bogong circuit 5 days

[Camminata]

Have my route planned, but am wanting to do this in 4 days instead of 5

Day 1 had planned the walk up Staircase spur and camping near west peak
Day 2 Bogong creek saddle or mt arthur via quartz ridge
Day 3 Ropers hut via grey hills onto spion kopje
day 4 cleve cole via duan/t spur
Day 5 Back to the start /finish mountain creek

Question is if its doable on Day 1 to walk to Bogong creek saddle or mt Arthur ???????



Have walked the staircase a few times and know its approx 4 to 5 hours up to summit , by looking at the map im guessing another 4 hours to Mt arthur approx ,quartz ridge looks to be a steady cruise down then a steep climb up to Mt Arthur via grey hills

[Xplora]

Bogong Creek Saddle would be the goal for day one. If you are fit then it will take about 2 hours from the Summit but even if it was a bit more, the walking is easy enough as it is all down. Good water there but that will be your last until you get to Spione Kopje. There is a small creek just at the end of the Grey Hills but it may be dry by now so once you get to the end and you see the ridge line of S.K. then just find the best way over. There is no track. Water will be at the old aqueduct so you will need to start with a full load this day. It will be possible to get to Ropers this day but the Grey Hills is a little overgrown in places and the climb up Mt. Arthur plus the subsequent rolling hills will slow you down. Some great views and you will see the headwaters of Big (Mitta Mitta) river. It is a much better way than going up the road (Timms spur) unless you happen to like road walking instead of bushwalking. Water at Ropers is from a creek not far away. It should still be flowing. From Ropers to CC hut will be your next day and although going up T spur is a slog, you should get to CC hut at a reasonable hour. That makes it 4 days (3 nights) and you could head down Eskdale spur instead of the Staircase and walk the Mountain Creek track back to you car.

It is a great loop and I hope you enjoy it. It is good in either direction but I have a preference for going the other way. Six of one thing.

[Camminata]

Bogong Creek Saddle would be the goal for day one. If you are fit then it will take about 2 hours from the Summit but even if it was a bit more, the walking is easy enough as it is all down. Good water there but that will be your last until you get to Spione Kopje. There is a small creek just at the end of the Grey Hills but it may be dry by now so once you get to the end and you see the ridge line of S.K. then just find the best way over. There is no track. Water will be at the old aqueduct so you will need to start with a full load this day. It will be possible to get to Ropers this day but the Grey Hills is a little overgrown in places and the climb up Mt. Arthur plus the subsequent rolling hills will slow you down. Some great views and you will see the headwaters of Big (Mitta Mitta) river. It is a much better way than going up the road (Timms spur) unless you happen to like road walking instead of bushwalking. Water at Ropers is from a creek not far away. It should still be flowing. From Ropers to CC hut will be your next day and although going up T spur is a slog, you should get to CC hut at a reasonable hour. That makes it 4 days (3 nights) and you could head down Eskdale spur instead of the Staircase and walk the Mountain Creek track back to you car.

It is a great loop and I hope you enjoy it. It is good in either direction but I have a preference for going the other way. Six of one thing.

Thanks for the info will def be doing it on 4, have walked the S.K from Howmans to ropers and T/spur to C.C in the past and yes i agree its a great loop , just never walked the quartz and grey hills yet

[paidal_chalne_vala]

There is no water at Mt. Arthur. The water near the Quartz Ridge Intentions ( Bogong Creek Saddle ) book is good and has never run dry in my experience. The Grey Hills can be taxing if the weather is warm and humid. Take extra water to drink and Rehydration salts. Watch out for snakes out on the Grey Hills.
Camping above the tree line on Mt. Bogong is not my preference but look at what the weather is doing and decide. There may still be water in the Mt. Bogong summit plateau stream that feeds Bogong Creek falls. The Quartz Ridge is possibly my favourite way up/ down Mt. Bogong. The Grey Hills are tougher than Timm's spur. I would consider going along Timm's Spur in XC ski season to get to Roper's hut for XC ski touring, but The Grey Hills are for Green season only trekking in my estimation.

[Camminata]

There is no water at Mt. Arthur. The water near the Quartz Ridge Intentions ( Bogong Creek Saddle ) book is good and has never run dry in my experience. The Grey Hills can be taxing if the weather is warm and humid. Take extra water to drink and Rehydration salts. Watch out for snakes out on the Grey Hills.
Camping above the tree line on Mt. Bogong is not my preference but look at what the weather is doing and decide. There may still be water in the Mt. Bogong summit plateau stream that feeds Bogong Creek falls. The Quartz Ridge is possibly my favourite way up/ down Mt. Bogong. The Grey Hills are tougher than Timm's spur. I would consider going along Timm's Spur in XC ski season to get to Roper's hut for XC ski touring, but The Grey Hills are for Green season only trekking in my estimation.

Thanks for info, I rode my MTB down Timms spuronce and had a ball!

[Lophophaps]

If you are keen you could walk to Bivouac Hut at night. The downside is that the tank may be dry and you would need to take water from the bottom. The soak just below the summit may be working, a point to note if you descend Staircase. With an early start at Mountain Creek the summit should be reached by noon, a lovely place for lunch. The walk on Quartz Ridge is spectacular. I got from Cleve Cole to the summit and then to Big River for lunch. This may be an alternative campsite to the helipad. The road to Timms Lookout is a slog but the gradient is good. The creek where you cut the corner going to Ropers Hut should have water. Ropers water should be running. Ropers to the top of T spur will take 6-7 hours at most. On the last night if the weather is fine there's a few exposed sites near the summit that may appeal.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I have obtained water from the Spion Kopje aqueduct area in the past but using a water filter is a necessity for that water source. It is often stagnant.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I was out that way over the Jan. 2019 Long weekend.It was busy at The Old Helipad( Bogong Creek Saddle) and at Roper's hut. I am interested to hear what the Grey hills were like. I walked them in summer 2017-18.

[scoha]

Just came back from a quick blatt around Bogong relevant to this posting.

Day 1 - Rocky Valley Dam car park via Heathy Spur and Ropers to Maddisons Hut site (best camp on Bogong - just saying!!) - 2.5hrs
Day 2 - Maddisons Hut via Bogong, Quartz Ridge and Grey Hills back to Heathy Spur via Spion Kopje - monster 11hr day (: but I was looking for a thrashing
Day 3 - Heathy Spur back to car - about an hour

The point is, the Grey Hills Track is certainly a beautiful and intriguing track but its almost gone through over growth - took 5hrs to walk up it from Bogong Saddle to Spion Kopje and the trail in places is barely visible - just a hint of slightly lower density bush ! Call to arms brothers and sisters of the bush - use Grey Hills or lose it! I walked up it three years ago and there had been some recent clearing but don't think anything since. Would be a shame to lose this beautiful route and a magic circuit through Bogong - there's already enough road bashing to get to Ropers.

I've popped a few photos in just to make this post more fun!

Maddisons Hut camp

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Breakfast in bed - Heathy Spur style

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[paidal_chalne_vala]

Yes,The Grey Hills were a bush bash and a slog 12 -13 months ago. It is a proper bushwalk and not just a walk along a fire track/ management jeep trail.

[Xplora]

I had a meeting with the head ranger for the area a while back and raised the Grey Hills as an aside. There are no plans to do any more clearing of it but if you had a team of volunteers I am sure you would be able to work something out. We talked about putting in some track markers which will help define the track and then people will walk it more. I can put you in touch with him if you like and maybe if he sees the Grey Hills as being used more then he will see some value in spending some money but the budget is tight and has to be spent on those tracks which are used by the most people. Personally I think it is good to have a few less defined tracks in an area full of signs (and people) but I understand that scrub bashing to the top of Mt. Arthur does not suit everyone. I did the circuit about a year ago in the other direction and it seemed pretty quick from Spione Kopje to the saddle but there is less climbing to do. There are a couple of false tracks which are easy to work out you are going wrong but the wrong track gets worn twice because you return on it so can appear to be the way to go.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Some keen walkers who we met at the Old Helipad last Saturday had come up Black Possum Spur, over Mt. Arthur and had arrived well exhausted , scratched, bleeding and dehydrated. They said there is " NO TRACK" up the second half of the ascent up from Bogong Village to the top of Mt. Arthur. They also said that the top half of Mt. Arthur is a big scrub bash and steep going down to Bogong Creek Saddle. They looked spent. It was hot and humid. They went and obtained water from nearby, put up their tents and then went to soak in Big River.

[Uncle Rumple]

A group of us have just finished a 6 night circuit around the Bogong High Plains and I think we met the same group at the Bogong Creek Helipad on Sunday morning 27th. We were planning to go down to Bogong Village via Mt Arthur and they talked us out of it. So we did a long and tedious walk to the bitumen via the Big River Fire Trail, wondering all the while if they were exaggerating ....

For those interested, our full itinerary was:

Sat 26 Jan - Mountain Ck Campground, Staircase Spur, Bogong Summit, Quartz Ridge then to a camp beside Big River, just below the Helipad
Sun - Big River camp, Big River Firetrail to the bitumen, Bogong Village, Springs Saddle Track, Fainter Track to a camp just before Bogong Jacks Hut
Mon - Bogong Jacks Hut, Fainter Track, past the Fainters and Mt Jaithmathang, Tawonga Hut, Weston Hut to a camp at Blairs Hut
Tues - Blairs Hut, Diamantina Spur (never again!), Razorback to Mt Feathertop and camp at Federation Hut
Wed - Fed Hut, Razorback to Diamantina Hut/Hotham (very wet and windy), then on to Derrick Hut where we dried out o/night while the hut shook in the wind
Thurs - Derrick Hut to Dibbins Hut to a camp at Wallaces Hut
Fri 1 Feb - Wallaces Hut to Falls Ck via the AAWT and Heathy Spur

Despite the shocking weather on Wed it was a great walk

[neilmny]

Nicely done, any photographic evidence Uncle Rumple