Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

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Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby emiliobeilio » Fri 05 Jul, 2019 9:30 am

Hi All,

I'm hoping to organise a hike at Mt Feathertop in Spring with a small group of people.

I'm looking for some recommendations for any good circuit walks going over 2-3 days. I can recall doing a 2 night 3 day walk in the area a few years back but can't for the life of me remember the route we took.

The hikers will be self sufficient, carrying all necessary hiking and camping equipment for 3 days.

A circuit is preferable to avoid car shuffling.

If anyone has some great recommendations please let me know. Looking at around moderate-hard grading. Doesn't have to be specifically Mt Feathertop but definitely something in the Alpine National Park.

Thanks!

Emma.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Xplora » Sat 06 Jul, 2019 6:22 am

Before offering advice I would like to know the level of experience and fitness. It makes a difference. Early Spring may still have some snow around. It could persist to Mid November.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Bush_walker » Mon 21 Oct, 2019 10:18 am

Hi All,
I am planning this walk in January/February 2020 and will be driving from Sydney.
Any suggestion for comping spot or could stay in hut and water collection point etc.

I have experience of multiday/night walks and have all the require gear but still looking forward to knowing about the weather in this area pls.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Xplora » Tue 22 Oct, 2019 3:40 am

Conditions in Summer are considerably different. Not sure how this fire season will play out just yet but that could affect any plans. Thunderstorms are common at this time. You have a bit over 8 hours driving from Sydney but it is possible, with an early start, to get to Bungalow spur and walk up to Federation Hut. I would do it out of school holidays and not on a weekend unless you like lots of company. Water is available from a spring on Bungalow spur and there may be some water in the tank at the hut. This would be your best start to the area. From there you can summit Feathertop the next day and continue on the Razorback to Bon Accord Spur or divert east on Diamantina spur. This is steep with some scrambling (although I have avoided that) and not well marked but it is a spur and it finishes at the river and a road. You can follow this road and divert to Blairs hut and onto Dibbins Hut. You would easily make Dibbins in a day. The camping platforms at Dibbins cost money and have to be booked. Just find a spot 100m away from them. Good water from the Cobungra River. Next day is up Swindlers spur to Mt. Loch then a bit of road walking to the Razorback and down Bon Accord to Harrietville and you car. There are other options also such as Feathertop via Stoney tops but it would be best if you had a 4wd for access. The Nth West Spur (Tom Keen track) is also nice but long and hard and your car is 5km away when you get to Harrietville. Just a bit of road walking and you would want to start NW spur in the morning or no later than midday to get to MUMC hut at a reasonable time.

You have not indicated how much time you have but there are some options to start you thinking.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Bush_walker » Tue 22 Oct, 2019 6:26 am

Hi,
I have plan with the group but due to other commitment cant join them but still considering to go for this walk and doing some homework.
The plan I have is something like below

Depart Sydney 9.30 am and drive to Motel/Tawonga and stay overnight in motel.
Day 1Drive to Falls Creek/ day 1 Walk to Wallace’s Hut 14km Camping.
Day 2 Wallace’s Hut to Blair’s Hut 14 km
Day 3 Blair’s Hut to Mt Hotham 12 km
Day 4 Mt Hotham to Federation Hut via Mt Feathertop 14 km
Day 5 Federation Hut to Harriettville 13 km.
Then drive home Sunday evening or stay in Motel.

Also, I another walk I am thinking is this one and looks like doesn’t require a car because this a circuit walk. Please also suggest
Mount Feathertop – Bon Accord and Bungalow Spurs (34.4km)
https://www.trailhiking.com.au/mount-fe ... low-spurs/

Please do you have GPX file of the track.
I am thankful for all the information and your time.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Xplora » Tue 22 Oct, 2019 5:05 pm

Plan needs work. Day 2 will be a short day. Nowhere to camp at Hotham and another very short day. I don't do GPX files and you shouldn't need one on this anyway. The other option (link provided) is a 2 day walk. Much depends on the group and what they like to do. How long they sleep in etc., what time they like to stop of a day. Without knowing that, it is hard to make recommendations. I like to start around 9am and finish around 4pm. We don't stop long for lunch but could maybe take an hour out of the day for breaks.

Your day 2 is pretty cushy walking and I would think you would be at camp by lunch. Day 3 the same but you do have one reasonable climb up Swindlers spur. You are not supposed to cap at Derrick hut (resort boundary) but pitch a tent and nobody will stop you. Can't help with water there as I have never needed it. This could be an option and you could cut out an entire day. There is a pretty good brains trust here so maybe others will jump in to offer other suggestions. You also forgot to add drive back up to Falls Creek to pick up the car you left behind. That will take another 1.5 hrs from Harrietville. Cedarwood lodge at Falls does accommodate walkers in summer. Could be an option. Maybe stay there on your first and last night. Good people and supporting summer walking in the area. They have been doing this option for others.

If your group only likes walking 4 hours a day or are very slow or like to stop a lot or take detours then your plan could work. It would be a nice winter plan.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Bush_walker » Fri 25 Oct, 2019 9:32 am

Xplora wrote:Plan needs work. Day 2 will be a short day. Nowhere to camp at Hotham and another very short day. I don't do GPX files and you shouldn't need one on this anyway. The other option (link provided) is a 2 day walk. Much depends on the group and what they like to do. How long they sleep in etc., what time they like to stop of a day. Without knowing that, it is hard to make recommendations. I like to start around 9am and finish around 4pm. We don't stop long for lunch but could maybe take an hour out of the day for breaks.

Your day 2 is pretty cushy walking and I would think you would be at camp by lunch. Day 3 the same but you do have one reasonable climb up Swindlers spur. You are not supposed to cap at Derrick hut (resort boundary) but pitch a tent and nobody will stop you. Can't help with water there as I have never needed it. This could be an option and you could cut out an entire day. There is a pretty good brains trust here so maybe others will jump in to offer other suggestions. You also forgot to add drive back up to Falls Creek to pick up the car you left behind. That will take another 1.5 hrs from Harrietville. Cedarwood lodge at Falls does accommodate walkers in summer. Could be an option. Maybe stay there on your first and last night. Good people and supporting summer walking in the area. They have been doing this option for others.

If your group only likes walking 4 hours a day or are very slow or like to stop a lot or take detours then your plan could work. It would be a nice winter plan.



Hi,
Thanks for detail response, two more query pls.
will you recommend this walk someone can do as solo walk, I mean the track is well marked and easy to identify.
I am thinking to do in January or February.

Naj
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Xplora » Fri 25 Oct, 2019 11:11 am

A very straight forward, well marked and used pad. Easy solo walk. You will have phone reception except when in the valleys. Make sure you top up water at streams as it could be a bit scarce in some places on the ridge lines or spurs. The only issue with a solo trip is getting back to your car. Making it into a loop would mean going down Diamantina spur and up Westons then pick up the Tawonga huts road and head back to Falls via Pretty Valley. Diamantina spur would be my only concern. Not well marked but if you get off the track then you only have to head generally east to pick up the Kiewa log road near Blairs Hut.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Fri 25 Oct, 2019 2:36 pm

Depart Sydney 9.30 am and drive to Motel/Tawonga and stay overnight in motel.
Day 1Drive to Falls Creek/ day 1 Walk to Wallace’s Hut 14km Camping.

You will have to walk down to the Aqueduct on the AAWT to find water near Wallace's hut. Wallace's hut is too busy in green season with people who walk 500 m. from their cars to see ye olde hut. I would not camp there.
Day 2 Wallace’s Hut to Blair’s Hut 14 km
Quite an easy day following pole lines. Either via Weston's Hut or down to Cobungra Gap and out along the fire trail to Blair's hut. Good camping with water and a pit loo nearby.
Day 3 Blair’s Hut to Mt Hotham 12 km
Swindler's Spur is steep. The ascent is best done early in the day before it becomes too hot to slog it up the hill. There is a tiny stream a few poles along from Derrick's hut towards Mt. Loch. It sometimes dries up in hot weather.
Day 4 Mt Hotham to Federation Hut via Mt Feathertop 14 km
Quite feasible. Fed. hut becomes rather busy in summer and in winter too . If you can be bothered fetching water from the spring on the MUMC track and carting it to the bush camp site on the top of the Diamantina spur then you might have a more secluded experience with better views too.
Day 5 Federation Hut to Harriettville 13 km.
Fed. hut to H/Ville. Easy!. No need for a GPS. There are obvious footpads/fire trails /hiking tracks and snow poles to follow the whole way. It could be done solo without much trouble. Jan. can be hot like an oven even in the Vic. Alps . It could be good to be walking by 6 am each day and then set up camp by 1400 each day. Give yourself time to find water and unwind.
Another option is to hike up the very steep Diamantina spur from Blair's hut and head for Fed. hut that way.
Or descend the Diamantina Spur and head for Falls Ck. via Weston's Spur and Weston's hut .
Then drive home Sunday evening or stay in Motel. There is good camping in the Ovens Valley at Smoko .
If you leave your car at Falls Creek and end up at H/ Ville then getting back to your car will be interesting.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Xplora » Fri 25 Oct, 2019 4:49 pm

paidal_chalne_vala wrote:You will have to walk down to the Aqueduct on the AAWT to find water near Wallace's hut. Wallace's hut is too busy in green season with people who walk 500 m. from their cars to see ye olde hut. I would not camp there.

Camping is prohibited at Wallaces hut now.
paidal_chalne_vala wrote: Jan. can be hot like an oven even in the Vic. Alps . It could be good to be walking by 6 am each day and then set up camp by 1400 each day. Give yourself time to find water and unwind.

Nonsense. I live there. It is 10-15 degrees cooler than the lowlands on any given day in summer. If you live in Sydney then walking in the Vic mountains will be like air conditioned comfort. Have a look at this page http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/ ... 3084.shtml and you will see the average max temp for January is 17.9 degrees.
paidal_chalne_vala wrote:Another option is to hike up the very steep Diamantina spur from Blair's hut and head for Fed. hut that way.

I would not advise this. Seriously.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Fri 25 Oct, 2019 6:03 pm

Last summer walking up Swindler's spur from Dibbin's Hut to Derrick's hut and over to Spargo's hut , down Golden thingy spur to Swindler's creek and out along the Cobungra Ditch track to Brandy Creek Trailhead , is was becoming much too hot to walk comfortably . Yes it is cooler the higher you go so that Roper's Hut camp site will be much more pleasant than Myrtleford will be in mid January but it was still in the 30's C. at Hotham Heights. The weather vane shows the temperature. I spend most of the year walking and XC skiing in the Vic Alps and the NSW High Country. I have done so for the past decade. Diamantina Spur walking track is very steep. It is not hard to follow the way but requires some rock scrambling and stamina . It should not be attempted when it is hot. Allow one litre per hour of water for the ascent i.e. 3-4 litres of water minimum.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Xplora » Sat 26 Oct, 2019 4:46 am

paidal_chalne_vala wrote: Yes it is cooler the higher you go so that Roper's Hut camp site will be much more pleasant than Myrtleford will be in mid January but it was still in the 30's C. at Hotham Heights. The weather vane shows the temperature.


Mt. Hotham's highest recorded temperature is 28.1 degrees. http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weat ... num=083085

That was in fact recorded on the 16/1 /19. You did the walk you mentioned on 12-14/1/19 (viewtopic.php?f=46&t=29136) and the highest temp was 24.2 on the 14th. I don't want to be argumentative but you are misrepresenting things. That walk was a bit of an ordeal for you and you may have felt quite hot after losing your way, bush bashing and running out of water. As you will see from the accurate data recorded, walking temps in the mountains are ideal most of the time during summer. You may be unlucky enough to cop a day over 25 degrees but when you are used to walking in the Blue Mtns or other areas around Sydney in summer, this would be a dream.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Sat 26 Oct, 2019 8:51 am

You may well be right but on the day I refer to it was rather warm and I had plenty of water and rehydration salts at hand. Overall walking in the early morning is more agreeable for my general modus operandi in summer in the Vic. Alps.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Bush_walker » Mon 28 Oct, 2019 6:37 am

Hi All, what are the options to get back to car, usually I prefer to leave the car where the end of track not at starting point so I have peace of mind.
In any case late finish or early I have car ready to take me home.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Xplora » Mon 28 Oct, 2019 12:09 pm

Bush_walker wrote:Hi All, what are the options to get back to car, usually I prefer to leave the car where the end of track not at starting point so I have peace of mind.
In any case late finish or early I have car ready to take me home.

Option 1 is to hitch hike and probably multiple lifts. Option 2 would be taxi. Option 3 would be get to Bright and maybe see if there is a bus to Mt. Beauty then back to option 1 and 2 to get up to Falls Creek. The info centre at Bright may have bus information. Falls Creek buses will not be running. Option 4 would be to work you walk out to be a loop. It will take a day to walk from Fed hut to Falls Creek via Diamantina spur. To avoid some repetition, you could continue from pole 333 on the AAWT to Dibbins then to Hotham and onto the Razorback. After Fed hut or Feathertop you could head down Diamantina spur to Blairs Hut and up to Westons. As you continue from Westons, you will see the Tawonga huts track on your left and make your way over to it and down to Pretty Valley. Straight forward from there.

If you want to leave you car at Harrietville then it will probably take the rest of the day to get to Falls Creek.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Mon 28 Oct, 2019 5:37 pm

There is a public bus that connects Bright with Omeo via Mt. Hotham and Dinner Plain.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby Xplora » Tue 29 Oct, 2019 2:45 am

paidal_chalne_vala wrote:There is a public bus that connects Bright with Omeo via Mt. Hotham and Dinner Plain.


Yes there is. It runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. Call 03 51521711 for more information. I think it reaches Harrietville around 10:30am.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Wed 18 Dec, 2019 7:32 pm

Having done walk No. 11 in the Vic. Alps Bushwalking guide book by Glenn van Der Thingy I can say the loop from Harrietville , up the Bungalow spur to Fed. hut and over to Twin Knobs and down Champion spur is a good but challenging trek which takes you back your car over two days and one night. The water Tank at Fed. hut is dry. The spring near the Hut ruins site 2 km before Fed. hut was flowing when I was there last week.
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Re: Mt Feathertop Circuit Recommendations

Postby commando » Thu 16 Jul, 2020 9:48 pm

North West Spur to MUMC hut, 3 hours of agony but your right there at Mt Feathertop.
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