Cradle Mountain
When we arrived here yesterday the weather was bleak to say the least. The temperature was probably around 3C but the wind chill made it feel like 10 below. This morning the temperature outside was -1C at 7 am but the weather was fine and clear. The forecast was for a high of around 15C so we seem to have picked the right day for a long walk.
We boiled some eggs for egg mayo and packed the ham and bread from yesterday's shop and loaded up our bags with warm tops and rain coats (just in case). We only had Miriam's small backpack which can hold her raincoat and a bottle of water. I chose the colourful Woolworths reusable shopping bag for the lunch and my other clothes. Very stylish but Miriam thought I looked like Roy Cropper!
We took the bus to the top and walked the circuit of Lake Dove which is about 6km and takes around 3 hours. The views of the main peaks of Cradle Mountain were quite amazing. The walking path is mostly a boardwalk with gravel paths in between sections. It's very easy walking with a few ups-and-downs but Miriam handled it well. The main challenge was catching up to slow walkers and worse, passing people coming the other way. The recommendation is to walk the track in a clockwise direction but we occasionally met people doing it the other way. This was only a problem because getting past people on the narrow boardwalk was not that easy as you don't want to fall off. The other aspect was that there were a lot of people doing the same thing as us. In the height of summer I would say it would be very crowded.
Once we had reached the far end, I saw a signposted walk up to Lake Wilks which feeds a small waterfall into the head of Lake Dove. This looked like only a 20 minute job for me so I sent Miriam on and followed a couple of others up this track. The first part was steep but easy with wooden steps and then some stone steps. Then it got harder with lots of clambering up steep segments holding on to roots and small trees. In the end I got there and took a few good photos back down where we had come.
I caught up with Miriam about half an hour later and she was then starting to feel a bit cold and 'over it'. From there it was another 45 minutes or so back to where we started.
To see a YouTube video of the views, click here.
Back at the Lake Dove visitor centre it was time for a toilet stop and to eat the rest of our lunch. Then back on the bus and a quick stop at Ronny Creek where we left the bus for a 30 minute walk along a boardwalk track to meet some Wombats.
Our step stats for today are 20,573 for Miriam and 18,094 for me. Miriam's steps are shorter than mine! She maintains that means she gets more exercise per km than I do.
Once we got back to our Cabin we relaxed with a beer/wine and caught up with the laundry.
Our plan tomorrow is to drive to Strahan, about 2 hours away. Our bus tickets here are valid tomorrow as well so we might pack up the car but then do another short walk before leaving. This is still to be decided and may be weather dependant.
