3 day hike, Helicopter Spur, Mt Howitt, Howitt Spur

[plottwisted]

Hi,

I know there's a number of posts about similar routes, however I'm looking at doing this circuit as 3 days (2 nights), allowing for some extra side trips. Actually I'll be doing it as 2 half days and one full day to allow for driving from and returning to Melbourne.

Can anyone comment on driving time and best route from Melbourne?

The hike plan:
Day 1: Start at base of Helicopter Spur, near corner of Bindaree Road and Howqua Rd. Walk up Helicopter Spur to Picture Point, then along Bluff Track towards Mt Magdala and Hells Widow. Could camp at Hells Widow or alternatively do side trip to camp near King Billy Peaks or 1.4km side trip to Lovicks Hut.
Day 2: from camp continue east to Mount Howitt. Camp at Vallejo Ganter Hut. If this day is feeling a bit short, then we could walk a bit of Cross Cut Saw towards Mt Buggery, and back.
Day 3: Return from Vallejo Ganter Hut to start point via Howitt Spur.

Alternatively do it in the reverse direction:

Day 1: Howqua Road to Vallejo Ganter Hut to start point via Howitt Spur (approx 10.5 km)
Day 2: Vallejo Ganter Hut to Hells Widow, Mt Magdala to Lovicks Hut (approx 12 km)
Day 3: Lovicks Hut, down Helicopter Spur to Start Point on Road (approx 7 km)

Would love any comments.

K

[Lophophaps]

Plottwisted, depending on the state of the roads and where you start in Melbourne, allow about four hours to the start of your proposed walk. It's slower when you leave the bitumen. Helicopter Spur is a scramble in places, but I've never needed a rope. (The trip when we wanted to hang the leader does not count.)

Water may be hard to find on the ridges, and you may have to go down a ways. Hells Window to Mac Springs is not far, only a few hours. You may be better off going to Speculation, where water should be more certain. From Spec, go over Koonika and down ... King Spur I think it is. (I don't have a map with me.) This route may have scrub below about 1500 metre

Mac Springs to the foot of Howitt Spur should take a morning. The descent is a tad steep.

See
http://www.baysidebush.org.au/system/fi ... 20Loop.pdf
http://dztrek.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/k ... onika.html
There are a number of other websites that cover this region. How hard do you want the trip to be?

I'll have a look at some maps when I get home. There's a great many variations in this region.

[north-north-west]

I'd do the sidetrip over the King Billies if you haven't already been up there, it's a very nice little ridge. I have found water in the past below the King Billies, trickling down onto the Bluff Track, but that's become less reliable since the last upgrade of the road surface.
There is good camping at the walking/4wd track junction, and usually soaks a little towards Magdala, as well as the water at Hellhole Creek.

There are also alternative descents from the Crosscut via Stanleys Name Spur - this has a track but I can't comment on its current state - and from Mt Buggery via Queens Spur, which is steep at the top but usually easy enough to pick up, although part of the old logging road that gets you from there back to Upper Howqua is a bit vague at the base of the spur.

The Koonika route previously suggested might be a step too far for two and a half days, although it's a great walk. A little scrambly just below the summit, and some people have had trouble with the scrub between chainsaw flat and the road/river.

[Lophophaps]

NNW, agree. Now that I have a map I can see that Koonika and Queen Spur are probably too far. Also, the walk ends about 13 kilometre by road from the start, and unless you have a second car or are very fit and slightly mad, this is not viable. The Koonika bluffs are okay. Nobody died.

One option may be to go to Buggary, drop packs and bag Spec. It's not too far from the summit to the water, then cart water back to Buggary. The next day go down Stanleys Name, peeling off at Queen Spur Road, which ends three kilometre from the start of the walk.

Finding water will be a limiting factor, although in spring it will easier than in mid-summer. There used to be a soak just SE of where the AAWT hits the Bluff Track, northish of King Billy No. 1.

Another option is to go up Helicopter Spur, side-trip to Magdala and Hells Window, then to Lovicks and the Bluff. There's sort of reliable water between the Bluff peaks and reasonable camping. Next day go down the Bluff and then up the Howqua.

Approaching via Sheepyard Flat is shorter and brings other peaks within reach, maybe the McDonald circuit, start and finish at Eight Mile Gap. The start has a road slog but it's downhill to Upper Jamieson hut.