Seeing that Melbourne is basically grid locked with traffic trying to escape the city this long weekend I thought that I would spend the weekend tidying up a few loose ends, in between watching the cricket and tennis. The first loose end is to post a synopsis of a journal I wrote up of a walk I did from Wog Wog to The Castle in the Budawang's last November.
This was my first overnight walk in The Budawangs, I walked from Wog Wog to Bibbenluke Camp the first day, the second day involved a day trip to The Castle and back, and the third day a walk back to Wog Wog. The tracks in the Budawangs can be anything from a very lightly cairned route through the scrub to an easy ramble along duck boards and they can change in a very short distance. The highlight of the walk for me was Monalith Valley and the climb of The Castle. The climb up The Castle certainly got my attention, I reckon its more scary than Mt Anne, although being a fairly hefty bloke I wasn't trusting the fixed ropes and was scrambling up the rock un-aided.
I was going to head back to Bibbenluke Camp via the saddle between Mt Cole and Mt Owen but after finding my way up onto Mt Owen from Monalith Valley I wasn't confident that I would get through before dark. I thought it was best to backtrack via Monalith Valley at least that way I wouldn't spend a night huddled in a cave. Mt Owen is now on the extensive to do list.
Its probably of limited use to anyone now but there was water at Wog Wog Creek, Canowie Brook, Burrumbeet Brook, Bibbenluke Camp, Monalith Valley, and the cliffs under Mt Nibelung.
If you want to read a day by day account with lots of photos here's the link to my crazy guy journal http://hiking.topicwise.com/doc/TheBudawangs