Ben Trainor, Perfect Day on Mt Jerusalem (Sept theme: THE PERFECT DAY)

Standing atop Mt Jerusalem in Walls of Jerusalem National Park in Tasmania was the pinnacle of a perfect day bushwalking. We were grateful to even be there. Access to the trailhead had just reopened after fires burned across Tasmania in early 2016, with floods closing access a few months later. The previous day we made the steep ascent onto the alpine plateau to camp. We awoke beside the rushing sounds of Wild Dog Creek. Leaving our tent we walked through Herod’s Gate. King David’s Peak and the Temple form a wall of rock on one side, and cliffs on the other. In between we passed Cushion Plants and Pencil Pines amidst stunning alpine lakes and pools. We followed the boardwalk to a low point between the Temple and Solomon’s Throne before descending through a forest of Pencil Pines to Dixon’s Kingdom. Here we rested for morning tea beside Dixon’s Hut (a historic wooden hut originally built by graziers in the 1930s). We pressed ahead. Initially bubbling brooks past beneath the track. After another hours walking we were on top the 1459 metre Mt Jerusalem. With perfect weather, and the summit to ourselves, we could see the horizon in all directions. The views were magnificent. To the West we could see our route past King David’s Peak, with the famous Cradle Mountain and Barn Bluff on the horizon. To the South stretched the vast South West wilderness and on the other sides hundreds of lakes and tarns covered the Central Plateau. After enjoying lunch and the views we retraced our steps. On the way back I took a short but spectacular sidetrip to the top of the Temple. Stone steps weave up a boulder field and through a chasm to reach the 1470 metre peak. Rain started just before we arrived back to the tent. It did not matter. We were soon warm inside and buzzing from a perfect day on my wife’s first overnight hike.

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