community constructed the hut to commemorate the guys and ensure that such loss of life in such a harsh and remote place would be prevented into the future. We were very grateful as the weather had become quite damp not long after we arrived. The hut filled quickly as night took hold and a spirit of camaraderie soon developed as trekkers unpacked and sorted gear, laid out bedding and got their fuel stoves pumped up and meals underway. The hut soon filled with a curious and tantalising mix of smells as dinners cooked, filling the small space downstairs. Scott-Kilvert is one of the very few huts built with two levels...living spaces downstairs with sleeping confined to the upstairs level. The hut became quite crowded and space to put down your mat was soon at a premium.
I suffered my first Overland Track disaster as I found my sleeping mat had de-laminated and held not a skerrick of air in its nylon cells. As I had 6 more nights in the huts or my tent ahead of me, this was really bad news. Placing what few clothes I had under me for padding and warmth had little effect and I had perhaps the worst sleep in many years that first night.....no solution or options except to grin and bear it.
One of the more interesting aspect of staying at Scott-Kilvert was seeing what some people bring with them when they trek. We were amazed when a young guy and his girlfriend pulled out 6 bottles (glass!) of beer and a few steel cans of baked beans...amongst other heavy things. Maybe they'd limited experience as long distance trekkers or perhaps were simply doing Scott-Kilvert as an overnighter? Whatever their reason, we hope they remembered the trekkers code and took all that outrageously heavy packaging out with them. Tomorrow we tackle the rumoured tough slog uphill to the main track junction, backtrack a couple of kilometeres, then climb the tors to the Cradle Mountain summit....lets hope the fabulous weather holds good.
