Day 3 - Dixon Kingdom Hut to Lake Meston Hut

Wedge Tail Eagles from Dixon Kingdom Hut. We saw many eagles. They were a spectacular site

Ready to leave the hut and head off to Lake Meston (note the snowshoes for the first leg of the journey)

From Dixon’s Kingdom Hut we headed south west down Jaffa Vale to Lake Ball. We kept to the right of the lake, along the northern shore,and had to scale a sheer rock wall, which some did with ease and others found a challenge. (some thought it was a sheer rock wall, others thought it was a pile of rocks that had to be "traversed) We arrived at the recently renovated Lake Ball Hut and Clare applied bandaids to newly emerging blisters. The hut smelt pleasantly of newly cut timber.

Lake Ball Hut, newly renovated. Nice spot to stay

Barn Bluff and Pelion East in the distance after Lake Ball, before descent to Lake Adelaide (thanks Colin)

We continued to the western end of the lake which was covered in a layer of ice, beautiful spot with super clear water. Here the track crosses an opening onto a broad saddle and the continues to eucalyptus forest. The track then decended on steep rocky track to the open plains at the northern end of Lake Adelaide. Here we stopped for a quick bite and lucky old Simmo found a compass. A nice one too!

A well defined track passed along the eastern shore of Lake Adelaide sometime climbing over rocky bluffs. Walking along the shore can be a slow process. South of Lake Adelaide the track peters out and effectively disappears into the sphagnum moss, which is what we felt we could do in some of the very deep sections. Some small open puddles were deep enough to poke our walking poles into and not touch the bottom of the hole. This was very hard walking as every footfall had to be carefully placed to avoid disappearing knee deep into the holes. We observed evidence of carnivorous animals – scat and clean skeletons. We then followed the open valley south-west to Lake Meston. A very scenic campsite on the northern tip – evidence of recent camping including a camp fire. The track then climbed through thick tea tree and follows the north-west shore.

Finally with about an hour and half of daylight remaining we arrived at Meston Hut. Following an intense discussion it was decided that we would send the night here and prepare for what would be an ardulaus tomorrow.

Inside Meston Hut - great old fashioned fireplace, just some confusion from us re "Fuel Stove area " and the piles of dry firewood stored in the lean to next to the hut.

Sleeps four, with room for a couple more on the floor!