Some trips, like Mount Richardson, are hard to write about. This little excursion resulted from a few special circumstances that led us to trek to the top of this tiny mountain.

Our original plan for the day a run up Mount Oxford. But after leaving late, we drove most of the way to the trailhead and decided it was better to take on something smaller for the day. So, we settled on Mount Thomas a nearby peak with what felt like a smaller commitment.

However, I entered the wrong directions into Google Maps, and we ended up at a completely different trailhead—the start of the Mount Richardson Track. At this point, it seemed best to go for it and see what the day might hold.

The track starts as a leisurely walk through a beech forest to a view of a waterfall.

From here, though, it becomes a muddy trail covered in blowdowns. That is all I can say about the ascent of the track to the summit—covered in thick forest, muddy trails, and blowdowns.

But at least the trek to the top resulted in another summit for 2025.

After leaving the summit of Mount Richardson, there is an alternate track that descends to create a loop called the Blowhard Track. We had hoped, fingers crossed, that it would be less muddy and a little easier of a walk than the laborious ascent.

However, the mud continued to cover the trail. With the heaps of mud combined with little to no views other than thick forest, the trail was not what we were searching for on this particular day.

My favorite part of this entire Mount Richardson walk was the creek crossing near the bottom of the Blowhard Track. Along the edge of the creek was a single tree that looked out of place from the rest of the forest. For whatever reason, it caught my eye and gave me a bit of joy, seeing the oddity of such a simple difference bringing so much life to an otherwise drab day out.

If nothing else, the trek up Mount Richardson was a reminder that when we take a wrong turn in our day or our lives, we learn how much joy we can get out of staying on the right track— or, in this case, entering the correct address into our maps app...