Tag Archive for 'Alpine National Park'

On Walkabout Around: Mt. Stirling, Victoria

Published on August 8, 2009 in Victoria. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

From the Mt. Buller area there are a number of four wheel drive trails I have taken my Jeep on that really provides some stunning views of the beautiful Victorian Alps.  I have taken the four wheel drive road from Mt. Buller that takes visitor to the beautiful campground at Sheepyard Flat along Howqua Creek.  Further down this road from the campground is the trail head to the hike up the massive plateau known as The Bluff that is absolutely an excellent day out hiking. However by continuing passed The Bluff the four wheel drive road actually becomes a circuit around the imposing Mt. Buller:

Alpine National Park Map

All along this road there are a variety of views of the scenic Mt. Buller which begins with views of this great mountain from the South:

Mt. Buller Backdrop
Mt. Buller rises above the tree tops in the distance.

Stunning Mt. Buller
A closer look at the 1,707 meter (5600 ft) summit of Mt. Buller.

Also along the road are a number of other great views of the rugged Victorian Alps:

The Rugged Victorian Alps

Along one of the spurs off the main four wheel drive road to Mt. Stirling is a road that descends steeply into a valley where there is a short trial to the Bindaree Falls:

Start of Bindaree Falls Hike

The bush here was quite overgrown when I visited and the trail in need of some definite maintenance:

Bindaree Falls Trail

However, these conditions shouldn’t be too surprising considering how remote this area is.  When I got to the falls there really wasn’t much to see as there was just a trickle of water coming down the side of the rock outcropping:

Bindaree Falls

There is a small natural cave here so I could definitely see at one time this place being used as a camp site for the Aborigines whenever they foraged deep into the Victorian Alps.

If you haven’t noticed from the prior pictures, these mountains were hit with a severe bushfire back in 2006, but the forest continues to grow and recover with signs of life continuing to sprout out everywhere:

Ferns Growing At Bindaree Falls

As the road goes further past The Bluff it actually loops back around Mt. Stirling which is famous for its Man From Snowy River fame.

Mt. Stirling In the Distance
The 1,749 meter (5,738 ft) summit of Mt. Stirling in the distance.

As Mt. Stirling got closer and closer as we continued down the road, The Bluff behind us became less and less imposing:

The Bluff in the Victorian Alps
The Bluff can be seen in the distance.

As I approached the slopes of Mt. Stirling the bushland was once again greatly burned due to the bushfires from two years prior, but still clearly the vegetation was making a come back.

Charred Gum Trees

The drive along the slopes of Mt. Stirling just has some spectacular scenery to include one of the most rugged hikes in the Victorian Alps which is to Mt. Howitt and the hiking across the Cross Cut Saw:

The Rugged Peaks of the Crosscut Saw

Out in the very far northern distance I could even make out Mt. Buffalo:

Mt. Buffalo in the Distance

Another prominent peak that can be seen is Mt. Cobbler:

Mt. Cobbler from A Distance

Here is a closer look at the summit of this scenic, but isolated mountain deep in the Victorian Alps:

Close Up of Mt. Cobbler

Along the road I came to the turn off to the Mt. Stirling summit and the road was sealed due to some work they were doing restoring the area so I didn’t have a chance to get to the top of the mountain, and instead would just have to make do with a picture of its summit from a far:

Approach to Mt. Stirling

By now my wife and I had completely looped around Mt. Buller and were on the North side of the mountain which provided some great views of this peak:

Mt. Buller From A Distance

From the North side I could even make out the Mt. Buller Ski Village on top the mountain.  During the summer time it is hard to believe this place gets enough snow during the winter to support skiing, but it does:

Mt. Buller Ski Resort

All in all if you have a four wheel drive vehicle or even a vehicle which just a little ground clearance this trip around the mountain is a good day out.  Just make sure you bring some food and water in case you get stuck and definitely bring a good map to ensure you don’t get lost.  It is important to use common sense when driving or hiking in the Australian high country.

Aboriginal Group Protests Mt. Niggerhead Name Change

Published on November 17, 2008 in Aboriginal Issues and Victoria. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

Well at least they are renaming this Victorian mountain which when I first saw it on a map I couldn’t believe it was named that:

AN Aboriginal group plans to sue the Victorian Government for ignoring its heritage in the renaming of Mount Niggerhead, a mountain in the Alpine National Park.

For decades, the 1846m Mt Niggerhead in the state’s northeast has been at the centre of a heated debate about its name.

State Environment Minister Gavin Jennings pledged last week to rename the rocky outcrop Jaithmathangs, after one of the traditional languages of the Bogong High Plains.

But another Aboriginal nation, the Dhudhuroas, says the peak is part of their country and the proposed new name is just as offensive to them as Mt Niggerhead.

“It’s a bit like renaming Australia as England,” Gary Murray, co-chair of the Dhudhuroa Native Title Group, said.

“Jennings might as well have taken any old name from Arnhem Land – it’s bulls**t.

“This is offensive to our people. The Jaithmathangs are from the other side of Omeo, which is miles away. The name is linguistically and culturally inappropriate.” [AAP]

Mt. Niggerhead is actually very close to the Mt. Hotham ski resort and easily visible from the Great Alpine Road. In the above picture you can see Mt. Niggerhead in the background from when I hiked one of Australia’s best trails The Razorback.

On Walkabout Video: Hiking the Bluff

Published on December 9, 2007 in Victoria. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Here is some video footage I took from the summit of The Bluff in the Victorian Alps:

If you haven’t already make sure to check out my prior postings on The Bluff below:
The Bluff – Part 1
The Bluff – Part 2
The Bluff – Part 3

On Walkabout On: The Bluff – Part 3

Published on December 8, 2007 in Victoria. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

As I proceeded down the trail from the summit of the Bluff in the Victorian high country, I began to lose some altitude and reached an area of the trail known as the Blowhole:

The Blowhole provided a great view looking up mountainous valley where the Howqua River flowed from to the north. From the Blowhole I then had to again hike up some steep terrain to regain altitude on a second high mesa. As I hiked up the mesa it had a striking resemblance to some of the mountains I hiked up in Victoria’s Grampians Mountains:

In the below picture you can actually see the summit of the Bluff on the far plateau in the distance:

The ridgeline running from the far plateau is the route the trail took towards the Blowhole and eventually to where I’m standing to take this picture from. As I climbed up to the cliff’s edge of this mesa I had another great view of the surrounding mountains:

I climbed down the mesa and went down the trail towards the tree line:

As I entered the tree line I also entered an area that was highly scorched from last summer’s bushfires:

I continued to drop in altitude through the scorch forest until I reached the burned out remains of Bluff Hut:

This part of the mountain has been extremely scorched by the bushfires and all around me was burned out trees. From the hut I could look back towards the high plateau of the Bluff and see how scorched the side of the mountain is that I walked through:

However, just like other scorched areas, the forest in this area is also regenerating itself:

From the Bluff Point lookout there are plenty of fabulous views of the surrounding high country, especially towards the north:

From Bluff Hut the trail actually becomes part of the four wheel drive road that takes you up into the Victorian high country. It was just a simple matter of me walking down the road and back to my Jeep at the trail head. Along the way I was reminded once again of the devestation of last summer’s bushfires:

But once again along the road I saw signs of nature recovering as well:

Before long I was back at my Jeep and ready to drive back to Mansfield. The hike took me 6 hours and I really didn’t kill myself to do it. This hike I highly recommend for people living or visiting Victoria and are into bushwalking. This is one of the best one day hikes I have been on in Australia. The only down side to the hike is that it is a remote place to get to. It was another two hour drive on the Howqua Track to get back down the mountain to Mansfield and then another two hours from there to get back home. However, I did get to take in a stunning sunset from the Mansfield high country before heading home:

Next Posting: Video from the Bluff

Prior Posting: Hiking Up the Bluff – Part 2

On Walkabout On: The Bluff – Part 2

Published on December 7, 2007 in Victoria. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

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

On Walkabout On: The Bluff – Part 1

Published on December 6, 2007 in Victoria. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

One of the lesser known but quite possibly one of the best hikes in the Victorian high country is the spectacular rocky plateau known simply as The Bluff. The Bluff is located across the Howqua Valley from Mt. Buller. To undertake this hike you have to leave early in the morning and head towards Mansfield. From Mansfield it is about two hours of dirt road driving to reach the Bluff trailhead.

The dirt road is called the Howqua Track and is the same road I traveled on earlier this year to check out the damage from the 2006 bushfires. It was interesting to see the further regeneration of the forest from the fires:

Many of the tree tops are still scorched, but the ground is quickly recovering and filled with new ferns and other plant life:

A thick green moss could be seen climbing up many of the trees as well:

About an hour into the ride up the Howqua Track I reached the Sheepyard Flat Campground, which the Howqua River runs through:

As I travelled further up the road the fire damage was less evident:

Not to far passed Sheepyard Flat I officially entered into Alpine National Park:

The road was becoming rougher and I was definitely gaining altitude as I proceeded further into the park:

The gain in altitude was beginning to give me some outstanding views of the surrounding Victorian high country:

Before long the Bluff came into view and was quite an impressive sight:

Above is the mountain I was planning on climbing up and is one of the most impressive mountains I have seen in all of Australia. Not to far from where I first spotted the mountain I came upon the trailhead:

The Parks Victoria website recommends using two days for this hike, but I was starting early enough to where I planned to do it in one day. Here is the route I planned on taking up the mountain:

The summit of the Bluff reaches to a maximum altitude of 1,725 meters and was going to be one of the highest mountains I’ve hiked up since I’ve been here in Australia. I was definitely looking forward to it.

Next Posting: Hiking Up the Bluff – Part 2

On Walkabout On: The Bushfire Recovery of Mt. Buller

Published on March 20, 2007 in Victoria. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

This past summer while the Victorian bush fires were raging I took a drive up to Mansfield to see the fires first hand. Well over the past Labor Day holiday here in Australia, I used the extra time off to take another drive up to the high country to see what the impact of the bush fires has had on the high country’s environment. I always enjoy going to Mansfield and once again it was nice to visit the city. It was very busy in Mansfield that weekend due to lots of people from Melbourne heading up to Mansfield for the long weekend.

After checking out Mansfield I headed towards Mt. Buller which is about 30 minutes east of town. Judging by this below picture, you would never know Mt. Buller was the sight of a massive bushfire just three months ago:

Mt. Buller, Victoria

My original destination on this trip was to complete The Bluff Trail which is a 13km hike up a steep alpine bluff to the south of Mt. Buller. To reach the hike I had to take the Howqua Track dirt road from the small village of Merrijig along the road to Mt. Buller. The Howqua Track travels for 16.5km to a large camping area called Sheepyard Flat. Once I entered the tree line, the damage from the bushfires became quite evident:

Bush Fire Recovery 4

Nearly all the trees were scorched black, however there was also plenty of signs of life returning to the forest:

Bush Fire Recovery 3

Much of the forest’s floor was covered in thick green vegetation. The amount of plant life that has already taken hold on the forest floor is really amazing when you consider the bush fires were only put out about two months ago.

Australian Bushfire Recovery

While driving down the road I had a wallaby jump out of the brush and hop along my Jeep while I was driving. As soon as I stopped to take a picture the wallaby looked at me, than hopped across the road and then hopped into the bush:

A Wallaby Runs Across the Road

The wallabies are rare to see compared to kangaroos because many of the different species of wallabies have been greatly reduced in population due to being hunted by foxes that were introduced into Australia by the early colonists. So it always good to see wallabies when you can.

Driving along the dirt road there was some areas that some how escaped the fires:

Bush Fire Recovery 1

Yet other areas that were scorched were still quite beautiful:

Bush Fire Recovery 2

Eventually the road crossed over the Howqua Creek that was also some how able to escape the bush fires:

Howqua Creek

Across the Howqua Creek, the road runs through the large campground of Sheepyard Flat:

Sheepyard Flat

This is actually quite a nice campground that was slowly filling up with Melbournians camping here for the weekend. Unfortunately as I drove through the campground the road was eventually blocked preventing me from reaching the Bluff hiking trail. The road was closed because the park service hasn’t been able to clear it of fallen trees from the bushfire. So I had to unfortunately cancel my hiking plans.

With my plans canceled I decided to turn to Plan B and go explore the four wheel drive roads on the north side of Mt. Buller instead.

Next Posting: Mt. Stirling and the Bindaree Track