3 Day Bogong High Plains circuit trip report
Posted: Fri 16 Mar, 2012 11:41 amI've found other people's trip reports on this forum very helpful, so here is a quick one of my own for the hike we did over Labour Day long weekend. A stunning walk, not too hard, blessed with perfect weather (a few days after one of the wettest weeks in years). No photos I'm afraid - in my rush to leave I left my camera sitting at home (I didn't miss those 2 kilos!).
We'd planned to camp by Rocky Valley Storage on Friday night to get walking early on Saturday. However we only ended up making it as far as Bright on Friday night (we camped for free at a handy spot 5km east of Bright at the intersection of the Great Alpine Rd and Bright-Tawonga Rd), and then were tempted in to Bright for a delicious breakfast on Saturday morning (thanks Coral Lee, you rock!). So instead of starting walking at 8:30am as planned, we didn't get walking until almost midday.
Day 1 - Rocky Valley Storage to Big River, 14.5km. In glorious sunshine we splashed along the wet but very pretty Heathy Spur Track until we got to the AAWT. The easy going continued as we headed north on the AAWT. We stopped for lunch at Roper's Hut, which was looking idyllic in the sun, and filled water bottles in the stream there, which was flowing so strongly that it looked like something from the Swiss Alps. We then began the steep descent down Duane Spur to Big River. This descent left a few of us with shaking legs, which perhaps wasn't ideal for crossing the river. The River was quite high after the recent downpours, and to make matters worse, the chain had been knocked out, presumably by a log floating downstream (Parks Vic inform me that it has already been repaired). Taking turns with our one pair of trekking poles, we all managed to cross the *&%$#! freezing river. Our plan had been to get up to Cleve Cole Hut for night 1, but after starting late we had little choice but to camp by the river. There's enough room there for 3 or 4 tents, and a fire.
Day 2 - Big River to Big River via Mt Bogong Summit, 20km. Another perfect day as we started the climb up T-Spur. *&%$#! steep for the first little bit, then not too bad. After 5km climbing we turned off the AAWT and headed towards Cleve Cole Hut. Camp Valley looked stunning, and we took a quick detour to look at Howman Falls. There were quite a lot of wildflowers around - is this unusual for March? A result of all the rain perhaps? We continued up to Cleve Cole Hut, where we stopped for lunch. Realising that we'd better get cracking, we then stormed up to the summit of Bogong, which unfortunately was somewhat shrouded in cloud. After taking a few minutes to find the track along Black Saddle, we set off towards Quartz Ridge. We were quickly out of the clouds and the views were magnificent. The descent down Quartz Ridge wasn't as steep as we'd feared (not as bad as Duane Spur), and before long we found ourselves at Big River Fire Track. We had planned to take the Grey Hills route on Day 3, over Mt Arthur and Spion Kopje Spur, but some sore muscles and the temptation of late lunch at Coral Lee in Bright made us opt instead for the easy route along Big River Fire Track. So instead of camping at Bogong Creek Saddle (which looked like a pretty nice spot actually) we headed another kilometre downhill to Big River. We had to cross the river again (shallower and easier this time) to get to our campsite. The ground wasn't all that flat, and we had to pitch our tents on the grassy 4WD track, but overall not too bad a campsite.
Day 3 - Big River to Rocky Valley Storage, 19.5km. In heavy morning mist we got going as early as we could manage (not that early), climbing steadily but easily on the Big River Fire Track. We had spectacular views of the mist sitting in the valley as we got up higher and moved into the sunshine. A pretty fast and easy 10km to get to the AAWT, and then retracing our steps from Day 1 to get back to the cars. Perhaps the Grey Hills route would have been a lot more interesting and challenging, but we certainly enjoyed our late lunch in Bright more than we would have enjoyed our salami and cheese wraps, and getting home to Melbourne by 8pm was great.
We'd planned to camp by Rocky Valley Storage on Friday night to get walking early on Saturday. However we only ended up making it as far as Bright on Friday night (we camped for free at a handy spot 5km east of Bright at the intersection of the Great Alpine Rd and Bright-Tawonga Rd), and then were tempted in to Bright for a delicious breakfast on Saturday morning (thanks Coral Lee, you rock!). So instead of starting walking at 8:30am as planned, we didn't get walking until almost midday.
Day 1 - Rocky Valley Storage to Big River, 14.5km. In glorious sunshine we splashed along the wet but very pretty Heathy Spur Track until we got to the AAWT. The easy going continued as we headed north on the AAWT. We stopped for lunch at Roper's Hut, which was looking idyllic in the sun, and filled water bottles in the stream there, which was flowing so strongly that it looked like something from the Swiss Alps. We then began the steep descent down Duane Spur to Big River. This descent left a few of us with shaking legs, which perhaps wasn't ideal for crossing the river. The River was quite high after the recent downpours, and to make matters worse, the chain had been knocked out, presumably by a log floating downstream (Parks Vic inform me that it has already been repaired). Taking turns with our one pair of trekking poles, we all managed to cross the *&%$#! freezing river. Our plan had been to get up to Cleve Cole Hut for night 1, but after starting late we had little choice but to camp by the river. There's enough room there for 3 or 4 tents, and a fire.
Day 2 - Big River to Big River via Mt Bogong Summit, 20km. Another perfect day as we started the climb up T-Spur. *&%$#! steep for the first little bit, then not too bad. After 5km climbing we turned off the AAWT and headed towards Cleve Cole Hut. Camp Valley looked stunning, and we took a quick detour to look at Howman Falls. There were quite a lot of wildflowers around - is this unusual for March? A result of all the rain perhaps? We continued up to Cleve Cole Hut, where we stopped for lunch. Realising that we'd better get cracking, we then stormed up to the summit of Bogong, which unfortunately was somewhat shrouded in cloud. After taking a few minutes to find the track along Black Saddle, we set off towards Quartz Ridge. We were quickly out of the clouds and the views were magnificent. The descent down Quartz Ridge wasn't as steep as we'd feared (not as bad as Duane Spur), and before long we found ourselves at Big River Fire Track. We had planned to take the Grey Hills route on Day 3, over Mt Arthur and Spion Kopje Spur, but some sore muscles and the temptation of late lunch at Coral Lee in Bright made us opt instead for the easy route along Big River Fire Track. So instead of camping at Bogong Creek Saddle (which looked like a pretty nice spot actually) we headed another kilometre downhill to Big River. We had to cross the river again (shallower and easier this time) to get to our campsite. The ground wasn't all that flat, and we had to pitch our tents on the grassy 4WD track, but overall not too bad a campsite.
Day 3 - Big River to Rocky Valley Storage, 19.5km. In heavy morning mist we got going as early as we could manage (not that early), climbing steadily but easily on the Big River Fire Track. We had spectacular views of the mist sitting in the valley as we got up higher and moved into the sunshine. A pretty fast and easy 10km to get to the AAWT, and then retracing our steps from Day 1 to get back to the cars. Perhaps the Grey Hills route would have been a lot more interesting and challenging, but we certainly enjoyed our late lunch in Bright more than we would have enjoyed our salami and cheese wraps, and getting home to Melbourne by 8pm was great.