During my Tassie trip, I picked up a second-hand copy of Pedder Dreaming. It chronicles Olegas Truchanas—photographer and adventurer—and the efforts of a passionate few to save Lake Pedder from needless damming in the 1970s.

Progress marched on and so did the rising waters. The reservoir drowned ecosystems and the pink quartzite beach that would appear like sweeping piano keys each summer.

Yet the campaign sparked a spirited conservation movement that would save the Franklin River a decade later.

This scene shows a tiny fragment of the reservoir that’s still known as Lake Pedder. On the surface, it’s decidedly beautiful. But it’s a shallow substitute for the wilderness that once was.