Marian Harradine
We had an unexpectedly beautiful day and decided to go and enjoy the views of Hartz Peak. We drove to Geeveston and down the Arve Rd which also goes to the Tahune Airwalk. There are directions on the road for getting to the start of the Hartz Peak track.
We left the car park at 1pm, the walk for the first 15 minutes gradually climbing through low bush. There was plenty of running water and the track was often on duckboards.
After about 15 minutes of walking we came into more open terrain, with good views behind us to the north and ahead Hartz Peak also in view. Close by to the west was the Devil's Backbone which sheltered the area we were walking along. Lake Perry, Lake Osborne, Lake Esperance and Ladies Tarn are all nestled below and east of the Devil's Backbone. The track was good, with duckboarding over any damp or wet areas, which it was, predominantly.
After about another 7 minutes I noticed that the views to the southeast were now also visible, but then the views to the north disappeared. We also passed by the turn off to Lake Esperance on our right.
At 1.30 we descended slightly into a 'dish' sort of area, and then we passed by the turn off to Ladies Tarn, on our right.
Soon after that (1.35) we started our ascent, up to the plateau below Hartz Peak. We reached the plateau ten minutes later, and that gave us a good view of Mt Anne to the north west of us, with a bit of snow. After a little while we started climbing more steeply again. The track is quite good with a few cairns here and there. I don't think it would be very visible in snow though.
We reached the top of the Peak at about 2.15, having stopped on the way up to enjoy the views of the Arthur Range and Federation Peak, Mt Hopetoun, Mt Bobs, Precipitous Bluff, La Parouse, Pindars Peak and the dozens of other peaks around, to the south, west and north west of us.
After lunch and time enjoying the views, we decided to head off to Mt Snowy, to the east of Hartz Peak. We had no directions, so we decided to just go straight down Hartz Peak down to Emily Tarn and then go on up to Mt Snowy from there. We weren't sure if there was a track.
We left at 2.50, making our descent from the dip before the final ascent to the top of Hartz Peak. It was a bit rough, and I was wishing I had thought to wear long pants rather than shorts, to protect my legs. We got to Emily Tarn at 3.20, it had taken half an hour to get down. We had a drink from the little pool of running water just near the Tarn, beautiful water, and filled our bottles.
We did not see any track there so just kept on moving towards Mt Snowy. Unfortunately there was a plethora of unavoidable Richea scoparia there, of varying heights so we could not avoid getting somewhat tattered and torn. We headed for the lowest point where the rocky scree started, and then made our way up. We got to the top of Mt Snowy at 4.15. We decided not to go back the way we had come up, thinking to go back along the high ground along the ridge and along staying close to the top of the crest of Hartz Peak.
We left at 4.25, and we noticed a few cairns as we came down and we followed them. We got to the shoulder between Mt Snowy and Hartz Peak in only 15 minutes and then followed the track on to to Emily Tarn very nicely, without any scoparia to bother us. We got to Emily Tarn at 4.55. So the return trip to there was 25 minutes quicker and much less trouble than the way up. The track from Emily Tarn was not very easy to find really, so it was not surprising that we had missed it on the way up. A cairn that was there, south of the tarn was not very visible.
We eventually found another cairn to the north of the tarn, and after a drink and enjoying the beauty of the area we left, at 5.10.
The track led to nearby Arthur Tarn and then continued on north down a steep decline with a small stream of running water on it. This continued on across some rocks and then along another wider creek when it was hard to know if we were on track or not. It proved to be part of the track and we continued on.
The main track we had come along past LadiesTarn and Lake Esperance was visible in the distance, and we presumed, correctly, that the track was heading for that. However it was not an easy track to follow, disappearing and very rough in parts, with scoparia growing right across the track for about 100 meters of the track. This made us wonder if we were actually on it still, but the ground looked like it might have been a track..
Eventually the cairns resumed and the track became quite clear again and soon after that we hit the main track not far south of Ladies Tarn. It was 6.05.
We stopped at Ladies Tarn and also Lake Esperance on the return trip. It was lovely there at that time of the evening and we could see splashes and rings from what we thought might have been platypus in the distance.
We got back to the car at about 7pm.
A most enjoyable day.