Thark Ridge 2019

Today was supposed to be a walk over Thark Ridge on Mt. Wellington to the Devil's Throne. I warned the walkers beforehand that I had not done the part leading to Devil's Throne and if it appeared to be too difficult, I would cut it out and we would return the way we came in.

That is what happened. I judged the boulder field we encountered after passing the Municipal Cairn to be too difficult at that time and decided not to do it.

It didn't really matter as the weather was just incredible and there was plenty to look at in bright, warm sunshine.

We parked in the car park just past Big Bend and set off on the Thark Ridge Track.

Not far from the start

You can see what good weather we had

The track is rocky for its full length and requires your full attention so stops to look around are mandatory.

Boulder field. This one has had the attention of the Friends of Wellington Park

 The Friends have done a lot of work on the track in the last few years and it's paid off.

Passing through a stand of Snow Gums

Thark Ridge is up there

Morning Tea

After the break, we continue on, gaining altitude slowly.

Almost lost in the bush

Some sections are steeper

As we gain altitude, views begin to appear.

Overlooking the area known as Dead Island on top of Mt. Wellington

Some climbing required here

We're on the ridge now and the track flattens out

Notice the clear track marker installed by the Friends of Wellington Park

There are also stone cairns and faded red paint dots along the track to follow.

Google produced this panorama that I've added below

Mount Connection in the distance

Still some colour in the sunshine

 I'm in front to locate the turnoff to the Municipal Cairn which some haven't seen before.

I find the marker Wayne and I placed the last time we were here and make our way in to our usual lunch spot.

It's still a good spot for our break so we settle down for our midday meal with great views.

Lunch

I didn't take yet another photo of the cairn, but if you need one just have a look at a previous Thark Ridge walk entry.

Lunch finished we return to the main track, heading left into new territory. It's a pretty walk until we reach the boulder field I mentioned at the beginning of the blog. Weighing up several factors, I decide it's not suitable given the time of day and back we go.

Heading back

This is the junction of the Thark Ridge Track and the Devils Throne Track which is the one heading away from us

The track above would have  been part of a loop.

Back to the cars

 We had 11 walkers and covered 7.36km in 3:24hrs. Fantastic day for a walk. I checked the temperature on return to the parking lot and it was 20C!

There are other ways to reach Devils Throne and I hope to have a look at one of them before I try leading a group there in the future.

The track is well marked and you don't really need a GPX track, but you can find one on the past blog entries if you need one.