Lake Seal Track

Saturday 16 June 2012

Prior to this working bee the weather forecast had shifted from good to rain then to possibly not too bad.   This caused quite a bit of consideration as to whether the work should go ahead resulting it being cancelled then back on.   On the day it was quite fine with sun at Mount Field, then cloud came in and by mid-morning we had a shower, but fortunately it did not last a long time and eventually fine weather returned.
The situation at Lake Seal was that the original track came straight down the slope and became quite boggy at the point where the slope diminished and deep bog and pools where it finally flattened out.  There was a small section of unused boardwalk frame with treads lying at the start of the track and the first bit of this was installed sideways to slope over one of the bogs. 

Below this we were somewhat defeated until we started the think of alternatives and, instead of trying to make the best of a badly sited track, we changed its direction to being sideways to the slope and also kept on the higher ground.  This involved adding our other piece of boardwalk to cross another bog, plus making diversions away from the flat bogs.  
A substantial drain was added to drain the water from the biggest bog area. Soil from the drain was used as fill and hopefully the degraded areas will now regenerate without the flow of water into them and without the foot traffic through them

The main boggy area still needs more work but the length is only about 5 metres so it is not a huge task.  It may be feasible for the group to take timber in, even if over a period of time, and add the extra boardwalk.

In the past the PWS put in drains to vent some of the water flow and these were cleared.  The vegetation that had overgrown most of the track was cut back and it now looks good.

 

It was also noted that some of the existing boardwalks on the main track from Dobson to Lake Webster were quite slippery; one Friends of Mount Field member slid on one of them and nearly fell.   If the wire is made available the group is willing to attach it to the boards.

Click the slideshow below to view the photo album