Sunday, January 01, 2012

Mount Barrow


Oh my poor neglected  blog!  Where was I?  Joy Falls...  Hmmm...  That was back in September.  What was next?

When I was at Uni in Launceston, Mt Barrow was a regular haunt for walks, runs and bike rides.  It's been a while and when a friend was interested in a walk, I made the suggestion.

After a night camped at the picnic area below the mountain I decided upon an early morning jog to South Barrow and back.  I was trying to get fit for the Kentish Triple Top Mountain Run in November so this was a good opportunity to put some uphill kilometres under my belt.

Despite working in IT, technology is the last thing I want to see after hours.  I've always said I'm a map and compass man and that's the way I'll stay.  However, I've found the GPS capability of my phone is cool for tracking my runs.  Consequently I was proudly able to view my achievement as being 10.7kms with 500m elevation gain in 1h 13m 24s.  Cool!

Another cool aspect of the run was the ice.  Despite leaving after sunrise on a bright sunny morning, a whispy layer of cloud clung to the plateau.  Puddles were still sporting their intricate ice patterns.  At the transmission towers on South Barrow I was in for another icy treat.  Just as I arrived the sun burnt off the last of the cloud and instantly there was an almighty crash.

At first I thought a worker was wielding a giant tool but as the crashes continued I realised great showers of ice were tumbling off the towers onto the fenced off buildings below.  The signs warning of falling ice are not joking!  Chunks of ice over a metre long were tumbling off the support cables.

By 11am I was in Launie to collect my friend for a more conventional trip to the Barrow.  We drove to the summit car park and enjoyed a leisurely stroll to the summit.  A very civilised aluminium stair case had been installed since my last visit which made most of the altitude gain a 'walk in the park.'  A highlight of this walk was a fresh-looking circular star pattern on a rock which I assume is the result of ice shattering the dollerite (pictured above - for other pics go to my Facebook Page).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi tastrekker. Just following up to say thanks for the info to get to the Piper wreck under Mt Pillinger We met you as you were assisting a lady walker to get out via the Arm River track last December. We camped at the small lake under Mt.Pillinger and climbed it the next day for some great views into Lees Paddocks. We have since been back and walked Pine Hut,Lees,Kia Ora,New Pelion,Lees then out. Great circuit taking in Ossa, Pelion East & Mt.Oakleigh. Hope to see you on the track.
brucethecondor.

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