Walls Of Jerusalem National Park - Winter 2020
These images were captured during one of the top 5 photography and hiking experiences of my life. Capturing the Walls under fresh snow was something I desired for many years and will always want to re-create, we were very fortunate with the weather and witnessed something only a few will ever see.
I ventured in with a group of friends that I trust and respect, we encountered waist-deep snow, slept on icy platforms in minus 5-degree temperatures, our clothes froze at night and we pushed our bodies hard in extreme conditions but we were well prepared and loved every minute. I photographed ancient forests in the dark at minus 1 until my tripod failed, saw some on the most beautiful Tasmanian Wilderness I have ever seen and felt blessed for sharing every minute with my friends. The images are presented in the order they were taken, please sit back and enjoy them.
From the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Website: “Located in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, the Walls of Jerusalem is a wild and inspiring alpine park with a labyrinth of highland lakes, craggy mountains and elegant stands of pure pencil pine forests. Its stunning landscape of precipitous dolerite peaks, moraines and tarns are the results of glaciation.
The constantly changing landscape is as unpredictable as it is beautiful and walkers should come prepared, as the weather can shift from one hour to the next. The unique alpine vegetation and clean, crisp air of this remote highland region are sure to invigorate and inspire those with a sense of adventure.
The Walls of Jerusalem National Park is spectacular and remote high country, sculpted by glaciers thousands of years ago. Today, water remains an ever-present feature in the numerous lakes, tarns and trickling streams.
With no road access to its boundary, this alpine wonderland is for exploring on foot. The most visited part of the park is inside ‘the Walls’, flanked by towering fluted dolerite peaks. To get there from the carpark, it’s an initial steep walk up to the only formal campsite at Wild Dog Creek. From hereon, it’s a gently undulating landscape, with dolerite peaks guarding an impossibly beautiful alpine garden. Here the gods have played, dropping generous dollops of lime green onto an olive-grey canvas, finishing with delicate strokes of pink, red, orange, gold and white.
This is harsh country for survival, with frequently freezing temperatures, heavy snowfalls and strong ice-bearing winds. Trees are stunted and conifers replace snow gums at about 1000 metres. Groves of thousand-year-old pencil pines are a precious feature in the park, however tragically many have been destroyed by fire. Elsewhere, herbfields, grasslands and heathlands prevail. Spectacular domes of lime-green and olive-green cushion plants hug the ground. In springtime, scoparia fields bloom crimson, pink, orange, gold and white. And in summer, mountain rockets’ seed capsules fire red. The Walls of Jerusalem puts on a flower show to make gardeners envious and artists reach for their brushes.
Amongst all this, the fauna is surprisingly diverse and abundant, cleverly adapting to the conditions. Wombats, wallabies, pademelons, possums, quolls, devils, echidnas, native rats, long-tailed mice, skinks, snakes, frogs and numerous insects all find food and shelter here. In the lakes and tarns live platypus, anaspides, galaxiids, frogs and burrowing crayfish.
Alpine landscapes are rare in Australia. The Tasmanian high country is one of the most unspoilt alpine areas in the world.”
