Lake Judd

[Mickeymoo]

Gday all, I had planned 4 days of walking around Schnells Ridge and Mt. Sara Jane but a crook back made me change my plans and cut my trip short buy a couple of days so in the end I only stayed at Lake Judd, beautiful place with magic views up to cliffs of the Elizer Plateau. Anyway here are a few photos I got while there.

Michael.













as usual a few more can be seen at http://s173.photobucket.com/albums/w76/mcikeymoo21/

[tasdaz]

Great shots Michael, such a contrast to the pics I got there during my day walk. Was actually think along the walk how amazing the sunrises and sunsets could be from atop Schnells Ridge and thought of your pics. Definately an area to go back to

[Mickeymoo]

Thanks Tasdaz, yeah I was also planning on camping on top of Schnells Ridge for a sunrise but unfortunatly didn't get there in the end. But definantly an area worth going back to for some sunrise and sunset shots.

Michael.

[iandsmith]

Thank you for sharing the lovely pics. I plan to walk there in about a month. Could you give me some idea of time in and out please?
I've done Mount Eliza and about half an hour beyond and back in a day and was hoping Lake Judd might be the same.
Also, Lake Sarah Jane, does it have a trail into it or not?
Cheers, Ian

[the_camera_poser]

I take it you've spent some time in the bush with your 5D now?

[Mickeymoo]

Hi Ian, its definantly doable as a day trip, I was carrying a full pack so times would be a bit different to doing a day trip, but I would think 3hrs one way would be quite comfortable, its relatively flat with no major climbs, the track was fairly good to the Anne river bridge ~40-60mins and a little bit past then it became fairly muddy and scrubby for the rest of the way.

I assume you mean Lake Judd? Yes Lake Judd does have a track going into it you will cross a small button grass field and then come to the Anne River again, the river must be waded (was only about knee height when I was there, not sure what its normally like though, I wouldn't think it would get too high to cross unless it had been raining a lot) the track is on the other side, may take a little search to find the correct one, but from memory it was easy to find, just a few braided tracks that were muddy, the track after the river was also fairly muddy but once you reach the base of the moraine there is a steepish but short climb and then you follow the ridge of the moraine to the outlet creek through some loverly rainforest/wet sclerophyll, there is a small area for camping and a spot to access the lakes edge at the outlet creek. It is a beutiful spot and well worth the walk, look forward to hearing about your trip.

CP, no not yet this post was from some time ago, sept 08! Hopefully this long weekend I can gather enough motivation to get out into the bush with it

[iandsmith]

This is the email I sent back home after the walk.
WHEN A DREAM BECOMES A NIGHTMARE
I was gobsmacked. I looked over the edge and saw this stunning apparition; an apparition called Lake Judd. Its setting was grand, almost entirely surrounded by cliffs and a narrow band of sheer dolerite, it beckoned me to tarry and I did.
That image haunted me for over a year. I found out there was a track leading into it and made plans to return. How I looked forward to it.
Then I managed the plane flight over it and that made it even more exciting; I could see the path to the promised land.
So it was that just a few days later I parked at the entry point, alongside 4 other vehicles of multi-day walkers. The weather was overcast but there were two or three minor gaps of blue starting to appear so I surmised that the weather would improve during the day and started out after signing the book indicating where you are planning to go.
The track was narrower than I’d envisaged and, after crossing the Red Tape Creek where there was a neat one-man-only swinging bridge, the trail headed uphill and, after half an hour my body was sweating though my hands were nearly numb. The nearly continual winds from the south and west don’t carry any warmth with them around here.
I looked across to Mount Anne, highest peak in the southwest. Its bare jagged ramparts were shrouded in mist that constantly cloaked the summit with fingers of gossamer drooping from the cloud belt.
I moved on to the boardwalks. Thank goodness for them I was thinking, this was a really boggy area. I pushed on for another 20 minutes and then the boardwalks ended. I came across a small bog, then another. In fact, they became quite repetitious, quite difficult for walking as I alternatively straddled, jumped sideways, took alternative routes and even looked to make new ones on occasions.
Then the bogs stopped. Indeed, it became one continuous bog. The track was in appalling state and the weather started closing in as if to bring the wrath of God upon me. What had I done to deserve this?
Intermittent drizzle drifted across the marsh land. Where there were rivulets thick, almost impenetrable scrub made trekking even more difficult. You had to keep your eyes peeled for the alternate routes, thin lines through the undergrowth where others had passed before, often only given away by a bent branch or two, other times trampled flat.
On more than one occasion my foot disappeared over my ankle in mud when I could see no other trail. By now I was saturated, reminiscent of my day at Cape Hauy only with mud thrown in. At least there the way was stable and the footing sure.
At some point heading well past the two hour mark I came to a point where the bog was horrific. I had to take a side alley, knocking down vegetation as I did until I finally found the track again. The precipitation was closing in. The cloud line had dropped 100 metres and looked ominous. I could feel the onset of hypothermia; my hands were getting worse, I could scarcely bend my fingers at all they were so cold. How glad was I that this was summer!
It was decision time and I knew I would be disappointed at not having made it but one’s health is always the first priority so I decided to turn back. I reconciled myself with the knowledge that any pictures I took would have been fairly useless due to the low cloud cover and, in addition, I could no longer use my camera because the lens were continually fogging up and my fingers couldn’t operate anything the way they were.
I hacked back around the horror section. It sounds good in theory but I couldn’t find the trail. No matter where I turned there seemed to be no sure track, just branches down here and there that led me up false leads. I continually turned back, getting no closer until I broke out into a clear section of vegetation covered bog and decided to work my way over to where a rivulet was, easily identified by the tree line.
For the first time in my bushwalking life, I was truly lost, I was truly concerned for my safety. At times I resorted to yelling out “coo-ee” but I knew that would be futile. There was so much noise with the wind in the scrub and the ever present rushing streams that my cries would be inaudible. It had been about 15 minutes since I last saw the track. I worked my way alongside the stream line until, bingo, I found the trail; or, had I?
I didn’t recognize this crossing but it was definitely the track. However, it was on the wrong side of where it should have been. I worked across and kept going, glad to have a made pathway in sight again. It wasn’t but a few minutes later when I came to a river. To ford this I would need a bridge; there wasn’t one and I didn’t fancy getting wet, potentially to my thighs, crossing this one on my own.
I made another decision, turn back and follow this trail until it reached the one I had been on.....hopefully!
The drizzle made things unpleasant in the open but I pushed on and came to a bog that I found my way around. There was something familiar about it and I continued until I reached a rivulet that I had crossed before. The coo-ee might have been inaudible, but my sigh of relief would have carried some way.
Apparently, I had done a 180 degree turn when trying to bypass the big bog and come out a couple of hundred metres past it when I picked up the trail again. I couldn’t check the map because it was raining and I didn’t have my glasses but I guessed, correctly, that it was the second crossing of Anne River that I’d reached. How frustrating when I later realised I had been within about 20 minutes of my goal.
Still, I was deliriously happy to be following what I knew again, as I saw a footprint and matched it up to my boot and then came across a spot where I’d taken a picture. My pace quickened to avoid full hypothermia and get some shelter yet it wasn’t long before the weather broke and, here and there, I spied patches of blue over Lake Pedder. However, when I looked back from whence I’d come, the drizzle continued.
It was hard to believe that the last part of the trail was dry. The vagaries of the weather in these parts never ceases to surprise. It is a truly wild area and I can understand what drags people here to experience one Australia’s true wonders. I just hope their experience is better than mine.
I undressed and hung my clothes out to dry then put fresh ones on to try and get warm.
It moved slowly, obviously sated and I pondered where it had come from, how far it had travelled. Where was it heading to next? I figured anywhere outside would be good, since on my ratings list for travelling companions, leeches rate very lowly.

Where it became really difficult

[tasadam]

Um.....

[eggs]

Mickeymoo

Fantastic pictures
What did you think of the mud along the way?

iandsmith

A delightful rendition of your walk. I had heard the mud could be pretty bad to Lake Judd and obviously you were doing a day walk.
[A girl we met at Edgar Campground had been advised by the local ranger not to do that walk because the mud is very bad.]
However, it does appear that you may not be used to the Loddon's - where we were going in up to the thighs.
It pays to be prepared to get pretty muddy when walking on these tracks.

However I sympathize if you were getting too cold and wet. I took a few lads up onto Schnell's Ridge in Jan and when the weather went from bad to worse, I was reminded that you should always have the right gear - which we did not have!
The result was a panicked struggle to find the right exit off the mountain.

Cheers
Brian