Mount Buffalo walk
Today I completed the entire Big Walk up Mount Buffalo from the park entrance to the Chalet and back again. I covered the distance of 23km in just over six hours.
I had done most sections of this walk at different times before, but never the full length. I’m sorry I didn’t keep my previous articles from the old blog, because they would have made interesting reading in retrospect.
The first walk I did was about 12 months ago from Rollasons Falls car park to the top and back. A couple of months later I walked from the entrance to the first road crossing.
This is the hardest part of the walk, rising several hundred metres in altitude over 2.7km.
I started today at 8.45am. This was a little later than I planned, partly because it was the first day of summer time and partly because I slept in! It was early enough though, to see dew on the ferns; the spider webs were glistening and there was steam rising from the fresh wombat droppings.
After scaling the Staircase up Mount Bogong last week the initial climb today wasn’t too daunting. The track was fairly overgrown, however. It was too warm for long pants, so I had to put up with ferns and branches lashing my legs.
The best part of climbing Mount Buffalo is the middle section around the Rocks. The views down the valley are superb and the walk is interesting along barely defined stone paths. Buffalo doesn’t offer true alpine terrain, except for higher points near The Horn, but the views are as good as you’ll see anywhere.
Once out of the rocks, the walk heads through burnt forest at a steady gradient. The highest point, at 1350 metres, is reached at a crossing of tracks to Reids Lookout and Manfields Lookout. I continued straight ahead for the final 3km to the Chalet.
Being a supposed holiday weekend (for a horse race, the Melbourne Cup) the Gorge car park was full of vehicles, many of them motorbikes.
I don’t enjoy the sound of motorbikes while walking in the alps.
I stopped briefly to admire the Chalet and travelled back a few hundreds metres to enjoy lunch while looking down the Gorge from a less popular vantage point.
The descent was easy enough, although I continued to be troubled with blisters on my right heel. My left foot must be slightly bigger than my right.
There was little water in creeks along the walk today, compared with my previous visit.
Great day in Shepparton
We had a great family outing in Shepparton today. We left about 8.45am, had breakfast at McDonald’s Glenrowan and made it to Shepparton plaza for some shopping. James needed summer clothes, so Big W was the obvious place to look.
We then spent a couple of hours at the indoor swimming centre, Aquamoves. This is a tremendous facility and the kids had a great time. The babies looked great in their swimming suits and waterproof nappies.
I’d like to show a photo, but we weren’t allowed to take any. The operators worry that people might take unauthorised pictures of other people’s children.
I suppose that’s fair enough, but it’s sad things have come to this.
We finished the day with a picnic by the lake followed by some more shopping at the SPC Ardmona factory sales outlet.
Petrol prices
Like everyone else who runs a motor car in Australia, I’m feeling the pinch of paying over 110 cents a litre for petrol. Prices have been higher than that and the outlook is for continued upwards pressure.
I accept there’s nothing the Federal Government can do about world oil prices, but they can offer some relief.
The Transport Workers Union received some cheap publicity last week when it called on the Commonwealth to scrap the GST on fuel. The RACV has been saying this since the GST was introduced.
It’s now time for the government to act. Even if they were to cap the GST at a pump price of 50 cents per litre (five cents), that would ease the burden on motorists. As it stands the government benefits when the price rises, because the GST component automatically goes up.
Bike ride to Ovens
Juliet and I rode with the babies today to Ovens, where we met some people from Alpine Health for lunch at the pub. It was the longest ride that Juliet has done and the longest that I’ve towed the babies.
It took us exactly an hour to cover the 20km there. For lunch we had potato wedges with sour cream and a platter of cold meats, cheese and salad. It was an enjoyable day, made perfect by the wind at our backs for the ride home.
We saw an echidna at close quarters, also a black snake, rabbits and a brown snake.
Mount Bogong
I hiked up Mt Bogong yesterday. At 1986 metres above sea level it’s Victoria’s highest peak and I’m pleased with the achievement.
I started from the Mountain Creek picnic ground, elevation 600 metres, and headed up the Staircase. The ascent is relentless, with very few flat sections to relax the legs.
I set myself a goal to tackle the climb in 100-metre stretches, counting 100 steps at a time and resting after 100 if I felt tired.
The early part was very hard, possibly made more so by the warmth and humidity among the tree ferns, which was almost tropical.
I stumbled unexpectedly across the ridge and found myself at Bivouac Hut, where I disturbed a scantily clad (male) camper. This was the beginning of true alpine terrain, above 1400 metres, and the walk seemed much easier from that point.
Unfortunately I had also reached the cloud, so continued in fairly thick fog. The landscape changed rapidly, with the trees diminishing in size until there were no more.
Snowpoles mark the route above the treeline, and in the fog I found these very helpful. Some large patches of snow still covered the track above 1800 metres, which made it hard to navigate, but I could always see the next snowpole.
I passed the memorial to skiers who died in a 1943 blizzard, thinking at first it was the summit cairn, and then trudged upwards to the peak.
The cloud by this time was starting to break up and I could see some fantastic views across the other side; however nothing down the Kiewa Valley or over to home. I had lunch at the summit.
I wanted to return via Eskdale Spur and had a rough idea where it was, but there were no signs to make me confident. Having started at 7am I was the first day walker to reach the top.
I came across a skier though, who had camped at Cleve Cole Hut. He was skiing on those tiny patches of soft snow … must be a diehard.
He pointed me in the right direction and I headed down the Eskdale Spur Track, passing another hiker on his way up. In the distance, I also saw some other walkers carrying skis on the Staircase.
Eskdale Spur runs 4km from its starting point compared with 6km up the Staircase. From the bottom though, I had to walk 7km back to my car. This was along grassy creek flats on a jeep track and was quite pleasant.
I crossed a creek five times before reaching the start of the Staircase. At the first couple of crossings the creek was a trickle and I stepped across, but after the fourth one I thought I’d be swimming the next. Fortunately there was a footbridge.
I really enjoyed the alpine sections of this walk and will do it again one day, perhaps climbing up Eskdale Spur instead for variety and going across to Cleve Cole Hut. I walked a total of 19km in seven hours.
Snip snip for Snowy
Snowy is booked in for the snip snip on Monday. He’s only five months old, but he has started showing signs of inappropriate behavior towards blankets, babies and other objects.
At least by getting in early he won’t ever know what he missed out on.
Good news on weeds
Weeds are a major menace throughout Australia. In this area we’re plagued with blackberries along stream banks, also black knapweed and broom. The problem sometimes appears so big that you wonder if it can ever be fixed.
I was involved today with a positive effort to do something substantial at the local level. A number of government agencies,
businesses and community groups have come together to form the Upper Ovens Weeds Roundtable.
The group is planning a combined effort to eradicate weeds and revegetate areas where weeds are removed. There are some immediate works planned and it’s hoped to eventually create a walking track along the river between Bright and Porepunkah.
Reflection
Circumstances can change quickly without rational explanation. Call it fate, fortune or God’s will, but it’s a fact.
I could have been working in Renmark now as the local newspaper editor after pulling up roots in Porepunkah and shifting my family nearly half way across Australia.
I’m pleased, of course, events didn’t transpire that way. The lack of work I experienced for many months has become a glut of work today.
I’m settling into the office environment at Alpine Health, where I’ll be based at least two days a week. I’ve just won a tender to manage communications for a North East CMA project and I’m developing a communications plan for the Bogong Regional Training Network.
The Alpine Shire PR position was advertised recently, and as it stands I don’t have time to consider applying for it under the terms that they propose. I’ll register my interest though and see if they’re negotiable.
Double trouble
James and Margaret are at the stage where they like to touch, feel and taste everything they can reach. That means we have to lock cupboards and keep delicate or
precious items out of harm’s way.
Sometimes you just can’t stop them though. It’s hard when you’re working in the kitchen, because you need to open cupboards and the fridge from time to time. They’re in like a flash and nothing but physical removal can stop them.
The Twins walk
I walked from Mt St Bernard near Mt Hotham to The Twins today. I had Tyrone Thomas’ book, 70 Walks in Victoria’s Bright and Falls Creek Districts, for reference, and it was pretty accurate.
It’s a good time of year to go walking, before the tracks are opened to 4WDs and trail bikes. I had the entire landscape to myself.
The track starts where the Dargo High Plains Roads turns off from the Great Alpine Road. It meanders for about a kilometre through snowgums before a walking track veers to the left. This is part of the Australian Alps trail and should be clearly signposted with regular yellow markers.
I lost them pretty quickly though and the track simply faded away. My solution was to travel cross country directly uphill. The undergrowth was minimal and I knew from sight that the trees thinned out towards the top.
It was a steep and difficult climb, and I certainly wouldn’t like to attempt the downhill equivalent, but I found it a direct route to the summit of the eastern Twin.
From there it was a pleasant meadow walk across the roof to the trig marker and summit of the higher Twin, at 1703 metres. There were no trees on top of the ridge, giving spectacular 360 degree views of the Razorback (pictured), Blue Rag Range, Mount Buffalo and Mount Murray. There were snow patches on the southern slopes.
I thought about continuing to Mount Murray. The total distance of 30km was a little less than I hiked last week, but my boots were pinching my feet and I was concerned at the lack of yellow route markers. Thomas’ description suggests the track is faint and sometimes hard to follow.
A safer alternative, probably taking longer, would be to follow the jeep track, which I did going back to Mt St Bernard.
The walk is rated as medium and expected to take three and a half hours. I completed the journey in two and a half hours, but considered the climbing part to be very hard.
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