Crosscut Saw / Mt Howitt / Mt Speculation in Spring?

[andrewbish]

Have you walked this area in September or October?

Am keen to hear from you as to the route, conditions (esp any snow) and how you accessed the area.

[north-north-west]

I've done Koonika/Speculation in the Spring. Driving into Lake Cobbler and walking in from there. Road access to that area is not easy that time of year.

[stry]

Been there in late November. Snowed

Have you checked the list of seasonal road closures ? That's going to decide your access route. The Circuit Road will be closed, but you may be able to get into the Upper Howqua and climb Howitt from there.

The route with the least climbing will be NNWs suggestion of going via Cobbler, if it is not a seasonal closure.

As you know, the weather could do anything at that time. In theory, I would probably prefer early September as perhaps giving Spring a bit more of a chance to get going than August. A bit variable, depending on the year.

[madmacca]

Even Upper Howqua is going to be an issue with road closures.

http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/629019/Map35B.pdf

[PTC]

The end of September last year i did this hike with some mates. 2 of then took snow shoes and all of us had poles with us. The shoes were only put on a few times and the poles were used all the time. There still was a bit of snow around on the south faces. And the rest of the area was frozen and slushy. Amazing to hike up there at that time of year. Very peaceful and no need to worry about carrying water.

We started from just below Bluff Hut, Coming in from Sheepyard Flats you can drive nearly all the way. And from there it is a 6 hour walk to Mt Howitt. Half on 4wd tracks, half walking tracks.

[walkon]

Gee parks are hopeless. Despite being asked directly they stuffed up about the upper howqua road shutting for winter. Ive got a food drop to replace, now it's a weekend walk instead of a day hike. Would have done it sooner if I had known.

[andrewbish]

Thanks for all of the responses. Esp. the map, @madmacca - clearly I didn't look hard enough in the Parkweb site!

[andrewa]

Um, Andrew, this is so dependent on how our winter goes, which isn't anywhere to date!

Great walk, but it depends on how you access it. Howitt plains and Cobbler route may have road closures, as I suppose may Stirling circuit road, if planning to access Howitt from there.

However,it is a very spectacular place.

Have fun planning.

A

[CaptainC]

You can drive up Brocks Rd (in Jamieson valley) until the locked gate, then walk to Howitt via King Billies and Mt Magdala. Will take about a day and a half if weather is OK. If you have patchy snow, so that you are on and off with snow shoes or skis, that will slow you down a lot.

[madmacca]

Thanks for all of the responses. Esp. the map, @madmacca - clearly I didn't look hard enough in the Parkweb site!

Yeah, they seem to put the road closures in a different part of the website each season.

[north-north-west]

Last I checked, winter road closures have been regularised. Same dates, sames places, each year. For Wonnongatta/Moroka, that means the Howitt Rd is closed at Kelly's Lane, the Cobbler Rd just past the Lake turnoff, Stirling Circuit Rd at the junction, Brocks near one of the river crossings.
Ever since I got into snowshoes I've fantasised about an eight to ten day winter walk into this area and back, from the Kelly's gate. Snow camping at The *&%$#!'s Neck the first night, then Howitt and Speculation.

[stry]

Correct NNW. But it would be prudent not to rely on the previous years advices