Viking Loop, Vic Alps

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Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby Thewaz » Thu 11 Nov, 2021 9:19 pm

Hello.
Was wondering if anyone has completed the Viking Loop in the past 12 months, starting at Howitt Plains car park heading across the crosscut, then dropping down into the Wonnangatta River before returning to car.
Water?
Overgrown trails? Any info grateful Thankyou
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Fri 12 Nov, 2021 7:44 am

I helped clear the Dry river spur track to Guy's hut during Jan.2021.That could make a better option for completing the loop clockwise.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby Baeng72 » Fri 12 Nov, 2021 8:17 am

Hey Thewaz, if you head up there soon, can you report back on conditions?
It's pretty much next on my list of trips to do.
With the current la nina conditions, I don't think water will be an issue.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby Baeng72 » Fri 12 Nov, 2021 1:02 pm

I think someone mentioned in the AAWT section that Howitt road after Arbuckle Junction is not passable at the moment.
Parks' page
Tamboritha, Howitt and Moroka Roads are currently recommended for Four-Wheel Drive and All-Wheel Drive Vehicles with sufficient clearance and appropriate tyres. Vehicles travelling on these roads require attention to variations of the surface between Bennison Lookout, Howitt Car-park and Pinnacle's Day Visitor area. Always drive to the conditions and consider the weather when planning your trip.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby oldsalt671 » Sat 13 Nov, 2021 7:28 am

We walked the Viking Circuit over Cup Weekend 2021. Some notes ands pics below

Pics
https://www.flickr.com/gp/62993514@N06/F85018

Notes:

1. Trail Head to Mt Speculation

We arrived Friday night. Howitt Rd was already cut up by 4WDs. A bit of snow. Only a couple of cars at the trailhead. Set off around 8:30 am Saturday, more snow, but the breeze had died down. Track out along The Crosscut was in good condition. We made the side trip to Howitt. Arrived around 4:30 pm at Mt Spec

2. Mt Spec to Viking Saddle

Departed around 8:30 am. Track down from Spec to Catherine Saddle was a lot less trafficked. A few trees down, which meant a departure from the “track”. A few trail markers visible on trees helped. Track is well formed up to Mt Despair and through to The Razor. We made the side trip out to the Razor. No distinguishable track and bit of bush bashing was required. On the way back, we kept higher, which made the return a little faster.

The track immediately after the Razor turn-off caught us out. The track hooks off the left but there is a well-worn path straight down that looks like it has caught many a hiker out. We left a couple of extra cairns to make it a bit more obvious. The final section into Viking Saddle was like a commando course with many trees across the track. We got in around 6:30 pm. There was plenty of water at Viking Saddle due to the rain. To get to the water, a faint track descends through the open area to the SE (to the right-descent) of the gully. The water was most easily attainable above the waterfall about 500m from the saddle campsite. We used a piece of bark, as a tube, to aid in filling the water filter bags.

3. Viking Saddle to Wonnnangatta River

Departed at 8:00 am. An excellent track up to the Viking. Good ropes at the “Hole in the Rock”. As there was another party using them, we also pack hauled up the chute to the left. The chute is a squeeze but is the preferred route when travelling down from the Viking and has an AAWT marker showing the way. We dropped our packs at the cairn at the turn off to South Viking, then climbed up the rocks up to The Viking. Great views as it was a bluebird day. Not much of a track to South Viking, but a few cairns guided us along with the GPS. We had lunch on South Viking, then followed the cairns along the ridge to start the descent down the spur. There was no real track for the first 1 km or so that we could see, so we bush bashed a little. The trail then became more evident as the ridge narrowed. It was a lot faster than we expected and nothing like the horror stories that we had read. We arrived at the Wonnangatta campsite around 4:00 pm.

4. Wonnangatta to Howitt Trailhead

We were on our way at 8:00 am. We used a couple of handy gum trees to cross the river 200m downstream of the campsite. We followed the GPX track but missed the turnoff to cross the minor tributary. The trail runs alongside a log and is well-formed, which again means it has caught a few hikers out. We backtracked to the log and headed down towards the tributary following the GPX track, crossed the small creek and the trail up the other side was very obvious. From there, it was a well-formed track up to the Zeka Spur 4WD track. We choked on dust for the next few hours until the turn off back into the bush after the switchbacks. What followed was probably the most challenging part of the walk. Lots of bush bashing and tracks that just petered out due to a lot of fallen trees. There are faint remnants of a vehicle track at times, but it is tough to follow. We were pretty delighted to reach the main track back to the carpark. We finished the hike at 4:00pm. Take plenty of water for the climb up Zeka it is thirsty work.

Stats
Distance: 40 km
Elevation +/- 3200m

Link to the GPX and topos. The GPX is modified from Trailhiking so that it starts and stops at the car park. Was roughly right, the actual track tends to favour the ridge of South Viking a bit more and there are a few cairns to this effect.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfvcpu9t3d3hzc4/Viking%20Circuit.rar?dl=0
Last edited by oldsalt671 on Sat 13 Nov, 2021 11:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby stry » Sat 13 Nov, 2021 10:18 am

Baeng72 wrote:I think someone mentioned in the AAWT section that Howitt road after Arbuckle Junction is not passable at the moment.
Parks' page
Tamboritha, Howitt and Moroka Roads are currently recommended for Four-Wheel Drive and All-Wheel Drive Vehicles with sufficient clearance and appropriate tyres. Vehicles travelling on these roads require attention to variations of the surface between Bennison Lookout, Howitt Car-park and Pinnacle's Day Visitor area. Always drive to the conditions and consider the weather when planning your trip.


Snow readily drifts across the road behind Mt Arbuckle, and given recent weather, that may currently be the case. That's enough to stop a vehicle before even getting to what may need to be dealt with further on.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Sat 13 Nov, 2021 12:38 pm

That warning is a bed wetting standard ar*e covering notice that has been in situ since Autumn 2021. I drive a RAV 4 AWD with A.T. / mud/ snow tyres and I have a chain saw and a snow shovel. That road is fine if you have the right wheels, skills and tools. It will snow a lot on Monday 15/11/21. I am going XC skiing early on Tuesday 16/11/21 at Baw Baw !!.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby Baeng72 » Sat 13 Nov, 2021 5:32 pm

Thanks for the info oldsalt.
I walk slow at the best of times, so looks like I'll have to start at sparrow's and walk all day to do the loop in 3 days!
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby Baeng72 » Sat 13 Nov, 2021 5:54 pm

Is there a consensus amongst the brain trust which direction is best? I'm leaning to anti-clockwise, coming up the Viking from the Wonangatta. The B&S crew did it that way and it seemed like a nice idea to do Cross-Cut saw last. The chute might be harder descending however? I really have no idea, as a fat guy, that bit make me wonder which is best way to go.....
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby oldsalt671 » Sat 13 Nov, 2021 9:04 pm

Baeng, either way works. I was a bit worried about the section coming down from South Viking but as long as you can keep on the track it is fine. If you miss the track then I wouldn’t envy anyone scrub bashing your way up from the Wonnangatta. However, if you find yourself scrub bashing then start sweeping back and forth using your GPS until you are back on track. Having walked the Crosscut on a clear day towards VG Hut I can see the merits in finishing that way. Also the slot is likely easier to climb down than climb up.


544D2BF0-F5A6-4D7A-8853-D51B253703E8.jpeg


A couple of points in favour of CW

1. The Viking is an impressive peak and I liked the sense of anticipation you get when heading out across the Crosscut
2. I think I appreciated the Viking a little more having climbed the relatively short distance from Viking Saddle after a rest.
3. I personally didn’t find Zeka track all that feral as there was a bit of novelty to walking along a track free from fallen trees.

If you are keen there was a nice spot to camp on top of the Viking BYO water of course.

0CCA3F82-4D5D-4FD9-A039-478085321B99.jpeg


It will be interesting see what others think.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby Baeng72 » Sun 14 Nov, 2021 7:38 am

Thanks oldsalt. Your flickr collection is great. I downloaded the chute photo to get the exif GPS data and see where it is on the map.
How did you find navigating the ridge between Mt Despair and the turnoff to the Viking?
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Sun 14 Nov, 2021 8:46 am

I am looking at the doing the Viking Circuit in Nov. 2022. No more putting it off!!. I would be inclined to do it clockwise.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby oldsalt671 » Mon 15 Nov, 2021 8:16 am

The track from Mt Despair through to the Razor was quite easy to follow. In fact we were surprised how well worn it was. I guess being part of the AAWT it was still getting a decent amount of traffic during lockdown. As I said in the notes, don’t succumb to descending shortly after The Razor turnoff. The track traverses the descent to the left. Keep your eyes out for the cairns.

Enjoy the commando course (trees) into Viking Saddle. The track up to the hole in the rock is very obvious. Once through that, climb up a bit further unto you reach the steeper rock climbs, there is a cairn that marks the turnoff to South Viking although another party dropped their packs at the next terrace. So I think you can get to south Viking via a couple of routes.

There are a few cairns on the way out to South Viking. The main route with cairns is biased to the left (NE) as you climb South Viking


It is worth having a look at the track in Openstreet. I was running WorkOutDoors on my Apple Watch. This App uses Openstreet as its base map. Typically if there was a departure from the GPX track it was along the track in Openstreet. So to me, the Openstreet track is possibly the more recent/accurate/preferred.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby Thewaz » Tue 16 Nov, 2021 12:02 pm

Wow some great info thanks guys.
Was trying to work out a 3 day 2 night hike but to enjoy this it seems the 3 night option is best.
Appreciate the insight
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby Hiking Exped » Tue 16 Nov, 2021 2:55 pm

Brilliant trip report and photos Old Salt.

It has been a while since I did that circuit and I was planning to get up there with my 15 year old as soon as I can fit around school, etc.

Really useful.

Thanks for the detail, photos and track condition report.
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Re: Viking Loop, Vic Alps

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Fri 26 Nov, 2021 3:46 pm

Good photos . I like !
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