Seeking The Labyrinth

When to turn back and when to push on

I woke up in darkness, with only the slightest of background noise. Solitude.

Today I was planning to explore The Labyrinth in the Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania. It is a maze of lakes, boggy ground and challenging navigation (hence its name) with the rugged peaks of the Walled Mountain to the west and the DuCane range to the north. I had wanted to visit this area since I first walked the Overland Track 40 years ago and hoped to get as far as the Pool of Memories for no better reason than I liked the name.

I was warm in my sleeping bag in the Pine Valley Hut, feeling pretty good, although the accumulated fatigue of hiking and photography for the past six days was beginning to take its toll. I knew I had to get up and have some breakfast – I had a lot to do – but any delay in putting on cold, wet clothes for the sixth day in a row was very attractive.

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Yesterday had been Day 6 along the famous Overland Track. Normally, walkers would leave the Bert Nichols hut and head down to Narcissus Hut on the shore of Lake St Clair where most people catch the ferry to the official end of the trail.

Instead, I took a right turn and headed up the Pine Valley Track to spend two nights in the Pine Valley Hut. The track follows Cephissus Creek, initially through open button grass plains and eucalypt forest, then into an increasingly dark and enclosed rainforest as the valley narrows.

Having reached Pine Valley Hut, I had an early lunch and then set off to climb The Acropolis. The walk is steep, rough going, especially climbing out of Pine Valley and then to the final rocky summit, and by the time I reached the summit the weather was rapidly deteriorating.

The second steep section to the summit, The Acropolis

Although I didn’t waste any time getting back down, it was dark and snowing by the time I reached the valley floor and I had covered well over 20 kilometres of rough going that day. Given the number of people who walk the Overland Track, I was pleasantly surprised to find the hut empty, so I quickly prepared a meal and settled in for a good night’s sleep.

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Finally getting out of bed, I found the snow had continued to fall through the night. In the protection of the valley, the snowflakes were big and soft; gently drifting through the forest although I knew that up higher the wind would be blowing a gale.

My first task after breakfast was to photograph Cephissus Falls before the wind in the valley picked up. Even though I was cold with damp (and smelly) clothes, it was easy to wonder at the rainforest. There were magnificent Myrtle Beech and Pandani with a relatively open understory and a carpet of moss and lichen everywhere.

It took a little searching to find a composition – with such dim and overcast conditions, I wanted to capture the dark, foreboding nature of the vegetation crowding in over the creek. In the end, I took a three-shot panorama.

Cephissus Falls

Now it was time to climb. Like yesterday, the climb out of the valley towards the Walled Mountain and the DuCane Range was steep and narrow through some thick scrub. Some lower sections had a lot of false leads and infrequent markers so care was required to stay on the track – once I needed to back track and pause to find the trail.

There were two types of track as I made my way up the side of the valley. There were sections that were relatively clear of vegetation – these were more like water courses than trail. These sections required scrambling up loose rocks trying to avoid the deeper pools and mini waterfalls. The other sections were where the scrub was growing in tight, and you had to push through the vegetation covered in inches of snow. Neither were pleasant.

Finally, the climb levelled out. Here the vegetation was far more exposed and compact as a result. The track was reasonably well defined as it wound around pools of water and through the thick ground cover between the sparse trees. I stopped several times to take some photos, visualising a black and white edit given the conditions.

The track traversed around the exposed, west side of The Parthenon and as a result I was being blasted by sleet. It can be difficult in these harsh conditions to maintain a focus on photography. If I simply had to travel from A to B I could put my head down and set a good pace until I got there. But I had to remind myself that I was there to photograph the landscape, not walk it.

To travel slowly, to look around and explore compositions takes energy. To get the camera out and set up even more so. And every time, I was getting a little more tired and cold.

Finally, I got to the point where the track descends into the Labyrinth – I had to make a decision. To turn back or continue down? I sat in the lee of a rock for a drink and snack as I considered the view in front of me.

I turned back. It was clear that the weather was not improving and could well worsen, and my internal risk assessment had reached the conclusion that the margins for error were getting too narrow – a fall or getting lost, by myself and having to survive the night before any chance of rescue, would not be good.

The trip back was quick – I was focussed on getting from A to B and spent little time looking for photos. Arriving back at Pine Valley Hut, I was pleased to see that a park ranger had arrived and was getting the pot-bellied stove going and a group of hikers had walked in for the day.

As I sat in the warmth and comfort of the hut, enjoying the last of my coffee, I reflected on the two days alone in rugged country. Being immersed in nature is for me a humbling experience, especially in remote and harsh conditions. The landscape is indifferent to my hopes and expectations – it can truly be a lonely and confronting place.

At the same time, I welcome that stripping away of modern life and a focus on what is essential. While exploring the wilderness requires a clear-eyed assessment of the reality of the situation, it also requires a grateful acceptance of whatever experience you walk into.

This experience, while challenging, was a joy - even though I didn’t get to explore The Labyrinth. Maybe next time.