This trip wasn't my idea, but a very good idea it turned out to be. Taking advantage of a long weekend and an east coast low pressure system, 3 families made the long drive to Cradle Mountain. After dealing with the bureaucracy of permits and passes at the new visitor centre we jumped on one of the new diesel electric buses to Dove Lake.
Despite a late start we arrived at Scott Kilvert hut mid-afternoon, having climbed Hansons Peak and lunched at the beautiful Artists Pool on the way.
There was one other unfortunate person in the hut and he must have been dismayed to see our party of 11 arrive with 6 kids.
The next day we walked across to the new Waterfall Valley hut passing the alien spaceship/emergency shelter on the way.
After a quick lunch we set off for Barn Bluff (1559m), the fifth highest peak in the state.
When we reached the top we were above the cloud and I saw my first broken spectre.
Sun and no wind made this a surprisingly pleasant place to be, but with the short winter days we couldn’t linger. We made it back to the hut just on dark.
On the last day we walked out to Dove Lake, stopping at Marion’s Lookout for lunch. Back at the carpark a new viewing shelter is being built – there has certainly been a lot of development up here lately and more proposed in the form of a cable car from the visitor centre to Dove Lake.
What wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing. I love the ARTIST'S POOL. I hadn't heard about the construction of a cable car to Dove Lake. I would not miss the walk there for anything!