The Bluff - Mt Howitt - Mt Buller Circuit

[DB24]

Hi all,
I'm planning a 4 day circuit and would appreciate any help you could give me. Plan is something like this:
Park car at Sheepyard Flat, walk up to Eagle Peaks then on to the Bluff, camp around the hut or just after (want to avoid 4WD accessible areas)
Walk to Mt Howitt, camp somewhere between the Crosscut Saw and Mt Thorn.
Walk along Stanley Name Spur to Mt Stirling then camp near Howqua Hut.
Walk back to car down 4 mile spur.

The other option is to park at 8 mile flat and walk directly up to the Bluff, then on day 4 descend past little Buller and down 6 mile spur.
Any thoughts on these routes? It's hard to find up to date info around Eagle Peaks.

[Lophophaps]

That walk is viable, if somewhat hard. The ridge from SYF SE to Eagles Peaks is overgrown in places. Lickhole Creek is overgrown and has blackberries in places. There's probably water on the road between Eight Mile Gap and Bluff Saddle. From Bluff Hut to the AAWT is 4WD, and they tend to stay near the huts. Depending on how you go on the first day, camp on The Bluff if there's water or go a little way past Bluff Hut, carrying water from the hut.

There's probably going to be water at Hellfire Gully for a month or two. The next water is coming off Howitt to Mac Springs on the south (right) side as you leave Howitt. Stanleys Same Spur is dry. The last day is quite long and has a river crossing at the end. If the river is up, what will you do? As a general rule, if possible, do the river crossings early in the trip. Going through the Mt Buller Village is interesting.

If you can manage off-track navigation, here's another hard trip. Drive into the Upper Howqua about 3 kilometres upstream of Bindaree Hut, plenty of campsites.
Day 1. Up Howitt Spur, down into the Wonnangatta.
Day 2. Viking, Razor, Speculation.
Day 3. Crosscut Saw, Mac Springs, or hellfire Gully.
Day 4. Either Stanleys name Spur and walk back to the car on the road, Howitt Spur, or down Helicopter Spur

Keep the trip fluid, and select options as the situation demands. Note that past Viking the route is forward, no chance of reversing.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Any River crossings of the Howqua River coming off 4 mile spur or 6 mile spur during this month and the next ( Nov. ) will be full on and possibly dangerous.Spring is cranky in terms of the up there. It could snow and be very cold and windy.Icy Cold rain would be worse than snow.

[Xplora]

Any River crossings of the Howqua River coming off 4 mile spur or 6 mile spur during this month and the next ( Nov. ) will be full on and possibly dangerous.Spring is cranky in terms of the up there. It could snow and be very cold and windy.Icy Cold rain would be worse than snow.

No time frame was given.

I tend to agree with Lops on this. Hard walk but if you are young and fit then possible. Maybe some long days and water will be an issue particularly on SNS. I think you would need a bit of clearance to get into 8 mile flat camp and although some 2wd vehicles can get to Bindaree it is not advisable so I trust you have a 4wd option. If you have experience in these mountains then I would say your plan is OK but if you have not been in this particular area before my suggestion would be to bite less each day and look to a plan that includes water at camp at least. A similar loop parking at the Upper Howqua camp ground would also work and there is no river crossing for your car and 2wd access.

[DB24]

Thanks all for the replies. We are fairly fit, have done walks in this area before but not around the Bluff. 25-30km days in the alps shouldn't be an issue. We'll be prepared for cold temps and snow.
We have a Subaru Outback, so limited 4WD capacity and are looking to do this over cup weekend.

I think I'll cut out the Eagle Peaks section as it seems to be a large unknown and could possible be very time consuming.
Seems like water will be ok, just need to have access once per day. I was hoping with all the rain it wouldn't be far off the track to find water.
Main concern is really the river crossing. We could always do the whole trip clockwise and cross on day 1, or could check the river condition on day 1 and decide what is appropriate. Weather looks ok so far. Most of the river crossings we've done have been in summer when the water is lower. Do you think it really would be too high to wade across?

[Lophophaps]

There's three aspects that can affect how long a walk takes: ascent and descent (treat as one, more or less), distance, and terrain. Climbing is obviously slower than descending, but lot of descending strains knees and legs.
Most people can go a lot faster on flatter sections. Terrain ranges from a well-graded track like the Bungalow Spur, narrower more broken tracks such as portions of Crosscut Saw, steep tracks lke Diamantina Spur, or tracks that are steep, narrow and broken like portions of Eagles Peak and The Bluff. Then there's scrub, no track.

So while 25-30 kilometres a day can be done, in some places this may be impossible. My record is about two kilometres in a day, SW Tassie. More recently it took an hour to go 600 metres and climb 100 metre. Scrub 10, me nil.

The Howqua River and others of that size needs to be seasonally low before considering a trip that involves a crossing; a day of rain can cause river levels to rise, possibly rapidly. There's a discussion about crossing Big River at T Spur. For that trip for the next month or so the better route is Quartz Ridge. A mate has a good saying: the mountains make their own weather. The weather forecast is not very useful, and cannot be relied upon.

I've done a number of Howqua crossings near there in summer, quite nice. I'm not sure that it will be so next weekend. Most certainly do the trip clockwise, river crossing over at the start. Also, have a backup plan in case the river is too high. The Upper Howqua start I described will be at least two hours away by car, too far, so maybe think about the McDonald circuit. Drive down to Upper Jamieson Hut, then the driver takes the car back to Eight Mile Gap, nice walk downhill, or get a lift if lucky. Up McDonald, water and campsites as they occur. Possible side-trip to Howitt. This may be little short for you. Maybe a side-trip to Mt Cope.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

The mountains also tell you what is possible on the day. On paper the weather maybe less of an issue than in the field itself trying to get somewhere.

[DB24]

I think if the river isn't cross-able safely or the weather turns we'll just walk the Bluff to Mc Springs and base ourselves there. Or do the McDonald circuit. Looks really good too
paidal do you think this trip is too dangerous to attempt in case the weather turns?

Has anyone been on Stanley Name Spur lately? How overgrown is it?

[damoprz]

The Lickhole creek track to Mt Darling was pretty good earlier this year. But you'd still be stuck having to cross the Jamieson river on the other side.

[PMD]

Not sure if this is too late but I walked the Eagles Peaks track last week and it's in pretty good shape. Easily followed most of the way, and at the odd brief point where it disappears just stay as high as possible. There's also a small cairn marking the place to turn east toward Eight Mile Gap.

Slow going in parts because of the rockiness of the track (though also because I'm not that fit).

[Lophophaps]

Not sure if this is too late but I walked the Eagles Peaks track last week and it's in pretty good shape. Easily followed most of the way, and at the odd brief point where it disappears just stay as high as possible. There's also a small cairn marking the place to turn east toward Eight Mile Gap.

Slow going in parts because of the rockiness of the track (though also because I'm not that fit).

It's never too late for current information. There's three main ways up Eagles Peaks - Eight Mile Gap, Lickhole and Sheepyard Flat. Could you please advise which track you were on? It sounds like you came from SYF, but it's best to state the route clearly. Also, where did you go from Eagles Peak, and if different to the inward journey, was there a track? Thank you.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Hiking up 8 mile spur to the Bluff hut from 8 Mile flat will be fine. I did it in May. You will find water at the Bluff hut tank and at Hellfire creek at this time of the year. That is a real plus but take one of those pump up water filters. Don't expect too much of a trickle anywhere ..Camping at the saddle above Hellfire creek would be a good second night option.From Hellfire Creek you can get to Mac. Springs easily on a good track (AAWT ) .It is a long trek on day three down the Howitt spur to Ritchie's hut . From Ritchie's hut you can get back to 8 mile flat in about 2 hours if you take the HIGH TRACK and step on it.It depends on how much time you have but this route means avoiding crossing a big river. The upper Howqua should be safe to cross once you come off the Howitt spur.
The only thing that might be a spooky is crossing over Mt . Howitt in heavy low cloud or bad weather . You 'll be following a compass direction , heading west from Mac. springs, if visibility becomes poor. It is very exposed up there.The same can be said about Mt . Magdala. The Low track below Hell's window is better for bad weather .

[Lophophaps]

That's a good option. After the wet winter I'd expect all creeks to be flowing quite nicely for a month, if not longer.The AAWT is well defined. The track from Mac Springs to the top of Howitt Spur includes the AAWT, and the rest is similar to the AAWT, and all should be easy to follow. Everything above the treeline is exposed; on a wild day it may not be possible to walk there. The track on the Howqua above Bindaree Hut has about four crossings, and only the last may be interesting, maybe knee deep.

[DB24]

We ended up having to cut our trip short as one of our party became sick.
We walked up Mt McDonald from the north, from what I think is called Low Saddle Road.
The track off this road is permanently closed and was so overgrown we just made our own way through it. The hiking track up Mt McDonald isn't actually a track either, although there was the occasional marker. It was bush bashing most of the way up until the bush thinned out. The route then becomes rock scrambling.
We camped about half a km off the summit to the east, on the south side of the ridge. High winds overnight blowing from the north, we were protected.
Rest of the hike was uneventful as we had to leave.

You can get a 2WD to 8 mile flat with some care, however I'd be nervous taking one up to 8 mile gap. I'm sure it could be done, but it would be very rough.

[PMD]

It's never too late for current information. There's three main ways up Eagles Peaks - Eight Mile Gap, Lickhole and Sheepyard Flat. Could you please advise which track you were on? It sounds like you came from SYF, but it's best to state the route clearly. Also, where did you go from Eagles Peak, and if different to the inward journey, was there a track? Thank you.

Sorry, should have been more clear. I went from Sheepyard Flat along the Eagle Peaks walking track that starts near Davon's Flat. Then around the highest Eagle's Peak summit I turned east, still on the walking track, and descended to Eight Mile Gap. (After that a road bash to Refrigerator Gap, then returned to SYF the next day via Eight Mile Spur track and Howqua River track). Cheers

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I never drive into 8 mile flat in my 2WD. I always park opposite the winter gate on the road side . There is a space for a car there. The road from SYF to 8 Mile flat access track is rough but if you drive carefully in low gear in a 2 WD it should be OK.

[damoprz]

I have driven a 2WD (Mazda 121) all the way to the Bluff Carpark near refrigerator gap quite easily. The road is probably worse at the moment from winter, so maybe it is not possible.

[peregrinator]

To add to the posts by p_c_v and damoprz, I've never had a problem with 2WD on Brocks Road as far up as Clear Creek Road. They've all been sunmmer trips though.

[damoprz]

I'd like to know if there was much damage to the road, I was thinking of doing a Bluff -> Billies -> Clear -> Mac loop in early Dec.

Also, on my map of the area there is a permanently closed road leading up Bluff Creek from Brocks road to Mt Eadley Stoney. Has anyone attempted this? It seems better than the long road walk up Refrigerator gap track.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Both 14 Mile track which fans off behind the dunnie at Ritchies hut and 8 Mile spur walking track( recently cleared as of May 2016 )will take you from the Howqua River to near Refrigerator Gap/ The Bluff/ The Bluff hut without a crappy slog along a dirt road. Look at the SV map of the area.

[north-north-west]

Also, on my map of the area there is a permanently closed road leading up Bluff Creak from Brocks road to Mt Eadley Stoney. Has anyone attempted this? It seems better than the long road walk up Refrigerator gap track.

I don't think this exists any more. How recent is this map?

[damoprz]

I don't think this exists any more. How recent is this map?

It is just a recently downloaded Vicmaps, I didn't know how long they would leave closed roads on the maps. Thought it might be follow-able.

[north-north-west]

It's not shown on my Rooftop maps (which are probably around ten years old) and I don't recall seeing anything heading up that way when I've walked in that area. There certainly isn't a road on top near Eadley Stoney.

Shortest route is via the Bluff Hut 4wd track, assuming you can drive as far as the gate.

[damoprz]

It's not shown on my Rooftop maps (which are probably around ten years old) and I don't recall seeing anything heading up that way when I've walked in that area. There certainly isn't a road on top near Eadley Stoney.

Shortest route is via the Bluff Hut 4wd track, assuming you can drive as far as the gate.

It appears to end a km or so before the summit of Eadley Stoney, it has probably long disappeared if it is not on 10 yo maps. It is also not on my SV map, odd that it is on a newer VIC maps.