Lake St Clair National Park (Tasmania)

After Cradle Mountain National Park, we drove on to Lake St Clair.  Here, Srini and I did a wonderful walk up Mount Rufus while the girls hiked along Lake St Clair itself.

Climbing Mount Rufus

Srini and I were feeling more energetic than the girls, so we decided to climb Mount Rufus (elevation 1416 metres) while they did a flatter walk along the Lake.  It was a stunning 18 km walk offering panoramic views with a return via the idyllic Richea Valley and a lovely swim in Shadow Lake to finish off.

I didn't see this snake on the track and stepped right over it!  Lucky it was just small one.

A view back over Lake St Clair after a 5 km hike through forest.

Srini looking out onto Mount Rufus from the plateau.

Lake St Clair from the plateau.

View from half way up Mount Rufus. Stunning! This is where we had lunch.

Always time for a leap.

My turn.

No way this rock was moving!

What a great view.

Once again, Srini sets up a great shot.

I loved the colours, shapes and textures of the faraway mountains in the view.

More beautiful flowers. It always amazes me how they change as we gain altitude.

Climbing a mountain is hard work!

Celebrating being at the summit.

Walking back down the other side.

On this side of the mountain, there were some beautiful rock formations, sculptured by the wind.

Is is my imagination, or does this rock not look like a creature from Star Wars?

I loved this tree.

After arriving at the bottom of the mountain, we started walking through a valley ...

 ... the stunning Richea Valley with  beautiful native heath communities and pencil pines fed by an underground stream. 

The track back to St Clair passed the beautiful Shadow Lake where we had a gorgeous swim.

Walk along Lake St Clair

While Srini and I climbed Mount Rufus, they caught a ferry to Narcissus Bay and then walked back to the St Clair visitor centre via the lake. It was an 18 km walk through some pristine forest.  Here is a sample of photos from their walk.

Next stop

• Our next stop was Mount Field National Park.

Places in Tasmania we visited

• Cradle Mountain National Park
• Mount Field National Park (The Tarn Shelf)
• Mount Field National Park (Tall Trees walk)
• Cathedral Peak (Mount Wellington)
• Freycinet
• Leaping in Tasmania
• Daily life on our trip
• Previous Tasmania visit (2008)

Photos by others in the group

• Lauren
• Liz
• Srini
• Zante