Perfect timing: a window of wintry weather in Tassie's wondrous Walls of Jerusalem

360 panorama. North is in the centre, south on the outsides.
King Davids Peak in the left foreground (Cradle Mountain is behind this), then (moving left):
Barn Bluff (distinct, nipple-looking peak),
Mt Pelion West (pyramid),
Pt Pelion East and Mt Ossa (highest in Tassie),
then (I don't know the exact order) Mt Massif, Mt Geryon, The Acropolis, DuCane Range.
From the right of the photo, Frenchmans Cap can just be seen in the background above the Lake Ball.

I could hardly believe it. There was a tiny window of ideal conditions and we found ourselves right in the middle of it...

Last week I led an Outdoor Ed hike within the Walls of Jerusalem National Park in central Tassie. The forecast was for snow down to 300m on Wednesday, Day 1. The snow was to fall all Tuesday night, through Wednesday and that night, then clear to a fine and sunny Thursday and Friday as a high pressure system moved over Tasmania.

Climbing onto the plateau in the late morning: a rare break in the clouds

We walked all day under grey skies, in the wind and falling snow, reached camp at 4:30 and then had to clear snow off the tent pads.

Cooking tea under the tarp. It is snowing outside.

We awoke on Thursday morning (after a -5 degree night) to bright sunshine, blue skies and knee-deep powder snow.

Cooking and eating brekky. The discussion seemed to revolve
around how stupendous the day ahead looked and
how cold our feet were in our frozen boots.

Once the snow had been brushed off our tents and our boots had been defrosted, our day walk took us several kilometres into the Inner Walls area, all the while wading through the pristine white cover on the landscape.

Pencil pines. Large ones can be over 1000 years old.

Lunch was at the Pool of Bethesda, a small lake tucked away about 100m from the main track.
Completely iced over.

The going was treacherous in places! Miss your step by a few centimetres and you'd get wet! The best thing was to frantically kick your boots in the powder snow to to freeze the water on your boot so it didn't seep in.

Essential gear: walking poles, gaiters, map, compass and goggles.
Sunscreen was applied 3 or 4 times that day, and we still burned.

Our goal: the peak called Solomons Throne...

...but where exactly, under that half a metre of snow, was the track?

The snow got deeper as we headed up the mountainside
(fortunately without our packs, which were left at the junction)...

...and deeper
(these poles are nearly a metre tall)...

...and deeper!
The only part of this pole visible was the square of the top.

About to head into the chute (second drift from the right) on the final push to the summit.

2-metre deep drift in the final chute!
Combined with the 45-degree slope, this was almost impossible to ascend.

North is over King Davids Peak (LHS of photo). We walked in following the lower slopes of the West Wall, between King Davids Peak and the teardrop-shaped Lake Salome.

A second cold night (estimated at -8) meant that the next morning, lying on my back in the tent, I breathed out, then a second or so later my frozen breath fell back to my face as tiny ice crystals, tickling my skin. However, once more we had a magnificent sunny day for the walk out to the bus.

We passed this small lake on the walk out. Have a look at the ripples. They were actually not moving. Yes, the lake had frozen mid-ripple.

We had a great time breaking chunks of ice off the surface and skimming them ice-hockey-puck style across the lake. That chunk is between 2 and 2.5cm thick.

I've been buzzing since this trip!