Huon Valley April 3 - 6
 
  Its Good Friday. We are looking for somewhere to hide over the long Easter weekend.

We want to head south, to Cockle Creek, but suspect campsites may be full.
     
  We are passing through the hills west of Hobart.
     
  Past the berry growing area of Westerway.
     
  We fill with diesel at New Norfolk. $3/litre.
     
  Then west a bit before finding our way through the labyrinth of roads southwards.
     
  Lots of plantation. A rainbow helps.
     
  A useful sign. The Plenty Link is shown as a dotted line on our map. Reality is its a well formed gravel road.

Phew.
     
  Across the Huon River.
     
  Then across the Arve River, the shortcut to Arve Plains that is Bracken Road.
     
  The first, and only, sign to the Huon Track.
     
  Across the Picton River. We find a camp near the junction of Huon and Picton Rivers.

At the start of the Huon (walking) Track.
     
  Perhaps a spectacular rustgill.
     
  East of us, a couple of km, is the Tahune Airwalk.

As well as the airwalk, a track suspended in the tree tops and a cantilever over the river, there's a loop across the Picton and Huon Rivers with swing bridges provided.
     
  Huon River from the swing bridge.
     
  Next morning, Easter Saturday, we are woken by a flock of 7 green rosellas.
     
  Time for a walk along the Huon Track.

If we walk far enough, a few days and about 35km, we would meet the Arthur Range track and the Port Davey Track we walked a very small part of some days ago.

     
  After about 880m we are surprised by a walker registration. We could have driven this far, but we didn't know that until we got here. Others have parked where we are camped.
     
  There is a map showing Blakes Opening, and the track all the way west following the Huon River - remember its rises at the southern end of Lake Pedder?

We are encouraged by the track describption.

We also learn its nickname is yo-yo track, it goes over ridges and down to creek crossings.
     
  There was a fire through the area around 2019. Tall trees blackened.
     
  The undergrowth uniform height and thick.
     
  Lots of fallen trees across the track to slow us.
     
  A grey fantail taking advantage of the insects we disturb.
     
  A few glimpses of the valley sides.

We are highly unlikely to walk far enough to see the Arthur Range.
     
  Turkey Tail
     
  The track is tedious. The new undergrowth is passable. The fallen trees have to be climbed over, or occasionally crawled under.

Originally at least a pack horse track, and possibly later a vehicle track, now a narrow walking track.
     
  There's a river down there somewhere.
     
  We have a sense of leaving the burned area.
     
  Easier to see it was a formed track.

We turned back shortly after this.

Had we continued another 500m, about a half hour at our speed, we would have walked down to the river.

We were overtaken by a couple carrying an inflatable raft. They would raft down to Tarhine, then one of them cycle back to our camp for their car. After he described the slow progress on a tough walking track, the rafting enjoyable.

We also met another couple walking in to camp for a couple of nights.

Both couples had EVs.
     
  More fungus, I thought more turkey tail, but perhaps a bracket funcus.
     
  A last look at the forest.
     
  While wondering about when the track was created, and how easy to follow it all the way to Lake Pedder (not at all easy, overgrown as the registration info suggested), I happened on an 1881 Surveyor Jones report to Parliament, survey of a track from Macquarie Harbour to meet our Huon Track at Cracroft (Craycroft) River.

Within the report was a high resolution map from the time of the report.

McPartlan Pass (remember the present day canal between Lakes Pedder and Gordon) is labeled on the T.B. Moores 1881 Track to Lake Pedder. No track to the Gordon River at the time of the map, McPartlan may have cut it later, or it simply wasn't on the map. From the report ... "The services of Mr. McPartlan, who has a thorough knowledge of the country, have been arranged for, who will accompany Mr. Jones and render every assistance."

Thomas Bather Moore (1850 - 1919) was an explorer, prospector, amateur botanist, and government plus Mt Lyall Mine track cutter. Narrowly missed out on Mt Lyell mine discovery. Well known (to everyone except me) "legend". He suggested that all Western lakes have feminine names. Hydro Tasmania think differently!

Easy to see the watershed between the original sized Lake Pedder feeding the Serpentine River flowing north, and Lake Edgar feeding the Huon River flowing round Scotts Peak (the one we saw, looks like the labels changed from 1880) then south and east. The Huon Plains submerged in the recently flooded enlarged Lake Pedder.

Interesting to see what tracks existed in 1880, and some which have disappeared.

I found the curve of the ridges west of Lake Pedder interesting, formed by ice.

 
     
Hartz Mountains April 7-8
     
Gateway
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