I awoke the next morning to more grey skies and damp surroundings. Unfortunately, the clouds had gotten lower and were nearly touching the ground. Things didn’t look hopeful for a better viewing of Cradle Mountain today, but that wasn’t about to stop me.

The access to Cradle Mountain and Valley is a winding road, and the Park tries to limit people entering to keep traffic to a minimum. To that end, there are a few different options to access the main part of Cradle Valley and Cradle Mountain. I had made use of the Shuttle Bus the day prior (and would utilize it once again), but this morning I had time to kill as I hoped the sun would burn through the clouds, so I took the Cradle Valley Boardwalk instead.

Being winter here, rainfall is quite a bit more than during the drier summer season. This lent the forest a great emerald green colour.

Unfortunately, it also meant that I got rather wet.

That, and my views were somewhat obscured at times. It didn’t however mean the walk was unenjoyable, because it was a pleasant stroll.

Though I didn’t photograph it, there was also a bit of wildlife on this walk too. A few wombats were braving the cold and drizzle in the morning. I also went down to a few riverbanks to check for Platypus, but didn’t have any luck.

The other advantage with the adverse weather was the fact it was dead quiet out here. The path strays far enough from the road that most of the time, it’s just you and the valley. Being the low tourist season also meant I had the path to myself. It was great!

After a couple of hours walking, I reached my destination. The weather had improved a bit, but not quite as much as I had hoped. That said, I was still going for the big, main walk of the area…the Dove Lake circuit.