WALLS of JERUSALEM NP

 

1/ The Walls of Jerusalem National Park is a very beautiful, World's Heritage listed valley in eastern Tasmania. In this image you can see the famous Walls of Jerusalem set beyond an alpine tarn. Note the colors that make this area so beautiful. Two photographers have contributed images for three galleries, which show different aspects of the park.

2/ Lovely colors are seen in the Jewels of Solomon lakes, which nestles in this valley. Beyond are the Walls of Jerusalem.

3/ The photo shows the Walls of Jerusalem from close by. Note the alpine meadow and alpine vegetation in the distance. These are hint that the area does get very cold.

4/ A black boy is framed against a stark cliffs of the Walls of Jerusalem. The views on the trail are really spectacular.

5/ This is the beautiful Pool of Bethesda and beyond is Zion Hill. The pencil pine trees here are 1000 years old. Note the beautiful colors and reflections.

7/ Here surrounding a tarn are lovely cushion plants and ancient pencil pine trees. Beyond are the Walls of Jerusalem range. Note the plethora of colours and shapes that greet your eyes.

7/ Here lovely green cushion plant and pencil pine trees look towards King David's Peaks and the Walls of Jerusalem. The trail is world famous for its mountains, exotic plants and lakes.

8/ Pencil pines have a strange, out worldly shape and make a beautiful addition to the landscape.

9/ Many lakes are seen from the trail. Note the strange twisted shape of this ancient tree.

 

1/ The first landmark on the trail to Mt Jerusalem is the Trappers' Hut on Howell's Bluff. Here our party rests after the 2.3 kilometre, 600 metre walk uphill from the car park. This trip was made in the winter.

2/ The next major feature along the trail to Mt Jerusalem are Solomon's Jewels. These are a series of lovely small tarns.

3/ Solomon's Jewels frequently freeze solid. This image shows the lovely colours of a frozen tarn.

4/ This is another view of the lovely colours and shapes of Solomon's Jewels. They were photographed, when they were frozen solid.

5/ This is the view as you approach Herod's Gate. To the left is Mt Orphel, next is Zion Hill then in the distance is Mt Jerusalem with the Temple Hill to the right. The lake in the distance is Lake Salome.

6/ This is the view from inside Herod's Gate. To the left is Zion Hill, which is 1395 metres high and beyond is Mt Jerusalem, which is 1460 metres high. The lake to the left is Lake Salome.

7/ This view looks south towards Solomons Throne, which is on the left edge of the West Wall. The lake in the foreground is Lake Salome.

8/ This view shows the West Wall near Solomon's Throne. It is a a sheer 200 metre high cliff. Note the man in the foreground for a comparison of size.

9/ These are cushion plants near a tarn near the West Wall image shown above. These plants really do look like cushions.

10/ This is a tarn near the foot of Mt Jerusalem.

11/ This is the view of King David's Peak seen from near Solomon's Throne.

12/ This view was taken from the valley near King David's Peak, which is at the right end of the West Wall.

13/ This is the Pool of Bethesda. To the left is the West Wall and Solomon's Throne. The pencil pine trees here are 1000 years old.

14/ This is the magnificent sight of Solomon's Throne. It was photographed from east of the Dixon's Kingdom Hut.

15/ Dixon's Kingdom Hut is camping area in the middle of a pencil pine forest. It is a good place to rest before exploring this magnificent area.

16/ This is the view from the Temple towards Solomon's Throne.

17/ This is the view photographed from near the Temple looking towards the north west and King David's Peak. Note the approaching clouds.

18/ This is another view of the frozen landscape photographed near the Temple.

19/ This view should give you some idea how fast the weather can deteriorate in the highlands of Tasmania. It was photographed soon after the photo above.

20/ This image was photographed on the return journey. It shows the view northwards from Herod's Gate. The distant mountain to the right is Cradle Mountains and the distant mountain to the left is Barn Bluff. The hill to the right is Mt Orphel.

 

1/ This gallery shows the Walls of Jerusalem photographed in the summer. It will give you some idea as to how much this area can change. The first image shows the Trappers' Hut. This is located 2.3 kilometres east of the car park. There is an uphill track to this hut and reaching it marks the first landmark of the trail to Mt Jerusalem.

2/ This image is of one of the small lakes called Solomon's Jewels.

3/ This is another view of Solomon's Jewels photographed near sunset.

4/ This is the view photographed from Herod's Gate looking northwards towards Barn Bluff, which is about 50 kilometres away.

5/ King David's Peak dominates this meadow of eucalyptus and pencil pine trees.

6/ This is a close up of the mighty King David's Peak. It is 1500 metres high and towers over the Mt Jerusalem area.

7/ The is the West Wall of the famous Walls of Jerusalem. It is a sheer cliff that rises 200 metres above the valley. In the middle ground are a forest of pencil pine trees.

8/ This is the view from Zion Hill looking east towards King David's Peak. The large lake in the distance is Lake Salome.

9/ This is the same view from lower down Zion Hill.

10/ This view shows the typical alpine landscape of the Mt Jerusalem area. It consists of pencil pines, eucalyptus trees and numerous small tarns.

11/ This view is of the Pool of Bethesda looking south towards Solomon's Throne. This is beyond the pencil pine tree forest.

12/ This is the view across Lake Salome looking towards King David's Peak.

13/ This is another view of the beautiful Lake Salome. Beyond it is an ancient pencil pine forest. To the left is Mt Orphel and to the right is Zion Hill.

14/ This view shows the vegetation that surrounds an alpine stream near Wild Dog Creek. Here there is a raised platform for tents and a toilet. It is a great place to camp before exploring the area.

15/ This view looks towards Zion Gate on the left and Mt Jerusalem on the right. It is looking towards the north east.

16/ This is the view to the north from near Herod's Gate. It was taken on the return journey. In the distance you can see Cradle Mountain, which is about 50 kilometres away.

 

1/ This gallery shows photos that I made on a club day trip in 2021. We walked only as far as Herods Gate before returning. It was a very difficult 16 kilometre walk. The first 2 kilometres were a steep climb to reach the Trappers Hut, which is near the start of the plateau.

2/ When we reached the plateau we saw the distant peaks of many mountains. In the centre of this photo you may recognize Cradle Mountain.

3/ This was the first of the tarn we met that marke the start of Solomons Jewels.

4/ This image shows more of the jewels. Note how the tarns are flanked by lovely pencil pines.

5/ The distance between the many tarns is quite small as you can see in this image.

6/ This was one of the larger tarns, where we stopped for a short break.

7/ From this point we could at last see King Herods Peak, our final destination.

8/ This area is called Herods Gate. It is at the base of King Herods Peak. Beyond are the many attractions of the Walls of Jerusalem.

 

1/ Rinadeena Falls is a lovely waterfall in central Tasmania. It is located north east of Lake Rowallan in the northern part of the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. It should not be confused with the Rinadeena settlement near Queenstown. This gallery shows a trip our club made to Rinadeena Falls 2015.

2/ From the Rowallan Dam you turn north east onto the Little Fisher Road. This is a gravel road. It takes you north east to the car park at the start of the Little Fisher River Track. Rinadeena Falls is 4 kilometres south of the car park, so it can be reached in a day walk.

3/ The route to Rinadeena Falls is the Little Fisher River Track. Part of this track is is an old logging road. This image shows us crossing a dilapidated bridge.

4/ The track follows the Little Fisher River. To the east of us was the towering escarpment of Turrana Bluff. You can visit Turrana Bluff in the next gallery.

5/ This is the Little Fisher River, which the track runs parallel to, as it wends its way to the south.

6/ Rinadeena Falls is on a stream just west of the Little Fisher River. It drops about 20 metres and is located in a lovely, rainforest valley.

7/ This image shows the full profile of Rinadeena Falls.

8/ One of the attractions of Rinadeena Falls is that you can make your way to a point behind the waterfall. However, you must be sure footed enough to cope with the very slippery rocks you must perch on. The next 5 images show you the enchanting views from behind the waterfall.

 

 

 

 

 

14/ I made this image to show you what you have to perch on to get behind the waterfall.

15/ This image shows the valley and track near Rinadeena Falls.

15/ The track to Rinadeena Falls uses this crude log bridge to access the falls.

16/ The Rinadeena Falls area is in a rainforest. I made this image to show you a section of the track that was covered in moss.

 

1/ Turrana Bluff is in Central Tasmania in the northern part of the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. It is north east of Lake Rowallan and is accessed from the Little Fisher River Road. From the car park you access the Little Fisher River Track, which takes you first to Rinadeena Falls, then climbs up Turrana Bluff. This gallery shows photos made on a club trip in 2015. This image shows Turrana Bluff from near the car park at the end of Little Fisher Road.

2/ South of Rinadeena Falls the track enters a light forest zone and gradually rises, as it climbs Turrana Bluff. This image looks up at part of Turrana Bluff. You will notice how this area of forest has many dead trees.

3/ This image shows the forest zone that we were passing through. The track was gradually wending its way up this slope from the bottom left of this image to the top right.

4/ Unfortunately, the Little Fisher River area has been extensively logged and all that you can see in some sections is saplings like these.

5/ Here you can see us slowly sidling our way up Turrana Bluff. Notice the huge area of dead trees behind us. Mass tree death like this is usually the consequence of human interference.

6/ This was the view to the south from near the top of the escarpment of Turrana Bluff. You can see the vast valley of the Little Fisher River to the right, while to the south are the peaks of the Walls of Jerusalem National Park.

7/ At the top of Turrana Bluff is a vast plateau that is littered with dozens of tarns. There are no trees on the plateau as it is too wet and windy. The tarns are the consequence of the huge quantity of rain and snow that regularly falls here.

8/ This is a closer view of one of the tarns. Note the sparse covering of hardy, alpine vegetation.

9/ This image looks to the north west into the valley of the Little Fisher River that we had just ascended from.

10/ Here you see down a vast cleft in the escarpment and beyond it see a vast field of scree.

11/ This image shows more of the escarpment of Turrana Bluff and the vast field of scree at its base.

12/ This image looks south along the escarpment to the Walls of Jerusalem area that you can see in the other galleries.

13/ Here you can see the rocks and scree that we had to descend down to return home.