January 2015 - Mt Gnomon

We had been thinking about climbing Mt Gnomon for a while, and decided to make it part of a weekend in the Northwest (see Wanda's blog).   Mark Hanna, in his blog, recommended opting for Mt Gnomon instead of Mt Dial.  Jan Hardy and Bert Elson's NW walks book was out of print, sadly.   I found a walk in John and Monica Chapman's "Day Walks Tasmania", which described a 5 hour walk from the northern side, including Mt Dial and Mt Gnomon in a loop.

After a large and enjoyable lunch at the new Mt Gnomon Farm Restaurant, we asked Eliza for her advice on the best route for climbing nearby Mt Gnomon.   She was unaware of the loop we had in mind, and advised a nearby route which sounded shorter and quicker than the one we had in mind.  So, a little bloated with good food and wine, we turned right as we exitted the farm and continued up Ironcliffe Rd.  We immediately entered the Mt Dial Nature Recreation Area.

Very soon we found the parking area for the start of the walk to Mt Gnomon.  There are several other walking options from here, including a Tall Trees walk.

The walk was dry and pretty, mostly fairly steep, and there is no water.

Here's where the walk from Mt Dial comes in:

Here's me at the top:

and some of the views from another little knoll near the top: 

more of the Dial Range to the south

east to Mt Roland

over the farmlands to the south

Having done this short walk, the maps of the Dial Range make a lot more sense!
Our walk took about an hour and 10 minutes.