South West Cape Circuit 2009

These are images from a solo trip around the South West Cape circuit in Feb/Mar 2009, and an additional short excursion to Cox Bight on the south coast.

The SW Cape circuit begins and ends at Melaleuca. A well defined track heads south to New Harbour and then along the south coast to Hidden Bay, Ketchem Bay and Wilson Bight.

From Wilson Bight the circuit continues north along the main ridge of South West Cape Range to the summit, then descends to Window Pane Bay and follows the coast past Island Bay and Faults Bay to Noyhener Beach. It then swings inland to the north-east, crossing South West Cape Range and Pasco Range and descends to the southern shore of Horseshoe Inlet before joining the Port Davey Track just east of Horseshoe Inlet and returning to Melaleuca.

From Wilson Bight a well-defined pad exists as far as the summit of Mount Karamu but beyond that the trail is patchy and often indistinct or non existent. The route from Noyhener Beach to Horseshoe Inlet is mostly trackless.

On this trip I spent 10 days on the SW Cape circuit, 3 days on the excursion to Cox Bight, and 3 days resting and sitting out bad weather at Melaleuca.