Howitt Rd open?

[Mr Bean]

Sorry if this question has already been asked, but is the road from Licola to Howitt car park open (as at 3rd Nov)? We are planning to head up that way on Sunday for a few days. Thanks.

[stry]

The seasonal closure should be lifted by the week end, but that doesn't mean that the snow will have gone.

[Mr Bean]

Thanks stry. After I posted, I found the Parks Vic seasonal road closures web page http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/safety/closur ... -closures2 which was helpful, but in some respects, not entirely clear regarding the Howitt Rd. A section "appears" to be closed until the end of November. We will still head up.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Mac.Springs was crawling with humans over the cup day weekend 2017. Many of them came in from the Howitt road.

Many were lighting bon fires, trying to burn green snow gum branches that they had wrenched off from living trees, in a fuel stove only zone, washing dishes in the springs and generally being badly behaved. .The Horror , the horror.
I will be ringing the ranger at Heyfield tomorrow. The minimal signage for no campfires is too wordy and hard to see.
12 months ago it was looking a bit better but the fire circles are back where green campsites were being rehabilitated.
If you don't like minus 2 weather at 1600 M. ASL then get some long thermal underwear or stay home, but don't burn every stick in sight!.

I wished I had camped on Stanley name spur. The water was running down that gully and so was the water gushing at Hellfire creek. I wished I had camped there too.
Mac. Springs is lovely but I forgot how it becomes like Tidal River or Rosebud in school holidays over long weekends in green season. I had to queue for the loo with a view.
The loo seat has snapped off completely.
I think Stanley name spur campsite and Hellfire Creek campsites will have water well into December 2017 .

[Xplora]

To think what it would be like if people were still able to drive there. I hope you took photos of the buggers to show PV. This is also part of the reason why I never go walking on long weekends or most weekends for that matter. Huts are a bit of a magnet though. Even if you pitch a tent outside and never use the hut, it seems they draw so many more people. Maybe because they are mostly built near a good water source. I think the internet and forums have also increased the number of people to these special spots. Word of mouth just got a whole lot bigger. Part of the reason I don't post trip reports. Sorry for being selfish.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I wanted to take photos of all the culprits , pyromaniacs with no thought for the conservation of the alpine environment but it would have been an endless task.
No sooner had one fire died down , another was being lit. Ya Khudaa!

As lovely a spot that Mac. Springs is I am not keen on camping there again in a hurry , esp. not on a public holiday weekend. If people could drive there it would become a rubbish dump and a wasteland , denuded of anything flammable. Even the 5 km walk form the Howitt road is not far enough to make any difference to people's poor behaviour . There is little flat ground there and prime tent sites are now blackened bon fire sites.
Others had lit a bonfire on the Cross Cut Saw/ Mt. Howitt track junction saddle. Others yet were camped above the Devil's Staircase and were having a fire there too.for *&^%$# sake!!
In future one is tempted to carry water in from Camp Creek and camp on top of Mt. Buggery for one night . The Horrible Gap must work as a people filter . Plus there is no hut there. In green season the huts and pit loos seem to bring out the swarms of yobbos and air heads.
Explora:
Would my 2003 RAV 4 make it all the way from Lake Cobbler , coming in from Whitfield over to near Camp Creek? If not then I will walk up Muesli spur from King hut and camp near Mt. Spec. for the next trip I do in the area.

[Mr Bean]

We arrived at Howitt car park on Sunday arvo, around 4'ish (the Landy probably wasn't required, as the road was bone dry). There was a camp site setup at the car park, with the dulcet tone of a chainsaw nearby. Arriving at Mac Springs we were presented by two blokes hauling 2-3m x 12cm large timbers down the track to make a bon fire. So much for "fuel stoves only sign". Anyhoo, we camped away from the masses, up along the cliff line, with a rocky balcony overlooking the valley and distant ranges.

Weather varied from beaut sunshine, to sleet, snow, hail and rain (on Monday arvo) as we returned from a day walk to Mt Spec. We had the right gear, so, no real drama.

Tuesday arvo, returning from a day walk to Mt Magdala, we came across two guys in camo, spying something nearby with bino's, both armed with high powered rifles halfway between Mac Springs and Mt Howitt (next to one of the snow drifts). My partner had a chat with them. They "appeared" to not know about reg's for hunting in the area. While no shots were fired, it was a little alarming to know they were in the area.

All up, a beaut weekend really.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Yes, it is a great place to walk but Not the knuckle draggers chopping down branches, starting bonfires and armed with the intention of shooting animals etc. So much for protecting the flora and fauna. Shooting Deer is generally a good thing because they are a pest , but not willy nilly while off track walkers could be mistaken for deer!

I will camp at Hellfire Creek or Stanley name spur campsites next time. I have complained in writing and on the phone to both Rangers at PV at Heyfield and Mansfield about the pyromaniacs and other boorish and Neanderthal behavior.

[Xplora]

Tuesday arvo, returning from a day walk to Mt Magdala, we came across two guys in camo, spying something nearby with bino's, both armed with high powered rifles halfway between Mac Springs and Mt Howitt (next to one of the snow drifts). My partner had a chat with them. They "appeared" to not know about reg's for hunting in the area. While no shots were fired, it was a little alarming to know they were in the area.

Deer hunting with guns is permitted in that area. see here http://www.gma.vic.gov.au/hunting/deer/when-to-hunt and here http://www.gma.vic.gov.au/hunting/deer/ ... n-victoria map 41

With regard to the other matters, more complaints to PV are required. Annoy them until something is done. It is pretty easy to pick the times for best effect.

[Mr Bean]

Thanks for the links Xplora. I had an idea there was deer hunting around, particularly in the Avon Wilderness. But I would have thought up on the higher reaches, near the walking tracks, it would have been off limits. Back in March, we descended to the Howqua via Stanley Named Spur track. Halfway down, and in the lower sections, we encountered a number of deer. The bush made it impossible to see them, but we could hear them galloping off.

On the day we saw the two hunters (Melb Cup day) we had met a walker, near Mt Magdala (he had come from Mt Spec), doing the AAWT solo. It was day 26 that he had been out. I was pretty impressed and a little envious, as I type this in an office environment. Next year......