Mt Speculation 27-28 Aug 22
Posted: Mon 29 Aug, 2022 9:11 am
I drove up to Lake Cobbler area with a plan to walk to Mt Speculation and try snow camping.
The road in from Cheshunt is a bit rough and slow going, but fine in 2WD.
I think I got a view of Dagondale Falls.
I parked the car at the intersection with the Cobbler Lake track and the side track down to Lake Cobbler.
The sun was out, and with gear on back I headed towards Mt. Spec.
The walk got steepish after a km or so, and the next few km warmed me up.
It wasn't hard, and after the Lake Cobbler loop turnoff, walking was easy enough.
Soon I switched onto Speculation track, heading past Muesli Spur, Mustering Flat (I think?).
Then after a bit of an uphill, the track past some subsidiary peaks of Mt Koonika, and then Koonika itself.
There's a well cairned and marked out track up to Koonika, which I declined to take.
I got a nice view of Mt Hotham, Feathertop, Bogong area and also a view of the Razor.
There wasn't much snow on the track, I was thinking before the walk started I'd see heaps of snow above 1400m on the road before Mt Koonika, but there were a few patches, but really nothing.
Maybe because it's generally north-facing track?
After some uphill on rocky Spec track (I doubt I could get a 2WD to camp creek, but that's probably a reflection on my driving ability) I arrived at Camp Creek.
The creek was flowing very well.
I downed the pack, had a break. I was struggling a bit, but wasn't finding the walking hard, maybe a cold or something?
Then I strapped the pack back on, and headed up toward the camping area higher on Mt. Spec.
The snow encroached the track, and I chucked on the dodgy Amazon snowshoes.
I headed up a bit higher, and walked to near where the GetLost topo map said there was a camping site.
There was a track of foot prints heading up the mountain but none to where the camp site was meant to be, except something that looked like dog tracks.
I tried walking that way, and found out how useless the snowshoes were on softer snow.
Not much floatation for a fat bloke with 15kg pack.
Anyway, after trying and failing (and falling) for 20m or so I couldn't see a camp site and headed back to where I'd left pre-existing footprints as that meant someone had packed the snow for me if I walked in their footprints.
That was the theory anyway...
I walked a bit higher and was starting to sink in a bit too much for my liking and backtracked a bit, and headed towards the ridge where the AAWT passes.
I set up the tent with a nice view across the Wonnangatta Valley looking directly at the Devil's staircase/Mac Springs with Mt Howitt and the Crosscut off to the right.
I tried my best to pack down the snow by walking back and forth, put up the tent and then tried to head up to the summit without pack.
I got a bit higher than before, but hit a band of snow that was like walking on loose sand, every footstep would end up exactly at the point it started with the snow seemingly disappearing under foot.
I wasn't making headway.
I had some reception so sent a few text messages, and could also see the Razor & Viking and took a snap or two.
Anyway, back to camp, melted a bit of snow, cooked dinner and took some nice photos/time-lapse video of sun setting on Cross cut.
I had a down Ali-express sleeping bag, a home-made down quilt, bivvy sack to stop quilt wandering, insulated inflatable mat, EVA foam mat, puffy jacket, fleece and down pants so I wasn't cold.
But I just couldn't sleep well. I probably needed neurofen or something, just hadn't been feeling it all day.
Anyway, at about 4am I gave up trying and had only had a hour or so sleep.
The forecast was for showers late morning and I didn't fancy driving back to Cheshunt on a slick dirt track, so made sense to get going.
I broke camp and was away before 5am, gingerly heading down from campsite to Camp creek, first with snow shoes, then having stowed them, gingerly picking through rocks, water and plants to divine where the track was.
It wasn't that hard, just didn't want to fall over.
Once at Camp Creek, navigation was no issue and I plodded off towards Lake Cobbler in the dark.
About dawn I was at the Mt Koonika track I'd passed the day before.
I think I arrived at the car at 9:30am, there'd been a light shower just before I got to car, but that was all.
That's about it, long drive back home, had to have a few stops on the way home for naps as I was *&%$#! tired.
I didn't really feel my bushwalking mojo on this one, but anyway, a new experience, and the scenery near the top of Mt Spec was very nice.
The road in from Cheshunt is a bit rough and slow going, but fine in 2WD.
I think I got a view of Dagondale Falls.
I parked the car at the intersection with the Cobbler Lake track and the side track down to Lake Cobbler.
The sun was out, and with gear on back I headed towards Mt. Spec.
The walk got steepish after a km or so, and the next few km warmed me up.
It wasn't hard, and after the Lake Cobbler loop turnoff, walking was easy enough.
Soon I switched onto Speculation track, heading past Muesli Spur, Mustering Flat (I think?).
Then after a bit of an uphill, the track past some subsidiary peaks of Mt Koonika, and then Koonika itself.
There's a well cairned and marked out track up to Koonika, which I declined to take.
I got a nice view of Mt Hotham, Feathertop, Bogong area and also a view of the Razor.
There wasn't much snow on the track, I was thinking before the walk started I'd see heaps of snow above 1400m on the road before Mt Koonika, but there were a few patches, but really nothing.
Maybe because it's generally north-facing track?
After some uphill on rocky Spec track (I doubt I could get a 2WD to camp creek, but that's probably a reflection on my driving ability) I arrived at Camp Creek.
The creek was flowing very well.
I downed the pack, had a break. I was struggling a bit, but wasn't finding the walking hard, maybe a cold or something?
Then I strapped the pack back on, and headed up toward the camping area higher on Mt. Spec.
The snow encroached the track, and I chucked on the dodgy Amazon snowshoes.
I headed up a bit higher, and walked to near where the GetLost topo map said there was a camping site.
There was a track of foot prints heading up the mountain but none to where the camp site was meant to be, except something that looked like dog tracks.
I tried walking that way, and found out how useless the snowshoes were on softer snow.
Not much floatation for a fat bloke with 15kg pack.
Anyway, after trying and failing (and falling) for 20m or so I couldn't see a camp site and headed back to where I'd left pre-existing footprints as that meant someone had packed the snow for me if I walked in their footprints.
That was the theory anyway...
I walked a bit higher and was starting to sink in a bit too much for my liking and backtracked a bit, and headed towards the ridge where the AAWT passes.
I set up the tent with a nice view across the Wonnangatta Valley looking directly at the Devil's staircase/Mac Springs with Mt Howitt and the Crosscut off to the right.
I tried my best to pack down the snow by walking back and forth, put up the tent and then tried to head up to the summit without pack.
I got a bit higher than before, but hit a band of snow that was like walking on loose sand, every footstep would end up exactly at the point it started with the snow seemingly disappearing under foot.
I wasn't making headway.
I had some reception so sent a few text messages, and could also see the Razor & Viking and took a snap or two.
Anyway, back to camp, melted a bit of snow, cooked dinner and took some nice photos/time-lapse video of sun setting on Cross cut.
I had a down Ali-express sleeping bag, a home-made down quilt, bivvy sack to stop quilt wandering, insulated inflatable mat, EVA foam mat, puffy jacket, fleece and down pants so I wasn't cold.
But I just couldn't sleep well. I probably needed neurofen or something, just hadn't been feeling it all day.
Anyway, at about 4am I gave up trying and had only had a hour or so sleep.
The forecast was for showers late morning and I didn't fancy driving back to Cheshunt on a slick dirt track, so made sense to get going.
I broke camp and was away before 5am, gingerly heading down from campsite to Camp creek, first with snow shoes, then having stowed them, gingerly picking through rocks, water and plants to divine where the track was.
It wasn't that hard, just didn't want to fall over.
Once at Camp Creek, navigation was no issue and I plodded off towards Lake Cobbler in the dark.
About dawn I was at the Mt Koonika track I'd passed the day before.
I think I arrived at the car at 9:30am, there'd been a light shower just before I got to car, but that was all.
That's about it, long drive back home, had to have a few stops on the way home for naps as I was *&%$#! tired.
I didn't really feel my bushwalking mojo on this one, but anyway, a new experience, and the scenery near the top of Mt Spec was very nice.