That night was at a much more crowded Waterfall Valley - where we had some discussions with the Ranger about what was appropriate for accessing the McRae area.
Without an OT Pass, the expectation of Parks is that walkers bypass Waterfall Valley and camp elsewhere.
The idea is a long trip possibly right out to the lakes area and then back to at least Scott-Kilvert hut when coming back.
Next day we went against the flow early to avoid the why are you here thoughts.
Cloud was streaming past the peaks to the south, and there was a stiff wind.
But the weather was good so we left the packs to climb Barn Bluff. It was our second climb - but this time we had good views all around.
And we considered this climb significantly easier than Cradle Mt from a few days earlier.
- Cloud streaming
- On the Overland Track - Can you see the hut? - its in the photo
- Cradle Cirque
- Scrambling on the top of Barn Bluff
Then back to the packs. We passed quite a few paused at the track junction, so we quickly made our way down the path towards Lake Rodway.
Decided that tenting was preferable to staying in the hut, but had a great time talking with the others in the hut during the evening.
Last day was a big one. We had failed to find any obvious tee off south of the hut to head up to Lyndon Tarns, so this day I was considering following the rocky bench from the track back to the Tarns.
Had a good look and it appears to have a pad leading off, but piked out knowing we had a lot ahead.
The fagus all through here was fantastic, but the strong winds meant no good reflections today.
- Cradle morning vista