The Cathedral was a fairly constant companion on this walk.
It's been decades since my shadow has darkened the ground up on Mt Buffalo, if I had to guess I'm thinking it's been well over 30 years. As usual the main thing that has kept me away from this part of the High Country was the bushfires that have decimated the area this century, well it's not exactly the fires themselves but the their legacy. Yes, I find the wall of bushfire regrowth with the bleached white skeletons of the dead mature trees that come after the fires a little depressing really. So I'd been holding off as long as possible for a revisit to Mt Buffalo National Park however a couple of things have swayed me over the last year. The first thing that got me thinking was my friends Donavon and Alyssa from
The Long Ways Better Blog who visited the area late last year, their post of the walk had me thinking that the bush was recovering OK and it would be worth a look. The second issue was more bloody bushfires up there, yes last summer another
once in a hundred year bushfire crept it's way onto the plateau...for fucks sake! Thankfully the area of the plateau that I wanted to visit mostly escaped that blaze however I was now thinking that I'd better get up there again, as it seems like that it is only a matter of time before it goes up again.
I parked down the road at the tiny car park for The Leviathan Walk.
Having decided that the time was right to re-visit Mt Buffalo National Park I then had to wait for Covid to do it's disruptive best to derail any walking plans. Last Autumn's good weather slipped away, a Winter snow walk then also melted away as I sat at home in various different Corona lockdowns, looking out the windows with a 100 yard stare! Eventually Spring rolled around and the numerous restrictions started to lift, it was time to make the long drive up to Mt Buffalo National Park and check things out again. After an alpine start from home I was parked on the side of the Mt Buffalo Tourist Road in the tiny car park servicing the Leviathan well before 8am this morning. Locking the ute I wandered up the road for a few minutes until I arrived at the signposted Macs Point Track, it was time to head off into the scrub.
Setting off down the Macs Point Track - all the tracks were well signposted today.
With the morning sun at my back I set off along the nice track heading towards Drillhole Rocks, then Stanley Rocks, The Giants Causeway and then Split Rocks. I was basically keeping left at all the track junctions so far this morning and the good news was that all the tracks were well signposted and also it looked like they had all been recently cleared. I was now walking along the southern edge of Wild Dog Plains, although really like most of the rolling country up here the plains were a reasonably flat area of open grassland interspersed with belts of alpine scrub.
I'm thinking that I'm looking at The Hump here.
There is a long history of walking up on the Mt Buffalo Plateau.
The waking up here mostly alternates between open snow grass plains and belts of Snow Gums and Alpine Ash.
Nice easy walking early this morning on the Macs Point Track.
Thankfully there are areas with fairly mature trees that have so far survived the bushfires.
Still heading towards Macs Point. I was pleasantly surprised how clear the tracks were today - I'd been expecting more overgrown and less maintained pads.
Making my way to Macs Point the over head conditions had taken a bit of a turn.
I haven't mentioned it yet however there was a reason for my early start today, yes the weather up here was meant to creep up into the low thirties today with afternoon storms and rain on it's way, so I was pretty keen to get a fair chunk of the walk out of the way before the rain and storms arrived. So having said that, I was a little perturbed to be surrounded by black clouds and have some heavy drops of rain falling on me as I approached Macs Point at around 9am this morning, hmm it looked like things were going to turn ugly a little earlier than expected. Mac Point is 1450 metre high rocky outcrop that allows for great views so I dropped the pack for awhile while I hopped around the rocks trying to get the best look through the trees, the views back towards the Cathedral being particularly nice.
Crossing Wild Dog Plains on the way to Macs Point.
Dead Snow Gums on Macs Point.
The view south from Macs Point.
I had to move around a bit on Macs Point to get the best views through the Snow Gums.
Thankfully the threatening skies cleared a little while I was mucking around out at Macs Point this morning and by the time I set off on the next leg of my walk over to Eagle Point I was mostly walking under a warm sun again. It was a good thing that the rain had gone too, because the short section I had that took me north onto the Rocky Creek Track was the most overgrown of my whole day out, with a short section of shoulder high heath to push through. Once through the heath though the walking was superb again as I meandered my way along Rocky Creek Track before swinging my way around to the west and heading for Eagle Point along Five Acre Plain. Eagle Point has a similar outlook to the one back at Macs Point although the final climb to the summit was a little more adventurous than the one at Macs Point, on this one I had series of steel ladders and cat walks to climb...sweet!
These small unburnt areas are little oasis up here.
I had one short un-cleared section of track as I made my way from the Macs Point Track to Rocky Creek Track.
Wild Dog Plains
I've just popped out onto Rocky Creek Track.
Wild Dog Plains, Mt Buffalo National Park.
It looked like the track clearing fairies had been through here fairly recently.
Eagle Point is a three kilometre side trip... and it's worth it!
Beautiful walking across a snow plain on my way to Eagle Point.
The track out to Eagle Point passes through another unburnt pocket.
Thankfully the rain that had been threatening over at Macs Point had more or less disappeared for awhile so I was able to enjoy my time on the lofty Eagle Point without having to worry about an imminent drenching. My mood was pretty good as I climbed back down the ladders and set off towards my days next objective, the intriguingly named Og, Gog and Magog. Retracing my way back across Five Acre Plain I veered left away from my outward route and started what was a fairly gentle climb up towards Og, Gog, Magog, passing a nice open area of bare granite along the way which I think maybe Jessies Lookout? Og, Gog, Magog was a fairly short climb off the main route, and while the view itself wasn't earth shattering the short rocky walk was worth it just for the name of the small hill alone. The flat rocks near the summit of Og, Gog and Magog made for another nice spot to sit for awhile and take things in, the nice breeze and a bit of sparse shade from a spindly Snow Gums being very much appreciated on what was now a fairly warm day.
Eagle Point looks fairly intimidating from below...
... although the ladders make things a little easier.
Eagle Point views.
The view from Eagle Point, Mt Buffalo National Park.
Looking south towards The Horn from Eagle Point... this area was badly burnt in another bushfire last summer.
Heading towards Og, Gog and Magog.
My track climbed fairly easily up towards Og, Gog and Magog.
Approaching the turn off for Og, Gog and Magog I passed by this large granite outcrop that may (or may not) be Jessies Lookout.
Og, Gog and Magog is really a collection of huge granite boulders.
The view from Og, Gog and Magog while I enjoyed some shade beneath a Snow Gum.
Looking down towards the Mt McLeod Firetrack from my perch up on Og, Gog and Magog.
Retracing my way back to the main route I turned right and started dropping down to The Reservoir. As you may have guessed The Reservoir is a man made dam, although when approaching it from the west it looks like a natural alpine lake really. It was only after skirting around a small knoll, turning right onto the McLeod Fire Track and then passing through The Reservoir Picnic Area, and basically circumnavigating a fair portion of the little lake that I came to the little lakes spillway and retaining wall and it became obvious that this picturesque little lake was indeed man made. I did contemplate dropping twenty metres into the gully to sit under the cascading spillway for awhile although the scrub bash and some more looming dark clouds dissuaded me this afternoon. Leaving The Reservoir behind I once again made a mile as I first picked up Long Plain Track before taking the shortish side trip up Mt Dunn. At 1510 metres and standing alone in the centre of the Mt Buffalo Plateau the views from the summit of Mt Dunn were arguably the best of the day with numerous large granite peaks and outcrops all around me.
Approaching The Reservoir from the west it looks like a natural alpine lake.
Mt Buffalo National Park.
I followed the Mt McLeod Firetrack down to meet Reservoir Road.
Climbing away from The Reservoir Picnic Area I'd almost circumnavigated this little lake. There was a nice cascade coming down the spillway today - I was very tempted to drop down for a cold shower.
Dropping down the Long Plain Track towards the Mt Dunn turn off.
The Long Plain Track passed by a series of these small snow plains initially.
Mt Buffalo National Park from the Long Plain Track.
Once again the climb to Mt Dunn was pretty reasonable.
It wasn't just the views of the peaks around me that caught my eye while I was resting on the summit of Mr Dunn though, what really got my attention was the incoming black clouds and sheets off rain heading my way, well that and the sound of thunder reverberating through the hills and the flashes of lightning that seemed to be getting closer by the minute. Casting my gaze across to the series of metal ladders and cat walks that I needed to use to get off the mountain I figured that the time was right for a retreat, climbing down what was a glorified lightening conductor in a thunderstorm wasn't an experience that I really wanted this afternoon! Needless to say it didn't take long to retreat down off the ladders and after a few minutes I found myself back down on the Long Plain Track in the relative safety of a shallow valley.
The view north from Mt Dunn.
The view west from Mt Dunn came complete with lightening and thunder.
With lightening on the way I figured it was time for a quick retreat back down the steel ladders.
Back on Long Plain Track.
I had a nice ferny section to push through as I dropped down Long Plain Track.
The thunder was reverberating through the hills now.
Another nice snow plain from Long Plain Track.
Leaving Long Plain Track here the hardest climb of the day was about to begin.
I was now dropping down towards the western end of the Long Plain however instead of following the Long Plain Track east in the direction of Lake Catani I left the track and started the toughest and roughest walking of the day. Thankfully the storm held out for most of my 200 metre climb, although just before I arrived back up at Stanley Rocks on the Macs Point Track the rain hit. With the day still being very warm and with only around ten minutes walking left before I'd get back to the sanctuary of the ute I didn't bother donning the wet weather gear, although I did stash the DSLR away in it's dry bag. By the time I shuffled the last few meters back down the tourist road I was pretty well wet through, not that it mattered really as after placing a towel on the seat I climbed into the ute and and headed over to Lake Catani for a long anticipated swim!
It was while I was climbing back up to meet the Macs Point Track that the rain arrived.
The Cathedral was now brooding under a grey sky.
The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked around 19.3 kilometres and climbed around 790 metres on what I'd call a medium-hard grade days walking. It's only really the distance and the climbing involved that make this walk a little tougher than average, the actual track itself is very well marked and when I went through at least it was very clear. If the weathers good there are many spots to stop and take things in, if the weathers a little crappy then I'd probably consider whether you really want to be up here - the walk mostly stays around the 1400 to 1450 metre contour so it's definitely an alpine environment - and apart from some rock overhangs there is bugger all shelter over the distance. The walk I did today was more or less the same as the one Mr Tempest published in his book Daywalks Around Victoria, I used the notes and map out of that book in conjunction with my SV Maps Mt Buffalo 1:30,000 sheet and my GPS topos.
Relevant Posts.
Conditions were a little damp by the time I got back to the ute...
... although the warm rain wasn't really bothering me as I was heading down to Lake Catani for a swim now.
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