Bushwalk Australia

Hi,

This will be a quick one. Planning on doing the Mt Howwit - Mt Speculation walk next weekend. I've done it a few times and have never been able to find water at Mt Speculation (or at least at the camping site/carpark down the hill). Can anyone give me dumbed down directions?

As you come down from Mt Speculation you hit the road going off to the left, and what used to be the 4WD track going off to the right (now just big piles of dirt). Going further down you see a couple of large campsites.

I've walked a lot of this and never been able to find the water.....

Sorry but still unsure. You're saying walk down until you hit the road or before you get there?

From the summit of Mt Spec follow the ridge NE for about 400m until you reach a gentle saddle and a track on your left. Turn Nth and follow the track down for about 400m until you hit Speculation rd. Camp creek is just on your left after you hit the road. From memory there is a concrete culvert under the gravel road. I've only been up there a couple of times but water was flowing under the road both times.

I'll post a map later this evening

Drummo62 wrote:From the summit of Mt Spec follow the ridge NE for about 400m until you reach a gentle saddle and a track on your left. Turn Nth and follow the track down for about 400m until you hit Speculation rd. Camp creek is just on your left after you hit the road. From memory there is a concrete culvert under the gravel road. I've only been up there a couple of times but water was flowing under the road both times.

We found it there late one dry summer, after looking in vain in the wrong places. It was the brighter green of the vegetation that finally attracted my attention. Map should help - my memory is that it was a bit more than 'just on your left'.

Drummo62 wrote:From the summit of Mt Spec follow the ridge NE for about 400m until you reach a gentle saddle and a track on your left. Turn Nth and follow the track down for about 400m until you hit Speculation rd. Camp creek is just on your left after you hit the road. From memory there is a concrete culvert under the gravel road. I've only been up there a couple of times but water was flowing under the road both times.

Yes, follow the footpad north from the saddle down to the road. Then turn left (west) on the road for 20-30 metres, creek will be on the left. If you reach the hairpin bend on the road (100m?), you've gone too far.

The source of the spring used to bubble up close to the saddle, but it seems to have shifted a bit in recent years. It is easier to find where it intersects the road.

Sorry, the Tapatalk app won't let me upload the map. The above descriptions are spot on though. If you need the map extract, please message me with an email address.

Thanks for the responses - should be able to find it now I think. In the past I didn't go down the road far enough.

Oyster_07 thanks for the offer to go to the trouble....

On at least one trip I've got water from about halfway down the pad that goes north from the gentle saddle. There was a bit of scrub in the creek but not too hard. Getting water there was easier than the road as we camped on the gentle saddle, good views.

We camped at Mt Speculation on Jan 21 last year as part of a walk on the AAWT from Mt Skene to Hotham. Finding water was a constant problem and I logged all the places we did get it
Drummo's description matches my recollection and Garmin plot. The exact coordinates of the spot we got water near the campsite are 68771 91708
Have a great walk!