I had the morning off and the weather was better than expected so I decided to try and find Disappearing Tarn.  My hopes weren’t high given the lack of rain and snow over the past couple of weeks, but I was still keen to go and check it out.

Instead of starting at the Springs and taking the Milles Track, I decided to ride my bike along the Pipeline Track from Neika then head up the Millles Track via Snake Plains.  If I had enough time before work I would then continue to Wellington Falls to rejoin the Pipeline Track before walking/riding back out.

The ride to the start of Snake Plains was fairly quick and the turn off is well indicated.  I stashed my bike, then continued to climb along old 4×4 tracks and and into the forest.  This is where I first noticed the frost and ice from the previous night.  At first it was just a light dusting, but as I approached the open scrub of Snake Plains I could see that all of the puddles were totally frozen over.  At the intersection with the Milles Track the rocks became more and more slippery and set the precedent for the day.

I reached Disappearing Tarn an hour and 20 minutes into the walk, but as expected it had disappeared.  I decided to continue with the original plan and followed the track past the Potato Fields and onto Wellington Falls.  A quick stop for some lunch at the top of the falls, then it was back down towards the Pipeline Track.  If I had all day I would have considered heading up to Mt Montague, which looms over the falls towards the west.

Once I reached the Pipeline Track I decided to head down to North West Bay River instead of winding along the road back to the bike.  The track down was very steep and so was the hike back up on the other side.  I picked my bike up again at the start of Snake Plains then it was straight back to the car and off to work.

All up 15.8kms in 3 hours and 40 minutes with a 749m ascent.

Getting there: Continue past Fern Tree along Huon Road until you reach Morphetts Road.  There will be a small carpark on the left hand side of the road,  the Pipeline Track start on the opposite side.