Our second hike up to Chasm Falls in the Meander Forest Reserve today, but this time we continued across Dell Creek at the Upper Chasm Falls and headed up towards the plateau. The start was chilly with 2.5 degrees in the air as we left the car at Chasm Falls carpark on Smoko Road.
We picked up (on Dell Track) from where we had left off a few weeks ago and what ensued was an exciting time navigating the wet creek rocks at Dell Creek and trying to climb over gigantic fallen trees - both ended in complete fails - one time landing on my backside in the creek and the other sliding down under the massive tree limb rather than over it. It was also about here that my phone ran out of battery. All in good fun.
Fast food. Fungi that grows on Myrtle beech.
The hike along Dell Track up to the plateau took us past a patch of beautiful young King Billy pines, a conifer tree only found in Tasmania and which has been extensively logged and thus now classified as endangered, so spotting a little grove of them was a very good sign that they are making a small comeback.
Enchanted forest covered in moss.
As the climb took us out of the beech myrtle forest and up into snowgum territory, we reached an exposed part of the mountain, and it was here that it started to snow - we’d seen it hitting Mother Cummings Head before heading our way.
Moving up from the creek crossing.
The currawongs were very curious by our sudden appearance and started to surround us, only to break out into a concert of bird song. It was quite amazing.
Snowfall as the currawongs surround us. One of those special moments.
This section was less travelled and so not as easy to follow, there were on and off pink tape markers but most of the time not, so we had to keep our eyes peeled for rock cairns.
Bastion Bluff in the background.
Eventually we made it to the subalpine bench which leads up to the plateau, it was the first flat part in three hours with a breathtaking view of Bastion Bluff watching over us.
Heading to the track junction.
As it sleeted on us every now and again we concentrated on making it off the exposed bench down into the cover of the forest on the northern Meander Falls side, before taking a well earned break and lunch in an open part of the beech myrtle with sunshine warming us. Food has never tasted so good. Thanks to Deb’s lentil burgers we were stuffed in no time.
Behold the croft boulders.
Timeless landscape.
Spirit of the stones.
Spirits in the stone.
Sheltered by the rock.
Rock trolls.
The finest of slits in the rock.
Shaped by water?
Nature’s natural curves.
Continuing on after lunch we headed down towards Croft Track which takes you to some incredible gargantuan boulders (veritable monoliths) that are a testimony to the timeless magical atmosphere that is so common in the Great Western Tiers.
Through the Meander Forest.
We got so carried away by the majestic rock shelters that we took a wrong turn and ended up on an obscure and hardly used track to Hidden Falls only to find that it was a dead end.
The stunning rainforest.
I had a moment of dread as I thought we would maybe have to hike back up to the plateau to find where we had taken the wrong turn, but fortunately about fifteen minutes later, we found the right track and realised we hadn’t stuffed up too badly.
Hidden falls.
The diversion to Hidden Falls had been a welcome one, so beautiful and impressive, although mostly running as a trickle.
Going down cleft rock.
The right track took us down to Bastion Cascades and we moved mostly in silence as each of us contended with either aching feet, knees, or back. Nevertheless we finally found the forestry road back to the Meander Falls bridge, which is still closed to the public.
There was chocie (chocolate) waiting for Hildegunn and Deb in Deb’s car as we piled in and drove back up to Chasm Falls to our car to hand out a few jelly snakes as reward for the incredible hike.
It was a full eight hour solid hike over countless fallen logs, tree limbs, twisty branches, rocks, boulders, creeks, trickles, up and down and round and round. One of the best hikes I’ve done in Tassie, going through marvellous forest where few go, so grateful to see places that are absolutely stunning, in awe of such natural beauty and magic that graces this part of Tassie.
The highlight was seeing an old beech myrtle tree with a trunk circumference of several humans holding hands, and so gnarly and bulbous it must have been an ancient soul. I’m sure a granny to the surrounding younger teenagers.
To the blogger who said this track would take 5 hours to do, I don’t think so mate. And we weren’t slouching around at all!
See below for our route: