This summer we crossed one of those “to do” things off our Tassie list – doing the Cradle Mountain summit walk! We had an absolutely perfect run of weather up there and as well as one really stunning dusk at Dove Lake the weather for climbing the mountain was perfect. And judging by the crowds we weren’t the only ones who thought so.

First views of Barn Bluff on the Cradle Mountain Summit hike

The Cradle Mountain Summit Hike

This was basically my first experience at Cradle Mountain as a “tourist” – first of all we discovered that cars were not being permitted to enter the park (that has never happened to me before up there), then we had to join the queue for the shuttle bus – another new “wilderness” experience for me! Even on the summit itself there was a constant stream of people coming and going.

View along the Overland Track from Cradle Mountain summit

The walk back was quite a different story though. We chose the Horse Track instead of the Marions Lookout track and didn’t encounter a soul. I spent some time on the Horse Track doing macro photography of the alpine plants in the area, and we dawdled back to the Ronny Creek car park.

Cradle Mountain from Crater Peak

And now that fagus season is on it’s way back, I think another trip to Cradle – maybe Waterfall Valley this year – could be on the cards. You will of course read about it here first!

Cradle Mountain Photography Tours

Finally, a reminder about my Tasmanian photography tours and workshops. I run a 2 day & 3 day Cradle Mountain photography tour. We won’t necessarilly be tackling the summit walk, but if you would like some camera tips and a guided introduction to the park make sure to visit my Cradle Mountain photography tour page.