{"id":3359,"date":"2012-11-01T14:05:47","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T03:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/?p=3359"},"modified":"2019-01-29T22:33:37","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T11:33:37","slug":"shadow-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/shadow-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"AN EPIC TREK TO SHADOW LAKE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/woodland-walk-tasmania.jpg?resize=665%2C499\" alt=\"Walking through the forest near Lake St Clair, Tasmania\" title=\"woodland-walk-tasmania\" width=\"665\" height=\"499\" \/><br \/>\n<br style=\"clear:both;\" \/><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 50%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-right: 10px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/bush-walk-red-pack.jpg?resize=390%2C600\" alt=\"WAlking through the bush\" title=\"bush-walk-red-pack\" width=\"390\" height=\"600\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-left: 10px; \u201cpadding-right: 5px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/moss-tree-bush-walker.jpg?resize=390%2C600\" alt=\"Dylan peeking around a moss covered tree trunk\" title=\"moss-tree-bush-walker\" width=\"390\" height=\"600\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear:both;\" \/><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 50%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-right: 10px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/flowing-water-rainforest-lake-st-clair.jpg?resize=390%2C600\" alt=\"Water flowing down river near Lake St Clair, Tasmania\" title=\"flowing-water-rainforest-lake-st-clair\" width=\"390\" height=\"600\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-left: 10px; \u201cpadding-right: 5px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/moss-path-hiking-pack.jpg?resize=185%2C286\" alt=\"Mossy path winding through the Tasmanian bush\" title=\"moss-path-hiking-pack\" width=\"185\" height=\"286\" \/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: right; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-left: 15px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/nobbly-tree-trunk.jpg?resize=185%2C286\" alt=\"Knobbly tree trunk on Lake St Clair to Shadow Lake hike\" title=\"knobbly-tree-trunk\" width=\"185\" height=\"286\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-left: 10px; \u201cpadding-right: 5px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/mossy-trunks-forest-river.jpg?resize=390%2C286\" alt=\"Mossy Tasmania forest tree trunks\" title=\"mossy-trunks-forest-river\" width=\"390\" height=\"286\" \/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear:both;\" \/><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-right: 15px;\">Our day took and unexpected turn. It started as a gentle stroll through gently mossed woodland and ended <\/p>\n<h1>a lurching, dizzy test of willpower to make it back.<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nThe morning had slipped quietly away so Dylan forwent his ritual coffee and we marched off on the Lake St Clair &#8211; Shadow Lake walk. Close to the river the air was damp and cool, every moss covered corner seemed a probably hiding place for a  wee team of fairies or hobgoblins. We hopped across stepping stones and over fallen trees, and crept upwards towards daylight. <\/p>\n<p>Almost two hours in we reached a prehistoric looking landscape of Buttongrass and swampy soil, and I noticed that Dylan was looking grey. His head had begun thumping in earnest when we turned the corner to see the spectacular Shadow Lake gleaming in the suddenly dazzling hot sun. <\/p>\n<p>I ate a solitary lunch watching ants steal breadcrumbs as Dylan dozed in his hammock, he awoke little improved. Insisting on heading back, he shrugged it off as a little caffeine withdrawal; he would be fine with a espresso back at the visitors centre&#8230; two hours away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-left: 5px; \u201cpadding-right: 10px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paddymelon-tasmania-bush-walk2.jpg?resize=595%2C600\" alt=\"Little Paddymelon hiding in bushes\" title=\"paddymelon-tasmania-bush-walk\" width=\"595\" height=\"600\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear:both;\" \/><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 50%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-right: 10px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/stepping-stones-australian-bush-walking.jpg?resize=390%2C600\" alt=\"Day hike from Lake St Clair to Shadow Lake with hiking packs\" title=\"stepping-stones-australian-bush-walking\" width=\"390\" height=\"600\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-left: 10px; \u201cpadding-right: 5px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/red-mushroom-fungus.jpg?resize=390%2C290\" alt=\"Red fungi\/mushrooms on light green moss\" title=\"red-mushroom-fungus\" width=\"390\" height=\"290\" \/><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/tasmanian-bush-day-walk-trees-dylan.jpg?resize=390%2C290\" alt=\"Dylan taking a break to gaze at Tasmania bush\" title=\"tasmanian-bush-day-walk-trees-dylan\" width=\"390\" height=\"290\" \/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear:both;\" \/><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 75%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-right: 5px;\">\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/coloured-lichen-rocks-orange-blue.jpg?resize=595%2C400\" alt=\"Orange and blue lichen on rocks along path\" title=\"coloured-lichen-rocks-orange-blue\"width=\"595\" height=\"400\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: right; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-left: 15px;\">Dylan&#8217;s progress became more and more ragged as the headache, after a brief gestation, emerged a full blown migraine, complete with nausea and faintness. I kept a chirpy dialogue of landmarks I didn&#8217;t feel or sometimes even recognise as we trudged downwards. In hindsight a running commentary on the familiarity of various rocks is not helpful to a throbbing cranium.<\/p>\n<p>We met the river with relief and I left Dylan to trek the last couple of kiliometres to the Visitors&#8217; Centre while I packed the tent. Alone, his migraine turned so savage he lost his lunch and it was luck alone that I didn&#8217;t find it as I followed behind.<\/p>\n<p>When I found him at the cafe, coffee in hand, Dylan was the picture of rosy cheeked health. Who would have thought tinkering with your dopamine system in the form of a coffee a day could reap such havoc!<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear:both;\" \/><\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 75%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-right: 5px;\">\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/moss-path-eucalypts-hiking-tasmania.jpg?resize=595%2C180\" alt=\"Walking through white gum tree trunks\" title=\"eucalypts-hiking-tasmania\"width=\"595\" height=\"180\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: right; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-left: 15px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/twisted-tree-roots-bush-walk-moss.jpg?resize=185%2C180\" alt=\"Twisted roots in path\" title=\"twisted-tree-roots-bush-walk-moss\"width=\"185\" height=\"180\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear:both;\" \/><br \/>\n<br style=\"clear:both;\" \/><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 50%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-right: 10px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/grass-bushes-tasmania-wetland.jpg?resize=390%2C600\" alt=\"Buttongrass (mesomelaena sphaerocephala) plains near Shadow Lake\" title=\"grass-bushes-tasmania-wetland\" width=\"390\" height=\"600\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 25%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-left: 10px; \u201cpadding-right: 5px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/shadow-lake-tasmania.jpg?resize=390%2C600\" alt=\"Shadow Lake, reflections of clouds in the water\" title=\"shadow-lake-tasmania\" width=\"390\" height=\"600\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear:both;\" \/><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Our day took and unexpected turn. It started as a gentle stroll through gently mossed woodland and ended a lurching, dizzy test of willpower to make it back. &nbsp; The morning had slipped quietly away so Dylan forwent his ritual coffee and we marched off on the Lake [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[231,189,435,44,88,152,295],"class_list":["post-3359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-australian-native-animals-birds","tag-bush","tag-camping","tag-hiking","tag-holidays","tag-national-park","tag-tasmania"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/shadow-lake-tasmania.jpg?fit=390%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4l1F7-Sb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3359"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3446,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3359\/revisions\/3446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}