Bogong Circuit suggestion

[eardstapa]

Hi everyone, I'm planning a 3 day walk around Mount Bogong, probably next week if the weather's alright. I'd be interested to hear what anyone thinks of the following route, and whether it's doable in the time I'm planning:

Drive up the day before, stay at Mount Beauty, then ...
Day 1: start from Howman's Gap, walk via Spion Kopje to AAWT then north to either Roper's Hut or Big River for the night
Day 2: keep heading north then turn off to Cleve Cole Hut, up to Bogong summit, then down via Quartz Ridge to Bogong Creek Saddle for the night
Day 3: south on Grey Hills track back to Spion Kopje track, turn west and back to Howman's Gap

I'm estimating this'll be around 16km a day - can anyone confirm this? I'm reasonably fit and am a fairly experienced walker, just haven't been in the Bogong area for years. Thanks in advance for any comments.

[Snowzone]

Welcome to the forum eardstapa. i have done this loop before and its a wonderful walk but over four days. first night at Ropers, second at Cleve Cole, third at Bogong Creek Saddle then over Grey Hills to complete circuit.

[Lophophaps]

Eardstapa, welcome. This is a good walk, viable the way you have cited. The creek below Howmans may be a bit hairy, so take care.

I'd tend to avoid camping at Big River at there are limited places for toileting. With an early start from a Ropers Hut camp you can zoom down to Big River in 1.5-2 hours, and up the other side, a slow slog but well graded, about three hours. So if you clear Ropers by 7 am - late for me in summer - you should reach Cleve Cole by early afternoon, with a late arrival at Bogong Creek Saddle.

A better option is to try to reach the top of T Spur on day one. This is a long day, but you get the river crossing and the 700 metre or so climb out of the way. This makes the next day much easier.

If you need to walk out via Timms Lookout, there are campsites at the top, near Whiterock Falls, I think. I don't have a map with me.

One concern is that if the creek below Howmans is high on the last day it's a long way around. This can be avoided by starting at the Heathy Spur side of the dam wall.

[Lophophaps]

I had a look at the map and have a few more comments. Howmans to Maddisons Hut site, aka the top of T Spur, is a long day. The distance is about 18 kilometres via the pole 908 shortcut detailed below, but the killer is the climbing, two deep valleys, 1400 metres in total. One way to make it a little easier is to cut the corner from the aqueduct at 275240 and head NE for pole 908. This saves about two kilometres. The ground is open, light heath.
I referred to a campsite on Timms Lookout. This is at 275266, south side of the track at the head of a small creek. Bogong Creek Saddle to Howmans is about 13 kilometres by my reckoning, perhaps a bit more.

If the creek below Howmans is impassible the options are not good. I like to get the major obstacles out of the way early so that there is time for recovery if something goes amiss. Hence, crossing Big River first at Duane Spur gets that one over with, and the climb to Maddisons gets done after that. From Bogong Creek Saddle, if things go unstuck then it's a road bash out.

[north-north-west]

If you don't mind carrying water up, there is a great spot to pitch a tent in a saddle just north of the T Spur trig.

Doing that from Howmans Gap in three days is a bit of a push. Personally, I'd take four to make sure of enough time to enjoy the area. There are a couple of long climbs involved.

[eardstapa]

Hi again all and thanks very much for the comments. I've just got back from doing a variant of this walk Tue-Fri this past week. In case anyone else is contemplating this, here's what happened:

- I dropped in on the Parks Vic office on Monday when I arrived in Mount Beauty: they discouraged me from leaving from Howman's Gap on Tuesday due to the extremely high winds forecast for Tuesday (110 km/h in Alpine regions - felt like it too!): they thought the path from Howman's up to the Spion Kopje trail would've been too prone to tree fall & therefore not safe
- so I left from Watchbed Creek, on the other side of Falls, instead
- walked to Roper Hut the first night: didn't continue on down Duane Spur because Parks staff had said this track would've been very tree-fall prone too
- it took me 6 hrs to walk to Cleve Cole Hut the next day and by the time I got there, I didn't feel like putting in another 5-ish hrs to get to Bogong Creek Saddle via the summit, so I stayed the night at Cleve Cole
- next day up to Bogong summit then down Quartz Ridge and stayed at a campsite just over Big River instead of Bogong Creek Saddle for the third night
- walked back to car via Timms Spur track rather than Grey Hills

Distances for the walk were:
Day 1: 8.5km pretty flat
Day 2: 11km big descent & ascent
Day 3: 12km small ascent, big descent
Day 4: 17km long, slow ascent

So, I'd agree 100% with the comments re. making this a 3-nighter rather than a 2-night walk: stopping at Cleve Cole was one of the highlights of the trip for me and gave me some extra time to enjoy the surroundings: magnificent country.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

[Lophophaps]

Eardstapa, being flexible is good. Six hours Ropers to Cleve Cole is about right. I think it's 700 metres to the top of T Spur and another 100 metres to CC. Going past CC would have been a bit much and committing on a long exposed ridge. Can you please advise of the state of Duane and T Spur tracks?

Glad you enjoyed your trip.

[pete0762]

Hi,

I have done this walk a couple of years ago but gone the other direction as follows:

Day 1: Howmans Gap (creek was OK to cross but the brutally steep climb from the until reaching the fire track is a killer) - Spion Kopje and past there turn toward Grey Hills and camp near Quartz Creek (?).

Day 2: Quartz Ridge - Mt Bogong West - Mt Bogong - Cleve Cole Hut

Day 3: Cleve Cole Hut - Big River - Ropers Hut

Day 4: Ropers Hut back to Spion Copje and down to Howmans Gap (this could be done on Day 3 if you want and is very doable as not that hard or long, but if you have time great to spend another night out there).

Would not camp at Big River either, as not much space and can get hot down there in summer, but good for a dip in the cold water, before another climb.
cheers
Peter