The initial part of the trail up the Bluff located in Victoria’s high country proved to be quite steep. The trail gained altitude very quickly up the steep rocky cliff face of the mountain:

This is what the steep rocky face of the mountain looks like from the top of the mountain:

When I reached the top of the mountain a large grassy plain speckled with rocks opened up before me:

The Bluff used to be used as grazing land for livestock since the 1800’s and grazing was only stopped a few years ago due to the environmental movement claiming the grazing harmed the environment. The ranchers that herded the cattle up the mountain were from the Mansfield area. They would slowly work the cattle up the mountain to first Sheepyard Flat to graze before ultimately reaching the top of the Bluff. As fall hit the ranchers would then drive the cattle back from the high country and back to the Mansfield area for the winter. These cattlemen are what inspired Banjo Patterson to write The Man from Snowy River.

On this day there was no man from Snowy River on this mountain it was just me and it would be that way the entire day. I was literally the only person on this mountain. Before long I reached the summit of the Bluff:

The views from the summit were spectacular to say the least. I could look all the way down the Howqua Valley too the west that I had drove up to reach the trailhead:

To my north loomed Mt. Buller:

I could quite easily make out the ski resort located on the top of the mountain:

To my south loomed more large mountains and a spring bubbled to the surface just below the ridge line I was standing on creating a large marsh land below me:

From the summit I continued down the trail and further across the stunning Bluff:

Next Posting: Hiking Up the Bluff - Part 3

Prior Posting: Hiking Up the Bluff - Part 1