Lake Vera Hut
Vera Hut Photo by David Sisson © 2004.
Known as Lake Vera Hut or Michael's Hut.
Located 100 m east of Lake Vera, 50 m north east of the Vera Creek bridge on the walking track to Frenchman's Cap. Grid: 079 194.
History
The Lake was named in 1910 by the track cutter and writer J. E. (Ernie) Philp after his wife. The first hut was built by a lakeside swamp in June 1962 and was reroofed in the late 1960's. It was a slab hut with a split paling floor and was slowly disintegrating by the late 1970's.
The present hut was built in March 1979. The original hut was reputedly dismantled in the early 1980's.
Just off the track, north west of Barron Pass, is a memorial to the prominent landscape and poster artist Harry Kelly who helped pioneer the route in the years before the Second World War.
Construction
An excellent and large modern hut with a practical layout. Clad in timber, the hut has a wooden floor and an iron roof. One end of the hut contains benches, stainless steel covered tables and a coal stove.
Four bunks that each sleep four or five people are at the other end of the hut with room for an extra person under the roofline above the veranda. Outside are coal bins, a water tank and a helipad.
The only practical campsites are behind the hut and next to the helipad. There is a small paling jetty 20 metres from the hut on Vera Creek, although it is frequently under water. The dunny is located 100 m south of the hut along the main track to the Lyell Highway.
References
This article compiled by David Sisson. The following sources were used:
John Chapman. South west Tasmania: a Guidebook for Bushwalkers. 4th ed. John Chapman, 1998.
John Siseman & John Chapman. Cradle Mountain National Park: Frenchmans Cap - Walls of Jerusalem. [1st ed.] Algona, 1979. pp. 106 - 115.
Phil Robinson. A climbers guide to Frenchman's Cap NP, 1979. pp. 9, 11.
Simon Kleinig. Journeys to the Ivory Tower: in the footsteps of the pioneers. pp. 28 - 31 in Wild No. 77. Winter 2000.
Rowland Kelly - interview, 2005.
The hut is also mentioned in occasional issues of the Tasmanian Tramp, Skyline, Outdoor Australia and Wild.