Black Bluff

Christmas Day 2021… and off we go. Thinking the peak at the back is where we are heading. We started out at Taylors Flats.

Everything started off nice and meandering… and flat-ish

Path ran parallel to the Leven River, so the sound was soothing

The track at the start was lovely and ferny

The weather was gorgeous… hot summers day.
We started out a bit late as we’d been on the phone doing Christmas Greetings to our Canadian Family.

Not that it mattered. Had no schedule to stick to

Got to this little stream… and there it is! The start of ‘up’

Doesn’t look too bad in the photo (From the comfort of my chair)

Merry Christmas Husband..

The track was easy to follow…

Once we moved up and away from the river, things got scrubbier and a lot hotter

Don’t forget to turn around and see how far you’ve come!!
This also shows things getting a bit steep!

Jeff is so much fitter than I am!!

Sweet summer flowers out everywhere

As we got nearer the top, there were so many more

Loved the colour of these leaves

Its like they are on fire.

That bluff still looks a long way off

Here we go… some good rugged tracks!

And looking back – these were hard on the legs and feet coming down

Still looks far far away…

Small rocky outcrops peeking through the bush

Again just turning to look back

You can see the flowers appearing more along here

Views…

Bigger views

Fluffy flowers (Sorry… sum total of my knowledge of the flora)

Red poker like flowers on spikey bush! (More fabulous clueless plant naming)

OK, yes. Its getting closer but that still looks like a lot of walking yet to go

Views are getting better and better

At this point we are keeping an eye out for a lake that is meant to be up here!

Its pretty hot and I am certain I am going to jump right on in

Heading downwards for a short stretch which was a relief to my legs

How pretty is this area?

Love the little wildflowers everywhere

And yes, I am putting in all the photos 🙂

Views AND flowers!

Where is that lake??

Seriously… has to be close now.

Lake!

Welcome to the most northern glacial lake in Australia

Actually its a glacial tarn… Anyway, see the lines on the water above?? Thats the wind ripping through the saddle and it wasn’t warm!

Beautiful though

Black Bluff looming over Paddy’s Lake

So… with the wind and temperature taking a bit of a dive and the water being… not warm, we woosed out of the swim and just paddled and wet our hair and filled the water containers

So beautifully refreshing!

Hey look! Jeff got me new hiking shoes!
They got a small workout before doing this trek but are lovely and comfy

And new socks…

OK…. What with the time in the day that we had left, we decided not to continue up to the top. We’d had a great day already so, time to head down.

A few dried strawberries to pep me up.

Easier to enjoy the views on the way back.

Burst of yellow at my feet.

Wouldn’t mind returning to get to the very top, but this wasn’t disappointing at all!

Of course… somehow I found some deep mud.

Such a great way to spend Christmas! Even if the cheese ham and relish buns were a bit downscale from a roast turkey… we were quite happy!

Cheers!