Bushwalk Australia

Last weekend I decided to head over to the Cobberas Wilderness Area and check it out. It is a spot in Victoria that I've never managed to visit before and the un-tracked peaks had me interested. I'm writing up a full report on my blog http://goinferalonedayatatime.blogspot. ... th-of.html and also doing a journal (if you prefer to read thing in a magazine type format) http://hiking.topicwise.com/doc/Cobberas so I'll keep this short and sweet.



I walked the Friday, Saturday, Sunday of the Melbourne Cup Weekend, the theory being that Cowombat Track should be open. It isn't (I missed Xplora's update by a few hours!), so that added a few kilometres to the walk. My route followed Cowombat Track until just after Bulley Creek and then headed up the the untracked spur east towards Moscow Peak. I camped in the saddle to the south of Moscow Peak. The next day I climbed Cleft Peak, Cobberas No 1 and then went over to Moscow Peak. I had rough plans to head over to Cobberas No 2 on Sunday but was woken by thunder and lightening at 4am so abandoned those ideas and headed back down.



As far as off track walking goes this is all fairly straight forward, the scrub isn't particularly thick but what does make it a little hard is the amount of rocks and boulders littering the ground, there are lots of brumby pads cris-crossing the hills that sometimes help. The brumbies have spoiled the sphagnum moss swamp that forms the head waters of Moscow Creek a bit so I treated the water, but it looks like there will be good water there until well into summer.



The hills were all fairly straight forward as far as navigation went, I met the track coming up from Native Dog Flat a few hundred metres before the summit of Cobberas No 1 which made for a change after all the off track stuff. There is a little easy scrambing involved to get to the summit of Cobberas No 1, the scrambling is a bit harder (more exposed) to get to the summit of Cleft Peak but it was still doable for me in walking boots with a fair margin for safety.



I really enjoyed my three days up in the Cobberas, the area doesn't appear to have been burnt in any big fires so there are plenty of mature snowgums around. The walking, climbing and navigation keeps you on your toes and the camping is superb, I didn't meet another person over the whole three days. For what its worth I used Chapmans notes out of his AAWT book along with the Suggan-Buggan Topo Map, but mostly I just made it up as I went along.

Good work Kev, nice snake

Great report Kev. Thanks
Maybe - one day I will journey to that far flung corner of Vic.
Certainly looks inviting.

The Cobberas gets very little attention from walkers compared to other areas but it is extremely rewarding. Possibly it is because of the distance people have to travel. It does get quite a bit of attention from 4wd campers and horse riders. I am a bit annoyed the local PV guys did not give me a heads up about the road closures but they are new and it takes time to build relationships. Just as well I had to go to the Post Office but the decision was only made on the Thursday before cup weekend. It was my suspicion long ago anyway so that is why I posted the warning. Living in the area you get a feel for how things are on the ground and we have water pouring out of places never seen by us before. Feral horses are a big problem in the Cobberas and it is good to see you note the damage they are doing. Yes Kev, your snake is a copperhead. Usually quite placid. I have walked over them or past them without concern (or knowledge until the scream from behind) while fishing on our stream. For anyone looking to venture deep into the Cobberas for other walking tracks then a real 4wd is recommended and a bit of experience. Best also not on your own and with good recovery gear. There would have been snow on the ground a few days before Kev was there. Nice report Kev.

Thanks for your beautiful photo's and report Kev, I was also in the area for the weekend, Saturday through to Tuesday but went in past Cowombat to Tin Mine Huts and The Pilot. It certainly is beautiful country and we seen lots of Brumbies as well as a wild dog, Sambar Deer, Wallabies, a very friendly Antechinus and a large amount of birds.
The wind didn't let up all weekend and the storms that came through on Sunday gave us another big soaking, but still a great place to be for a weekend.

Hi Guys,
Thanks for your kind words.
I wasn't overly surprised to find Cowombat Track closed either Xplora, its been a really wet spring and in my experience Parks Vic normally err on the side of caution. The extra 4 kilometres was a nice walk anyway! The copperhead was making his way to the swamp, no doubt ready for a feed of frogs, he was a bit toey though and wasn't keen on getting out of my way
Judging by the vehicles parked at the gate when I got out on Sunday you must have had some company over at Cowombat Flat and The Pilot Snowzone, did you cop the big storm around 4am on Sunday morning? The lightning and thunder certainly got my attention

I've just posted the second day of the walk if anyone wants to check it out, this was one of those great days walking that tends to stay in your mind for a long time http://goinferalonedayatatime.blogspot. ... ber-1.html

Hi Guys,

Day 3 is up http://goinferalonedayatatime.blogspot. ... ak-to.html and the journals finished. Thanks again for checking it out.

I'm looking for my next walk now, Snowy Bluff seems to be getting a bit of love on the forum and I haven't been out that way for around ten years....

lol was thinking the same thing

Good words and pics. I cannot identify any of the snowy mountains with any certainty. Is that Pilot on the right, Kosci centre and Rams Heads on the left? The snake is best viewed from a distance.

Given how far out east the Cobberas are - I suspect they would be looking up the valley past Kosci.
That would make the skyline peaks from the RHS - Ramshead , Kosci and Townsend at the back with Abbot Range peaks on the LHS.