On Sunday afternoon, 26th September 2021, the first weekend of Spring, we had a short hike to Mount Duncan. We drove to the end of the Ironcliffe Road south of Penguin. Once we arrived, also another family van arrived. The kids started to get out of the car…and it seemed to be a never ending story. In the end it seemed like they had five kids, and all were dressed up in this conservative Christian look. I was, OMG, when will this stream of kids end. The boys wore white shirts (sure, it’s Sunday and presumably it’s the same dress as for church, but mate you’re going for a hike, and the girls had these ultra-long dresses). But it’s not surprising. Along the North-West there are a lot of private Christian schools. And remember, Ulverstone was/is the most homophobic town in Australia. Thus, those kind of extremist views fall on fertile ground here.
Anyway, after this first shock we went first up towards Mount Gnomon for maybe 350m. Then we took a right turn and followed the Mount Dial Track until the 4WD Dial Road. Once you crossed the road, the track is then called Tall Trees Track. We followed this track, through quite a bit of Windfall down to the junction to Dial Creek. That’s the lowest point of the whole track, and here the track makes a sharp 90° bend. From here on you follow easily the Dial Creek uphill. After crossing Dial Creek Road and a bit more climbing you are joining the Mount Duncan Track. From here to the top, you can’t miss the track. I haven’t done any photo in the forest. But I remember it was a nice walk through lush green.
Once you reach the top, you have basically a 180° view to the North. The Dial Range with Mount Montgomery, Mount Dial, and Mount Gnomon directly in front of you. The Leven River with Foggs Flats to the right, and Ulverstone at the mouth of the Leven River a bit in the distance. We had late lunch in the sun on the summit before continuing our way down. We took the Mount Duncan Track (Southern Loop). This track is a bit overgrown and you’ve to look for some marking tape sometimes twice to find the track. But it basically follows the ridge line around the mountain, so you also can’t go too far off the track. After about halfway around the mountain you come to the junction to Purtons Flat. This is signposted, and there was even a saw hanging off the signpost, in case you want to do some bush clearing. From here the track is much more visible, and after a last steep section, we arrived on a old gravel forestry road. You follow this, to the next junction to the right. Crossing a final creek, over a collapsed bridge, you eventually arrive at the Mount Duncan carpark at Ironcliffe Road. We followed the Ironcliffe Road to our car for about 30min. This section of the Ironcliffe Road has deep washouts, and I was happy that I didn’t try to drive my Subaru Outback there. After about 8.5 km we finally arrived back at the car in the late afternoon. Except the first section of the Southern Loop after Mount Duncan, it was an easy track and also easily to find and follow.
B' on Tour 
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