Lake Rhona and some extreme weather

Trip down and planning

We had planned this trip for some time. Eventually we all got a Friday and Monday off work so our group could leave on the Thursday night to drive down after work giving us 4 full days and 4 nights on site. Saturdays weather prediction was really bad so this was going to be a wasted day but we had no other options to fit the trip in over a weekend. The Tuesday was a possible extra day as we new given the weather report the river may go over the log crossing. We had prepared a food cache  that we dropped on the other side of the river on the way through for an extended stay if required. Several people in the past have got stuck on the other side of the river and we made sure we where well prepared for an extended stay given the time of year. We had four in our group.

The drive down from Launie was quite long. Once we reached Wayatina we headed into the maze of forestry roads and quickly established that you get out of the way of those huge B-Double log trucks coming out with full loads on them. They are traveling quite slowly so even if they start to move over the back trailer is still on the road, just get out of the way. We where pleased to get past where they where coming out onto the main road. We eventually got through the maze of roads and tracks in the dark with the help of some waypoints I generated during planning and arrived at the car park around 20:15 for our first night of the trip. Two tents went up and two decided to sleep in the car.

Day 1 – Car Park to the River crossing to Gordonvale

After camping in the car park overnight we where surprised when two guys from Melbourne arrived for an early start. They seemed to have ok gear but had not even bothered to check the weather, it was their first ever walk in Tassie and given tomorrow was going to be horrid we where a bit concerned for their preparedness! We got going down the easy to follow Richea Creek Track in a slight drizzle. Crossing the log at the river was quite dangerous given the surface of the log was wet and extremely slippery. One of our party decided to wade the river which turned out to be quite easy.

Gordonvale was our first stop after an easy 3 hour stroll. The track was pretty good except for the section coming into Gordonvale where it was quite muddy and braided. Some of the old fencing was still present along the boundary. We got a first to find on a Geocache here. We ate a few left over walnuts off Ernie's tree and got eaten alive by leaches. We explored the area for quite a while before we moved on. We camped here on the way out on Monday but just passing through today. Great history here.

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Day 1 – part 2 – Gordonvale to Rhona

We pushed on past Gordonvale for a lunch stop next to a couple of tarns along the Vale of Rasselas valley. After lunch we passed the Denison Range turn off about 14:00 and shortly after met three guys coming out. They recon we were the first people they had ever seen at Rhona in all the years they had been coming there. One of them was way behind the other two and really struggling with his sandshoes and strange large box he was carrying in front of him that looked extremely awkward. This section after ReedsCreek was really boggy and scrubby.

The last push up the moraine and into Rhona zapped the last energy reserves for that day and we arrived about 18:00 as it was just getting dark. We found suitable camping spots off the beach and not where we would flood. There are only a few camping spots off the beach when it is very wet as the area fills with water behind the beach. Just off our camping spot the guys we met had left a nice pile of excrement and paper sitting on the ground on the edge of the summer camping area. Some people should not be allowed out in the bush!

We setup tents and had a well earned meal and bunkered down for the weather we new was coming overnight. What hit us was quite a bit worse than I expected.

Day 2 – Tent Bound for 24 Hours and an emergency tent evacuation

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We where  tent bound pretty much all day Saturday (this was predicted, planned for and happened). Overnight the wind was so strong it sounded like 747 jets landing on top of the tent every five minutes for about 16 hours or so. The wind was lifting water up out of the lake and blowing it up the cliff faces and creating huge swirling water willy willy's tens of meters high. We certainly experienced every weather condition except lightning and thunder on this trip. The winds were measured at over 130Kmh close by. I was so glad we had some shelter from it.

The two guys from VIC down from us had 20cm of water in their camp-site by the morning and decided to go back out to Gordonvale after a quick evacuation. They had camped in a hollow. We had picked camp-sites more carefully and had no problems except a bit of water re-direction for one tent. Viable camp-sites are few at this location in really wet weather unless you resort to the beach but this was way too exposed for this trip. The Melbourne guys got stuck at the first creek on the way out unable to cross.

Day 3 – Reeds Peek Adventure then to Gordonvale

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After being tent bound all day Saturday I ventured out in the snow and grabbed another Geocache now we could actually stand up outside our tents. Full wet weathers and a nice warm beanie required today.

It was decided two of us would have a go at Reeds Peak and if conditions proved to dangerous we would turn back and we gave everybody left a rough 2HR return estimate. As we ascended the ridge lines the clearer weather soon turned into driving snow and we walked directly into the cloud that rolled in. We continued on with enough visibility to follow the track without any real difficulty even with the amount of snow on the ground. What seemed like forever and 'just one more ridge to go' (four times!) we eventually reached another Geocache after 1.5HRs of fast paced walking from the camp-site to just below Great Dome.

Reeds peak was so close but it could not be seen and visibility was about 50M at best. A few quick shots with the camera and a video and back down we went. We got back in 2.5HRs by taking the first direct decent 'track' down the face and then walked around the southern end of the lake. We had a few thick patches of scrub to negotiate on the way down and got a bit off track but it was pretty easy by TAS off track standards. We got under the clouds on the way back down and the snow stopped to allow us to get a few nice pictures.

We all decided to walk out to Gordonvale today and camp their overnight for an easy walk out Monday with plenty of time to drive back. A quick pack-up and an afternoon walk to Gordonvale will split up the trip out as the mud and creeks will be worse after all this rain and snow.

The walk out to Gordonvale was pretty easy except a couple of creeks were running a bit harder and the last creek crossing before Gordaonvale required a wade that filled our boots but we had only a short distance to go. We ended up arriving in the dark with head lamps on around 18:30 and setup camp while getting rid of all the leaches invading us. One of us got a leach on his scrotum while taking a call of nature that caused a few worries for him initially. Nobody offered to check it out for him though. Tents, tea and bed.

Day 4 – Gordonvale to Launceston

After a pleasant night to recharge we woke to a fantastic day with clear blue skies and no wind. The walk out to the river seemed to take no time at all and we were pleasantly surprised too see the water just below the top of the log crossing. The Melbourne guys apparently got stuck here for an extra day with water over the log and ended up only being a couple of hours in front of us. We arrived back at the car park by 11:30 and had a pleasant debrief, meal, changed and packed up. The rest of the day was spent leisurely driving back to Launie and the end to a very interesting and enjoyable trip.

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