The Pilot Walk, Day 2, Cowombat Flat Camp to The Pilot return - January 2023

The cloud was low when I crawled out of the tent this morning.

I shared the Pilot Creek Trail with a few brumbies this morning.

Climbing Pilot Creek Trail I started to break out of the cloud.

Dropping down Snow Gums Trail I got my first good look at The Pilot.

The climb to The Pilot is off piste - but pretty reasonable.

Up at The Pilot trig.

There was a bit of cloud off to the south east.

That's the main Range in the distance.

The Pilot.

My camp at Cowombat Flat was in that grassy clearing in the valley.

There's a small logbook buried in the cairn.

If you squint you may see some lingering snow drifts on the Main Range.

I wish all my off piste walking was a nice as this!

My off piste descent is almost finished - Cowombat Trail has just appeared through the trees.

I followed Cowombat Trail back to camp.

There was a surprising amount of water flowing off the slopes of The Pilot today.

The old cairn marking the turn off for the source of the Murray River has a Snow Gum growing out of it.

I'm not exactly sure if I found the source this afternoon...

... as the feral horses had obliterated any pad and made a mess of the soft ground around the river.

I'm thinking GPS co-ordinates might be handy here.

The classic one foot in NSW and one in VIC shot as I straddled the Murray River back at Cowombat Flat.

Resting beside the Murray River at Cowombat Flat - it had been a solid day for a fat old bloke!

Early evening views over Cowombat Flat while I enjoyed my dinner.

There were a few horses out and about however I didn't see another person. 

The Dirt.

According to my AllTrails App I walked around 24.9 kilometres and climbed about 990 metres on what I'd call a medium-hard grade days walking. I followed the route of the AAWT from camp this morning, before swinging south along Cowombat Trail for a few minutes and then climbed off track east up to The Pilot. The off piste stuff was actually reasonably good and once I was on the summit ridge the walking was great. There was quite a bit of water flowing across Cowombat Trail this afternoon. The old route to the source of the Murray River is very hard to follow - GPS co-ordinates would be handy to identify the exact spring that is the official source. I used John Chapmans notes and map along with my AllTrails App today.

Relevant Posts.

Previous Day of this walk.

YouTube Video.

https://youtu.be/w8VoN-c5zYQ

Wadna Yaldha (Mt Chambers) Walk - December 2022

I was off to an early start today.

By the time I left the ute the sun was starting to creep closer to me.

Thankfully Mt Chambers was providing me with some shade.

Climbing towards the ridge I was able to watch the new day creeping across the desert.

This was a bit of a make your own style of adventure.

The country is fairly good for off piste walking - although the vegetation that is there is extremely scratchy.

Getting closer to the summit ridge and I'm traversing some steep and lose ground.

Once on the summit ridge the walking was pretty straitforward.

There is a substantial cairn on the summit (although no log book that I could see).

The view from the small summit plateau was stunning.

Alright... time to get back down to the ute.

I swung a little bit further to the east along the ridge on my descent, which got me away from some of the steeper and loser sections.

I was able to follow intermittent animal / bushwalking pads occasionally.

Easy walking down lower.

Looking back I got a classic desert scene as I approached the ute.

The Dirt.

According to AllTrails I walked around 4.4 kilometres and climbed about 218 metres on this hard walk. While the stats mightn't suggest a hard rating the walk is off track and can feature some lose scrambling depending on the exact route taken. There are no facilities or signage anywhere (including the trail head) on this stroll. This not a walk to do on a hot day as there is virtually no shelter. I used my AllTrails map this morning.

Relevant Posts.

Bunyip Chasm Walk, 2023.

YouTube Video.

https://youtu.be/lXs7ps5DWUw

Moora Moora Reservoir Walk & Swim, Grampians National Park - January 2023

The hardest bit of this adventure was actually finding the start of the track.

I was struggling to get a photo of this bloke...

... he kept circling the tree to stay away from the camera.

I've been walking for around 3 minutes and the reservoir wall is already in view.

That's the Serra Range on the far side of Moora Moora Reservoir.

The entry point was easier than it looked.

The water was almost the perfect temperature this morning.

I'd been able to squeeze in a lot on this 20 hour visit to the Grampians - it was time to dry off now and head off home though.

The Dirt. 

According to my AllTrails app I walked a grand total of 440 metres and climbed about 6 metres on this very easy adventure. By far the hardest bit about this walk/swim is finding it - keep a close eye on your map and look for a WP sign pointing north east along a 4wd track that is just after an old irrigation channel, when heading south along the Glenelg River Road. The swimming here is sensational once off the rocks, the reservoir is pretty shallow so it's was easy enough to stand up once I cleared the rocks. I used my AllTrails app today.

Relevant Posts.

MacKenzie River Walk, 2019.

YouTube Video.

https://youtu.be/c8FXq8WP8nk