Cradle Mountain Base Hike
Thursday 10th November 2016
We made sure we left our accommodation nice and early so we could have enough time to hike up to the base of Cradle Mountain. We arrived early enough to score a carpark up at Dove Lake, then with the camera, lunch and lots of water in our backpacks, we set out on our hike.
Our starting point, looking up to our finishing point!
We spoke to a local the day before who said that there are normally about 40 days of the year when you can see Cradle Mountain clearly without cloud, we were lucky enough to experience 2 of those days.
We decided to walk clockwise around Dove Lake Circuit as a large section near the Marion’s Lookout link track was closed for repairs. We are so glad we did as we got to see some spectacular sights.
No wind, clear skies and beautiful scenery… the reflections in the lake were incredible.
Heading up the Lake Wilks Track. *calves burning*
Picture perfect stop half way up the track.
All of the tracks were so well marked and maintained. At no point did we feel lost or unsafe.
The Lake Wilks Track intersected with the Face Track, which follows the face of Cradle Mountain. The track was flat which was a nice change, but still quite an adventure to navigate. It had us walking through snow and melted (slippery!) snow, jumping over waterways, and hopping over rocks and fallen trees.
Although there was snow around, we were in t-shirts after the intense 1 hour climb up the Lake Wilks Track.
After 2.5 hours and 320m elevation gain, we made it to the base of Cradle Mountain. We had originally thought about hiking to the summit, however once we were up there we realised just how difficult and dangerous it would be. We met a seasoned hiker at the base and he pretty much confirmed what we were thinking, so we decided that we would skip the summit climb and go and find a spot to sit and enjoy eating our lunch in this amazing location.
We really couldn’t believe our luck that we got to see snow on our November holiday.
After gaining some energy from lunch we started the journey back to Dove Lake. We took the Overland Track which took us past Marion’s Lookout and back on the path we had conquered the day before.
If you are ever visiting Cradle Mountain National Park (see page 7) we would highly recommend this hike!
