Mt May circuit ...overnighter

[ofuros]

Firstly, great informative forum you have here......

My first post so here goes...

Found the Mt May track easily enough from the camp ground, quite a well trodden path
by the looks of things.


Lots of 'catch my breath' breaks on the way up or photo opportunities.....as I like to call them.



These boots are made for walking....


Flora along the way


Summited south peak, breath taking views....then dropped down into the saddle between south & north peaks....with cosy little campsite possibilities,
then scrambled up to the north peak. Some great views of Mt Barney in the dying daylight.
Set up camp as the light faded & temperatures started to tumble.
Room with a view.



Surprisingly calm cool night.....I was expecting the worst. Tap tap tapping on the fly around 3am, but only a light shower.
The morning sunrise.....



After breakie, I dropped down the ridge, followed the fenceline to the 4wd track & made my way back to the camp ground.

All up, a great little overnighter.

Take plenty of water as ther is none...
Take your own firewood instead degrading the camp area.
Phone reception from the 2 peaks is good.

Sunmap series 25,000, MAROON

Cheers ,
ofuros.

[cams]

Thanks for the report. Great view from your campsite. What sort of hammock setup are you using?

[ofuros]

Thanks cams,
Its a Hennessy Explorer Ultralight, which I only received last Thursday,
so this was its maiden voyage......apart from the trial tests in the garage.

Comes with short tree huggers....the perfect sized tree is not always handy,
so, a couple of longer endless slings are already on order, for larger trees.

Lashing is fine & foolproof method, but takes a bit of time....so i've also ordered some descender rings
to speed up that process.....& we'll see how that works out.

Snakeskin covers work well.

Remember they sleep colder....I have a bivvy bag, sleeping pad velcro'd to bivvy bag to stop it moving around, with a sleeping bag on that.
Warm & cosy so far.


If your interested the link is here.
http://hennessyhammock.com/catalog/#hammock

P.S I have a bad back....so was a bit worried about that side of things...but so no far no pain or twinges.
Wether on my back or my side.....works for me.

Cheers,
ofuros

[cams]

Good to know. There are a few others on the forums getting into hammocking atm. It definitely interests me.

[ofuros]

Glad to help cams...just have to get a little creative when theres no trees around !

Just noticed ....maybe I should have posted this in the trip reports section.....ooops.

ofuros

[Al and Bruce Paton]

Tossing up between Mt May and Mt Maroon as an overnighter with great views of Mt Barney for sunrise/sunset.

Which would you recommend?

[ofuros]

Hi Al & Bruce,
Both options have great views of Mt Barney, I'm not sure if the Cotswold track on
Mt Maroon is open though...unless your going in via another access route.

I followed the ridge to the base of the cliffs then scrambled up them, summited, returning via
the Cotswold's track, down through the steep valley. This was before the track was closed.

Both have small impromptu campsites in the saddles just below their summits.
Not much help I'm afraid.....decisions...decisions

Mt Barney summit shrouded in cloud...from Mt Maroon.

Views north...

[dannnnn]

the cotswald track is open, i climbed it last weekend. there is a slight detour because of a rock slide, but it has been well marked with bright orange directional arrows. the footpad is pretty easy to follow, i did not need the map once.

it has been about 8yrs since i climbed barney and i can't remember how steep it was... but mt maroon was rather steep. the scramble up the gully might be a little unpleasant with a heavy pack.

there is a reasonable campsite in the saddle, but as the OP said.. bring water. we found a bit in rock pools, but only because of heavy rain the day before.

[Al and Bruce Paton]

Thanks for the suggestions. Have read some notes for Mt Mitchell that also describe wonderful views. Doesn't look like you can camp up there though?
Annoying that all these peaks seem to have the best views to the east - can't be everywhere at sunrise!

[cams]

Thanks for the suggestions. Have read some notes for Mt Mitchell that also describe wonderful views. Doesn't look like you can camp up there though?
Annoying that all these peaks seem to have the best views to the east - can't be everywhere at sunrise!

Yeah, no official camping on Mt Mitchell. And it is a fairly well used track so would be tricky to stealth camp up there too. Closest official campsite would be either Mt. French, Spicers Gap or one of the private camp grounds around Lake Moogerah. You can get good views (although from not as high) with a shorter walk from either Spicers Gap to Governers Chair which looks to the North across the lake and Moogerah Peaks. Or there is a lookout 5 minutes up the track to Mt. Cordeaux (taking the right hand branch) that looks North-East towards the same area.