This was quite a varied walk with long flat stretches, watercourses, a scramble up a long mountainside, distant views and a final descent back to the cars at Rocky Valley Dam and was the second longest walk of the day. Getting to the starting point involved considerable logistics. With the starting and ending points were several kilometres apart and such a large group an initial car shuffle was needed. The plan was to drive everyone to the Langford Gap Car Park and then bring the cars back to the Rocky Valley Dam, before finally driving the drivers back to join the walkers. However, just as the convoy was about to start out, it was discovered that one of the vehicles had a flat tyre. That was dealt with by a a quick vehicle swap. After twenty minutes of moving people and cars, or was it half an hour, the walk was underway on its way.
The morning started out breezy and cool but first part of the walk the track followed the East Langford aquaduct so it was flat and easy. A stop was made at the bridge over the aquaduct which called for a photo session and then on to the morning tea stop. This was at an idilic spot where there was a clearing alongside a crossing over a stream. Many walkers took advantage of clear mountain stream to refill their water bottles while others photographed the wildflowers, and others just lay out on the soft grass.
The track continued on for several more kilometres and then reached a small weir. At this point the walk left the track. The last stage was a scramble up an open marshy hillside, crisscrossed by rivulets. Everyone was left to make their own way up the hillside. Their instruction were to “Keep to the left of the trees; keep going up; don't start going down; if you start going down you are going the wrong way”. Five walkers took this literally and tore off up the hillside, setting a cracking pace that left the rest of the walkers behind. However, they soon found that they were slipping a sliding on the marshy ground so they kept to the left where the ground was firmer underfoot. However, the main party came halfway up the slope and then veered off to the right headed for Fitzgerald Hut, which unbeknown to the advance party was in a clearing in a large clusters of trees. Reaching the crest the advance party scanned the hillside and could see the Fitzgerald's Hut toilet half a kilometre away and set out in its direction, figuring that the Hut itself could not be far away. Ten minutes later everyone was reunited at the Hut where luch was followed by another photo session, this time assisted by a passing young walker from another group who was recruited to be the photographer.
The track now followed the crest of the spur that the advance group had used to reach the hut, but this was only the start of what turned out to be a very long straight stretch across the plateau with the wind in our faces. Our compensation for putting up with the buffeting of the wind were the distant views which included a view of the last patches of snow on the side of Mt Neil.
The last section of the walk involved a long slow climb up Leafy Spur follwed by a descent through the snow gums to Rock Valley Dam. Walkers who had used this track in previous years had built up our expectations of seeing masses of wildflowers but unfortunately we were disappointed. However, a striking feature of this section of the walk was the sight of snow gums regenerating after the 2003 fires. The new growth reached a third of the way up the burnt trunks giving an indication of how long it is going to take for the high country to recover fully from the effects of the fires. Expansive views of the Dam as we descended to the car park were our final reward for completing the long and at times strenuous walk.
Alistair Inglis Diamond Valley
In perfect sunny weather with a slight breeze, 10 of us set off from Summit car park to explore the Falls Creek village and the amazing variety of accommodation. We stopped for an energy booster at the Milch cafe before tackling the steps down past the Man Hotel to the Gully car park and the bicycle riders recovering in the pool at the top of the Falls Creek falls to the start of the Horsepack Heritage trail. The trail follows the old pack horse route used by the early cattlemen to access the Bogong High Plains and generally follows the Bogong High Plains Road from the Gully car park to Howmans Gap. Shortly after the start we took a short detour to view the Falls Creek falls which were running with lots of water. Then we followed the narrow well defined track on a gentle downward incline along the side of the valley. The track goes through a variety of vegetation of masses of wild flowers, ferns and snow gums, past many small waterfalls and along boardwalks. We stopped for lunch on the side of the track with a lovely view of the mountains. The number and variety of the wild flowers was amazing and the best that those who had been on the walk in previous years had seen. All in all, a very pleasant and interesting 6 km walk.
Doris Beermann Diamond Valley
No comments:
Post a Comment