Overland Track Day 5 - Pelion Hut to Kia Ora Hut

Date: 18th December, 2011

Distance: 8.2 km

Time:  4 hours
Side trip: Mount Ossa (partial), ~4 km, 3 hours

Total: ~12.2 km, 7 hours

Mount Ossa towering above us like the gateway to a hidden kingdom

Beginning day 5 on the Overland Track and we are still completely dry - surely this must be some kind of record. Not much pack hauling involved today, just a relatively gentle climb to Pelion Gap through more rainforest, followed by a gentle descent to the campsite at Kia Ora Hut. With more fine weather and Tasmania's highest mountain calling, we also couldn't resist the urge to tackle Mount Ossa as a side trip from Pelion Gap.

Walking this morning was very pleasant, surrounded by moss-covered rainforest.

Douglas Creek runs alongside the track all the way up to Pelion Gap, so we ducked in at one point to give my socks a quick wash. A little series of cascades greeted us.

Although we had previously encountered some difficulty in clambering over the rocky slabs during our attempt on Cradle Mountain, we couldn't resist the temptation to challenge ourselves to conquer Mount Ossa, Tasmania's highest peak (and much taller than anything at home in south east QLD).

When we arrived at Pelion Gap, there must have been at least a dozen packs already hanging out, indicating many people were probably already on their way up (or down). I guess you can't expect to have such a popular peak all to yourself. Probably for this reason, today was the only day on the Overland Track where we were constantly bumping into other walkers.

At our sluggish pace, it took us almost an hour to circumnavigate Mount Doris, the little ridge that lies directly between the Overland Track and Mount Ossa, and reach the saddle where the real climb begins.

On our way around Mount Doris

Mount Ossa comes into view

Mount Ossa, a monstrous mountain

We managed to make it about 3/4 of the way to the top before things got a little hairy and the steep drop off to our left was too much for Emily. However, even from the here the views were tremendous and well worth our effort to make it this far.

Looking back to Mount Oakleigh and, in the far distance, Cradle Mountain

Emily very proud to have made it this far

View back towards the Overland Track from Mount Ossa

Admiring the views towards Cathedral Mountain

Today's final stretch was an easy downhill to Pinestone Valley, from which you can see the complete monstrosity that is Mount Ossa, and down onwards to Kia Ora Hut.

Descending from Pelion Gap

Behold the full glory of Mount Ossa from Pinestone Valley

Framed in front of Cathedral Mountain

On arriving at the campsite we found all the sleeping spaces occupied inside the hut. This hardly fazed us as it was bright and sunny, so we set up the tent with a commanding view to the cliffs of Cathedral Mountain. The sounds of a nearby creek trickling made it even better. Already this was my favourite campsite so far, could have pitched here for a few days if we had them.

Our campsite at Kia Ora Hut

What is this?! Looks like some alien spacehsip pod shaped like a koala head

Our run of good weather finally broke this afternoon, the sun disappearing behind a mass of clouds after setting up the tent, rain falling over us. The wind was ferocious - if we hadn't loaded the tent with all our gear and used a thousand ropes to tie it down, it might well have taken off.

Day 4 - Rest Day at Pelion Hut (Mount Oakleigh side trip)
Day 6 - Kia Ora Hut to Windy Ridge Hut