Wild Dog Tier

Trip reports, stories, track notes. Multiple/large photos are OK in this forum.
Forum rules
Posting large/multiple images in this forum is OK. Please start topic titles with the name of the location or track.

For topics focussed on photos rather than the trip, please consider posting in the 'Gallery' forum instead.

This forum is for posting information about trips you have done, not for requesting information about a track or area.

Wild Dog Tier

Postby bluewombat » Fri 26 Jan, 2018 9:56 am

Just thought I would ramble on about an overnighter up to Wild Dog Tier which I did earlier this week. Having previously been up Rats Castle and being astounded by the views available (you are high and there are very few other peaks to block out the vistas) I had been keen to get up to Wild Dog for a while. It is well described in the Abels book so I don't think I am giving info on untracked/sensitive areas that is not already available, if the mods disagree please remove the post.
I started the day by doing a quick trip up Liffey bluff, off the lake hwy, I won't say more about this than it is a lovely little peak and the worst of the scrub is the first 20 metres after leaving the car park. That took just on 2 hours, then a quick drive over to Lake Augusta dam meant a start time for WDT of about 11 am.

The Abels description of the WDT walk is spot on but they talk about looking at a scree field on the tier from a point near the car park, and which scree field is a little confusing at first. You are NOT aiming for the long curving most visible scree field at the left (WNW) of the tier, you are aiming for the less visible more vertical one which is pretty much due North. The initial part of the walk is along the eastern side of the streams/tarns heading north from the car park. When I walked through here it was very dry, there was water in the 2 largest tarns but little else. A lot of the time I just wandered up dry creek beds and the animals leads in between them. It looks like it would be pretty soggy at times. Along the way stands of tea tree were giving off the most enchanting honey aromas. After you hit the final big tarn you leave the creek complexesand head over coral fern flats towards an obvious weakness in the tree line. On reaching the tree line is possible to find the small flat scree field described in the Abels and moving from the top of this head NE for a short period in open forest until you hit the main scree field taking you up onto the tier.

DSC00696reduced.jpg
Looking back towards Lake August dam from up on the scree slope

Once you hit the top of the scree you can work your way to an obvious little pass that leads you to a view of the hidden high valley behind the tier. I camped in the pass but would caution, there is no water up here.
It took me just on 3 hours to reach this point and after selectively removing a few bits from my pack I wandered down into the hidden valley. This is an interesting area, there would be a lot of water here at times, there was virtually none when I was there. There were also no kangaroos (there were dozens over on the Lake Augusta side), and no scat to suggest wombats either. 45 minutes of easy walking got me to the top of the high point of WDT (the furthest point west on the tier) and then an equally leisurely stroll returned me to a lovely camp site looking out towards a vast expanse of peaks along the overland track and south. There is a real sense of remoteness up on this tier particularly when looking west.

DSC00708reduced.jpg
Camp on the wild dog facing Bastion bluff

After a night occasionally interrupted by cramps (not enough water) and stargazing (unbelievable clarity up here) I got up early enough to take a few photos looking out into the valley and watched the sun come up on Bastion bluff

DSC00715 reduced.jpg
The hidden valley WDT

DSC00720 reduced.jpg
Bastion sunrise

DSC00723reduced.jpg
Bastion a little later

After a pre breakfast of chocolate, I wandered off the tier through the mountain rocket, spider webs glistening in the morning sun and low scoparia, had an actual breakfast at the first big tarn I came across and was back at the car 2 hours later.

Given I still had the best part of a day left I headed off towards Poatina and walked up the Zig-Zag track and over to Mt Blackwood. Another excellent peak this one, the start of the Zig Zag is about 100m further along the road than it appears on the good old 1/25000 map, but it has a prominent cairn at the start. The road up onto the tier is rough but a tribute to the toughness of those who built it. When you hit the plateau continue along the rough road until you hit the high point on the obvious ridgeline (again there is a cairn here) and then follow the rocky outcrops and animal pads between them along the ridgelines (thus avoiding virtually all the scrub) until you reach the summit of Mt Blackwood. Once again outstanding views, particularly to the NE and E. I decided to save Brady's for another day. Round trip back to the car took 4 hours. Overall I would have to say that although these are not the most difficult or tallest peaks in Tassie they all have a great charm to them and are certainly worth your time.
BW
Even a long life is short
HPB
User avatar
bluewombat
Athrotaxis cupressoides
Athrotaxis cupressoides
 
Posts: 326
Joined: Sun 10 Feb, 2008 3:55 pm
Region: Tasmania

Re: Wild Dog Tier

Postby Graham17 » Tue 06 Feb, 2018 8:32 pm

Great sunset too
Graham17
Atherosperma moschatum
Atherosperma moschatum
 
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon 20 Nov, 2017 5:22 am
Location: tas nw
Region: Tasmania


Return to TAS Trip Reports & Track Notes

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests