Scotts Peak ST570 Strathgordon, Tasmania, Australia
By Geocaching Australia on 01-Sep-09. Waypoint TP1351

Opps forgot to log this

Trip during summer to the top of scots peak

How quickly things can change.

I was about to go to bed expecting a quite day to great me in the morning. That was until my brother rang, during the conversation he mentioned he was going down to Lake Pedder tomorrow. "CAN I COME" are you you right to take me across to Scotts Peak. Yes we'll come for a walk as well.

4:30am the alarm went off. It wasn't long after having breakfast and getting my pack together that BrotherDangles and NephewDangles arrived.

The weather wasn't the best as the closer we got to Lake Pedder the more it rained but the forecast was for it to clear.

We found a spot at the end of an old 4x4 track to moor the boat and started walking at 9:10.

We followed the track to its end, then crossed a creek before working our way up a steep ridge. At the top of that ridge we found a track that we followed up another ridge. Just before we got to the top ridge B&N said they were happy for me to go on in front and meet up again on my way back.

I headed off continuing to follow the track, after a while the trig was found at 10:30.

At the top the clouds started to blow away so got some glimpses of the fantastic views. I didn't hang around too long as I knew B&N would want to get back to the boat.

On the way back I heard some voices in the mist and saw B&N above me on the ridge. After a little climb and a discussion about how they had left some of there gear, at what they called "base and summit camps", They decided they would continue to the trig (now only 60m away).

Back at the top we walking out to the next little peak as we did the weather cleared giving us great views of the lake. There is phone coverage good enough for B&N to have a video conference with my niece.

It was 11:40 when we finally left the top and headed down stopping at summit camp and base camp on the way, arriving back at the boat at 1:00.

The rest of the day was spent on the lake before finding some caches on the way home.

Summary:
A nice easy walk although slippery when wet, a bit steep to start with.
Approx 2 hours up.
Approx 1:20 down.

Rated: for Overall Experience

ID obtained from DPIW LISTMap database and added to cache name.

A drier time of the year may help?

Seems appropriate to update the terrain to 5 (and that's before you hit the scrub!)

Well....an early start to the day and off we headed, tinnie in tow. It was a calm day on the water and not too cold, given the time of year and where we were. I was lookout on the way in to check for submerged trees but the spot we picked was clear. And for some reason I was the person picked to jump out of the boat to pull the boys to shore...go figure. I had my suspicions on the way over and once at the shore realised that what I had thought was correct. There was NO WAY on this earth (or any other) that I was climbing that hill. Swampy did his best to find a way up but to no avail. I don't think even a flame thrower would help in this instance. It would be very easy, once in the thick of the scrub to lose your bearings. I reckon the terrain rating for this shoould be a 12...but it doesn't go that high. Whoever finally succeeds in reaching this trig should receive a medal because it will be a VERY hard slog once you get to the island in the first place. All I can say is goodluck to anyone willing to try because I won't be.

When you stand at the dam and look over at the island, you think that the island is covered in grass and there are a few trees around.
Once we managed to find somewhere to land the tinnie, we were confronted with how to initially get up the bank from the rocky shore. Once I managed to negotiate that obstacle, I was confronted by waist high scrub and very wet under foot. The terrain is steep and there are numerous creeks so studying the map prior to work out a good plan of approach is advisable.
The scrub varies as it is typical west coast scrub containing Xanthorrhoea (black boys), Banksia, Tea Tree and numerous other varieties can be found, including those annoying vine thingys that tie everything together. And then stuff starts getting higher and ends up above your head.
The trees are medium density and would be hard to navigate through.
We looked at another landing spot where access onto the scrub is easier but the climb to the top harder.
There doesn't seem to be a easy way to the top and judging by the map, the best route seems to be from the southwest.

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