Buller Huts Trail-January?

Victoria specific bushwalking discussion.
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Victoria specific bushwalking discussion. Please avoid publishing details of access to sensitive areas with no tracks.

Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby Rlgm12 » Thu 08 Dec, 2016 7:23 pm

Status of the Springs(?) between Bluff Hut and Mt Lovick?

Which huts have water tanks?

What is hellfire creek like at that time?

Is mac springs crap? I think I heard it's contaminated??

King Hut water?

Water options is really what I'm on about obviously.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Sat 10 Dec, 2016 11:25 pm

I am heading up that way on Boxing day.
I would not bank on water being in the tank at The Bluff hut in summer.4WD enthusiasts would have used it all by January . I will be walking up from Ritchie's hut via 14 mile track . I will carting 4 L. extra water with me. I will take a pump up water filter and aim for making it to Hellfire creek saddle from Ritchie's hut/Bluff Hut/ Lovicks hut . Yes , it will be a long day !!.


Hellfire creek was dripping/ trickling at the same time last year . Only a pump up water filter would make that trickle of any use for filling water bladders.
By January Hellfire Creek will be dry. Even if you follow it down towards the Macalister river you won't get much joy I would think.
Mac Springs is a reliable water source. Use a pump up water filter if you have apprehensions about the water quality at Mac. Springs.
From Mac. Springs heading north over the Cross cut saw you will not find a water point until Camp Creek . Take plenty of water, cart extra water for the Cross cut saw and horrible gap crossing to Mt. Spec.
Start very early to beat the blazing sun.
Coming off that main ridge line you should find water at the upper King river and Upper Howqua rivers coming down off the Howitt spur and along the way after you get off the Stanley name spur.
The water points shown on the SV map of the Howitt / Buller area including springs and soaks cannot be relied upon so carry extra water just in case.
Be sure to take some extra food that doesn't need boiling water to be usable. If you end up having only enough water to drink at a dry camp then you won't go hungry until the next day when you hit water again.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby Rlgm12 » Tue 03 Jan, 2017 8:55 pm

Heading out this weekend, if anyone's got any more advice, warning or knowledge of water- Please share.

Still doing the same walk as stated above, can't wait to see all these huts and magnificent views.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Tue 03 Jan, 2017 11:38 pm

I was at Mac. Springs last week and it was flowing well. My guess is that Hellfire creek will still have a few drops left in it but that is not based on an eyewitness experience last week.It was quite wet up there last week so keep your fingers crossed.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Fri 13 Jan, 2017 6:01 pm

It has been quite wet lately so Hellfire creek may yet have a trickle of H2o in it.I did not make out there recently so I cannot comment from an eyewitness point of view.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby Rlgm12 » Sat 14 Jan, 2017 10:00 am

Just got back.

Plenty of water at hellfire creek and I imagine it will persist.

Plenty of water flowing from secondary creeks you'd not expect, will dry out soon enough.

Loads of water coming out of Camp Creek near Mt spec.

Water can be found along the mt spec cobbler southern slopes feeding into the king river, readily.

Delatite river is feasible up to howqua gap Hut.

Bluff Hut tank is full. (8th of Jan)

Howqua gap hut's tanks are full (13th of Jan)

GGS Hut has some water. (12th of Jan)

Should I make a seperate post with my water report of the Buller Howitt Region?
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby neilmny » Sat 14 Jan, 2017 10:17 am

Not a bad idea as the title would show what it's about.
MickyB or someone (mods) might be able to cut this out into a new thread if you ask them.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby Smilesy » Thu 19 Jan, 2017 8:08 am

Is there any water at Craig's Hut, or within a few km's?
I'm intending on starting a hike at TBJ staying first night at Craigs, then heading to Mac Springs via Stanley Name Spur.
Thanks
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby Rlgm12 » Thu 19 Jan, 2017 8:36 am

Hey there, I intended to camp at Craig's Hut but having managed to hitch a ride up to Craig's (damn the roads) camped else where.

A lady from the Mansfield office said that there has to be a tank up there for reasons she didn't care to explain. But I have since lost faith in everything she told me.

From my experience, there is no water. The Hut doesn't have a tank nor does the toilet, which has gutters but No tank.
When I was there, the closest water seemed to be in one of the dugouts (it seemed pretty clean actually).
Perhaps cart water over in a goon bag for the first night?
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby Smilesy » Thu 19 Jan, 2017 10:42 am

Thanks Rlgm12. I might need to change my plans. I think I will need to carry most of my water for the first two days, as from memory it's hard to find water on Stanley Name Spur.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Thu 19 Jan, 2017 5:41 pm

Craig's hut in green season would be a yobbo / bogan fest. I would avoid it. The people at the Mansfield tourist office don't bushwalk. I would take tips from people on this forum who have found water recently while bushwalking in the area.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby Smilesy » Fri 20 Jan, 2017 4:56 pm

That's true, I didn't think about the hords that would be there at the moment, I might change my plans a bit.
Cheers
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby darrenedwards » Wed 10 Jan, 2018 12:35 am

Hi all, great to see there is interest in this trail. I have not built an official site for this trek which can be found at http://www.bullerhutstrail.com.au

If anyone has undertaken this hike it would be great if you can leave feedback/comments to help other walkers with their planning. You can do this by adding comments to this page http://www.bullerhutstrail.com.au/trip-reports/

I have spoken with a few people who have undertaken this trek in the past weeks and some of them commented that they did not see a single other person or 4WD during the seven days. Lucky I guess.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Wed 10 Jan, 2018 9:19 pm

My Friend just walked the whole thing over 7 days. She is a star!. They stocked up on water where they found it. There is a trickle at Hellfire Creek or so she reported.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby skybeau » Wed 31 Mar, 2021 8:36 am

Forgive the old thread bump. There's a few bits of info elsewhere on here which I've stolen, but I hoped this woud help condense it into one nice topic.

Three of us are heading up to Buller to hike this track (starting Good Friday). We aren't hiking novices but this will be our first moderate distance trek in an alpine region.

We had intended to go in the direction that Darren's website suggests, but some worries about water availability from 8 Mile Flat to Gantner have us considering going the reverse instead. Reading on here there sounds like there's water availabe near Picnic Point which would help with that section, particularly if we walk it this direction. It also saves us lugging heaps of water from 8 Mile Flat over the Bluff with already full packs (in case the tank is empty at Bluff Hut). Any thoughts on this?

Also, we would typically use a Gossamer Gear The Two shelter, but we do have a Big Agnes Tiger Wall also. The weather forecast looks promising but I'm mindful of the alpine changes in weather. Should we go with the potentially more secure option in the Tiger Wall or will the Two be sufficient?

Any other tips or advice about hiking in this region would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Thu 01 Apr, 2021 4:59 pm

I was up at Mt. Stirling this week. There was water flowing in places where usually it would be dry by now. This is a good sign. The weather will be mostly clear this Easter but expect frost at night and early in the mornings.
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Re: Buller Huts Trail-January?

Postby skybeau » Thu 01 Apr, 2021 5:23 pm

paidal_chalne_vala wrote:I was up at Mt. Stirling this week. There was water flowing in places where usually it would be dry by now. This is a good sign. The weather will be mostly clear this Easter but expect frost at night and early in the mornings.


Cheers, much appreciated. Will definitely be making cuppas in the mornings!

Will do a report when we get back.
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