3 day Halls Gap circuit

[stevage]

On Saturday I drove up to Halls Gap with my partner. We originally planned to go up to the Alps, but there was a lot of rain forecast, and the Grampians had much less (~4mm per day), so we did a very last minute pivot. We'd previously done the first 4 days of the Grampians Peaks Trail, so we continued on with the next 2 days, adding a third day to loop back around Lake Bellfield to Halls Gap.

Day 0: free camping in Plantation Campground after dinner of fish and chips outside in Halls Gap. At one stage we had five sulphur crested cockatoos on the table angling for a chip (of course we didn't feed them). One of them gave me a nip on the arm but overall they weren't too much of a problem. Very windy overnight - think we would have done better to camp lower down in the campground.

Day 1: heavy drizzle all morning so we didn't start hiking till 1pm, then it cleared up 30 minutes later. Nice easy climbing up through the Wonderland, up to the PInnacle. It's a great area, but I never really like being a heavily loaded hiker amongst dozens of daywalkers. We got a lot of curious questions from people who seemed to have no idea what overnight hiking was. It got a little bit tiresome after a while.

We had Bugiga campsite to ourselves, surprisingly. Really beautiful campsite nestled amongst the bush with views to Mt William and a nearby peak. Just wonderful with all the birds. Instead of a hut/shelter like the previous campsites, it's just a single curved roof. But perhaps because of the sheltered position that would be enough in bad weather.

The tent platforms don't seem to have any way of anchoring a tent to them - they're missing the chains that we saw at previous sites. There are some very dangerous remnants of broken pegs where people had wedged them between the wooden boards. The whole situation is pretty irritating, as if whoever designed them has never actually pitched a tent before. We were just able to squeeze our tent onto the ground below and next to one of the platforms and get it anchored securely. Having the whole place to ourselves was such a pleasure though, it was all pretty magical.

Day 2: Through the (un-signposted "Gate of the East Wind") and a series of really interesting (if slow-going) rock formations. The viewpoint at Mt Rosea is really spectacular, in both directions. Not too many daywalkers to contend with. The walk down to the valley floor got a bit monotonous - it's a long, steady descent at a pleasant grade, but no views or points of interest to break it up. We camped at Borough Huts, taking advantage of the first day of the rather questionable free summer camping policy. Only 3 other groups in the vast campground - a French cycle tourist, and a couple of campervans. The campground is a bit blah, but the creek is gorgeous - great for a swim, and to cook dinner at. A bit of overnight rain.

Day 3: Up early, following the marked trail towards Halls Gap. Nice bit of a single track then onto a managament track around Lake Bellfield. Nice at first but then it gets into a pretty annoying series of sharp climbs and descents, like someone drew a straight line across a map ignoring contours. You also mostly can't see Lake Bellfield, or much of anything really. We did see a lot of rock wallabies, and a shingleback lizard. Eventually we got a bit sick of it and detoured down onto Fyans Creek Loop, which was a really nice change.

In the wide open meadow, we saw a few deer, some kangaroos and a couple of emus. We dropped into the Brambuk park and cultural centre to learn that there is no cafe there anymore (even though it is still marked on the maps on-site). Too hungry to visit the site, we pushed on along the trail, which was really pleasant. Surprised not to see any walkers or cyclists between there and Halls Gap (though it was a Tuesday). My feet were surprisingly sore - I recently spent a couple of months backpacking around Central Asia and it seems they've already lost all their toughness.

Overall a decent loop, though I definitely preferred the first four days of the GPT. There's something a bit artificial about hiking so close to a major town surrounded by daywalkers that takes away from the experience a bit. I do really love Halls Gap though - such an incredible pretty site for a town, which it somehow manages not to ruin. Sitting out enjoying the views with an ice cream after a hike is pretty hard to beat.

[Baeng72]

Nice report Stevage.
The walk up the Pinnacle is pretty tourist crowded. How were the Bridal falls flowing?
I've camped at Bugiga, the sun setting on the walls of Mount Roasea (I think) and rising look great if the skies clear.

Rosea's a nice walk, but haven't done the rest of the loop. The firetrail doesn't sound much fun.
Cheers!

[CraigVIC]

This is the trial version of the gpt that was built a few years before the rest which is why the camp is a bit different. There's no doubt they learnt something from it as the new platforms are 100 times more user friendly than this first version.
Originally, each camp was to have a unique shelter design but that fell by the side and the group huts on the rest are minor variations on a theme. The Bugiga shelter copped quite a bit of criticism for not being wind/rain proof.
It's a bit lame that it goes through the Wonderland but I guess if you flew here from somewhere to do a bucket list hike of the gramps you'd want to see the pinnacle etc.

[stevage]

Nice report Stevage.
How were the Bridal falls flowing?

Ha. I think I commented that it was the smallest amount of water I've ever seen for something described as a "waterfall". A nice trickle.

> The firetrail doesn't sound much fun.

It was ok as a bit of a change, but I'd definitely recommend taking the left turn onto Fyans Creek Loop.

[stevage]

This is the trial version of the gpt that was built a few years before the rest which is why the camp is a bit different. There's no doubt they learnt something from it as the new platforms are 100 times more user friendly than this first version.

The weird thing is the platforms have these metal disks with holes that look like (from memory) the ones on the other campsites. But those ones have chains that you pull through then lock into position (and tether your tent to) and these didn't.

My partner asked the question, why do they even build tent platforms out of wood - why not just earth/gravel with a retaining wall? The tent pads at Borough Huts were constructed like that. So much more pleasant to camp on, and they seem perfectly durable.

[CraigVIC]

I guess the generous answer is that it means you can put a campsite anywhere, whether it's rocky or level or whatever, you just bolt the platforms to it.

There's also the fact that many people dream a dream of being a hiker but do not wish to sleep on the ground. The GPT is there to catch the money falling out their pockets.