Stanley Name Spur Water?

[bigkev]

Hi Guys,

Has anyone been up or down Stanley Name Spur recently and can remember if the creek was flowing? (the one around 300 - 400m below the Cross Cut Saw). I'm thinking of heading up on Friday afternoon and hoping to camp at the creek if there is a bit of a flow, I'm not overly excited about carrying water up for a dry camp though.

I'm thinking that there will be some kind of flow as it's been a pretty wet summer.

Cheers
Kevin

[paidal_chalne_vala]

We walked up it in March 2020 and camped there in Nov. 2020 , going down it . There was water flowing well there on both trips .

[Xplora]

We walked up it in March 2020 and camped there in Nov. 2020 , going down it . There was water flowing well there on both trips .

Extremely helpful advice. I am sorry Kev I have nothing more recent but there has been a lot of rain in the area of late as you say.

[bigkev]

No worries Guys. I'll let you know what I find

[paidal_chalne_vala]

When we were there in Nov. 2020 Timber top school people had tagged and taped the lower section of that route so even though it is quite overgrown it was easier to find the way .They had also marked the safest route down off the escarpment using tape attached to trees. That was also useful.

[bigkev]

Thanks PCV, I've been up there before so I should be OK.

[bigkev]

Hi All,

Just got back from my Queens Spur - Stanley Name - Crosscut Saw - Howitt - Howqua Feeder Track loop. First of all for anyone thinking of heading up that way in the next few weeks then the creek near the camp on Stanley Name Spur has a good flow of water (27/2/21) and it looks like it'll be flowing for a few weeks yet even if we don't get much rain.

As PVC has already mentioned the Queens Spur track has a lot of Blackberries in a couple of spots, it's still doable without getting cut up however I'd recommend gaiters if you are walking in shorts.

Stanley Name Spur was not to bad - it's always reasonably overgrown from what I've seen however I didn't have any problem following the pad. Interestingly the small cairns that use to mark the easiest route up or around the rock bluffs have gone and now there is blue flagging tape - I'd much prefer a couple of rocks stacked on each other rather than tape however I maybe a bit 'old school'

Coming down the Howqua Feeder Track today it looks like someone is running horses up and down it. There is a fair bit of braiding and damage to the walking track.

I've uploaded these shots to illustrate my points however they could paint a slightly wrong picture of the walk - the walk is still a very good one and I'll post a link on here when I get my trip report written up... and it'll have some decent photos in it which will be more representative of the walk overall

The Blackberries have totally taken over in a few spots on the old Queens Spur Track.

There was a good amount of water still flowing just to the north of the Stanley Name Spur Track as of 27/2/21.

As PVC has already mentioned the top of Stanley Name is currently taped - back when I last walked this track the rock buttresses were cairned however it appears all the cairns have been knocked down - so now we have blue tape.

It looks like someone is either running horse riding tours up the Howqua Feeder Track - or maybe it's just private citizens heading up on horses? Whatever the case they are making a mess of the track - lots of braiding as the horses are taken around the gnarlier sections of the track and when the horses stay on the walking track they are cutting it up a lot.

[Baeng72]

Thanks for the update BigKev. Nice job.
The blackberries look pretty full on. I reckon I'd be one of those guys in a b-movie fighting his way through the vines if I tried that.
The picture of Stanley name spur makes it look more like climbing that bushwalking. Normally, when I take a picture of a steep incline, it looks flat. The first rock band of the Helicopter spur didn't look that intimidating.
Anyway, look forward to your writeup on the the blog.

[bigkev]

Cheers Baeng, the blackberries are a problem however they are only this bad for around 100 metres or so - although they are around to some degree all the way up to the camp on Stanley Name Spur.
The rock buttresses on Stanley Name are a decent size however the pad goes around the biggest one near the crest of the Cross Cut Saw. My photos normally come out looking flat too, I'm not sure what went wrong with this one!

I'll probably get a report on my blog in the next couple of weeks (if walking doesn't get in the way too much!).

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Helicopter spur is more full on rock climbing that SN Spur is.

You still need to crab crawl and pick the right line on SN Spur. Coming down it with a 2-3 night pack is more risky. I have done it both ways . I have gone up it twice with a heavy pack.

Bushwalking Vic. are aware of the black berry problem on the old Queen's spur logging road but they are clearing the 8 Mile Gap to Eagles peak track next month. Both tracks have a lot of fallen timber on them and need a serious working Bee effort to fix them. Queen's spur track needs track clearing work this November. I will put it to the BTAC committee.

Incidentally PCV is poly vinyl chlorine where as I am P_ C_V / Paidal Chalne Vala = The one who walks.

[Baeng72]

PVC is polyvinyl chloride.
Google translates Paidal Chalne Vala as 'The one who walks/Hiker' in Urdu/Hindi, so checks out.
I might change my name to 'El gordo y flojo caminante'

I had a look at the videos/photos I took of Helicopter spur to see if there was something that gave an idea of steepness. Most of it just the ground in front of me. I had a pack mount for the iPhone and videoed going up the first rock band. Because of the steepness and my desire to have hand holds, there's lot's of huffing, puffing, grabbing of hand holds, and very little progress or good pictures of the rock band.

Helicopter Spur

3602-small.png (269.87 KiB) Viewed 19106 times

The horror

8326-small.png (370.01 KiB) Viewed 19106 times

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I did not get good pictures of the Horror of Helicopter spur when I scaled it in Nov. 2020. It is nearly vertical in some spots and is not a place to mess about with photography.

[Baeng72]

I did not get good pictures of the Horror of Helicopter spur when I scaled it in Nov. 2020. It is nearly vertical in some spots and is not a place to mess about with photography.

No, it's not. I needed both hands and mind on the job, which is why when I looked at the video later, it was just of me pretty the ground in front of me, that second image is about the closest it came to 'scenic shot' in the whole video.

[CraigVIC]

Hi BigKev, what do you think the chances are that Hellfire ck is running based on SNS camp having water?

[Mr Bean]

Hi BigKev, what do you think the chances are that Hellfire ck is running based on SNS camp having water?

We did Helicopter Spur late last year and Hellfire Creek was barely a trickle. I doubt its running at the moment. The spring on SNS I'd put on par with Mac Springs (from a reliable aspect). We've done SNS 6-7 times over the past 4 years and its always been flowing well.

[bigkev]

Hi BigKev, what do you think the chances are that Hellfire ck is running based on SNS camp having water?

We did Helicopter Spur late last year and Hellfire Creek was barely a trickle. I doubt its running at the moment. The spring on SNS I'd put on par with Mac Springs (from a reliable aspect). We've done SNS 6-7 times over the past 4 years and its always been flowing well.

Hi Craig,

I tend to think Mr Bean is right, the catchment for Hellfire is a bit smaller I think - its almost worth lugging the water into the saddle above Hellfire Creek though as it's a beautiful spot to sit under the Snow Gums and watch the world go by.

[CraigVIC]

Thanks guys, looks like a carry it is.

[bigkev]

Hi Guys,

I've got around to putting a trip report up for this walk if anyone is interested.

Here's the link for day 1:- https://goinferalonedayatatime.blogspot ... -name.html

and here is day 2:- https://goinferalonedayatatime.blogspot ... owqua.html

The weather wasn't the best for photos however an average day (or two) in the bush is still better than my best day at work

[Mr Bean]

Great report, and dedication BigKev. That's a heck of a drive to get to the start! Great to see the creek at SNS was running well, this time of the year. I have only done SNS going down, thinking its a difficult one to do upwards....he says after doing Helicopter Spur twice

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I have been up SNS twice and down it once. Going down it was a bit tricky . Going up it was taxing.

[Avatar]

Another excellent report from BigKev.

[Baeng72]

Nice BigKev.
Hectic drive to get to Upper Howqua, then bush-bashing in the twilight.
What tent are you using?
The road closure was temporary? I assume you drove out from Upper Howqua, past Bindaree falls...

[bigkev]

Cheers Guys,

I used a Z Packs Triplex on this walk Baeng, I'm slowly changing over to some lighter gear on some of my walks nowdays.

The Bindaree Road was open when I got out on the Saturday (thank god). I think they were replacing some culverts.