ROCK (LOG) CABIN
The Log Cabin rebuilt in stone
The Rock Cabin (originally the ‘Log Cabin’) stands beside the Lenah Valley track. Built in 1928, it burnt down in 1932, got rebuilt using rocks by the Hobart Walking Club (under the supervision of stonemason Leo Luckman) and was therefore renamed the Rock Cabin.
In Life in The Log Cabin Harry Johnston wrote this humorous account of his visit to the Log Cabin as a child in the late 1920s:
"Sheets of sleet swept by a freezing Sou’west wind dashed across the roof, trees bent low under the strain of the wind. The increasing roar of the wind, and the increasing volume of sleet and snowflakes told another squal approaching. A flurry of snow whirled through the open doorway wetting every thing that came in contact with it. Inside the hut a fire blazed merrily, and over it were three occupants, one was a man with broad shoulders, unkempt hair, and a greasy face, smacking his charcoal lips over a burnt shop. The next was an infant, with a round and very dirty face, he was very short so we will call him “Shorty”, siping a cup of tea out of a powdered milk incrusted cup and looking very pleased with him-self. The remain person, also a lad but straight as an arrow with a broad, handsome face. Their names were – Mr AWC Johnston, Shorty Johnston & the handsome Harry Johnston. Soon dinner was finished & the short one drew out from his pocket, a dirty pack of cards—for every thing connected with this short one was dirty—and the three started to have a game of cards. For two hrs the short one grumbled, the long one scolded & the handsome one said nothing till about 4 p they packed up, and make their exit from the Cabin."
The hut has a very strong association with the Hobart Walking Club who organised a 29th, a 30th (1959), 35th (1964)—One hundred club members sat down to lunch at the 35th anniversary walk, including A.W. Cecil Johnston and E.T. Emmett—the 36th and a 60th anniversary (1988) walk to the hut. The centenary anniversary of 2028 is fast approaching.