Overland Track Day 8 - Echo Point to Cynthia Bay

Date: 21st December, 2011
Distance: 9.5 km
Time: 3 h 40 min

Beautiful forest surrounding Echo Point Hut

Our final day on the Overland Track began cold and misty, with clouds hugging the mountains surrounding Lake St Clair. For once I felt the cold and took a long time to get going, while Emily (perhaps buoyed by the thought of finishing the trek) was uncharacteristically up and about early.

A miserable looking morning greeted us at the jetty

Our water source while staying at Echo Point

Emily up and eager to get going for the last day

On the map, walking from Echo Point to Cynthia Bay looked like it would be a flat, easy trip for our final dig. I felt somewhat betrayed when I discovered the path undulates up and down for most of this 10 km walk, rather than staying close to the shoreline like yesterday. Combined with my tired, aching body, this made it my least favourite day of walking. The scenery, although pretty, hardly compared to the rainforest yesterday, and without glorious mountain views I was unbothered to pull the camera much out at all.

"Flying saucer" fungi, post-crash into a log

Crazy... something? Not sure how this formed

By around 2pm we arrived at Fergy's Paddock, the free campsite for Overlanders at Cynthia Bay. It was so great to get all our stinky, sweaty gear off and dry it by the tent. A quick check of my feet sans boots and bandaids was enough to tell me I wouldn't be wearing shoes again for a long time.

Makeshift clothesline, courtesy of Emily's capable dexterity

The Visitor Centre at Cynthia Bay has an adjoining cafe... we just couldn't resist pigging out there for lunch. It was awesome.

PIZZA MUNCH!

We spent that afternoon and the next morning wandering around the lake shore, packing our gear and walking back and forth between Fergy's Paddock and the Visitor Centre (lots of really interesting displays there... worth a good hour or two reading through them).

Down by the lake is lovely and I could easily have spent a couple more days there, but we were scheduled to catch our transport to Hobart after lunch on day 9, where we caught up again with Russell (who had apparently made it to Derwent Bridge to see The Wall).

Mount Olympus from Cynthia Bay

Craggy slopes of Mount Olympus

Completing the Overland Track was a tough but spectacular experience, one that, looking back 3 years later, has not been matched since. Unlike many of the other multi-day hikes I've been on, this is one I would love to do again. There's so much variety in the landscape and vegetation, so many options for side trips and extensions, so much variation in scenery in different seasons. I hope we will have the opportunity to explore more of Tassie in the future, to see if the rest of the state lives up to the high standards set in Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair National Park.

Day 7 - Windy Ridge Hut to Echo Point