by stevage » Tue 10 Oct, 2023 11:48 am
I just did the first 4 days of this trail (Mt Zero to Halls Gap) last week (Sun-Wed). Overall, I'm a huge fan. It's incredible! The route is brilliant, really taking you through so many great spots, excellent views, interesting walking, etc etc. And the trail construction is of a standard I haven't really seen before in Australia - so many steps made of local stone, in a way that is really aesthetically appealing. I can only imagine how much effort it took to build.
The night before the hike we camped at Plantation Campground, which was really great for a free campsite. Surprisingly few people making noise late at night or otherwise being annoying.
We pondered a couple of options for getting to the start of the trail, but ended up parking the car at the start of the Mt Zero road, and hitch-hiking. It only took 10 minutes until a convoy of members from the Sydney Bushwalking Club stopped to pick us up. (Thank you if you're reading!) They were off to do a day walk up Mt Zero.
I can highly recommend this particular week of the year: the first week after school holidays. Halls Gap was relatively quiet, campsite availability was good (we booked only a week beforehand). There were 9 people at each campsite - us (couple in late 30s/early 40s), three other couples ranging from 50s to maybe early 70s, and a 25 year old woman from Montreal doing the whole trail solo. It was really nice sharing mealtimes at the hut together, though it'd be pretty crowded with 20+ people.
As for the flowers - wow. I know people say it often, but the Grampians in October is utterly mindblowing with the number and variety of plants in flower.
For us, day 2 (Barigar - Gar) was the standout. We just kept stopping and saying "wow!" So beautiful. The Gar campsite did feel a bit overly exposed though. It was ok for us (a bit windy and rainy but fine), but would be a bit scary on a very windy night, especially if you missed out on the more sheltered sites.
Day 1 was sunny and blue skies, while the next three were overcast and a bit threatening. It rained each night, but never during the day except for a brief spot of drizzle on the 4th day. It was very cold at night though. The poor solo traveller hadn't packed enough warm stuff and had a couple of very rough nights. We all lent her what we could to get her through to Halls Gap where she could buy some warmer gear.
I know there's a lot of negativity about the pricing, but personally, after doing these 4 days, I don't really agree with it. It's a super high quality trail, an amazing experience, and $25/night is honestly not that much. $75 in campsite fees for a 4 day hike seems reasonable to me. There are plenty of other hikes you can do for free. And there are probably other ways you can hike the Peaks trail without using the official campsites.
I thought the distances might feel a bit short, but they were perfect for our level of fitness and experience. (Both had done a lot of hiking in the past, but not in peak shape). Parks Vic seems reluctant to give time indications on the website, which was a bit odd. Also, on the first day (I think) there was an information panel that said the next campsite was 4.5 hours away, while a sign right next to it said 7 hours. (Generally, these signs, which said about 7 hours, were fairly accurate for us including lunch. We were faster on the last day though.)
The one negative for us was the tent platforms, particularly the first night (Barigar) which didn't have enough chain anchor points. Even though our tent was pretty much the ideal type for this platform (a Big Agnes hiking tent) we found it pretty fiddly getting the tent anchored and properly tensioned. The young woman had a longer tunnel style tent and we really struggled to get it set up well. Next time I'd definitely bring a few extra bits of guy rope, wire etc to give more flexibility. On the plus side, the sites were perfectly level, and I think there's a thermal benefit in being off the ground.
We found the water situation somewhat confusing, but because there had been recent rain, weren't too concerned. But for reference: there are large water tanks at each campsite (Barigar, Gar, Werdug), but they are not "serviced" (PV doesn't top them up if they run dry). Then there are additional, smaller water tanks at various points on the way, like Troopers Creek Campground, and a road crossing not long before Werdug, which *are* serviced. Plus quite a few creeks. So I think in summer you would base your water strategy around the serviced tanks, while in winter/spring you could rely on the campsite tanks.
So overall, a super positive experience. It was also pretty amazing to hike into civilisation at the end without some boring road slog or low quality trail through farmland or similar. Instead, you're in the NP, then suddenly in a community garden, then in Halls Gap, ready for a coffee and a big lunch.
I'm planning to do another 3-4 days next October, then probably again the year after. A walk this good is worth savouring, rather than bingeing all 13 days at once. (I live in Melbourne, so it's fairly accessible - a different story for people from further away).
Last edited by
stevage on Tue 10 Oct, 2023 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.