Mt Feathertop from the Basalt Temple fist thing this morning.
I enjoyed a sensational night up near the Basalt Temple, sleeping like a baby in the Duplex. Last night there had been a fairly heavy dew and once again the Duplex came through with flying colours, while the walls were definitely wet there was enough headroom that I didn't really get wet, well no more than I would have in a double skin tent anyway. I was up pretty early this morning as I wanted to try and finish the walk by mid afternoon, the advantage of that was that I got to enjoy a great sunrise as I enjoyed my breakfast on the Basalt Temple, shortly after breaking camp.
I'm packed up a ready to go - the sun has yet to make its appearance.
The Cobungra River Valley from the AAWT.
Dropping down the AAWT towards the Basalt Temple.
The Basalt Temple is only a short scramble off the AAWT.
The Basalt Temple.
Mt Feathertop and the western edge of the Bogong High Plains.
After taking in the views of the flanks of Mt Feathertop which were being lit up by the rising sun I grabbed my pack and set off down to Dibbins Hut, the descent down the AAWT being quick and fairly painless. Arriving on the banks of the Cobungra River just after 8am the mist was still rising from the valley as the sun slowly crept its way closer. Apart from two couples who were doing the Falls to Hotham Walk and using the tent platforms the valley was deserted this morning, so I settled in for awhile as I braced myself for the climb ahead.
Heading down the AAWT again towards the Cobungra River and Dibbins Hut...
... I was still getting some good views down towards the Cobungra River...
... and across to the looming Mt Feathertop.
Cobungra Gap.
The mist was still rising when I arrived down on the Cobungra River this morning.
That's Dibbins Hut in the distance.
Early morning on the Cobungra River down near Dibbins Hut.
With the sun now lighting up the whole valley I once again grabbed my pack and started the fairly long climb up the AAWT to Derrick Hut, this is one of those climbs that starts off fairly steep but levels off a fair bit towards the top. Thankfully I still had enough fuel in the tank to get me up the steep stuff fairly comfortably, so by the time I was starting to feel it a bit I was fairly high up in some nice Snowgum country with some nice views, it's always nicer to stop for rest when there is something to take my mind of the pain that I'm feeling. By the time I shuffled into Derrick Hut it was mid morning and it wasn't long before day walkers from Mt Hotham as well as the more prepared multi night walkers out for the long weekend started to arrive.
By the time I left the Cobungra River the sun was well and truly up.
The climb away from Dibbins up to Derrick is a solid one...
... although the early morning light and great scenery took my mind of the pain a little!
Nice going on the AAWT approaching Derrick Hut.
Looking across towards Mt Loch.
AAWT
Derrick Hut - before the crowds arrived.
With a small crowd (relatively speaking) starting to gather at Derrick Hut I figured it was time to make myself scarce again. Normally from Derrick Hut it's pretty cruise hour or so along the AAWT out to the Mt Loch Carpark on the Alpine Road, however I needed to get down to the Brandy Creek Trail Head so I was going to be improvising a little bit from here on. After climbing away from Derrick Hut for a few minutes I swung south off the AAWT onto the signposted The Huts Walking Track. This track undulates a little initially, following along a pole line (that I think marks the extent of the Mt Hotham Alpine Resort boundary?). After climbing over a few knolls the track started dropping down to where I'd eventually cross over Swindler's Creek, a journey punctuated with a nice break on the grass outside Spargo's Hut.
Leaving the AAWT I swung south along The Huts Trail.
The Huts Trail initially followed a pole line marking the boundary of the alpine resort.
Looking back down to Derrick Hut from The Huts Trail.
The Huts Trail.
I was getting some views across towards Hotham Heights from The Huts Trail.
The Huts Trail.
That's Spargo's Hut in the clearing - time for another break I reckon.
Spargo's Hut.
After leaving Spargo's Hut the benched track dropped quickly and fairly steeply down to Swindler's Creek, a descent made a little easier by a few switchbacks. Swindlers Creek is in what is almost a gorge as the walls of the valley are that steep. After making use of the benches and the shade down beside the bridge over Swindlers Creek I set off up to meet the Cobungra Ditch Trail. Like the descent down to Swindlers Creek the climb out of the valley was steep, really steep! Thankfully the climb was made fairly bearable as once again the track was benched and there was what seemed like a never ending series of switchbacks to help ease my progress - still, by the time I arrived at the Cobungra Ditch track I was pretty ready for some easier walking.
Dropping steeply down towards Swindlers Creek.
Swindlers Creek.
The climb away from Swindlers Creek was made easier by the numerous switchbacks.
That's the ridge on the skyline which the Great Alpine Road runs along.
Arriving onto the Cobungra Ditch Trail most of the climbing was done for the day - I still had a fair walk in front of me though.
The Cobungra Ditch Trail follows the old water race that supplied water for Brandy Creek Gold Mine back in the day so it made for level and pretty easy walking for the most part. Similar to The Huts Trail this is another track that is maintained by the Hotham Alpine Resort people as it's largely within the boundaries of the resort and to be honest they seem to be doing a good job when it comes to track clearing and walking infrastructure. While the Cobungra Ditch Trail made for fairly easy walking it was still a fairly long walk, the signpost when I joined it said it was 11 kilometres to the Brandy Creek Track carpark and while I don't think it was quite that far it wasn't much shorter. Apart from the easy walking the other good thing about the Cobungra Ditch Trail was that I was now getting some nice views over towards the southern high plains again which took my mind off my now somewhat tender feet a little. It was around 3pm by the time I shuffled the last few metres up Brandy Creek Track back to the ute this afternoon after what had been a nice day's walking. Pulling off my boots and sweaty clothes I enjoyed the dubious pleasures of a quick bush shower beside the ute before jumping in and making a mile over to Dartmouth - but that's another story;)
The old water race is now the Cobungra Ditch Trail.
Easy walking along the Cobungra Ditch Trail.
I was getting some views across to the southern end of the Bogong High Plains now.
The old miners certainly put in some work when they hand cut this water race.
The Cobungra Ditch Trail crosses some steep ground - there is some nice old stone work here.
The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked around 20.6 kilometres and climbed about 791 metres on what I'd call a medium grade days walking. Apart from the 50 metre side trip up onto the Basalt Temple the rest of todays walking was all along fairly good and well signposted tracks. I filled up with water down on the Cobungra River near Dibbins Hut which got me back to the ute, I didn't fill up out of Swindlers Creek as I was a little concerned about run off from the Mt Hotham Resort being within the catchment of the creek - there were a few creeks crossing the Cobungra Ditch Trail that probably would have been fairly safe I guess. I used the Rooftop's Bright-Bogong-Hotham Forest Activities Map along with my GPS topos and a topo map I produced on my Alltrails App on today's stroll, I also carried a copy of the Mt Hotham Tracks & Trails Map which I didn't really use.
According to my GPS I walked around 37.6 kilometres and climbed about 1507 metres on what I'd call a medium-hard grade overnight walk (the Garmin seems to come in a little over what my phone App does). Really the only thing a little hard about this stroll was the navigation on day one along the Cobungra River and then up Paling Spur and across the rolling country to Young's Hut - it's not super hard and mostly there are pads however it's still not like walking on a track. Now, I have to say I really enjoyed this walk, the country was really pretty and on day 1 in particular there was nobody around. On day 2 the AAWT was starting to get a little busy by the time I left it (it was a Saturday on a long weekend), however the Huts Trail and Cobungra Ditch Trails were virtually deserted.
Relevant Posts.
Crossing another damp gully on the Cobungra Ditch Trail - it was possible to get water in a few spots along here.
My walk finished with a relatively short climb back up the Brandy Creek Track to the ute.
Here's a screenshot of my two day walk off Alltrails.
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