View the gearlist for this trip here.

The Spires, ah, The Spires. I had dreamed of heading into this area of South West Tasmania for such a long time. I'm not exactly sure when I had first heard of this rough, off track walk but I can definitely remember first seeing photos of part of it as a teenager. Once, when I was around 16, I found a book on my parents' bookshelf titled, 'The World of Olegas Truchanas'. I still remember first reading that book. I opened it and became transfixed on both it's story AND it's photography. Olegas Truchanas was a true pioneer in every sense of the word and it was such a shame he was taken too soon. I often think of him when I am in some off track region. I remember reading the book, wondering at Lake Pedder and what could have been, then, at some stage while reading the book I came across a photo of a much, much smaller lakeside beach on a small span of water named Lake Curly. 'That looks pretty cool', I thought to myself, 'I'd like to go there....'  

Well, that was some 25 years ago and ever since, I have always had the trip that entailed a stay at Lake Curly, high on my list of 'must do hikes'. So, having not done a good extended trip of more than a week in some seven years (since our Franklands Trip - 4 kids can make it tough to get away for this long), it was time. I'd been planning this Spires trip since around 2019 when I first postulated the idea to my core hiking crew of Beaui, Crawf and Woolza. I proposed to them that we should 'knock off' The Spires and The Eldons in the next couple of years. They gave some indication they were keen but in my minds eye, it would happen sooner than later.

After our Southern Ranges trip in 2020 and during the COVID-19 lockdown, I started planning this adventure. Initially, I considered a route from Lake Gordon to Richea Creek, but the car shuffling was problematic. Crawf suggested a loop starting and ending at different points on Lake Gordon, inspired by our friend Gerv, who had recently completed it. This route allowed us to climb Mt Wright and Stepped Hills.

We needed two boats: one at the finish line and another to get us to the start. Ferg, a regular on our walks, had a suitable boat and agreed to help. Additionally, Beaui, Woolza, and I found a cheap dinghy for the finish. With transport sorted, we were ready to go!

To manage the travel and boat shuffle, I went down to Lake Gordon a day early to drop off the finish line boat and explore. I met Ferg, and we launched our dinghy at Boyes Basin. After hiding it, we explored Lake Gordon for a few hours, noting the desolate landscape and dead trees. By late afternoon, we returned to the boat ramp. The rest of the team, along with Troy, arrived later. After some drinks and route discussions, we camped by the lake shore, despite the desolate surroundings. We slept excitedly, anticipating the adventure ahead.

We awoke by the lake shore after a pleasant sleep. The weather was overcast like the day before. It had been a warm night but a slight breeze was now up and we had beanies on as we prepared a quick breakfast before packing up the cars and loading all of our gear in the boat. We farewelled Troy who had to head back to Hobart and a bit before 8am we launched the boat and made the short trip out of Boyes Basin and across to Pokana Bay, our starting point. It was a quick trip with Ferg offering some precision navigation through the vast expanse of dead trees lining our route. Bleak would be an understatement.

We arrived at the shore and after a bit of mucking around in the shallow shore and squelchy mud, in which Ferg piggy backed me to shore to keep my feet dry, we found dry land and said our farewells to our good mate Ferg. As he slowly made his way back in the boat we watched him disappear realising that we only had one way to go now. Up. With vigorous enthusiasm, we headed off along the lake bed and quickly found the low scrub that led towards the ridge we had chosen to take us up on to The Pleiades. It had been a little while between scrub bashes and in our enthusiasm, we had all donned scrub gloves, but felt over pants would be over kill. As such, it wasn't long before our legs were scratched to bits, but we enjoyed gradually making progress and quickly gaining some elevation up a fairly steep ridge.

Back in the rhythm and having done a lot of off track walks together, the four of us found our groove and after 2.5 hours we had made it to the top of the first big climb of the day arriving at the top of the ridge which would lead us to the main Pleiades ridge line. Mist was now coming and going and and the wind blowing a bit of a chill through us. We donned our jackets and continued on, negotiating some rock outcrops that topped the ridges. As always we had to decide whether or not to follow the top of the ridge or to skirt around the sides. We chose to skirt the western side to begin with and made good progress through fairly light scrub. As we rounded the first couple of outcrops we decided to find a spot to stop for a bite to eat and after just under 4 hours of walking, we stopped in a small scrubby valley for a quick bite to eat. It had started to drizzle and we were lucky to find a very short gap in the rain for food. We looked ahead at what looked like a slightly scrubby ascent onto the main Pleiades ridge line and after lunch we were excited to tackle it and get moving as the drizzle started again.

We moved on up through the valley and it seemed to take forever to get to the top. What we thought might have taken half an hour ended up taking closer to one hour. 'Welcome back to the South West', I thought to myself. The rain was now becoming fairly constant and the wind was chilling things off so we tried to keep moving. At the top of the ridge, we approached the next large rocky outcrop again opting for the western side. The scrub was a little thicker here but not too bad and it wasn't long before we were in an open button grass saddle heading towards the next clump of rocks.

This band of rock looked a bit trickier. Scrub was getting much thicker on both sides and the weather getting worse. We chose the western side again and then after a bit of sidling we found ourselves heading up on to the top of the outcrop for a clearer lead. About 2.5hours after lunch, we arrived at a small saddle in the rocks and with the wind now howling we found some shelter on the eastern side and decided to throw on some more layers of clothing. I was starting to really feel the cold! I'd been in shorts until now but quickly put on the overpants as well as a thermal and pullover under my goretex shell. I also whipped out some new waterproof gloves I had just recently received and it is incredible the difference these made so quickly! I have trialled a lot of glove systems but the Temres Showa are now my go to glove for hikes such as this!

Warmed up and reinvigorated, we headed on along the rocky ridgeline aware that now negotiating outcrops, things were now going much slower. Throughout the day we had been very loosely following our spiritual guide, Gerv's route which we had obtained from him prior to the walk. But along these ridgelines even a route such as this isn't exactly useful. You have to go very much on feel and 'following your nose'. Over the next few sections we had to check a few false leads and retreat to find a better route, all the while seeing our proposed camp location not too far off in the distance. We had now chosen to stick to the top or just off the top of the rocky ridge and negotiating the various dips and grooves of the ridge was taking time. But, 8 hours and 45 minutes after leaving the shore, we arrived at the final open button grass plain leading up to the junction of the ridge leading to Pokana Peak. Arriving at this junction, we spent about 20 minutes reviewing the accommodation. Luckily the rain had now stopped and just the wind remained. Very large tufts of button grass covered the entire area which made picking a site difficult however we eventually found something very cosy and sheltered tucked in beside a large boulder. It even had views of Pokana Bay and the route we had just covered. It would suffice for tonight.

Exhausted, we setup camp and were all straight into tents with dinner following straight away. It was an early night to bed on some fairly uneven and chiropractic ground!

We awoke at around 7am on day 2 to misty conditions after an undulating nights sleep on our ridge top location. Given our very tight location, we were keen to pack up and go pretty quickly. It was hard to even try to get out of the tents. After a casual tent bound brekky, we gradually packed up and it wasn't long before the wet boots were back on and we made the final pack up of camp. At least it wasn't raining. By 8.30am we were on our way making the very short walk up to the ridge junction. We found a bunch of rocks and dumped our packs, just taking the bare essentials with us for the short trip out to Pokana Peak. The landscape here was all button grass with some light scrub and rock bands in between. We moved quickly without packs and crossed two saddles before arriving at the final climb to the peak. It was enjoyable walking and so nice to be on this type of terrain after yesterdays mixed bag.

After 55 minutes, we made the final easy ascent to the summit of Pokana Peak. I was surprised to find a surveyors concrete marker thingy here and we sat down beside it in the mist for a snack and photo. The wind had dropped right off and it was actually on the warmer side as we didn't take in the views due to the thick mist. We were really happy to be on this peak as in our heads it had always seemed so remote and hard to get to. We all felt that it would probably be the only time we would visit it so we had a good rest and after about 20 minutes, reluctantly started the trip back to the packs. Another 55 minutes later, we were back at the packs and after a snack we commenced our walk towards the next climb not too far away through the mist. I had a bit of a sense of foreboding about todays walk and the many climbs we would have throughout the day with a full load on my back. But, an hour after donning the pack we were at the top of the next ridge and were starting to get some views of the two unnamed lakes below us to the north (which we had pegged as potential camps for night 1). The walking, while still very misty, was beautiful. Along wide open ridge tops with no scrub we made good progress. It was a really enjoyable section of walking. As we began our descent to one of the main saddles of the day, the mist began to lift and we could see our route ahead - a big climb. But we would worry about that later. There was a steep, scrubby descent to take care of first.

We continued descending towards the saddle while it gradually became steeper. About half way down, the gradient became too much and wanting to get further north and closer to the saddle, we followed a rocky cliff line eventually finding a very steep chute that would lead us down towards the saddle proper. Dropping around 30 metres vertically through some thick scrub, clambering to trees and dropping straight down, the chute felt like no problems for Woolza and I. Having spent much time handling similar descents and climbs all over the south west this was part of the deal for us. For Beaui and Crawf however this may have felt a little new. 'Welcome to the south west boys!' I yelled back as I was the first to reach the base of the chute.

With myself and Woolza down, now with just a small descent to the saddle to go, we stopped for a breather and a snack as the sun started to shine. From our vantage point we could now see Crawf and Beaui at the top of the chute, starting their way down. After what felt like a long time, they slowly clambered down with us shouting directions and advice from our commentary box. Nearing the bottom, Crawf claimed to become 'stuck' between two trees. 'Just jiggle a bit' I called out, to which Crawf apparently did. This was followed by a loud 'Pop!' and then by Crawf cannon balling down through the final bit of scrub to the bottom. Arriving to greet us he was about to comment on the descent when he instantly realised his pack's main harness buckle was now gone! 'You're  gonna want to find that' was my response. I did have a spare harness belt buckle for such instances (from past experience this is a 'must bring') but he had also lost the webbing which would make things much harder. So, we headed back the short distance and had a good look for twenty minutes before giving up the search. Day 2 of a 10 day trip and no pack harness.... 'Hmmmmmm', I thought. We decided to have lunch and ponder this. It was now 4.5hrs since departing camp. As I dived into my rehydrated Ramen and Tuna Salad (Delicious by the way), Crawf, while trying to cobble together a new harness, discovered that the buckle and webbing were all still attached to his pack and had somehow become tucked into a pocket behind the pack's cushioning?!? They detached in one part and had then hidden themselves! Lucky!

After a bit of a laugh and a good lunch, we donned sunscreen and made the final short walk into the saddle that had seem to have taken all day to get to. Now, in the heat, we started the big climb of the day. Forming a peloton, we took it in turns at the front and made great progress upwards through the scrub following the ridgeline. The scrub didn't last long and started to give way to more open low lying vegetation. We now had grand stand views of Mt Curly and Lake Curly to our north (where we hoped to be in a couple of days) as well various other peaks around the state including our destination of the Denison range in coming days. The weather yesterday was now retrospectively bearable given what we were seeing today. Awesome.

It wasn't long before we reached the top of the 'big climb' of the day and then made the descent to the next saddle before climbing again. The walking now was just magic. Top weather and fantastic views all around - I was absolutely loving this! And the off track aspect, well how good is it?  Just following your nose, and figuring things out as you move along. So good. We enjoyed moving along at a good pace and had already made the decision that today we would only go as far as Shining Mountain (originally, we were aiming for the Font). We wanted to make the most of this weather and take some time to enjoy it. The only issue would be water. We had seen very little since leaving Lake Gordon and had so far relied on small soaks and puddles from recent rains. 2.5hrs after leaving our lunch spot, we commenced the final climb up to Conical Mountain. Again, pleasant walking, we followed the ridgeline to what looked like a broad summit. We quickly climbed the summit ridge and dumped packs at what looked like a good spot to continue on to Shining Mountain. I grabbed all my camera gear and then made the short jaunt up to the summit on a ridgeline that was narrower than i expected. Woolza was already there waiting for us and welcomed us with a beaming smile! The weather, now spectacular, brought similar smiles to all of our dials and we sat down in the still air to take it all in. Absolutely magnificent. Conical Mountain ...... one of the best. We had a good rest here but with Shining Mountain now in arms reach, we were keen to setup camp and have a real relax. We bolted back to the packs and then made the walk down into the final saddle of the day before finally following the gentle ramparts up to the broad and meandering summit of Shining Mountain. I had read somewhere that had classifie camping here was 'one of the best campsites in Tassie'. Well, I've stayed at some of the best (Hanging Lake, Coronation Peak and more.. ) but this is certainly in the top few for me. Wow. After traversing along the summit plateau we found 'the spot' just where the descent starts. A grandstand view of the route ahead as well as all the peaks to the west, we arrived at 5.30pm, around 8.5hrs after departing that morning. Over the next few hours we were treated to an absolutely spectacular sunset as well as an amazing nights sky. All four of us saw a massive shooting star and this evening is forever etched into my hiking memory. Photos don't do it justice. After plenty of chatting and gazing at the stars, we eventually clambered into bed at around 10.30pm. The night still, we slept like babies.

We awoke on day 3 just before sunrise. I could here a couple of the others already outside, and looking out the tent door I could see the sky was still cloudless. I could have stayed in bed, but managed to pull myself out to get a few sunrise pics. The view was again spectacular and we took our time packing up camp and taking photos as the sun began to rise. We could already tell it was going to be hot, but took our time and enjoyed the morning.

At 9.30am we were finally all packed on on our way down the ridge off Shining Mountain. The descent was fairly steep to start with and we split into pairs going slightly different ways down the first section, rejoining again after the first descent. It was pretty much all button grass down the ridge with a few dips and rises along the way. We made good progress and after 1 hour were pretty much at the bottom of the ridge. We were still slightly elevated and had a good view across to the small creek we had to cross to in order to commence the climb up to our next stop, The Font. We had spent a lot of time studying todays walk prior to the trip as we didn't want to spend a day of intense scrub bashing up the wrong lead to our destination. Other trip reports had mixed reviews on the route with some approaching The Font from the wrong angle and up the wrong ridgeline. Looking from our vantage point now, we could see a very nice and fairly open line up along a subtle ridge in the main valley below The Font. With intermittent rocky sections up the spine of the smaller ridge, it looked like a good option.

We descended off our perch and into some thick scrub before reaching the creek about 1.5 hrs after departing camp. We then crossed the creek easily and started the ascent. First through a short section of thick scrub and then through some waist high stuff before starting towards our chosen ridge. Again, we made good progress and once we reached the first band of rocks at the base of ridge climb, we had a good breather in the sun. It was really heating up now and each time we stopped I would drop the scrub pants and shorts to let my legs air. Quite a sight! The shirts were even coming off at each stop as we ascended higher. We followed the rocky bands up the ridge. These were now becoming quite steep but manageable. Between each band there were scrub patches, but overall it was a great route up to the lake. Finally the rocky ridge ended and we sidled around a small scrubby bowl into a saddle and back around towards the lake which was just above us. We then arrived at a white sealed pipe stuck into the ground on a stake. The remote area log book! Sweet! We were nearly there. I took the book with me to have a read at camp and made the final ascent on a pad up through some thick scrub to finally arrive at the small mountain lake known as 'The Font' some 3 hours after departing Shining Mountain. It was a pleasure to be here! Feeling very hot I knew It wouldn't be long before I would be in the water. We stopped on the eastern side of the lake briefly - Crawf and Beaui even jumped in there and then - but we then decided to head to the western side to inspect the campsite there. Woolza and I wandered around and in a few minutes we found a beautiful little site right beside the lake nestled in under Flame Peak. It was straight off with gear and into the water! Refreshment plus, it was wonderful. There were tadpoles everywhere so not wanting them to swim anywhere they shouldn't I had a quick dip and returned to the camp for lunch and a relax as Crawf and  Beaui joined us.

After lunch, we setup camp and got ourselves organised. With the sun shining bright, at 3pm we decided to head off to our next objective of the day - the summit of The Spires. Feeling lethargic, I pulled myself up and we started on the fairly solid pad that ascended up to the saddle besides Flame peak. We made rapid progress admiring the views below as we climbed. We didn't think this would be a long trip so took our time. Within about 25 minutes we were at the top of the saddle and could see the way up Flame Peak. We'd do that later. For now, we turned our attention to what looked to be the obvious way up to the main summit of The Spires. With the others pondering the fairly steep climb above us, I stepped up and commenced the lead up the peak. We were on the shaded side of the mountain and the slopes up had large amounts of damp alpine scrub  and moss covering them. As the climb became steeper this made some sections seem more exposed than they needed to be as a lot of the moss and wet soil was very slippery. As a result, we stuck to the rocky leads where we could and it wasn't long until we found ourselves arriving back into the sunshine and at the summit of the peak. It was great to be back in the sun after the cool of the shade and as we took in the views we looked across at the surrounding peaks to see that the other 'spire' just to our south looked a touch higher than our current summit. This confused us - we had taken around 45 minutes to get to our current point and this aligned with most peoples trip times to the summit. We referred to The Abels notes, but there wasn't a great deal of detail about which was the correct summit. The other peak didn't look that far away and we could see a fairly direct looking route off this summit towards it. Having come this far we thought it best to go and climb the other peak to ensure we didn't miss the true summit.

After a short descent down to a saddle on the south western side we again found ourselves looking up at a steep climb. This one however was very exposed. While Woolza and I felt that it would be ok to climb, the others weren't as sure so we decided to go with the safer option of descending further west off our saddle and down around the back/western side of the peak.  We followed the bases of the cliffs around and after sidling for 15 minutes, found a good looking rocky chute to lead us up to the summit. We really copped the heat of the sun on this side and worked up a sweat, arriving on the summit of the second peak about 1.5 hours after leaving camp. We still couldn't decide which peak was higher. The two were so similar in height that not even our watches and their altimeters could give a clear answer. Regardless, we had now done both so knew we were safe in claiming the summit. I have to say, I liked the outlook from the second peak better. I looked at the more direct route we had baulked at and decided from this vantage point it was way too exposed for my liking and I wouldn't be descending that way. We had chosen the right route. After a bit of time on the peak we reluctantly started to make the return journey. We returned to the Flame Peak saddle via different route, avoiding reascending the first Spires peak we sidled around it through a series of a couple of gullies, again in the shade of the peak. We were back at the saddle in good time and then made the very short stroll up to the summit of Flame Peak. This was an easier walk and we enjoyed the views back to the Spires which we had just climbed. I very carefully lowered myself to the ground and had a very wary peak over the edge of the peak to our tents way below - it makes me queasy thinking about the height! Having had enough fund for one day, we headed back off Flame peak and down to the saddle  before making the final descent to camp. We arrived back some 3 hours after departing happy with our little adventure. Now hot and bothered again after our foray, I decided to jump back in the lake for one last dip. Refreshed, it was nice to settle into the evening feeling a little bit revived. Another clear night's sky was on the cards and we spent the evening relaxing and marvelling at the names and notes in the log book which stretched back 16 years. I made our entry just before heading to bed, looking forward to our trip to Lake Curly tomorrow....

The sun rose again and we awoke to yet another magnificent south west day. We had decided on an early rise so that we could get to our destination as early as possible. Lake Curly. We were excited to be heading there as tomorrow would be a rest day. We had managed to get a weather forecast the day before and rain was on the way. We'd make the most of a rest day in the rain at a place I was looking forward to seeing. We also hoped that this afternoon we could find some time to spend on the beach!

We got out of bed in the dark and started breakfast and organising ourselves. It was a quick pack up and by 7.30am we were wandering back around The Font before descending into the scrubby pad. On the way out I returned the log book to its repository and said a quite farewell to the Font by myself .... wondering if I would ever return. After leaving the log book we were back in the sun and the heat was already rising. We followed our same inwards route and after 1.5 hours we were back at the scrubby creek crossing from the day before. We now headed back to the top of the base of the ridge we had followed from Shining Mountain yesterday. After a short bit of scrub we were back on the ridge and now looking east across a forested valley to the ridge we planned to follow all the way to Perambulator ridge above Lake Curly. The problem, we saw now, was the valley between us and the next ridge. It look SCRUBBY. We decided to sidle a bit further north and then headed down into the valley. From above there was quite a bit of forest, so I hoped that things would be nice and spacious in there. What was I thinking? As we descended the valley, things became thicker and scrubbier. Unpleasant would be the most polite way to describe it. The heat didn't help either. We battled on through the scrub and about an hour and a quarter after leaving the creek at the base of The Font descent we reached the clearer button grass base section of the long ridge we would now follow to Lake Curly. It was a relief to be through the scrub. We postulated on whether or not it was the worst we had been through, coming to the conclusion that the jury was still out. Looking back, at where we had travelled, we saw that if we had continued north along the Shining Mountain ridge we could probably have followed a clearer route. Oh well.

The next few hours was spent trudging through button grass. We had a few breaks along the way 'airing our legs' and basking in the sun. About  3 hours after the traumatic scrub bash, we arrived on Perambulator Ridge with a magnificent view of our destination - the Lake Curly beach! Sweet! We surveyed the route ahead. The most common route, we knew, was to continue north along Perambulator and then down to the beach. Initially we thought this the best option but standing there in the heat, with the lake so close we decided to just drop straight off the ridge and down to the lake. 'Bugger it' I thought, 'let's roll!' We followed a faint lead initially and then it was off and straight down into thick, waist high scrub. The first step I took into the scrub I heard a massive 'Riiip'! I looked down at my very nice Arc'Teryx overpants to see a massive rip down the leg. 'F#$k it' I thought to myself (and exclaimed to the others). That is an expensive tear. 'Oh well, what the south west giveth, the south west wrecketh your gear'. I pondered on it for a couple of seconds and then bashed on down through the scrub. It was thick and hot but 40 minutes after dropping off Perambulator we landed in the lake. You could not wipe the smiles off our faces. It had felt like a long day and we were stoked to be here. Standing in the lake, boots on, water lapping our calves we started the wade up to the campsite. We passed a couple of small beaches on the way and took plenty of photos. The lake was beautiful and it was a privilege to be in such a special place. 20 minutes or so later, we found ourselves on the main Lake Curly beach. A short walk to the eastern end and we found a delightful little campsite awaiting. Perfect for our two tents. We dumped our packs, it was about 2.30pm. Knowing we still had plenty of daylight, we took our time settling in, each of us pottering around with gear, getting it drying on the beach. I setup my little solar panel and started charging devices and also hopped in for a brief swim in the lake. We eventually set up our tents and then spent the rest of the day enjoying the serenity of the water and beach. It was yet another campsite that rated as one of the best. We setup our chairs and stoves on the beach and relaxed until the sun set. That evening we retired to camp for cards on a small wooden table Crawf had manufactured from driftwood and reeds! What a day and what a campsite! I was glad we were able to wake in the morning knowing that we had no where to travel. After cards and a bit of laughter, we retired late in the evening.

At some stage during the night, I heard the wind and then the rain start. It wasn't unexpected. I slumbered through the night and awoke at around 8am to heavy rain. Oh well, rest day. I stayed in the warm comfort of my sleeping bag til around 9.30am and then decided it was time to get up. It was a miserable day so we were happy with our decision to get here to rest. We had setup a tarp outside our tent the previous day and it was now nice to have this to sit under in the sheltered campsite. The day was spent doing repairs to gear, reading books and doing a stocktake of food. I love rest days in the middle of nowhere! Each of us had our little projects we worked on and we'd occasionally congregate under the tarp for a coffee and a chat. We spent some time on the beach between showers but there'd be no swimming today. Still, it was hard not to love Lake Curly.

That’s the end of part 1. Part 2 continues at this link.

The Walk by Numbers (Part 1):