Mt Feathertop.Dec. 2014 trip report.THE NW spur

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Hi,I lead a private hiking party of 5 in total up the Bungalow spur On Sat.13/12/14 .We made it up there to Federation hut in good weather and went to the summit after a rest and pitching our tents. The next day We elected to descend via the NW spur. The track after the MUMC hut is barely there, it is very damaged by bushfires , marked out by sporadic pink tape on burnt twigs etc and the spur just goes
S T R A I G H T
D O W N for 7 kms !!!!!.

It was beyond hardcore!. There was quite a bit of bush bashing and scrambling down 85 Degree declines. My thighs are just shot now.I won't be going near the NW spur track again. The track vanishes a number of times and when you hit the cool flowing creek at the bottom the 'track' keeps going for a number of Kilometres along the creek even though fatigue is setting in.
I would imagine
Going
UP
:-0
the NW spur would be the gold standard in torture .If it was raining or snowing on the spur I think I would have cracked it, and had moment of being tired and emotional.

[Moondog55]

You went straight down the Spur ?/ Most people use the firetrack and Yes I did that in winter once but coming up which I think is easier

[paidal_chalne_vala]

The track has been burnt by fire. Is that what you mean as the Fire track?. The angle of the descent is straight down , steeper than many other descents that I have done in The VIC ALPS.

[Stew63]

Was up at Feathertop last night with the kids to watch the AMAZING Geminidis Meteor Shower. Started late - at 12:15am and although not as many as we expected (only ~10/hr) the meteors we saw - in particular 10 of them were just HUGE and bright. They left a long, bright momentary 'comet like' trails across the sky, before the 'head' fizzled into red/green/blue. Not what I was expecting at all - AMAZING natural wonder that I and the kids will never forget...

In the past I was used to meteors as unremarkable, very faint, tiny dot like 'stars' moving and disappearing in moments... Not any more.

[alanoutgear]

NW spur has always been "memorable". I did it a few times in my fitter days, and those steep downhill sections about half way down are a quad test beyond belief.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

My Thighs are still shot. I can hardly walk around , I just hobble down the stairs to the drive way to the letter box. I went for a swim( 2 kms ) and a sauna today and I am still sore and stiff beyond belief .I can't see a rapid recovery tomorrow either.

[andrewbish]

I'd like to experience this horror for myself - this Sunday/Monday to be exact. I will report back.

[walkon]

I'd like to experience this horror for myself - this Sunday/Monday to be exact. I will report back.

gee your Hardcore after that warning. You will have to report back and give us your thoughts on what it was like

[paidal_chalne_vala]

It is now Thursday today and my legs are still sore! I made a mistake in hiking down the NW spur.It was an adventure!, but it was the adventure you get when you expect something more pleasant. I spent a lot of time looking at my feet/footing so I didn't fall over. So the scenery wasn't something I can say that I noticed too much. I have not been this sore since I went down the Eskdale spur in Jan. 2014.

[icefest]

The NW spur will always have a special place in my heart. It was my first route and still the one I've used most. It's definitely not the easiest though.

I think my best time down from MUMC hut was just under an hour.

Over of the best preventative strategies for DOMS is previous exposure, so it shouldn't be that bad next time (there's also apparently some weak evidence the caffeine may help in naive individuals).

[north-north-west]

... DOMS ....

Downhill Overuse Muscle Strain? Damned Outrageously Moronic Senators? Don't Own Many Shoes? Dan's Only Moderately Sane?
?????

[andrewbish]

I'd like to experience this horror for myself - this Sunday/Monday to be exact. I will report back.

I ascended NW Spur on Monday and I can declare that it IS a hard, long slog, but - it is no harder that some of the other big spurs in the areas - like Diamantina Spur or the Staircase Spur. The trail was also pretty easy to follow. I will follow up with a blog post soon.

[icefest]

Delayed onset muscle soreness.

Using your muscles while they stretch (ie while you go downhill) makes tiny tears in the body of the muscle and these become painful over the next day for about a week.

[north-north-west]

Delayed onset muscle soreness.

Using your muscles while they stretch (ie while you go downhill) makes tiny tears in the body of the muscle and these become painful over the next day for about a week.

Thanks. I will probably still call it Oh *&%$#!!
Making sure you stretch a lot at the end of the day helps. Particularly not sitting or lying down before doing a lot of stretching. And when I say 'a lot' I mean half an hour minimum.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Yes, I didn't start hobbling until two days later ! Everyone who likes sore legs should Try going D O W N the NW spur. That is the killer!

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Never say never again. I am heading up the NW spur on Monday with a full winter mountaineering pack!

[icefest]

Never say never again. I am heading up the NW spur on Monday with a full winter mountaineering pack!

But will you be going DOWN there too?

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I am not going DOWN :-0 the NW spur if I can help it !!. If I have crawl with an ice axe and self arrest pole in each hand respectively to get to Fed. hut then onto the Bungalow spur track then that may have to be the way it must be and the way to get back to my car at the bottom of the hill.
;-P

[jdeks]

You made it back in one piece paidal? How's the snow cover looking up there now? Still a bit thin?

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Hi,I piked out of the NW spur and went up to Fed. hut via the Bungalow spur.The hut with a wood heater made a huge difference in poor conditions.
It hammered down with snow all night on Monday night cum Tuesday morning. We now have good snow cover from the Old Fed. Hut ruins upwards. The season is now on.I will be back with a VNPA group under my glorious leadership do it all again next month. Check the VIC trip reports for the details of what happened on July 17th and 18th 2017 .