Day One
Our weekend trip to Mount St Gwinear came unstuck the day
before on account of the severe storm that hit the area leading to road closure. The ranger said there was no chance that the access road
would be cleared of the fallen trees in time. This then necessitated plan B to swing into action,
where we decided to head to Mt Stirling, situated next to Mt Buller instead.
I was hoping for a lazy late start but Miss Take a Photo at
Every Opp convinced us to start earlier, much earlier. In the end I’m glad that
we did, as the drive to Mt Stirling took a lot longer than expected as we had
decided to take the Hume Highway and turn off at Benalla. This added at least
20 minutes extra to the drive, so in retrospect, it was faster to go via Tallarook
and Yea, even though it was slightly windy. It would have also been faster had Mr Car Developer drove all the way, but alas it was only part of the way.
The turn off to Mt Stirling is just after the toll gates to
Mt Buller. Unfortunately we still had to pay the resort entrance and overnight
parking fee even though we weren’t headed there. Mt Stirling was reached
after 9km on an easy dirt road from the toll gate. We arrived at Telephone Box
Junction, where ski patrol and the main car park were located.
After a delicious pork roll lunch thanks to Miss Marathon
the six of us set off on our Yowies, aka snow shoes. They were easy to fit and
didn’t take too long to get used to. Our destination was Bluff Spur
Hut, approximately 5.5km away, via Bluff Spur Trail. The track was covered in snow, although
initially slushy, improved to powder as we climbed higher. Unfortunately the
weather wasn’t great and was coming down as snow showers.
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| Start of trail |
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| The Yowies |
Our party were comprised of Miss Take a Photo at Every Opp,
Miss Marathon, Mr Lost Duck from Nepal (aka our doctor who did look like a duck), Mr Car Developer and
Mr Sushi Chef. After 5 minutes of walking Mr Lost Duck from Nepal was already
streaking ahead, and if not careful would become a lost duck in Stirling. Walking
in snow shoes and soft snow was more difficult than expected and it was
2.5 hours later that we arrived at Bluff Spur Hut. We decided to spend
the night here.
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| Our tents |
One of the camping gear I was keen to test out was my Aldi
sleeping bag which was apparently rated extreme, down to - 15 degrees C. I had
no expectation that it would be suitable at that temperature and after a cold
night’s sleep that was proven. The sleeping bag is more likely rated a
comfortable zero degrees, and anything below that would be a challenge. It was
clear the – 5 degrees we had was too much of a challenge for the bag.
Day Two
After an uncomfortable cold sleep we awoke to a beautiful
sunny day. Our plan was to climb the summit, only a short climb away.
Unfortunately Mr Sushi Chef and Miss Take a Photo at Every Opp had to leave
early. We did have the pleasure of enjoying Mr Sushi’s yummy dinner and was
super grateful for the wine he bought along.
The climb to the summit was only 10 minutes up. We had
stunning, clear and sunny sky when we got to the top. We didn’t want to leave,
and if snow camping was like this, we would definitely come back for more. Mt
Buller was visible, although the runs were starting to become patchy and was
looking well past its best.
Climbing to summit of Mt Stirling
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| Snowgums, my favourite tree! |
After a morning snack we headed back to Telephone
Box Junction, which took 1.5 hours all the way down. By the time we got down
towards the bottom leg, the snow had melted significantly, with the track un-walkable
on the Yowies. The take away lessons was that my Aldi sleeping bag didn’t live
up to its – 15 degrees rating, but more importantly snow camping in good
weather was ace and should be repeated.
