Mt Bogong circuit - Australia Day Weekend 2012

Day 1

The start of our walk began at our central meeting point where I did a look over the contents of the backpack of our newbie hiker joining us for the first time. I was surprised to find three cans of tuna tucked away in her pack. A few minutes and a snap lock bag after, the cans of tuna were no longer part of the luggage. We were then on our way and after 10 minutes on citylink our newbie advised that she might have left her house door unlocked. After a quick detour and yes the front door was unlocked we were on our way.

We arrived at Mountain Creek camp site, located about 10kms from Mt Beauty at 3.00pm. We decided to attempt the 2 km 4wd track drive to the base of the Staircase to save this walk on the last day. The track was definitely suitable only for 4wd with 5 creek crossings (luckily the creek was shallow due to the dry weather we had). The drive from Mountain Creek camp site to the base of the Staircase is along a narrow rocky road, not wide enough for two vehicles for most parts. Luckily for us there was no oncoming traffic.

We commenced our walk at around 3.30pm and after 10 minutes we were all sweating profusely. In retrospect it would have been better to walk the initial 2 km to get our bodies attuned to carrying a pack. (Note to self - don't be lazy and start the walk at Mountain Creek camp site instead). The walk to our first night's destination, being Bivuac Hut, is approximately 2kms up hill but it took us nearly 3 hours to get there. My three companions were "buggered", it being a new term for one of them. Bivauc Hut camp site is of moderate size with enough space for 6 tents. The site is serviced by a rainwater tank. Amenties inside the hut is basic, so basic it doesn't even have benches to sit on. The toilet though seemed newly constructed and well maintained. It even had a toilet brush and bucket of water which users are encouraged to use to keep in a good state. The toilet door is split fold, and when the top half is open, offers views of Mt Bogong ridge. I quite enjoyed my views of Mt Bogong ridge.

Bivauc Hut toilet

Bivauc Hut

Day 2

The plan today was to climb to the summit of Mt Bogong, stopping there for lunch and then arriving at Cleve Cove Hut for the second night. The climb to Mt Bogong was approximately 2 kms from the hut and took about 2.5 hours. Once you pass the tree line it is exposed and offers amazing valley views. The climb on the day 2 was less exhausting, so none of my companions were "buggered" by the time we reached the summit for lunch. All of us were rewarded with 360 degrees clear views of the beautiful alps. After lunch we walked the 4 km to Cleve Cove Hut, which took 1.5 hours on mainly flat terrain followed by a 1 km downhill easy walk. This is one of my favourite parts of Victoria, its like walking on top of the world. If we had more water on us we could have camped out on top of the saddle along the way.

Mt Bogong summit

Cleve Cove Hut is one of my favourite camp sites in the Alpine National Park, set in a valley with large open expanses of grasses for camping. See my other blog entry for more information on Cleve Cove Hut.

We had a fair bit of time so we decided to do a side walk to Howmans Falls, with the intent of having a dip in the pool there. The falls is about 2 km away, and is preceded by two smaller falls. You know you have arrived when you can't walk any further. We decided to have a dip in the second fall, which had a plunge pool accessed by climbing down a small ridge. The water was a numbing 5 degrees cold so we didn't stay very long in the pool, but nevertheless it offered a good respite from our walk.

Day 3

Our plan was to have an easy day today by only walking to Michell Hut via Eskdale Spur. The walk from the Eskdale turn off at Mt Bogong is down a steep rocky track, taking us 1 hour to safely navigate down. It was at this point that one of our companions decided it was better to have high boots instead of low ankle boots for better support.

Michell Hut was arrived at after a very rocky track with lots of littered scrub. The site has enough open space for two camp sites and a rainwater tank. There is two benches inside enough to sleep two comfortably. It was here that we decided to continue our trek all the way down. It was another two kms downhill which took 1 hr. Everyone was pleased to get to the bottom after many wobbly knees. Here we had another 4 kms to trek to get to the base of the Staircase. Walk from here took us 1.5 hours along a 4wd road downhill most of the way with a number of easy creek crossings.

By the time we arrived at the car the weather had turned bad. We had made it before the storms came in. After a slow careful drive back to Mountain Creek camp site we decided it was better to continue to drive home rather than base camp. Trip home included a much anticipated dinner at Mytleford pub.

Mt Bogong circuit and our camp sites