Clear Creek Road 3 day circuit via Mt Clear and the Bluff

[Parkperks]

Has anyone completed the the 3 day walk (listed in the 'Bush walking in the Victorian Alps' - can't remember what number the walk is - book is at home) that starts off at the Clear Creek road (sign posted as Nobs) just off Brocks Road and heads towards Clear creek headwater (first night) then side trip to Mt Clear, and along the AAWT via King Billy 2 and 1 then around past Picture Point and on to The Bluff hut (second night) and then up to the Bluff and down Jamerson Spur crossing the river at the bottom and up to Brocks Road left and back to Clear Creek Road?

I have just come back from doing this walk over the labour day weekend and for the large part of this walk its pretty easy with some amazing views but from the Bluff down Jamerson Spur back to the car was some of the hardest bush I have ever pushed through. Now the track notes said that there was a faint track but there was none and that not the worry - I am 37 very fit, ex regular Australian Army infantry and can navigate extremely well with map and compass and aids such as my Garmin GPS but that bush was unforgiving and so thick that it was impossible to see where you were going....I have pushed through jungles in South east Asia but that pales in comparison to what I did yesterday.

I am very interested to see if anyone else has done this walk and what their experiences of Jamerson Spur are. Keen to hear!

Thanks

Matt

[CaptainC]

Hi Matt

I last did that walk Cup Day weekend 2008, which was just after the fires, and the spur was very nice and clear. Now it's had 4 years of re-growth so it's become very thick and scrubby. Bushwalking in the Victorian Alps was published in 2004, before the bushfires and regrowth.

[Parkperks]

Thanks for the info - makes total sense now. The quoted timing of 1.5 hrs to get down from the bluff to Clear Creek Road actually took us 4hrs to get through and I really needed a machete to get through that scrub which clearly I was not carrying.

While that book has some great walks in it and as you probably know has fairly realistic time frames quoted, the lesson I took away is to always double check what has happened to the area you are going into i.e. bad bush fires and subsequent regrowth etc.

Happy walking!

Matt