8/4/2008 - Mt Tor
Yesterday I finally ticked Mt Tor off my peak bagger's list.
I drove in to Loongana and continued along the road to where it ends at a locked gate. It is important to realise that roads in this area have changed dramatically in recent years. Most maps show Loongana Road becoming Alstergren Road and heading north to Loyetea which is south of South Rianna. This road is now closed (according to the sign - someone with a chainsaw and 4WD may prove this wrong). The other development is that Gunns have bought all the blocks of land surrounding this idyllic valley between Black Bluff and the Loongana Range. Rather than take the logs out via the narrow winding tourist road in the vicinity of Leven Canyon, Gunns have built a new road called Loongana Link which hooks up with their private network of roads and gives easier road access to their woodchip mill at Hampshire.
Mount Tor from Loongana Link Road.
From the locked gate, I rode up Loongana Link, right into North Dempsters Road, left into Dempsters Creek Road and left into Leven Road (un-named at this intersection). After a short ride along Leven Road, it becomes unused as there has been no logging in this part of the Leven Valley itself for many years. The road is still in good condition making for a fun rapid descent to a picnic shelter beside the Leven River, 45 minutes ride from the car.
Picnic shelter beside Leven River.
The bridge decking has been removed so I carefully shouldered my bike and walked over the logs that now span the Leven. As per the instructions in "The Abels," I took the left fork of Ring Road, then a right fork and a final left fork to arrive at the 750m level high on the western flank of Mount Tor. Most of the road is completely overgrown with large bushes but I naively dragged my bike through the saturated shrubbery in the vain hope that there may be some clear riding further up. This took an hour of hard slog which is the same as the time "The Abels" said it would take to walk up these old roads.
After leaving the bike in the bushes on the highest point of the spur road, I followed snig tracks for a while before leaving these and heading on an easterly bearing through relatively open rainforest. One above the tree-line, I arrived at the cliffs and had the choice of some basic rock climbing or sidline around to the south where a broad gully beckoned. I sidled most of the way round but decided to engage the rock as the scrub started getting nasty. After the first band of rock, I was above the thick scrub and shrubs were generally only ankle to knee high.
Mount Roland and Black Bluff from Mount Tor.
Very easy walking led around to the eastern side of the summit block and along to the highest point where a small cairn had been assembled. This took just over an hour from when I had left the bike. The view from the top was dominated by Black Bluff to the east and the massive tree farms of the Surrey Hills to the west. The Leven River cuts a deep swathe around Mount Tor as it flows north and then east toward the gaping jaws of Leven Canyon.
Cradle Mountain and Barn Bluff from Mount Tor.
On the way down, I opted for the 'open' gully rather than the rocks and found myself bashing through tea tree and baurea for a short way as I skirted around towards the north to regain the rainforested slopes above the spur road. By following a westerly compass bearing, I managed to arrive back at the snig tracks that led directly to my abandoned bike.
Back at the bike on the top spur above Ring Road. The trees behind the bike are growing in the middle of the road!
Having the bike was virtually no advantage in terms of time because it almost took me an hour to bash it back down through the scrub back to the Leven. What I saved in leg effort was lost in arm effort as I braked constantly to avoid my hands, face and shins being shredded by the constant barrage of twigs and branches.
The clear road from the picnic shelter was a relief but the climb out of the Leven valley was quite relentless. Finally I attained the more level ground through the tree farms and an hour after leaving the picnic shelter, I was back at the car.
The moral of this story is that the pushbike was a good way to access the start of the walk at the Leven River but it is definitely not worth taking it any further. By far the easiest way to do this walk would be to ask Gunns for permission to drive to the Leven River picnic shelter and walk from there.
| 
