Thanks for all the info and support everyone! We headed out on the 24th of Oct but were delayed on the way to Hotham and didn't leave the car till 4.30pm. This meant we had to alter our plans abit and unfortunately didn't get to head up Feathertop. We did however, head off a spur coming down just north of Jaithmathang so some info might still be useful for some.
Day One: Hotham to Tawonga Huts. 13km. 3.5 hours. This section is pretty simple...the official times for the Falls to Hotham crossing are way off if you're relatively fit and have a light pack.
Day Two: Tawonga Huts to Blairs Hut. ~12km. This included heading up Jaithmathang, heading along the plains just to the east of the ridge, dropping to the West Kiewa and then along the road to Blairs. Fairly hard day. The Route from Jaithmathang to North Jaithmathang(?) is offtracked but pretty simple. We then started down a little spur that is in abit of a bowl after the last Jaithmathang peak. The spur was fairly rough and got very steep so we cut across over a small river to the spur that heads off Jaithmathang North. Still steep but about 2/3rds down we hit an old fire trail that is not any maps as far as I know! It's last use would be over 50yrs judging by the size of the gums on it. It's overgrown but not too bad because deer obviously use it. There are blackberries towards the bottom but theyre not crazy. It probably took 3ish hours from the top to the river. Ill attach a photo of the rough route although my watch died just before the river. Happy to answer any question too.
Day Three: Blairs Hut to Hotham. 13km. 3.5 hours. Easy along the road. Checked out the ruins around Red Robbin mines. Few snakes around. Bagged Mt Loch as well.
Overall a great hike and a decent loop for those looking for a mix of on track/off track high country terrain. Next hike will be soley focused on Feathertop East ridge so I'll update this thread when it happens.
- Attachments
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- Rough route
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- Photo of the old 'fire' track