Fauna, Flora, Landscape, Photography, Tasmania

Misty Mountain walk begins …

(Cradle Mountain Part 3 – 11 photos) –
Visitors can no longer drive into Cradle Mountain National Park, so after breakfast we went to the Visitor Center where a helpful Ranger advised us on a suitable walk based on the conditions, our gear and our aims for the day. We then jumped on a bus to Ronny Creek – start of the Overland track and the start of our 4 hour day walk …

Beginning of the infamous Overland Track at Ronny Creek.

It was extremely overcast and while not “raining”, a fine mist permeated the air – like walking in a cloud for the entire day, making everything wet and limiting visibility. I later heard someone refer to the weather as “mizzle”, an old English term apparently.

Hairy nosed wombat, locally known as the big arsed wombat.
Waldheim can be seen in the background through the mist.

I had accidentally left my phone at our accommodation, so strapped on the weather-sealed and versatile 14-150mm lens onto the EM1II body, carrying it the whole day without worrying about the moisture like I would have with all my previous cameras. I just had to remember to keep the lens clean!

Circle of Pandani group growing near a stream.

While we didn’t get to see the iconic Cradle Mountain, the low contrast conditions provided a different photographic challenge and changed the way I looked at things – as well as the way I edited these images in an attempt to capture the mood, quite a bit different than my usual style.

Looking back towards Ronnie Creek.

While tempted to make them all mono, instead I deliberately pulled back the saturation on most of these images to reflect more closely how it looked and was careful not to blow out highlights as distant features disappeared into the grey mist.

Spot the wallaby.
Animal tracks lead off from our path.
Gumtrees reflected inf a still, alpine pool.
A stunted gum tells it’s own story in the harsh extremes.
Crater Falls as the track begins to climb.
The upper section of Crater Falls.
Tasmania’s deciduous Birch – fagus beginning to bud.

Thanks for visiting, join us again as we continue to climb further into the clouds and on to Crater Lake in the next post!

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TasView (Tone)

Tone Bacon - Tasmanian photographer. tasview.com

18 thoughts on “Misty Mountain walk begins …”

    1. Thanks 🙂 Was a lovely stream to follow for a bit, helped take our minds off the steep climb we were doing beside it and a good excuse for a rest 😀

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    1. Thanks, I’d never heard the term before, despite having a parent and grandparents from Yorkshire. I have some close up wombat shots to edit yet in a future post 🙂

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  3. I love the mizzle and the trees. Here in the Mojave Desert, we have a similar plant to your Pandani called Yucca. My spell check does not object to the word Mizzle! I’m looking forward to your next post. 😎

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    1. It was a pre Covid decision due to the sheer number of people visiting the park! The last part of the road is very narrow and windy with not much parking – when you go there you understand why. They tried a boom gate and limiting numbers without success. Unfortunately for local photographers, they are now stopped too from driving in early and leaving late to catch sunrises and sets – the last bus left about 1.5 hrs before the sundown.

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      2. I agree, though the buses are better than “paving paradise to put up a parking lot”, though there’s now a massive parking lot and visitors centre further out along the road :/

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    1. That’s very much how it felt at times … or at least a supposedly extinct Tasmanian Tiger! I come face to face with a Devil in a few posts time … and then theres still the faerie 😉

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