Bushwalk Australia

Hi,

Looking for some guidance for camping up near Mount Stirling.

I'm not a big snow camper - usually just Howqua River and Sheepyard, but looking to do something a little different: perhaps Howqua Gap Hut or Bluff Spur hut.

Looks like I have to pay to get into resort to access (odd given it's the same destination all year and no facilities) but wondering if it is easy enough to access with an AWD? I've a Subaru Forester (lifted, All Terrain tyres etc).

Also any recommendations for location? I've never been so don't know if whole area will be filled with Land Cruisers, Patrols etc.

Thanks in advance....

You can snow camp at Mt. No. Three Refuge hut . Your car will make it up Carter's road to park at Tomahawk gap. Then trek up No.3 Road to snow camp at No.3 Hut.
You pay nothing for that other food and fuel costs. If there is good snow cover then XC skiing down to King Saddle for a BYO lunch is fun.
Check the snow report on the Mt. Stirling web site.
If it says good snow at King Saddle or Very Good snow at Razorback hut then you have a green light for this trip.
The Mt. No. 3 area is locked and closed to 4 x 4 users until Nov.. So the vibe is quite remote.
The No.3 hut was rebuilt after the bushfres up there so it is a new
hut that holds heat once you get the wood burner started. Take a bow saw
and fire lighters.
https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/mt-no ... 021.90175/

If you have no experience of back country snow shoe trekking/ XC ski touring/ Snow camping
then do not go too remote and stick to the Mt. Stirling resort where the Ski patrol can come
to the rescue if things go wrong.
The Bluff Spur hut is warm once you get the wood burner cranked up.I have slept in there mid week in winter
and it was toasty warm.

There is a ship load of snow at Mt. Stirling now. I am going up there tomorrow.

Field report required PCV!
I'm experiencing unplanned physiological malfunction, so I'm relying on you.

I drove up to Big Hill carpark last Friday, walked a while and at about the 3 hour mark, slowly going up after Spring saddle, my body said, 'we're done' so I returned to car.
I mean a 13K hike with heavy bag isn't terrible, but I used to be able to push through....Sometimes.

Similar thing happened when I tried to do Mt. Bulller West Spur in May before I got COVID.
I'm starting to think that I'm past the window of doing what I want when walking, but we'll see....

Anyway, I want vicarious photos and reports from our intrepid reporter in the field. Mr. T!

Here's a soothing view of the Big Fella from last Friday:

And a little Feathertop:

You should have camped at Big Hill Car Park on Friday June 27th and done a fast and light day pack mission to Bogong Jack Saddle.
With a pre dawn start you could have smashed out some kms.
If you ever learn to XC ski then you can cover a lot of ground very
quickly in one day on skis and the return is often much quicker if
it is a descending return.
I will do a trip report from
June 27-29th 2025. I XC skied at three different places in three consecutive days.I have clocked
up 39 kms on skis!!

paidal_chalne_vala wrote:You should have camped at Big Hill Car Park on Friday June 27th and done a fast and light day pack mission to Bogong Jack Saddle.
With a pre dawn start you could have smashed out some kms.
If you ever learn to XC ski then you can cover a lot of ground very
quickly in one day on skis and the return is often much quicker if
it is a descending return.
I will do a trip report from
June 27-29th 2025. I XC skied at three different places in three consecutive days.I have clocked
up 39 kms on skis!!

On average that is 13km per day. Pretty easy to snowshoe that. Everything takes longer in the snow but not everyone wants to ski.

I went XC skiing at Mt. Stirling on Friday 27-6-25.
We had great conditions.
I know it is a bush walking website but someone requested a trip report here.
See the trip report with photos here:
https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/mt-st ... st-5984162

paidal_chalne_vala wrote:I went XC skiing at Mt. Stirling on Friday 27-6-25.
We had great conditions.
I know it is a bush walking website but someone requested a trip report here.
See the trip report with photos here:
https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/mt-st ... st-5984162

I read your report. Nothing wrong with posting that in my view. The ski forum does bushwalking trip reports. Just a quick question, are you normally a cold person? Maybe I just run hotter. I was out on Friday on skis and was hot in a thermal and light shirt. No gloves. I'll pack extra layers but rarely need them. It was a perfect day. Very little wind and lots of sun.

July 13-15 th could be another bumper snow festival on the lower mountain at Mt. Stirling .I am watching the snow report .

paidal_chalne_vala wrote:July 13-15 th could be another bumper snow festival on the lower mountain at Mt. Stirling .I am watching the snow report .

Might actually be 15th to 19th according to the experts. It could be the Long Spur will be fully loaded so might be the opportune time to take that long awaited and much procrastinated run to Cleve Cole Hut. Given you have your winter supplies in there now the trip should be easier for you.

Mt. Bogong / Cleve Cole hut is now in my in tray for August 2025 after I return from the Bogong Rover Chalet. My ski trip to NZ August 2025 is possibly not going ahead this year .
I need to see if there
is enough snow in NZ. So far they have had patchy ski season.
My next major ski trip is going to be Island Bend/ Perisher XC and two days of lifts at Charlotte Pass in NSW.

What are the experts saying at the moment weatherwise? It looks like after tomorrow, 12th, it's raining/snowing for the following week, according to BOM and Weatherzone.
No clear days really. I'd need a nice weather window to take a few days off, or even better, over a weekend, to do a bit of camping, walking in somewhere.

I am going up to Mt. Stirling on Monday July 14th for a day on skis.
We are having a number of cold fronts with snow in the pipeline right up until late July.
Clear sunny days are not a feature of these forecasts.
People will definitely find snow at No. 3 Hut on the No. 3 road, past the top of Carter's road.
.Go snow shoe/ ski tour up there and snow camp at the hut.
Get the fire going inside
the No.3
hut. It is a warm hut once you start the wood burner.

I enjoyed Very good skiing
at Mt. Stirling today . 14-7-25. They have plenty of snow!