Briggs Bluff (Grampians National Park) Overnight Hike - Labour Day Weekend 2012

Day 1

The start of my solo hike to Briggs Bluff in the northern end of the Grampians National Park involved a drive from Melbourne. Briggs Bluff is located north of the Mt Difficult range and can be accessed via Beehive Falls carpark or Troopers Creek camp ground. The walk I'm intending to do was from Beehive Falls car park. The most direct access point to Beehive Falls is via the Roses Gap Road which is accessed from the Western Highway. The turnoff for Roses Gap Road is past Stawell, approximately 3km before Dadswells Bridge. Once you're on Roses Gap Road, its approximately 9km down a dirt and then bitumen road. The car park is popular with day trippers so was quite full when i arrived.

The track at the car park starts off being easy and flat taking about 20 minutes to get to the base of Beehive Falls. From here the track becomes rocky, steep and involves some scrambling. It takes about an hour to get to the top of the escarpement which offers great views of the valley below. Once you are at the top follow the markers and stone cairnes for about 1 km. The walk is relatively flat but rocky at parts. After about a 1km the track turns east and climbs steadily for half a kilometre until you get to the Briggs Bluff intersection. The south east track takes you to the Briggs Bluff hiker camp site, reached in about 5 minutes walk. There are ample shady camp sites here on sandy ground. The creek during this time was dried so no water was available.

                                         Escarpement along the way to Briggs Bluff

                                              Briggs Bluff hiker camp site

I took the northern turn off at the intersection to head towards Briggs Bluff, located 1.2 km further away. About half way along this track you cross a creek which has water but isn't running. Just before the creek are a small number of bush camping sites - see my blog on this remote camp site. Towards the end of the track there is an easy climb to the top of Briggs Bluff offering majestic views of the north. Briggs Bluff was quite busy on this day, with many day trippers coming up. By around 5pm the place was deserted so you got the Bluff all to yourself. All up it took about 2.5 hours from Beehive Falls to Briggs Bluff.

Day 2

After spending a night at the remote camp site it was going to be a relaxing morning. The walk back was mostly downhill so was relatively easy. Once you get to the top of the escarpement, it was a rocky, and at times steep climb down taking an hour to negotiate. All up it took under 2 hours to get back to the car park. Overall a great little medium grade walk, do-able on any weekend.

                                                               Briggs Bluff

Mont Moondance 1 Tent Review

                                                     Two pole freestanding design

                                                                 View from inside

Summary:	Lightweight sturdy one person hiking tent.
Brand:	Mont Moondance 1
Weight:	1.6 kg
Sleeps:	One person
Ease of set up:	Medium, approximately 7 minutes to set up. Colour coded ends for pole and fly. Can be tricky to set up.
Number of poles:	Two
Number of vestibules:	Two, one accessible.
Season:	Three season
Design:	Free standing, can be set up without pegs. Central pole with triangle design at both ends. Sturdy and super light pegs.

I was looking forward to trying out my new Mont Moondance one person tent for this weekend. The first thing i noticed was how light and compact it was. When packed up, it didn't take up much room in my pack so was great compared to my two person hiking tent.

Setting up the tent is a little more tricky compared to my two person dome tent. The central pole is lightweight and colour coded at the end. When slotting the poles into the tent eyelets, you have to remember to ensure the triangle slot is facing down as this is later attached to the tent. The fly is also colour coded as the ends of the tent differ in size, with the head end slightly larger. What amazed me was the tiny and lightweight size of the pegs - amazing.

The main vesitbule is small but has enough room for a pack, boots and cooking stove. The other vesituble is only accessible from the outside and smaller than the main vestibule, so is useful for items that doesn't require access from inside the tent.

Inside, the tent is airy with lots of mesh. You can unzip the entrance vestibule down to allow additional ventilation. On this trip i didn't have any condensation build up at all, and i think this is attrituble to the airyness of the vestibule. A potential concern might be how much splash back might occur during a rain event but i didn't get to test this out on this trip.

Overall a good one person three season hiking tent. Compared to other one person hiking tents I have seen, this one is spacious and sturdy. 

Briggs Bluff Remote Camp Site, Grampians National Park

Summary:	Remote camp site with amazing views offering solitude in the evenings.
Date of visit:	Labour day long weekend March 2012
Access:	From the north via Beehive car park, Roses Gap (approximately 2.5 hrs walk), or                      From the west via Troopers Creek camp site. Remote camp site is located just before creek on way to Briggs Bluff.
Remoteness:	Popular with day walks but gets quiet late in the day and early in the morning.
Water:	Nearby creek but not running during this trip. Water not suitable for drinking but ok for wash up.
Camp sites:	Sheltered sandy areas with views of Briggs Bluff and approach. Rocky outcrops. 4 camp spots.
Toilets:	No toilets
Comments:	Great remote site for amazing views of Briggs Bluff and approach.

                                                 View of Briggs Bluff from camp site

                                                    View of valley from camp site

                                                              Rocky outcrops