Lake Spicer Track

Yet again Tassie doesn’t disappoint this place was spectacular.

Until Friday I hadn’t even heard of this place and was planning a relatively quite weekend as Jacinta was working and I thought I better catch up on a few Jobs but late on Friday night I receive a text message asking whether I was keen to do a trip down to Lake Spicer and after quickly checking it out my decision was made much to Jacinta’s disgust as she had to work HAHAHA.

So on Sunday I was up before the crack of dawn and on me way.  After a quick head count in Tullah to make sure no one had slept in (Bradley & Heidi) we where on our way and it didn’t take me long before I had to stop and get a photo as the scenery before we even got to the track was great.  View from Lake Plimsoll.

So after catching up with everyone else we where on the track and the first stop was the Fisherman’s Hut.  Not sure exactly what they where here for but the Rosebery fishing club does maintain them as far as I’m aware.  After this point the track starts to get a little more low rangy, starting with a pretty simple creek crossing not far from the huts followed by another.  Then a steepish hill climb that the near open diff in the cruiser didn’t like.

Not much further from the hill climb the views started to get really good

and every direction you looked in was exactly the same, Lakes surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

The going from here was reasonably good there where a few hard bottom water crossings and a couple of little rocky sections but they where easily negotiated.  We then came across this

the track was the creek and at first to those who hadn’t been here before it looked a bit daunting but Dirk and Blake assured us it wasn’t an issue so we forged our way through with ease.

From here the track seemed to get very narrow and unfortunately it wasn’t the nice soft bush you get down in the Arthur River Area, it was very tough and hardy and soon gouged into the wafer thin paint on the cruiser but it all seemed worth it as when it did open up again you would get views like this.

Then once the Paint is gone you have hit the end of the track and are at Lake Spicer.

We stopped here to take in the great scenery and have a bite to eat and I took the opportunity to get the drone out and get some Ariel shots of this fantastic area  End of the line

Mt Achilles.. I think??

This area is also littered with old mines it was part of the Mt Read volcanic and correlates area.  There are over 26 known mines along the distance of the track (12km) and no doubt many more unknown, the main commodity was Copper although silver and zinc were also found in the area.  So after lunch on our way back we thought we would try to find a few.  The first one we actually found was called Lake Dora Mine 1 and it was a mission to get too, there are some markers but they soon disappear and the scrub has very thickly re-claimed the track and we where soon wading through chest deep sword grass and leach covered button grass but we made it

the adit went in about 100m and there was an old wooden wheelbarrow at the entrance but unfortunately I missed that.  As hard and as cold as it would have been to mine here these blokes would have had a good view at smoko as directly opposite the mine a few hundred meters away was a waterfall.   I suppose that would offer some reward for the treacherous working conditions.  The next mine we found was Long and Sidler which was also a copper mine that consisted of a shaft and adit.  This wasn’t much easier to get to as you had to traverse button grass which was ok when you walked on the grass clumps but when you missed it was an instant wet foot as I found out the hard way.  I’m not exactly sure on the time period of these mines but at a guess I think it would be around the early 1900’s.     Shaft full of icy water.

Whats left of the Adit, the entrance has since collapsed.

From here it was getting on in the afternoon so we thought we better make tracks and head off but even that wasn’t without it rewards because as the sun was getting lower in the clouds and offering some fantastic colours and photo opportunities of the lakes and surrounding mountains.    Also on the way out (it took me awhile) I noticed that 90% of the rocks in the area where conglomerate meaning rocks within rock and it was some of the biggest examples of this I have ever seen.Now I’m now Geologist (Correct me if in wrong) but I’m pretty sure this is caused by extreme pressure, that of what a glacier may have produced many thousands of years ago.  So by the outlay of the land and the conglomerate rocks I’m guessing we may have been traveling the path of a glacier many years ago.

Overall this was a fantastic trip and I would recommend it to anyone that doesn’t mind a few scratches on their 4wd.  There is a gate at the start of the track but the key can be grabbed from Parks & Wildlife office in Queenstown.

Full Video here

Thanks to Bradley & Heidi Horton, Dirk, Michelle & Blake Schumann and Scotty for the trip I had a fantastic time.

Hope you enjoyed

Cheers

Brendan