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Overland Track

The Overland Track ends here. One of Australia's premier hiking tracks starts at Cradle Mountain and finishes at Lake St Clair. In the old days people could make the trek in both directions, but in these days of regulation and user pays it is a register, pay and travel in one direction only track. As you'll see from the official link below it takes 6 days to make the 65 kilometre trek and will cost you $200 for the pass:

parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/cradle-mountain/overla...

 

A number of private companies have taken to promoting the trek and provide an all-inclusive guided service for several thousand dollars. I won't provide any links here, but you can find them online if you have the cash. As a former Australian Prime Minister once said, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

 

In 1931 fur trapper Bert Nichols created the Overland Track and by 1935 it was consolidated and used by independent walking parties. By 1937 it was officially named the Overland Track and the track had been upgraded to be used for guided tours and pack horses.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overland_Track

 

The Overland Track can be a very dangerous place to be, certainly with the very changeable weather in the region. So the fact it is well monitored and regulated is a good thing. In 1965 there was a disastrous school hike that claimed the lives of a student teacher, Ewan Scott, and a student David Kilvert. The heroism of Scott as he tried to save the life of Kilvert in blizzard conditions is remembered in this article: www.examiner.com.au/story/3068014/heroism-defined-in-moun...

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Uploaded on October 7, 2020
Taken on September 4, 2020