Gallery of log for TONGATABU MT ST268
The huon forest was once an area I organised a lot of car rallies in and had driven around Mt Tongatabu many times.
I had looked at walking to Mt Tongatabu a couple of years ago and the only information I could find about it was an internet blog by Denis in Hiking South East Tasmania and what was on the SURCOM site
This is an extract from Denis’s blog from 2014.
“The walking was easy and I soon reached the intersection of Boney road and a forestry road which I walked up for about 400 metres to where I figured I would walk up to the summit of Tongatabu. This is where the fun started or not. It was very scrubby with cutting grass and lots of trees and assorted scrub which made progress very slow. Finally I came to a slightly more open section and I thought I was right for a more easier walk to the summit. How wrong I was!! The scrub became thicker and did not relent until I decided to turn back some 350 metres from the summit. It had taken me 2'15" to walk 700 metres and I had had enough. Even though I was wearing a long shirt and pants, the sleeves of my shirt were just so bloody from all the scratches. I had intended to walk to the summit and along the ridge and back down via a different route but the only way back down was really down the way I had come up as it was at least a slightly cleared path.”
The access details from the SURCOM 1978
“Drive on by 4WD vehicle. Turn west off Huon Highway at Hopetoun Road, approx 5km to Boney Road then 1.0km to old gate and marked tree on road. From Boney Road to trig is approx 1km 60min climb on marked track.”
This is my story.
I looked at the weather and the forecast was for rain in the afternoon so I headed off early hopping to find the track and following a marked track to the top. Unfortunately the Old gate has long gone and I couldn’t see a track at the marked tree so I continued driving until I found a 4WD track on the edge of an old forest coupe.
As I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy walk I put on trousers and a long sleeve top and started walking up the track at 9:00, after 200m of pushing my way through cutting grass I headed off into the bush. I was lucky to be walking diagonally up the ridge so the climb up wasn’t that steep but the bush was thick and hard to pick my way through. Once I got a bit higher I broke into some small clearings that made the going easier and had some nice views over Swearing Bobs Plain. The only problem with finding a clearing was knowing that I then had to bash my way back into the bush on the other side. Near the top the bush was a bit dryer and easier to navigate my way through until I got onto the ridge where it became really thick again so I worked my way down off the ridge a little for the last 100m.
At the top I was pleased to find the traditional trig beacon where I had a bit of a rest and took some photos it had taken 1hour 36min. After a little search for the marked track hoping for an easy way back down unfortunately I couldn’t find that end either.
As the way up wasn’t that easy I thought it wouldn’t be any harder going straight down to the road and been 300m shorter, how wrong was I. It started off really easily before getting into the really thick bush, it was steep and the scrub was so thick I couldn’t see very far at all stumbling over logs and falling into holes. On the way down there were no clearings I had no views apart from the scrub that towered above me. The walk down was so bad it took longer than going up taking 2hours to back to the car.
The 2.3 km walk took 3 hours 40 min.
I had looked at walking to Mt Tongatabu a couple of years ago and the only information I could find about it was an internet blog by Denis in Hiking South East Tasmania and what was on the SURCOM site
This is an extract from Denis’s blog from 2014.
“The walking was easy and I soon reached the intersection of Boney road and a forestry road which I walked up for about 400 metres to where I figured I would walk up to the summit of Tongatabu. This is where the fun started or not. It was very scrubby with cutting grass and lots of trees and assorted scrub which made progress very slow. Finally I came to a slightly more open section and I thought I was right for a more easier walk to the summit. How wrong I was!! The scrub became thicker and did not relent until I decided to turn back some 350 metres from the summit. It had taken me 2'15" to walk 700 metres and I had had enough. Even though I was wearing a long shirt and pants, the sleeves of my shirt were just so bloody from all the scratches. I had intended to walk to the summit and along the ridge and back down via a different route but the only way back down was really down the way I had come up as it was at least a slightly cleared path.”
The access details from the SURCOM 1978
“Drive on by 4WD vehicle. Turn west off Huon Highway at Hopetoun Road, approx 5km to Boney Road then 1.0km to old gate and marked tree on road. From Boney Road to trig is approx 1km 60min climb on marked track.”
This is my story.
I looked at the weather and the forecast was for rain in the afternoon so I headed off early hopping to find the track and following a marked track to the top. Unfortunately the Old gate has long gone and I couldn’t see a track at the marked tree so I continued driving until I found a 4WD track on the edge of an old forest coupe.
As I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy walk I put on trousers and a long sleeve top and started walking up the track at 9:00, after 200m of pushing my way through cutting grass I headed off into the bush. I was lucky to be walking diagonally up the ridge so the climb up wasn’t that steep but the bush was thick and hard to pick my way through. Once I got a bit higher I broke into some small clearings that made the going easier and had some nice views over Swearing Bobs Plain. The only problem with finding a clearing was knowing that I then had to bash my way back into the bush on the other side. Near the top the bush was a bit dryer and easier to navigate my way through until I got onto the ridge where it became really thick again so I worked my way down off the ridge a little for the last 100m.
At the top I was pleased to find the traditional trig beacon where I had a bit of a rest and took some photos it had taken 1hour 36min. After a little search for the marked track hoping for an easy way back down unfortunately I couldn’t find that end either.
As the way up wasn’t that easy I thought it wouldn’t be any harder going straight down to the road and been 300m shorter, how wrong was I. It started off really easily before getting into the really thick bush, it was steep and the scrub was so thick I couldn’t see very far at all stumbling over logs and falling into holes. On the way down there were no clearings I had no views apart from the scrub that towered above me. The walk down was so bad it took longer than going up taking 2hours to back to the car.
The 2.3 km walk took 3 hours 40 min.
