West Peak Tawonga, Victoria, Australia
By
skullracing on 08-Jan-13. Waypoint GC443VH
Cache Details
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By visiting the external cache listing you are leaving the Geocaching Australia website.
Geocaching Australia is not affiliated with the original listing site for this cache.
Please click here to view the caches listing.
If you wish to log this cache, you will need to log it on the external site.
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Logs
What a brilliant spot! Wonderful views and hills covered with flowers. I met a runner called Ola here and had a great conversation . Definitely of my favourite caches ever.
well, we must admitthat there was a time where this was not looking goodafter that long, burning climb up the staircasewe made our slow way over to west peakenjoying dropping that extra weight of our pack back by the cairnwe hoped to finish off this trio of treasures in a tricebut here that plan faltered:in amongst the rocks, we could find nothing of notethe time ticked onthe search dragged onstill nothinga pilotless plane whirred overhead, looking down on us in our despairthe sun started to setthe distant mounts disappeared into the evening hazewe considered pulling the pinthe evening campsite was still a good way awaybut, in the end, we lucked outwrenched the treasure from the rocks and scratched our name insidethe sun set over the mountains as we dashed for homethanks for wasting our time in such an incredibly beautiful spot
Making the most of the holidays.... today a trip up staircase spur and to the west peak. Big day! With 25km covered. Needless to say I was completely stuffed when I made it back to the car. Great walk across the plain to this one. At the summit there were really nice views of Mt Beauty, Bogong, Mt Wills, Feathertop and the rest of the high country... even could see mt cobbler off in the distance. Anyways after eating some lunch, we headed down the slope to the real GZ. Nice little rocky spot. FOund the cache safely tucked away. Singed the cache and returned. TFTC
What a great achievement to get over to the west peak as well. Absolutely perfect weather this weekend. Cache quickly found and still next to a big snow patch. Loved it! Tftc
I really love exploring this part of Bogong and have been to West Peak numerous times. Following this cache I continued on down to Little Mount Bogong. I had been to this rarely visited summit twice before but never from West Bogong down. The scrub is horrendous and I don’t recommend this hike. The views from the summit were great but the scrub bash continued down to Moncrieffs track. I was shocked at how much the vegetation had grown in the past 2-3 years and I didn’t really have much fun. TFTC.
Took some searching but a very happy lad in the end. Overnight on hooker and an explore around West Peak and bogong creek falls. Thanks for the hunt!
On a Geocaching trip with day1976, we camped at Mountain Creek Campsite the night before, and made our way up to Granite Flat on the Sunday morning, to begin our big hike from the 4wd access point. I'm sure it was much easier than either of the other two ways, but it still felt very difficult to me.
day1976 pointed the cache out to me as I passed it for the second time whilst searching.
So many moths in the little cave area under the cache!
We stopped here for lunch after I had put my name in the logbook. The clouds had (mostly) lifted and we could see for quite a distance. Mt Beauty was visible in the valley down to the right.
day1976 pointed the cache out to me as I passed it for the second time whilst searching.
So many moths in the little cave area under the cache!
We stopped here for lunch after I had put my name in the logbook. The clouds had (mostly) lifted and we could see for quite a distance. Mt Beauty was visible in the valley down to the right.
Found at 12:28:00 PM
At the Bogong summit I overheard someone saying the western peak overlooked Mount Beauty so we decided that we had sufficient energy to go for it. We headed over here via another cache which I mistakenly thought was on the summit of what I now know is called West Peak (thanks to this cache). I'm glad of the intermediate step because if I had known it was 2.5 km further on I might not have done it. Great view from here.
Back down in civilisation it was interesting to note that it is actually THIS summit you can see from the Mt Bogong Lookout on the main road, not the proper one.
Thanks skullracing
At the Bogong summit I overheard someone saying the western peak overlooked Mount Beauty so we decided that we had sufficient energy to go for it. We headed over here via another cache which I mistakenly thought was on the summit of what I now know is called West Peak (thanks to this cache). I'm glad of the intermediate step because if I had known it was 2.5 km further on I might not have done it. Great view from here.
Back down in civilisation it was interesting to note that it is actually THIS summit you can see from the Mt Bogong Lookout on the main road, not the proper one.
Thanks skullracing
What a lunch spot! Blue sky day watching a glider over mount beauty. Nice wander today to West peak. Took us a while to extract cache from its hidey hole. Quite amusing. What a neat cache. Excellent condition and lots of goodies. Mosquito head net would be useful! TFTC great to be here . Geocaching took us to beautiful places today. Now down quartz ridge
This was the last cache for the day after coming up from Mountain Creak via the Staircase. Our plan was to try to saddle down to the Little Bogong and tick that one off but the terrain was too dense and given the lateness we pulled the pin on that idea. We did the usual happy snaps from the top of West Peak and decided to camp down in the valley to the east of West Peak. There is a slightly sheltered and flat area you can pitch a tent or two. We also found a bit of water flowing further to the south. Great spot and thanks for the amazing view and cache.
FBTJ #3041.
FBTJ #3041.
Splendid view, dazzling display of BOGONG Daisy and ancient Celery Top, eagles soaring and dastardly March flies. Allsorts of places to explore up here. No muggles and no souls. TFTC!
The Kettles were planning their (what seems to have become) annual summer holiday to the Victorian High country. For part of the family, the attraction is the seemingly endless choice of mountain bike trails to ride. So while the riders discussed what trails were their top picks to ride, Ma Kettle had an idea....I wonder if Kettle Twin 2 and I could complete the Victorian 1700m challenge while the riders were having their fun? A quick look at the geocaching map confirmed that there were enough possibilities close to the MTB trails.
12 months ago, Ma Kettle and Kettle Twin 2 had made the trek to the top of Mt Bogong. This year they had decided to do it again and make it an overnight adventure to allow time to visit the West Peak (and to find as many caches along the way as they could). With the temperature climbing towards 40 degrees, it had been a tough climb up yesterday, but as long as there was a breeze, conditions where okay on top of the mountain (except for the March flies) so with plenty of water on board, we continued with our plan. It was quiet on the mountain today..hardly another soul to be seen.
Having walked from Cleve Cole Hut to the summit, we had made 3 more finds that could contribute to the 1700m challenge putting our total, so far, at 9 qualifying caches. With 3 possible finds out towards the West Peak, this challenge was starting to look achievable. We had added another two to the list on the hike to West Peak. Took some time to take in the fantastic view between frantically swatting the March flies, then we followed the arrow to GZ.
Another one of those places that has so many possible hiding spots…but which one had the cache? There was a brief moment when we contemplated posting a DNF, but who comes all this way and doesn’t find the right spot? Eventually, it was Ma Kettle who found the right place to look and our names were added to the log book.
That brought our total of qualifying caches for the 1700m challenge to 12 and with tracks to ride at Falls, we began to feel optimistic about completing the challenge.
Love the views, didn’t like the number of bites I got…they were going to be nasty, but would we do it again….absolutely!
Thanks for bringing us here…it’s experiences like this that keep us involved in caching.
12 months ago, Ma Kettle and Kettle Twin 2 had made the trek to the top of Mt Bogong. This year they had decided to do it again and make it an overnight adventure to allow time to visit the West Peak (and to find as many caches along the way as they could). With the temperature climbing towards 40 degrees, it had been a tough climb up yesterday, but as long as there was a breeze, conditions where okay on top of the mountain (except for the March flies) so with plenty of water on board, we continued with our plan. It was quiet on the mountain today..hardly another soul to be seen.
Having walked from Cleve Cole Hut to the summit, we had made 3 more finds that could contribute to the 1700m challenge putting our total, so far, at 9 qualifying caches. With 3 possible finds out towards the West Peak, this challenge was starting to look achievable. We had added another two to the list on the hike to West Peak. Took some time to take in the fantastic view between frantically swatting the March flies, then we followed the arrow to GZ.
Another one of those places that has so many possible hiding spots…but which one had the cache? There was a brief moment when we contemplated posting a DNF, but who comes all this way and doesn’t find the right spot? Eventually, it was Ma Kettle who found the right place to look and our names were added to the log book.
That brought our total of qualifying caches for the 1700m challenge to 12 and with tracks to ride at Falls, we began to feel optimistic about completing the challenge.
Love the views, didn’t like the number of bites I got…they were going to be nasty, but would we do it again….absolutely!
Thanks for bringing us here…it’s experiences like this that keep us involved in caching.
Once I made it to the top of the big fella, I decided I might as well go the extra mile and grab this cache, and I'd say it was well worth it. En route, whilst I was taking a break on the peak between Mt Bogong and West Peak a muggle ran past and told me that he'd just run over here from Mt Bogong to make sure that Mt Bogong was in fact the tallest peak on the plateau. After discussing how this peak was only around 10m shorter than the big fella he decided to push on to West Peak and I could see him in the distance running up the side of the mountain. What an absolute mad lad! Fortunately for my geocaching endeavours, he'd left West Peak by the time I'd got there, allowing me to make a fairly easy find under some suspiciously placed rocks, before soaking in the magnificent views. Amazing spot for a cache. Thanks for bringing me out here. Now, I've just got to get back down! TFTC
So with some last minute shift of activities and a check of the weather a detour was made. A reasonable start and on the track by about 8am after the multiple creek crossing. Lucky we had a vehicle with a bit of clearance.
Up the spur track we headed and it just seemed to keep going up. After Mitchell's Hut it was more up to and soon above the tree line. We could see the summit cairn but figured we would do that on return as part of a big day out with the Phone pedometer showing over 50,000 steps taken and over 400 storeys of stairs climbed.
It was now into the afternoon having done a loop to the south so it was time for the summit and the western side.
After the last cache we soon realised there are no real tracks to the western summit so ploughed though the undergrowth being careful not to drop too low as we figured we would be going up again.
A rocky area was spotted and the cache eventually extracted to make the find. Nice views over My Beauty. TFTC
Up the spur track we headed and it just seemed to keep going up. After Mitchell's Hut it was more up to and soon above the tree line. We could see the summit cairn but figured we would do that on return as part of a big day out with the Phone pedometer showing over 50,000 steps taken and over 400 storeys of stairs climbed.
It was now into the afternoon having done a loop to the south so it was time for the summit and the western side.
After the last cache we soon realised there are no real tracks to the western summit so ploughed though the undergrowth being careful not to drop too low as we figured we would be going up again.
A rocky area was spotted and the cache eventually extracted to make the find. Nice views over My Beauty. TFTC
The 3rd of 6 on an overnight snow trip to qualify for the NZ Beekeepers Challenge.
Though I did nail this after a decent dump, I do recommend following everyone elses advice and save this one for summer. A rocky outcroup on a decent slope, covered in snow, on the 2nd highest point in Vic is not a great place to wield a snow shovel. After an hour of creating a perfect warren for snow hares I found, by chance more than anything, something metallic. Now it's time to thaw out at Cleve Cole hut. TFTC and the justification of a weekend in the snow.
Though I did nail this after a decent dump, I do recommend following everyone elses advice and save this one for summer. A rocky outcroup on a decent slope, covered in snow, on the 2nd highest point in Vic is not a great place to wield a snow shovel. After an hour of creating a perfect warren for snow hares I found, by chance more than anything, something metallic. Now it's time to thaw out at Cleve Cole hut. TFTC and the justification of a weekend in the snow.
Day 3: Bogong.
On a 5 day leave pass, I decided to hit the hills for some high country caching.
After spending the previous night in Michelle's hut, I woke up early to cold, wind and rain. Well - you didn't come all this way to sleep in a hut at the bottom of the hill. I packed up my overnight gear, got the hiking poles out, thermals on and appropriate gear. Going up the hill was slow going - literally hiking in straight cloud, with 5m visibility - I'm sure there is a view out there.
After getting Big Fella, Littles and Deathcache, I almost left this one, however after much deliberation decided to press on to get this. More hills, offtrack, wind and rain getting worse, why not one more smiley?!
Soon hit the rocky outcrock and almost crawled into the small cave for shelter. After some careful scrambling around for 10 minutes searching every nook and cranny, I spotted some carefully placed rocks. Gotcha! Dragged out a nice big ammo can - oh yeah!
Heading back from the Cairn I met a bloke in singlet and shorts - mate - are you right or what?
'Bloody Australians' he said grinning.
Where are you from?
'New Zuhland'
Nutters.
A fave from me for the out there location - cheers!
On a 5 day leave pass, I decided to hit the hills for some high country caching.
After spending the previous night in Michelle's hut, I woke up early to cold, wind and rain. Well - you didn't come all this way to sleep in a hut at the bottom of the hill. I packed up my overnight gear, got the hiking poles out, thermals on and appropriate gear. Going up the hill was slow going - literally hiking in straight cloud, with 5m visibility - I'm sure there is a view out there.
After getting Big Fella, Littles and Deathcache, I almost left this one, however after much deliberation decided to press on to get this. More hills, offtrack, wind and rain getting worse, why not one more smiley?!
Soon hit the rocky outcrock and almost crawled into the small cave for shelter. After some careful scrambling around for 10 minutes searching every nook and cranny, I spotted some carefully placed rocks. Gotcha! Dragged out a nice big ammo can - oh yeah!
Heading back from the Cairn I met a bloke in singlet and shorts - mate - are you right or what?
'Bloody Australians' he said grinning.
Where are you from?
'New Zuhland'
Nutters.
A fave from me for the out there location - cheers!
On check point duty for the conquestathon event Tomorrow. Setup base camp at Mt Bogong and took a leisurely stroll out to the Western point.
TFTC
TFTC
Found at 1.30pm whilst wandering around the magnificent mountain.
"Always have a Plan B"
Plan A had been a 2 week off track bushwalk in Tasmania visiting Diamond Peak then onto Flame Peak and the Font heading finally to the Denison range and out over the Gordon river
A niggling back injury put paid to Plan A and that trip will be in 2018.
What to do for 2 weeks that is kind to my recovering back and an easy walk
Ah Hah, a few days on Bogong to start with finding some caches I couldn't find back in October when we were last here with a gigantic weather front that dumped 40cms of snow on us - and we didn't have snow shoes!!!!
I spent the afternoon wandering around the west end of Bogong, taking in the magnificent panoramas in every direction.
I was camped in Bogong creek valley enjoying the solitude this part of the mountain enjoys.
TNLN only photos and footprints.
Thanks
K&M
"Always have a Plan B"
Plan A had been a 2 week off track bushwalk in Tasmania visiting Diamond Peak then onto Flame Peak and the Font heading finally to the Denison range and out over the Gordon river
A niggling back injury put paid to Plan A and that trip will be in 2018.
What to do for 2 weeks that is kind to my recovering back and an easy walk
Ah Hah, a few days on Bogong to start with finding some caches I couldn't find back in October when we were last here with a gigantic weather front that dumped 40cms of snow on us - and we didn't have snow shoes!!!!
I spent the afternoon wandering around the west end of Bogong, taking in the magnificent panoramas in every direction.
I was camped in Bogong creek valley enjoying the solitude this part of the mountain enjoys.
TNLN only photos and footprints.
Thanks
K&M
Dad and 14yo spent three days up in the high country, hiking and sleeping under canvas while we hunted caches for a 1700metre challenge.
This was the fourth of 19 that we grabbed over the 3 days, with no DNF's whatsoever - a family record!!!
We camped just below the treeline, basically where Dad had conked out the night before, and were greeted this morning with a glorious sunrise as we headed up to the peaks with daypacks on.
As we approached the west peak, we thought "how hard can this be? An ammo can is BIG and it's just a little hill. How wrong we were. Phone's GPS sent us around the wrong side of the mountain and then when we did get to the right location there were literally hundreds of places the cache could be hidden.
A few nervous moments with wobbly rocks, a sit-down to re-think our approach, and with a little inspiration and a fair bit of perspiration we were able to put our hands on this well-provisioned and well-hidden cache. From one Lex to another, thanks heaps for this one.
This was the fourth of 19 that we grabbed over the 3 days, with no DNF's whatsoever - a family record!!!
We camped just below the treeline, basically where Dad had conked out the night before, and were greeted this morning with a glorious sunrise as we headed up to the peaks with daypacks on.
As we approached the west peak, we thought "how hard can this be? An ammo can is BIG and it's just a little hill. How wrong we were. Phone's GPS sent us around the wrong side of the mountain and then when we did get to the right location there were literally hundreds of places the cache could be hidden.
A few nervous moments with wobbly rocks, a sit-down to re-think our approach, and with a little inspiration and a fair bit of perspiration we were able to put our hands on this well-provisioned and well-hidden cache. From one Lex to another, thanks heaps for this one.
Found @13:38 #5868
While on the meander to GZ and hearing the wild effort that went into the epic DNF by ahomburg and others about 2 years ago (I think) made this a must find cache and now in summer the lack of snow made this a bit easier. The views were quite impressive and in some ways I think they were better then the summit. Like the summit a real sense of achievement wash over me as I looked out over Victoria.
Having now climb the "King" and clearly seeing the Queen to the south west, it was now the next one on the list to be completed.
TFTC skullracing
While on the meander to GZ and hearing the wild effort that went into the epic DNF by ahomburg and others about 2 years ago (I think) made this a must find cache and now in summer the lack of snow made this a bit easier. The views were quite impressive and in some ways I think they were better then the summit. Like the summit a real sense of achievement wash over me as I looked out over Victoria.
Having now climb the "King" and clearly seeing the Queen to the south west, it was now the next one on the list to be completed.
TFTC skullracing
**Date: 6 January 2017
Time: 1:45 PM
Find #8185**
### *********************FINALLY JOB DONE!!********************* ###
Road trip time!! The plan was to drive the B500 from Bairnsadale all the way to Wangaratta, with a stop or two along the way, including a side trip to Mount Beauty and a bit of a walk to the top of Mount Bogong and back . The weather was looking like it would be fantastic for the next 3 or 4 days, so it was on!!
Well, this one has been a long time coming and with an epic DNF back on 28 September 2014, this one has now been put to rest. This location is one of the best views around and well worth the visit. Now the walk back up to the summit and then down the hill to Cleve Cole hut. Left a Favourite point inside the cache for ya bro!
**Thanks to skullracing for the cache. TNLN.
**
*Big things are happening! Are you joining the fun?*
[THE](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC6GFDX)
[ALEXANDRA EVENT](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC6GFDX)
[2017](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC6GFDX)
*18th / 19th November 2017 - GC6GFDX - Alexandra - Victoria*
Time: 1:45 PM
Find #8185**
### *********************FINALLY JOB DONE!!********************* ###
Road trip time!! The plan was to drive the B500 from Bairnsadale all the way to Wangaratta, with a stop or two along the way, including a side trip to Mount Beauty and a bit of a walk to the top of Mount Bogong and back . The weather was looking like it would be fantastic for the next 3 or 4 days, so it was on!!
Well, this one has been a long time coming and with an epic DNF back on 28 September 2014, this one has now been put to rest. This location is one of the best views around and well worth the visit. Now the walk back up to the summit and then down the hill to Cleve Cole hut. Left a Favourite point inside the cache for ya bro!
**Thanks to skullracing for the cache. TNLN.
***Big things are happening! Are you joining the fun?*
[THE](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC6GFDX)
[ALEXANDRA EVENT](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC6GFDX)
[2017](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC6GFDX)
*18th / 19th November 2017 - GC6GFDX - Alexandra - Victoria*
After dropping off our food dump in CC hut yesterday for our winter ski trip, we came up to the summit on a glorious day and decided to continue out to West Peak. I knew there was a cache out here but didn't have the coord in the GPS so Willywhiley and I just looked in a couple of likely spots. After 10 minutes Willywhiley found a well stocked cache in good condition, he took the survival kit and intends to ski out in winter with a replacement item. TFTC
Today was a day hike with my Beechworth SC outdoor ed class up the staircase to the summit of Mt Bogong. With the extra incentive to come out to the west peak the group pushed hard on the way up and we had plenty of time to head out and find a few caches!
This was the second of four caches we picked up today. It was a quick find at GZ before heading up to the peak for a group selfie!
Great views out here, thanks for bringing us here!
TFTC!!
This was the second of four caches we picked up today. It was a quick find at GZ before heading up to the peak for a group selfie!
Great views out here, thanks for bringing us here!
TFTC!!
Found while on a day hike to Mt Bogong.
Students involved: Eamon, Will, Sarwar, Butters, Kane, Casey, Oscar
Students involved: Eamon, Will, Sarwar, Butters, Kane, Casey, Oscar
TFTC.
I was in the area grabbing random caches so I can build up enough favourite points to award a power trail of mint tins in the suburbs.
Thanks.
I was in the area grabbing random caches so I can build up enough favourite points to award a power trail of mint tins in the suburbs.
Thanks.
### ... and we're done ###
It only took a couple of years to eventually find this one but hey - in the end I got there. As it turned out we weren't even close the first time we started excavating huge amounts of snow. I also bagged 338 days of unlove > bonus!
Finally this puts not only my long-term nemesis to rest but also Lex could truly say he finally [survived his](http://coord.info/GC4K89Q) ... at least for now. We just get him killed at the next WinterCamp.
***Thanks and cheers**
Philipp*
---
Big things are happening! *Are you joining the fun?*
[**THE**][sc2016]
[**SURF COAST**][sc2016]
[**EVENT 2016**][sc2016]
[sc2016]: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC65688 "The Surf Coast Event 2016"
*12th / 13th November 2016 – GC65688 – Anglesea – Great Ocean Road – Victoria*
It only took a couple of years to eventually find this one but hey - in the end I got there. As it turned out we weren't even close the first time we started excavating huge amounts of snow. I also bagged 338 days of unlove > bonus!
Finally this puts not only my long-term nemesis to rest but also Lex could truly say he finally [survived his](http://coord.info/GC4K89Q) ... at least for now. We just get him killed at the next WinterCamp.
***Thanks and cheers**
Philipp*
---
Big things are happening! *Are you joining the fun?*
[**THE**][sc2016]
[**SURF COAST**][sc2016]
[**EVENT 2016**][sc2016]
[sc2016]: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC65688 "The Surf Coast Event 2016"
*12th / 13th November 2016 – GC65688 – Anglesea – Great Ocean Road – Victoria*
Brisk walk over here today. Thanks Skullracing, nice to get closure after all the digging in 2014.
Thanks for the cache. Weekend away camping at c.c windy as always up hear
oh yeah ! came up with the warby range bushwalkers, some went to cleve cole , some went this way , heck, some went both ways (not at the same time). still a bit of the white stuff around. you gotta be keen searching thru snow cover as some have done. tftc skullracing, most excellent, very happy.Thanks for placing a cache here - we have been up Mt Bogong quite a few times but never had a reason to head over to this peak. So glad we did - stunning views over Mt Beauty - found it within a few minutes. TFTC!
Headed out to take in the Views of Mt Beauty from the West Peak (Little Bogong) quickly locating the cache with not a muggle in site after having more than expected on the Big Fella!! Very well stocked cache with quality survival items in case of emergency well done. Fortunately for us it was a sunny clear day that allowed for 360 degree views of the surrounding mountain ranges just spectacular.
[navy]Sack und Asche [/navy]
So. I guess everyone has seen the pictures on facebook by now ... this is not a winter cache
[green]Thanks and cheers from Melbourne
Philipp[/green]
So. I guess everyone has seen the pictures on facebook by now ... this is not a winter cache
[green]Thanks and cheers from Melbourne
Philipp[/green]
DNF @12pm
[font=Courier New][size=4][Red]I’II be back![/red][/size]
[font=Courier New]
What an epic weekend and this cache was one of the main motivations to get up Staircase spur. So logging a DNF is a little disappointing but still the side trip over to West Peak was so worth it, what an amazing location and we did get to practice some avalanche recue technique so not all was lost
If only I could give a DNF log a favourite point but sadly I cant, so I'm just going to have to return so I can log a found it
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=2][red]Danke sehr , mein Freund
Cheers 
Team☮aky[/red][/size]
Despite excellent assistance from the CO, I think this one needs more snow to melt before it can be found. Beautiful walk out to the GZ area on snow shoes meant that this was not a waste of time. Unfinished business will be attended to in due course I'm sure.
Camped on Eskdale spur, we took a day trip on our skis to west peak, hoping to nab this one as a bonus to the stunning weather and reasonable snow we encountered.
Mrs Mochila and I had a go but there was just too much snow. We dug and dug, giving up when I was shoulder deep! Another time maybe, when there's less of the white stuff!
Mrs Mochila and I had a go but there was just too much snow. We dug and dug, giving up when I was shoulder deep! Another time maybe, when there's less of the white stuff!
[font=Lucida Console][purple]... and another Mountain DNF[/purple][font=Verdana]
After finding the Bogong cache, I moved on to the west-peak in order to try my luck. Since it was already late and my plan was to camp anyway, I set-up the tent close to the saddle before the summit. Since I didn't have a proper saw my attempt of building a snow-wall was pathetic at best. Fortunately there was enough snow to dig the tent in which kept it from blowing away. In the end I used all the pegs I had (15).
Pitching the tent. Done. Now on to the cache. The weather cleared up a bit and occasionally provided some nice views down the mountain on the 400m walk to the cache. Arriving at GZ I knew this will be a though one since the cache is on the lee side. For everyone who doesn't have basic avalanche knowledge: Snow deposits or redeposits on the lee slope of a mountain. On top of that there were some layers of ice in the snow cover due to previous thaw-freeze conditions which made it really hard to dig. So I spend an hour to uncover one boulder which seemed to be a likely spot for a cache but eventually I gave up. A spoiler picture might have helped but it's not a big deal - mountains aren't going anywhere
Over night mother nature picked up the game and the wind was blowing at full strength. It was an interesting time in the tent with a not so good sleep. It was not too cold - I hate sleeping in the cold - but just too noisy. Packing up in the morning provided to be a challenge for itself - just imagine you're on the trailer of a truck cruising down the Hume at 90 km/h and your task is to pack up a tent without anything blowing away. And just to make things interesting, visibility is less than 20m plus it's cold. Really cold. And some funny marmot buried your snow-shoes and a part of your tent.
Eventually I got it done and started walking towards ... pretty much nothing. It was a complete white-out which took me 2h to clear. Parks Victoria mean it when they say you need superior navigation skills when you enter the High Country. I was very happy to see the first snow poles after Bogong summit and the trees above Michell Hut. After nice breakfast in the hut with the three guys from the day before (the German offered some Whiskey which I thankfully accepted) I made my way down to the car.
Thanks for the stupid reason going out there in the middle of winter. I'll be back
[green]Cheers
Philipp[/green]
After finding the Bogong cache, I moved on to the west-peak in order to try my luck. Since it was already late and my plan was to camp anyway, I set-up the tent close to the saddle before the summit. Since I didn't have a proper saw my attempt of building a snow-wall was pathetic at best. Fortunately there was enough snow to dig the tent in which kept it from blowing away. In the end I used all the pegs I had (15).
Pitching the tent. Done. Now on to the cache. The weather cleared up a bit and occasionally provided some nice views down the mountain on the 400m walk to the cache. Arriving at GZ I knew this will be a though one since the cache is on the lee side. For everyone who doesn't have basic avalanche knowledge: Snow deposits or redeposits on the lee slope of a mountain. On top of that there were some layers of ice in the snow cover due to previous thaw-freeze conditions which made it really hard to dig. So I spend an hour to uncover one boulder which seemed to be a likely spot for a cache but eventually I gave up. A spoiler picture might have helped but it's not a big deal - mountains aren't going anywhere
Over night mother nature picked up the game and the wind was blowing at full strength. It was an interesting time in the tent with a not so good sleep. It was not too cold - I hate sleeping in the cold - but just too noisy. Packing up in the morning provided to be a challenge for itself - just imagine you're on the trailer of a truck cruising down the Hume at 90 km/h and your task is to pack up a tent without anything blowing away. And just to make things interesting, visibility is less than 20m plus it's cold. Really cold. And some funny marmot buried your snow-shoes and a part of your tent.
Eventually I got it done and started walking towards ... pretty much nothing. It was a complete white-out which took me 2h to clear. Parks Victoria mean it when they say you need superior navigation skills when you enter the High Country. I was very happy to see the first snow poles after Bogong summit and the trees above Michell Hut. After nice breakfast in the hut with the three guys from the day before (the German offered some Whiskey which I thankfully accepted) I made my way down to the car.
Thanks for the stupid reason going out there in the middle of winter. I'll be back
[green]Cheers
Philipp[/green]
Skullracing, Kiara and myself (Lostmonster), walked up to the top of Mt Bogong to do a few High Altitude caches.
We all knew it was going to be a huge day, Skullracing said taking the Eskdale Spur track would be the easier track to the summit, that might be the case, but it was still a long hard slog to the top.
, it was Epic.
Skullracing had already done the cache's on the mountain - his mission was to retrive the archived "Big Fella Falls" cache for the owner.
After that task had been accomplished we both placed a cache of our own on the mountain.
We all started the walk down albeit late in the afternnon and light was fading fast, lucky for us we came prepared with torches as night fall was soon upon us, we made it back to the starting point at 9.50pm, some 15 Hours after we started the adventure.
This one of Skullracing was found, and the log signed shortly after he had placed it. A neat FTF in this hard-to-reach area. Thanks Skullracing for getting me to see a wonderful scenic place.
Took: Nothing
We all knew it was going to be a huge day, Skullracing said taking the Eskdale Spur track would be the easier track to the summit, that might be the case, but it was still a long hard slog to the top.
, it was Epic.Skullracing had already done the cache's on the mountain - his mission was to retrive the archived "Big Fella Falls" cache for the owner.
After that task had been accomplished we both placed a cache of our own on the mountain.
We all started the walk down albeit late in the afternnon and light was fading fast, lucky for us we came prepared with torches as night fall was soon upon us, we made it back to the starting point at 9.50pm, some 15 Hours after we started the adventure.
This one of Skullracing was found, and the log signed shortly after he had placed it. A neat FTF in this hard-to-reach area. Thanks Skullracing for getting me to see a wonderful scenic place.
Took: Nothing
Well I dragged my sorry half dead carcase around to the cache placement of Skullracing. It doesnt look far on the map but it was a substancial walk when your doing it. Found this cache shortly after placment, Thanks heaps to Skullracing and LoMo for tolerating my slow walking pace and making me go infront. TNLN
