Overland Track Day 4 - Mount Oakleigh

Date: 17th December, 2011

Distance: ~8 km

Time: 4.5 hours

Mount Oakleigh from Pelion Plains

We decided to take a break today and stay at Pelion Hut (aka the palace) for another night, giving our backs a break from heaving our heavy packs. It also gave us the opportunity to summit nearby Mount Oakleigh at our leisure.



Climbing Mount Oakleigh was one of the highlights of our Overland Track adventure. The track was muddier than anything we had encountered yet, but walking through beautiful rainforested slopes and soaking in 360 degree views from the summit combined to make an excellent side trip.

New Pelion Hut, grandstand views of Mount Oakleigh across Pelion Plains

We took our time getting going this morning, waiting for most of the on-walkers to head on out before we started breakfast. It was overcast and unpleasant looking outisde, so Emily decided it was high time for a nap. By the time she woke up, the clouds had lifted from over our destination, and it was 12:22 - a great sign for starting a walk if ever I saw one.

A wide, flat buttongrass plain lies between Pelion Hut and Mount Oakleigh, and covering that short distance (~1 km) was our first challenge. From the hut it may look nice and dry, but once we were out on the track, it became clear that buttongrass is not our friend. The track itself was fairly indistinct, but we just headed in the general direction of the mountain and followed vague passages through the marshy grasses here and there. This included two crossings of a watery, muddy river that we both narrowly avoided sinking right into.

When we finally met the tree line at the lower slopes of Mount Oakleigh, rather than disappear, the mud situation intensified. We may have thought the last two days were muddy, but this definitely out-mudded them both by a fairly considerable mudgin. Luckily we weren't carrying our big packs.

After an hour of sloshing and slopping about, the mud dried up and we found ourselves climbing through gorgeous rainforest. Moss covered tree roots and rocks, making it seem like we were flying through some kind of green dream. The path was again quite vague (a few orange markers and rusted tin cans on poles served as markers from time to time) but it just added to the sense of isolation. At times we felt as though we could have been the first people to walk through this beautiful place, it was a nice change from the congested Overland Track.

The track continued to steepen as the rainforest became sparser, and the ground rockier, until we reached the plateau. Once up on top we were rock hopping between giant boulders, which was a new and enjoyable experience for us. You don't get mountains like this in south east Queensland.

Admiring the incredible views from Mount Oakleigh

Emily may look comfortable, but she was in constant fear of slipping down one of those cracks

We spent a bit of time exploring the plateau, but didn't complete the track to the 'true summit,' being still some considerable distance away and surely not much higher than we already were, seemed hardly worth the trouble.

The true summit is over this way somewhere... Cradle Mountain in the distance

Mount Pelion West from Mount Oakleigh

Descending Mount Oakleigh

Emily contemplating another boggy march through the buttongrass marshes

On our journey back across the buttongrass plains Emily slipped in past her knees into boggy mud, while I escaped unscathed (this one-sided trend pervaded our trip, much to her misery). By the time we were back at the hut, it became clear that blisters were beginning to take their toll on our feet. Both of us had smothered our feet in bandaids but when we dipped them into icy cold creek water, at a pretty little spot not far from the hut, most of them started flopping off and we could see the cruel damage that had been inflicted over the past 4 days.

Pretty creek site not far from Pelion Hut

A great side trip and probably my favourite day on the Overland Track.

Day 3 - Lake Windermere to Pelion Hut
Day 5 - Pelion Hut to Kia Ora Hut