Forum rules
Victoria specific bushwalking discussion. Please avoid publishing details of access to sensitive areas with no tracks.Fall to Hotham Alpine Crossing trip report
Tue 11 Mar, 2014 8:20 pm
So last Friday we decided last minute to do the Falls to Hotham Alpine crossing.... Both pretty knackered from a few tough weeks at work, we didnt want anything too challenging and with a group of 4 interested in taking the shuttle bus too and good weather forecast, we decided to go!
A long drive friday night was met by super thick fog the moment we drove out of falls towards Cope hut.... With visibility less than 5 meters(ish), we opted to go to a place we knew, Cope hut camp. At 12.30 AM we thought no one would come and bother us for using a platform... But the Hilleberg was too long, and with no visibility we opted to crash in the hut.
5 hours later we were up and getting ready to meet the shuttle at Falls Creek Resort.... For those that don't know: the shuttle runs on Saturdays for $360 to Hotham. They say for a minimum of 6 people, but $360 does the trick regardless of the size of the party....
8 am we left for Hotham, with coffee in Harrietville, we made it to the trailhead by 10.30. and head off.
Following the large tracks of the resort, we got to the turn off to Derricks hut. We decided to do the Mt. Loch side trip to soak up the Mt Feathertop views!
Under a beating alpine sun we made it to Derrick's quickly and continued on to Dibbins hut. The last section is a bit steep, but nothing anyone who has hiked around Mt Spec will be worried by! Dibbins hut is great, a beautiful spot for a rest. We had a snooze, then checked out the pricey platforms.... With 5 metal chunks close together they are no match for free bush camping.... Not feeling llike starting the second day with a climb and hoping for a short 3rd day, we decided to tackle the climb out of the valley. The track climbs fairly steeply and about an hour later we made it back in snow gum territory. For those wanting a sheltered spot to camp, there are some awesome flat spots under the gums here, make sure you put in the effort to continue for 15 minutes into the non-fire affected section. We however, decided that armed with the new Hilleberg we'd go up on the high plains and enjoy the setting sun up there. We popped out of the snow gums and onto the plains, and made for a hill with a good view of Feathertop. We put up the tent and noticed dark clouds building to the east... Within half an hour these built to a thunderstorm and for the next 2 hours we enjoyed watching the black clouds, thunder and occasional lightning whilst soaking up the setting sun. The view was absolutely awesome, beautiful colours of the setting sun with black clouds behind it....and a bright red Hilleberg in the middle! Then however, the wind changed direction.....and the thunderstorm that wasn't worrying us as the wind was blowing it away, started coming towards us.... With lightning increasing, and nowhere to hide for about a km, we got a little worried but decided that with it being nearly dark, there was nothing else to do but ride it out.... Some of the most amazing thunder I've ever heard and some lightning bolts over Hotham showed it was getting close now. Big drops confirmed that... Everything put away, we got ready for it to hit. Dark by now, all of the sudden it all stopped.... No more wind, lightning or thunder... Stoked with witnessing this storm we went to bed...
A glorious morning again, we took our time getting up and pack.... We followed the poles and decided to get up Mt Jim. After some great views, we got back on track and followed the poles across the high plains to Cope Saddle Hut. We topped up our water supply (last one was at Dibbins) and walked to Cope Hut in about an hour.
Wanting to make the last day a short one to cater for the drive home, we had a break and walked on to Wallace Hut. A beautiful spot as well, we had another break before walking along the aquaduct to Langford hut. A couple of km's from here we found our spot for the night and witnessed some great rainbows before a day under the sun got us in bed nice and early again.
The last say 7 kms were easy, follow the aquaduct and then towards Heathy Spur. The last section over the spur provides more good views before ending at the trailhead. Not keen on the last 2 or 3 km along the road, i hitched a ride into Falls to pick up the car....
All in all a great walk, not very hard (easy for experienced walkers, medium for beginners), great views, plenty of water available (Dibbins hut, Cope Saddle Hut, Cope Hut, Langford hut and most aquaducts were running) and the shuttle service makes it easy to do this one way walk.... I enjoyed a walk that didnt require track/route finding and bush bashing for a change. It's well marked without having markers everywhere. A bushwalking map for Bogong (SV) will be all you need.
Don't be put off thinking there will be a lot of people, we saw about 6 groups of hikers in 3 days....
If anyone has questions, PM me...
A long drive friday night was met by super thick fog the moment we drove out of falls towards Cope hut.... With visibility less than 5 meters(ish), we opted to go to a place we knew, Cope hut camp. At 12.30 AM we thought no one would come and bother us for using a platform... But the Hilleberg was too long, and with no visibility we opted to crash in the hut.
5 hours later we were up and getting ready to meet the shuttle at Falls Creek Resort.... For those that don't know: the shuttle runs on Saturdays for $360 to Hotham. They say for a minimum of 6 people, but $360 does the trick regardless of the size of the party....
8 am we left for Hotham, with coffee in Harrietville, we made it to the trailhead by 10.30. and head off.
Following the large tracks of the resort, we got to the turn off to Derricks hut. We decided to do the Mt. Loch side trip to soak up the Mt Feathertop views!
Under a beating alpine sun we made it to Derrick's quickly and continued on to Dibbins hut. The last section is a bit steep, but nothing anyone who has hiked around Mt Spec will be worried by! Dibbins hut is great, a beautiful spot for a rest. We had a snooze, then checked out the pricey platforms.... With 5 metal chunks close together they are no match for free bush camping.... Not feeling llike starting the second day with a climb and hoping for a short 3rd day, we decided to tackle the climb out of the valley. The track climbs fairly steeply and about an hour later we made it back in snow gum territory. For those wanting a sheltered spot to camp, there are some awesome flat spots under the gums here, make sure you put in the effort to continue for 15 minutes into the non-fire affected section. We however, decided that armed with the new Hilleberg we'd go up on the high plains and enjoy the setting sun up there. We popped out of the snow gums and onto the plains, and made for a hill with a good view of Feathertop. We put up the tent and noticed dark clouds building to the east... Within half an hour these built to a thunderstorm and for the next 2 hours we enjoyed watching the black clouds, thunder and occasional lightning whilst soaking up the setting sun. The view was absolutely awesome, beautiful colours of the setting sun with black clouds behind it....and a bright red Hilleberg in the middle! Then however, the wind changed direction.....and the thunderstorm that wasn't worrying us as the wind was blowing it away, started coming towards us.... With lightning increasing, and nowhere to hide for about a km, we got a little worried but decided that with it being nearly dark, there was nothing else to do but ride it out.... Some of the most amazing thunder I've ever heard and some lightning bolts over Hotham showed it was getting close now. Big drops confirmed that... Everything put away, we got ready for it to hit. Dark by now, all of the sudden it all stopped.... No more wind, lightning or thunder... Stoked with witnessing this storm we went to bed...
A glorious morning again, we took our time getting up and pack.... We followed the poles and decided to get up Mt Jim. After some great views, we got back on track and followed the poles across the high plains to Cope Saddle Hut. We topped up our water supply (last one was at Dibbins) and walked to Cope Hut in about an hour.
Wanting to make the last day a short one to cater for the drive home, we had a break and walked on to Wallace Hut. A beautiful spot as well, we had another break before walking along the aquaduct to Langford hut. A couple of km's from here we found our spot for the night and witnessed some great rainbows before a day under the sun got us in bed nice and early again.
The last say 7 kms were easy, follow the aquaduct and then towards Heathy Spur. The last section over the spur provides more good views before ending at the trailhead. Not keen on the last 2 or 3 km along the road, i hitched a ride into Falls to pick up the car....
All in all a great walk, not very hard (easy for experienced walkers, medium for beginners), great views, plenty of water available (Dibbins hut, Cope Saddle Hut, Cope Hut, Langford hut and most aquaducts were running) and the shuttle service makes it easy to do this one way walk.... I enjoyed a walk that didnt require track/route finding and bush bashing for a change. It's well marked without having markers everywhere. A bushwalking map for Bogong (SV) will be all you need.
Don't be put off thinking there will be a lot of people, we saw about 6 groups of hikers in 3 days....
If anyone has questions, PM me...
Re: Fall to Hotham Alpine Crossing trip report
Tue 11 Mar, 2014 8:42 pm
Good report Dutchy. Thanks for posting......any photos 
Re: Fall to Hotham Alpine Crossing trip report
Tue 11 Mar, 2014 9:00 pm
yeah, took plenty.... but havent uploaded any yet....
© Bushwalk Australia and contributors 2007-2013.