Platform Peak 2017

The weather forecast wasn't too good. It was pouring rain at 0630 and the forecast was for 12C, rain, hail, and snow above 600 metres. Perfect for walking to Platform Peak led by Bob.

Many people were away which left eight of us to carry on. Heading for Magra the outside temperature dropped steadily until we parked in Belsin Road where it registered 4C. It's all uphill from here.

Getting ready for Platform Peak by Renate

We all looked prepared

Waking up past the gate the weather was clear but the hills were shrouded in cloud.

It's getting a bit misty as we climb

Some local's water source

 It's not long before one of the predictions comes true. Hail. This necessitates a costume upgrade as you can see below.

As you can see, it wasn't exactly car denting in size

The hail lasted only a fairly short while as we continued to climb towards the turn off.

Through the second gate...

Platform Peak turn off to the left

Soon we reach our spot for Morning Tea and the sun appears for a short time.

Morning Tea

The track beyond

Sunshine through a banksia

About to move on

The track varies from narrow to open where logging has taken place in the past. There are a multitude of ribbons which can lead to confusion.

Not visible here, but we're getting a few flakes of snow

Nature's decoration

We make our way to an unnamed fire trail, turning left to locate the start of the track. It's more overgrown than before and we miss it the first time. Once we backtrack and find the entrance, the markers further on are clear.

We make our way up

We climb up onto this stone cap. This is not Platform Peak

As I say this isn't Platform Peak despite what Google Earth says. List Maps isn't much better as the track we followed isn't the one marked on their map.

Anyway, you can see from the photos below the weather has improved for a moment, but more cloud is fast approaching. 

The weather is changing fast. Looking up, clouds are streaking along

We follow the cairns now and shortly catch our first sight of our objective.

Platform Peak with it's large cairn is visible in the distance

We make our way down a rock face out of the wind to have lunch. As we do, snow starts to fall.

Lunch spot

Photo by Renate

The white streaks are snow flakes

A dry powdery snow fell for a short while, turning the top of my pack white during our stop.

Lunch finished, we move on and the weather gets worse.

Cloud obscures the valley below

Final push to the top

When we reach the top it's almost a white out with a gale blowing. It's cold. Despite wearing gloves, when I take them off to use the camera I lose all feeling in my fingers. Never mind I can't feel the shutter button, I can't feel the camera.

Aiming hopefully in the right direction, I take a couple of chance shots that are better then I expected.

We walked here in 2015 & 16 and had lunch up here

Not today!

Photo by Renate

It's difficult to read the sign Bob is holding up. This is from 2015

In the short space of time we were taking the above photos, the sun came out for a minute or two. A different day.

The view soon disappeared again

Making our way down and out of the wind, fingers began to regain their feeling again. We make our way back. On the way we indulge in, what has become a tradition, a follow the wrong ribbon excursion. Which is interesting as we uncover large man made banks and ditches that are hidden in the bush. We regain the track we want and continue on.

Looking back towards New Norfolk

Looking down on the way back, it appears they had a better day.

We had 8 walkers and covered 11.99km in 5:20hrs. Everyone had a good time and the little snow/hail we had was a bonus. A great day.


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