Parks Victoria - Winter road closures 2012

[Stew63]

This Thursday 14th June Parks Victoria will close the gates for winter/spring throughout many areas of our national parks including the Alpine National Park. From peoples experience does this mean they actually close ON the Thursday or from Friday 15th?

I will call Parks Victoria (Mansfield) to check but often I find the infomation given is not very accurate or indicative of what's actually happening.
NB. Yes i do realise there are already a few early closures already due to the unusual recent weather events.

[Moondog55]

Road from Falls Creek was closed over 3 weeks ago, when the first big dump happened so it is situational dependent, I think the road from Omeo was closed the same day

[Stew63]

I've just returned having left Melbourne at 1:00am this morning for the High Country to place my food cache and firewood.
Just made it, the gates do close tomorrow!

[north-north-west]

Firewood? A lot of that area is fuel stove only.

[Moondog55]

Not if an existing hut has a fireplace, speaking of which;- does Cleve Cole hut still have the big open fireplace?? haven't walked up or skied down Bogong for a decade

[north-north-west]

It did year before last. I don't think they'd make any changes to that hut that weren't essential, and as it's a very solidly built thing, that's not likely.

[Stew63]

Firewood? A lot of that area is fuel stove only.

NNW...

I quote from Parks Victoria's current website both specifically from the Alpine National Park section - conditions:

1/. 'Firewood supplies are limited especially in the Alpine and sub Alpine areas so use of camping stoves is preferred'
2/. 'Light fires only in fireplaces provided or use a gas or fuel stove'

In my own time at my own expense I have taken firewood and some basic emergency supplies up for the huts (in addition to my own food cache) for any X-country skiers or bushwalkers to use especially in an emergency. The firewood was cut/split/brought up in my own trailer all the way from Melbourne not from the surrounding forests, only did this just before the gates close after the long weekend so the general public and 4WD drivers don't go crazy willy/nilly burning it all up.

I believe there is another guy that re-supplies some of the Bogong HP huts with firewood for winter at his own expense.

[north-north-west]

Fair enough, Stew. It read to me as though it was intended for campfires. Apologies for jumping to conclusions.

[Stew63]

No worries NNW.

One thing that worries though, at Bluff Hut I noticed many trees adjacent to Bluff Hut and surrounds have been recently (since I last visited a about 6weeks ago) chopped down with a chainsaw. I'm talking ~15+ trees of different sizes from the immediate Bluff Hut area - at the outside fireplace near the hut there was a huge section of log left there in the fireplace probably from the nearby area due to its size. The track above the hut is also in very poor condition for about 200+ metres. There is a lovely plateau just to the east of the hut which had been blocked off from 4WDs by ParksVic. by placing huge boulders along the track - 4WDers have since moved some of these boulders so they can drive in and access the plateau. There are now clear vehicular tracks across the delicate/boggy plateau to a campsite.

[Stew63]

Deleted - duplicate posting

[Kinsayder]

That's terrible, Stew! Hopefully Parks find a more permanent solution to freeing that spot of 4WD access. Such a shame when people are so self centred.