Recently several cold storm fronts crossed the west coast of Tassie, bringing about 200mm of rain with them. Stupendously, one of my Outdoor Ed class' day trips coincided with the end of this succession of fronts. We were hoping to find some snow as preparation for a 3-day camp in September, but were amazed by just how much there was.
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| Most of the ground was under about 50cm of snow, and pools had started to freeze over |
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| It's easy to see why Crater Lake was so named |
The main aim of the trip was to spend the whole day in the snow, experiencing and learning to deal with the cold conditions before camping for two nights in similar conditions. As such, the class needs to be able to cook in the snow, so we chose a likely spot for lunch: the Boatshed at Crater Lake.
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| Old man's beard growing on the old boards of the boatshed |
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Mutiny! After lunch, 9 of the 11 students had a confab and decided they wanted to walk back to the bus;
we were only halfway through the day by that stage... |
Walking a little beyond Crater Lake took us over the high point for the day and down the other side of Wombat Peak. After another extended stop, this one for snow shelters and a snowball fight, everything went still and very quiet...and the snow began falling. And kept falling. For the next hour and a half.
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| Lake Lilla and, beyond, Dove Lake |
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| A light dusting on the shoulder and pack... |
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| Gaby, the second adult on the excursion, arriving at the lookout over Wombat Pool |
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| The troops at the Wombat Pool lookout |
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| Gratuitous inclusion: a pic of a solid piece of kit. *Moment of appreciation* |
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| Descending to Wombat Pool |
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| Wombat Pool with a slurry of floating ice |
It was a privilege having such great conditions on the day. I can't wait to do this again.
Thanks Aj for taking the time to put up all those great photos... truly a special moment in time ! Dad
ReplyDeleteYes, it's not often that such atmospheric conditions and curriculum opportunity coincide...
DeleteStill, on reflection, the heavy snowfall on the day should have been completely anticipated: previously we'd been on 3 trips, and on every occasion we had torrential rain: this was merely the colder equivalent...