A Difficult Mountain to Climb Roses Gap, Victoria, Australia
By Muzza on 20-Nov-02. Waypoint GCAC60

we made it up, we made it down, but:did we go mad?who's to say?likely: mosta near year ago, we hiked out to the bluffput off this mountain for another daytoday, we launched that missionwe made our way through the waterfalls and across the plainconfusing planes with trees and trees with planescareful now:looking up is never good for twisting anklesdont even think about looking sideways:the sasquatch is always in your peripheralthe climb was hard on the jointslegs sludgy as rice puddingthe caved loomed overheadthe staircase learnt some espaol on the ascentwe chased the yellow arrows like scattered dog treatson the angled rocks, we met the skinksthe birds twittered away, too fast for our duolingo brains to understand:nosotros no entendemos!we hit the plateauhere everything is dramatic:the rocks, the views, the dropswe like the size and the scope and the artisanal hand-crafted trackthe fingers swelled like hot dogs: have we had enough sodium? do we have scurvy?after hours of walking, you exhaust the small talk and the medium talk and the big talkthe summit came and went in a hazeyou are left to rattle around in your own thoughtsclattering off the walls like scrogginwe daydreamed of purple snakes and butterscotchwe were drawn onwardsthe call of the honey soy chicken chips in the carnothing tastes as good as after a long hike up and down a mountainsome magic alchemy between the taste buds and the journey from madness and back againthanks for the adventurewe enjoyed the mountain

Great place for a cache. Thanks. Relatively easy find. Needs a bit of love. A little damp and pen no longer works.

Pen didn't work. I'll have to come back with DeadlyErnest.

Coordinates were on point. Great find while hiking the GPT.

Found while doing the northern section of the peaks trail. Soo glad I came up here, wanted to catch the sunset but didn’t want to walk back to camp alone in the dark so left a little earlier.

Still beautiful. TFTC!

Thanks for the cache!

Found. TNLN TFTC A bit cold and overcast day

Great hide! Nice easy find in a beautiful spot

Another find on our two day hike through the Grampians. Loved this rarely found cache... still in good condition, and a favourite from me! TFTC!

The actual mountain isn't too difficult to climb, but the trek to get there is a somewhat difficult and needs commitment. Walking the Mt Difficult and Briggs Bluff loop with Clint&Abby and Raktor and a couple of non-cachers, we made it to the summit and took the regular photos and had a look around.

Then we saw the cache had a little bit to go to find and wandered down to it. We guessed right with the spot and soon saw the typically geocaching sign of a cache, and yes we had it. We logged it and returned, ready to wander back down to our gear on the main tail. Now on to Longpoint East campsite for the night. thanks, great cache.

FBTJ #2881

Found at the end of my first day of my two day hike around the mt difficult range starting from Briggs bluff. After a quick search I found the cache and appreciated the lovely area it was in. Surprisingly flat considering that it’s on top of a mountain! Maybe I could even camp nearby if it wasn’t so cold and windy. Anyway, this cache was a great compliment to the amazing views in all directions from the summit, especially at sunset. TFTC

Found this one after reaching the summit. Great break at the cache. Thanks a lot! We had no pen to sign, we can deliver a photo log if necessary. The pen in the cache did not work anymore.

As the track from Troopers Creek camp ground has been closed by the park administration, I decided to start the hike from Mount Difficult Road via the Longpoint Fireline and to enter the climb at Longpoint West Campsite. The gravel road is quite rough, but can be driven in a 2WD. Wildlife is crossing the road, I was just metres short of hitting an emu.

The first part of the hike is on a mostly sandy maintenance road, which is not open for the driving public. Parts of it are currently impassable by vehicles in general due to fallen trees. The track from the campsite is well marked and you have to trust the marks, as at some point you will see the summit in the West, despite the track starts to descend to the North. It will turn left towards the summit again...

The last part of the track from Mount Difficult campsite is almost completely on bare rocks and here the marks are a bit further apart than before, I actually missed the last one pointing to the top and took a shortcut, which didn't really make a difference, as it was rocks only on both ways. However, the way back from the summit towards the campsite is badly, if at all, marked. When I tried to find a less-windy spot for a lunch break, I missed a corner and after my break I needed a few minutes to find the track again. But even then it was merely guessing by extrapolating the upward pointing arrows. So better keep your track on your GPS at least on this part.

I continued my hike to Briggs Bluff (couldn't find the cache there) and took the track via the Eastern Mount Difficult range and Longpoint East Campsite back to my car. That part was quite challenging, as some parts of the track are going almost directly uphill and are quite demanding in hot weather. All in all, this hike is 21 km long, so don't do this unprepared. Proper foot gear is highly recommended. For the ones who start freezing early, take some warm clothes, as the wind at the top can be quite cold.

Despite its age, the cache itself is in a quite good condition. It was a great hike, the weather could have been better, but as it didn't start to rain, I won't complain.

Thanks you for bringing me up here.

When I last was in this area, I went up Briggs Bluff, and saw that Trooper's Creek was closed, perhaps permanently. Wanting to climb Difficult again after a few years, I thought I'd try it from the Mt Difficult Road, which I'd never been along past Boroka Lookout.

It looked on my map like there was a path up that would be about 5km each way, though I was ready for disappointment in case the bushfires had removed the old track and grew new trees in place.

The first couple of kilometres was easy, along to the Longpoint West hiker camp, being just a four wheel drive track. There were some puddles and rivulets to navigate, but I managed without getting my shoes wet. Then at the campsite I was glad to find a clear, well-maintained trail heading upwards. So I turned uphill and it started to get a bit more difficult. I looked at a map later, and it looks like there's ~100m less to climb this way than via Trooper's Creek. So it was still a bit difficult but felt like it lacked the raw attack of the other ascent. I did get quite warm, even though it was a cold day. The last few hundred metres up over the rocks was difficult, though in a different way - it was very difficult to follow the arrows. That was true both directions, but especially on the way down. I can't help feeling you should always be able to see at least one arrow ahead. This was not the case.

Once at the top, it was windy. In my mind, Difficult is always frantically windy, and today was no different. I'd taken off almost all my layers, as hiking up to the top was quite warm work, but once up the top, they very soon came back on, with a beanie too for good measure. I enjoyed the views. There were showers ranging over the landscape below, though I only got a couple of drips on me.

After lunch, I headed along to find the cache, and it was in the second place I looked. Signed first the GCA frog's log, then found the proper log and signed it too, for good measure. Then back down the mountain.

All in all, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I remember it being in the past (different approach is probably why, largely), but great views all the same. Thanks for the cache.

Day 5 of our winter holiday in Gariwerd. We've been based in Halls Gap and venturing out to the various places around the park. Today it was time to hike the bluff! A beautiful sunny day greeted us and we set off from the Rose Gap car park at 10am.
What a great walk! It wasn't as difficult as I had envisaged. Really cool seeing the beehive falls flowing today, as well as the falls coming down off one of the upper escarpments.
It was about an hour into the walk it occurred to me that a quick trip across to Mt Difficult was completely within the realms of possibility. This was also the section of the hike up where you walk towards the peak on a rather flat plateau. My wife was taking her time bringing up the rear at this stage. She was determined to be back at the car by 3.30pm though (she had work to get done back at home base).

Onward we went to the bluff. We took a moment to enjoy the location and then had lunch about 12.30pm. It was 12.45pm when we left the bluff and I'd managed a deal, I'd scoot across to Mt Difficult (5.4km) and Em would return to the car and drive down to pick me up from Troopers Creek campground. I was confident I could hoof it over to the cache then make the decent to the camp ground no worries. The deal however stated that if I wasn't at the campground by 3.30pm at the latest then I'd be left there and have to wait until after her work was completed before she'd think about coming to get me. I was full of confidence after making a speedy and painless ascent to the bluff, so off I set!

I wasn't wrong! I made it from bluff to summit in just under an hour! (53 min) Woohoo!
I was romping this deadline in! It's only 1. 38pm and it's all downhill from here.
Finding the cache was also pretty straight forward using the spoiler pic. I was impressed that the cache had survived the fire which had burnt the trees right next to and all around the cache.
I spent some time enjoying the area and getting a few photos before it was time to leave. I had plenty of time on my hands didn't I!
I left the summit at 2.02pm and was sure I'd be down well before 3.00pm...

I reached the path down and immediately realized I was going to have a hard time. Not only was the track really hard to see due to all the regrowth and fire damage, the markers were either missing or damaged making it generally impossible to see where I needed to go. There was a number of small cairns along the way, and the Cachly app had the track marked which was actually pretty spot on and helpful but that's all I had going for me. I lost the track several times, bashed my way through burnt trees and regrowth, and tried not to slip on or roll my ankles on the many small loose rocks. It was quite a lot slower going than I'd anticipated (and I had such a good run up until this point). My legs copped a beating in this section as well, many scratches and I was dripping blood by the finish.
I somehow found myself at a waterfall, off track and wondering if I should continue downhill. The app map said the track was higher so I climbed the waterfall and a big 'thank god' was yelled as I spotted a trail marker. It was about 2.55pm now and I was still a long way from the campground. From here I only lost the trail once... but found it again fairly quickly. There were a few close calls where I luckily questioned my few steps forward and backtracked to see where I needed to go. I could see the finish line in the distance (the road) and knew I needed to push myself.
Sweaty and beaten up I arrived at the campground and car, happy to see I hadn't been left behind. I arrived at 3.22pm.

As I hurdled the locked campground gate I stopped and read the sign. CLOSED!
I had to laugh, I probably wouldn't have gone for this cache if I'd known the last part was going to attack me like that, particularly because I was running to catch a lift home.
I definitely made this cache a lot more adventurous today!
Thanks for helping to make this a memorable smilie Muzza, the views all around from the top were sensational and it's a really great place to hike in if you stay to the managed tracks!

TFTC

Out hiking with Team MVB over Easter and with perfect weather we started from Roses GP and walked passed Beehive Falls which only had a small amount of water running over it, then a detour to Briggs Bluff for lunch. Once we got back to the junction we decided we had enough time to do the exhilarating walk to Mt Difficult. Every step we took we admired the rock formations, the flora and once we reached the top the 360 degree view of the Grampians was spectacular. TFTC

*More like Mount hard as F$%k!*

I visit the Grampians about 3 times a year, and am slowly working on cleaning it out, however the past couple of trips I have headed up North to the deserts. I originally aimed to do Mount Stapylton walk with my mate Pacman, however Glenn Tempest doesn't recommend doing it in summer, so we chose to do Mt Difficult a little further south from there. And hell, 3 and a half years unloved to claim! We were a little unsure if it were there, given the 2014 fires and the last find being 2013.

We set off early when the day was still cool and followed the sandy trail, which soon dissipated into the scrub. I'm used to doing Demath caches by now, so am familiar with a bush bash in the grampians scrub. Soon it hit the point we had to climb and scramble through dense bush and rocky outcrops. We both somehow wound up at the wall, where we spotted rock cairns. A trail! We followed the yellow arrows and cairns, however this was no easy track. It was more a scramble which reminded me of the way up to Cathedral Ranges, but a lot longer. Luckily the balcony gave us some nice shade, until we hit the gully to descend up again with another 200m elevation to go.

At this point it was like playing Where's Wally with the rock cairns - there's one! There's one! soon we were climbing the sandstone and making our way up to a peak of deep blue sky. Soon the trig point came into view and we hit the top. Wow - these views! 360 pano of the wimmera and surrounds. Magic - Lake Wartook visible to the South East. After some sugary drinks and happy snaps, we made our way down to the cache site. I was trying to line up the pic, Pacman was reaching in....GOT IT!!! A little crispy on the edges from the fire, however still intact! You beaut. Added our names to the log and set off back to the car. By this point the sun had come over the mountain - and beared down upon us the entire way. God that was hot - and tough!

Thanks Muzza for a rewarding and legendary cache in the Grampians. Loved it! The regrowth here has made this an easy T4, and I can't imagine it being possible to do this in an hour and a half up. I do a lot of walking, and unless you had a helicopter, you'd really be pushing it on that time!

A fave from me. Sensational!

I travelled up to the Grampians to meet up with Jacko for some serious hiking and caching.
The original plan was to do several hikes, starting with this one. As it turns out our plans changed during the day and we focussed on this cache alone as it took us about double the anticipated time, but it was definitely worth it.
After looking at a map I realized there were several ways to reach the cache from different elevations, but we chose the hardest way which meant more than 500m elevation. And on a 30+ degree day it felt twice as hard.
The Mt Difficult name probably deters many people, as can be observed from the hardly noticeable tracks. And just 36 caching finds in 15 years tells a story too. It's a pity more people don't tackle these epic locations. We felt like we were summitting Everest when we reached the trig point at the top. The 360 degree views were simply amazing.
We had expected the cache to be missing, but found it in perfect condition. Strangely the logbook was missing, and it seems the last few cachers have signed the GCA moveable item's tracksheet in lieu of the logbook. I left some notepaper to be used as the logsheet, and I think it will last another 15 years before it needs to be replaced .
Thanks for a classic cache, Muzza. Definitely one of my more memorable favourites.

Found while walking from beehive falls to troopers. A quick stop here after lunch at the top

Visiting the Grapmians for the June Longweekend, and as part of our 3 day walk around the Mt Difficult ranges decided to drop in a pick the cache up. Amazing view from the top - carrying up fulls packs not so much fun! TFTC

Tftc. Nice location. Need another set of coordinates to find logbook inside this container

Found on a windy afternoon with some students from Mercedes college on a hiking trip. They have now been inducted to geocaching! TFTC

Found on a great walk up Mt Difficult.
TFTC

No visit. No maintenance required. However, when I try to hide a new cache, the system says this needs maintenance. This is just a log to allow me to continue.

[purple]iGude[/purple][font=Comic Sans MS]

Nice climb plus in the distance we could see Mount Arapiles where Marcie and Anna were climbing all day long.
We chose the way up from the east which had nice views over the lake and it didn't take too long either. After the cache we continued on Mt Difficult Rd on to Halls Gaps in search for a Slurpee. Well we found a SLushy which was close enough

[green]Dankeschön & Cheers
Zubin, Rowena, Josh and Philipp[/green]

[url=http://trailwalker.oxfam.org.au/melbourne/teams/team/?team_id=13444][green]Nightcaching Australia[/green] [orange]Trailwalker Team[/orange][/url]
cache no. 2128

[8]

Found on day 1 of a 3 day walk with my Willunga High School (South Australia) bushwalk. The walk from Roses Gap to Troopers Creek was flat but then the 3 1/2 hour slog up Mt Difficult. Quite a harsh introductory day for my students. Dusty, Matiah, Ben, Tessa, Lisa, Toby and Damien did a super job getting to the top. Well done Troops! We continued on to Briggs Bluff and then back to Roses gap over the next two days.
A great cache in this beautiful part of the Grampians. A highly recommended visit as part of a long day walk. Go on - get out there!
TFTC.
Cheers.

This was a nice short morning walk at sunrise for a great view and a cache, after getting to the campsite up there in the dark the night before. I did enjoy the walk and it was well worth it. I was suprised that no one have found this cache for a while. TFTC.

I organized for this find to be my 1000th cache, I was getting pretty close having done half of the Woodlands 100 series in Tullamarine, so I found 2 in the Docklands (while waiting for a Christmas function), to bring me to 999 finds.

I held off finding a few caches so this would be number 1000, knowing that I would be in Ballarat for Christmas, and that I’d be driving to the Grampians for a walk with my brother. We wanted to do a walk that would be worth the 3-4 hour drive, so I went through the list of walks throughout the Grampians, and this one seemed long and challenging enough, with a cache at the top as well

I drove in from the Ledcourt area (can’t remember the road name at the moment), and parked at Troopers Creek campsite, the roads are sealed which is nice, just take care on the endless series of corners.

We walked by the Wind Rock, which I wasn’t aware of until seeing it, it’s cool to see and I’m sure plenty of people turn back at that spot. The track up to the top was pretty much what I expected, plenty of huge rocks to clamber over and through and around, but the track is well marked and pretty hard to lose. I had a GPX track that I found off the web, and loaded it into my GPS anyway, just to be on the safe side.

The view was great at the summit, we had our lunch up there, I got a photo by the trig point (in case it’s on the GCA site), our phone signal on Optus wasn’t very good up there though. So it took a while to check in on Facebook, annoying huh.

The cache site is about 60m from the summit, you just have to make your way around a rock face and trample through some of the tough bushes that grow everywhere. Thanks Muzza for putting this cache up there, quite a while ago in terms of the game nowadays.

Was a really difficult walk, but I did it Tftc

It was a long way to the cache. But we got a awesome view over the grampians on mount difficult. Thanks for showing.

7/10/11 Got to the top and realised we had left the GPS in the car. So all we had were the description and photos, and an iPhone that insisted GZ was half way down the cliff on the other side of the summit. Who knows, maybe it was telling the truth, but I doubt it!

Found him with Riddell,on a pack/carry with Essendon bushwalking club.Nice spot.

Found at 3pm.
Good co-ordinates.
We were camping on the mountain and the cache was on our way to the summit.
TFTC Muzza.

4 wheelers are bad for the environment. fools are not good for it either.

4 wheelers are bad for the environment. fools are not good for it either.

Hi kljweroisoi,

there are three spoiler photos available which clearly point out where the cache is. I could put a hint that says "Look at the photos" or "It's in the rocks" but what would the point be?

cash is too hard. needs a better hint.

cash is too hard. needs a better hint.

I apologize for the brevity of my log entry, but the conditions were less than ideal. We left Troopers Creek in cloudy but dry conditions, but as we traversed the boulders under the escarpment, it started to drizzle. The drizzle turned to rain as we ascended the northern section through the trees, up to the campsite. On the summit, the wind cut bitingly through my now soaked ‘cheater – so we had a quick peak over the edge to look at the clouds above, across and below us. The distance to GZ was 65 metres, so I scrambled over the slippery rock surface alone, as the rest of the party sheltered under a convenient overhang, just below the top. I was ever mindful that a slip here may be a serious mishap. [xx(] The rock formation above the cache reminded me of the crashed spacecraft in the film ‘Alien’ appearing high and ominous out of the mist. Eerie! Just as the range dropped to 10 metres, a message popped up on the GPS to say my batteries were low. In hindsight, I should have ignored that, but I decided to swap batteries. After doing that, I couldn’t relocate any satellites! D’oh! Fortunately, I was close enough to a likely spot and was happy to find the cache. (Also, I didn’t look at the pictures of the location generously provided, which would have helped a lot. )

With wet wrinkled fingers, I just managed to open the container to sign. All I could write was ‘WET!’ with a date. By now the tribe must have been worried that I was lost, so I did a dash-cache. The journey back down was even harder than up, as all the rock surfaces were wet, making each step an exercise in concentration to avoid slipping. Took us 6.5 hours total trip. TNLNSL. TFTC Muzza. (PS. Despite the warning, people take children up here. We passed a family of four with two youngsters aged 5 &

Was a bit on the hot side on the day, which made a tough climb just that bit more exhausting, but we made it to the top eventually. Amazing things to see around every corner of the way: grand views, looming and fascinating rock formations, rust-coloured pines that glowed like fire in the sun... so very different to anything in Tassie. The summit offered spectacular views over the ridgeline, lake and distant plains. There were some muggles perched on the top, but we rested and ate a leisurely lunch in the relief of a strong cool breeze and the muggles eventually toddled off back down the mountain, allowing us to begin our search for the cache. The trig as well made it a double find and was the main reason we chose this mountain over the many others in the Grampians. The climb was well worth it. Took the chepre travel bug.

Well what a hard climb indeed. Came up from Beehive falls the long way carrying 7 lts of water only to find plentful amouts near Longpoint west camp.Track notes said 4.5 to 5.5 hrs took me 7.5 Any ho made it to a wonderful camp site not far from summit.Set up camp then set off to bag cache GPS lead me straight to it spot on again Muzza
All that was left was to sit down with some new Muggle/bushwaking friends I meet in camp and watch the most amazing sunset
Cache a bit damp otherwise all ok Took Little Indian Left Travel bug . Would be interested to know why some one would leave a roll of whiper sniper cord My Wife seems to remember somthing about it being easer than carrying rope
Thanks for giving me the insperation to get up that hill Cheers Muzza

Rated: for Overall Experience

Droped off Chepre the travel bug Likes the sun I've been told
Oakydog

Rated: for Overall Experience

Found while bushwalking with my TAFE course. Managed to convince most of the group to come on a little treasure hunt after visiting the summit - rather like the pied piper with a trail of curious followers seeking the cache.

Great cache location and a very enjoyable walk. Never been bushwalking in the grampians before (I am from South Australia) and will definitely be back. TFTC!

Cache was damp inside, but the logbook was fine inside an additional snap lock bag.

found by demath 24 4 09
Nice work!The most accurate gz we've seen so far, in a good hide.Worth the hard work in the rain.
took smiley+glow stick
left chinese bracelet+cloth
picked up travelbug
thanks muzza

A spectacular cache. Hiked up from Troopers and noted that the distance to the cache increases quite a bit before it finally winds down while you follow the twisting track. The conditions were perfect, not too hot and the views were amazing. Physically challenging cache not only for the elevation gain but the ups and over strewn boulders and other interesting features. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking. TNLNSL, thanks for the excellent cache.

Thanks to Alansee for checking and finding it.

Cache still in place.

I had had this one on the radar for ages but then it was archived. In discussion with the owner recently I found out it was probably still there and so looked for it on a bushwalk today. (I would have looked last time I was here but for the archiving). The fire actually never went anywhere near this cache so I was very hopeful.

After admiring the excellent views near gz, I found the cache very easily with good coordinates and good picture clues. It is in excellent condition although I TNLNSL. In its hiding spot it is actually rather unlikely to be damaged even if a fire did come through here.

I am therefore recommending that this cache be reinstated. Such older, remote caches are great to find!

Thanks muzza for the hide and the recent heads up.

Greetings from Geocaching.com

I have been looking at caches in the area that have been temporarily disabled for a while now and it looks like your cache [green]"A Difficult Mountain to Climb"[/green] has been under the weather for some time. While I feel that Geocaching.com should hold the location for you and block other cachers from entering the area around this cache for a reasonable amount of time I don’t think we can do so any longer. Therefore, I have archived this cache. If you haven’t done so already, please pick up any remaining cache bits as soon as possible.

When repairs to this cache are completed and it is time to have it reposted, it will be no problem. Just drop me a note and let me know the GC waypoint number of the cache or better yet, the URL of the cache page. You will still be able to access your cache page just as before by going to your “My Cache Page†and clicking the link of your cache.

If another cacher is watching this cache and wants to help out with the reenabling of this cache please contact the cache owner to offer your assistance.

I will be more than happy to take a look at your cache again to see if it is still is within the guidelines of the Geocaching.com website for cache placement and posting.

I want to thank you for the time that you have taken to contribute to geocaching in the past and am looking forward to seeing your cache up and running in the future.


Thanks,
i,riblit
Geocaching.com

[RED]NOTE: Do not select reply in your e-mail program if you wish to respond to this message from the geocaching.com mail bot.
Put your reply on the cache page as a reviewer note, that way I know to which cache it refers You may also email i,riblit via the email link in my profile: http://www.geocaching.com/email/default.asp?aid=221903 , referencing the cache waypoint number to let me know you have placed an additional note on the cache page. Also, do not remove any admin notes as they aid other Geocaching.com admins if they need to work with you on your cache.[/RED]

Disabled due to fires in the area. This cache may not have survived. Will enable once I know that the fires did not hit GZ.

Found by Ray and Maya at 3:45PM on the 27th of November. Our fourth for the day. Unfortunately a small bottle of oil had leaked and the cache was a bit messy inside. We cleaned up as best we could and put the clean items in a zip lock bag. We took a moldy wallet and left a smiley face. Thanks Muzza for the exercise. The Nomads.

4.30pm
Found by Roma and Max..
On our way down from Taipan View we looked in at the starting point for the approach to this cache from that side. One look was enough, we didn’t even bother to turn the motor off!
We considered this one last year when we found A Short Break, but for various reasons didn’t make the attempt then. It has been on our must do list ever since.
It lived up to it’s name, but then again these types of hides are becoming beyond our capabilities now days.
The Mt was busy today with around 10 hikers on the trail near the summit, all having come up the steeper side.
We took a Music CD of Aussie mp3’s and left 6 Mondo Figurines to bolster the swaps.
Thanks Muzza,
from Romax.

Tried the somewhat extreme approach via Tilwinda Falls...not recommended unless you like cliffs & bushes, but otherwise a nice pleasant climb. Found the cache no worries. Left the Aussie Boomerang TB. Took 'Tigger' for Neet's kids back at Trooppers Ck, Left some postage stamps. Cheers Shams.

We continued on from A short Break to this one. With just under a kilometre to go it didnt seem to bad. Mistake no. 1 - it was in real terms a very long way. Mistake no. 2 was when we got so used to following the red arrows we actually missed the track to where the cache was. Bruce was getting impatient so decided to go straight up. I sat quietly enjoying the view and really feeling on top of the world. B eventually came down claiming success and probably with about 30 minutes to go before I had even starting to think about calling 000. I did check I had plenty of signal on my cdma phone and being that high I did. Swapped a wallet for a smiley face. Mistake no. 3 was not taking enough water and no food. Not telling how long the whole thing took us - too embarrassing. Thanks Muzza we really did enjoy the walk, glorious views and birdlife.

We are on a virtual flying trip around the world with our virtual travel bug named Spider Wings. It started as a simulated Cessna 182 airplane. But recently we've started using other types of aircraft as the virtual availability of Cessnas seems to have wained somewhat. Our goal is to find at least one cache in each country we visit that is a good representation of what we know (or come to learn from our travel and related study) of that country. In the process we are getting a good idea of how many caches are out in the far reaches of the world. We hope you won't mind our virtual passage near your cache and will even enjoy the virtual "photo" of the area that we'd like to post. We'd also love to hear back from you regarding the photo and how well the simulator's coordinates did with locating your cache, and how the scenery compares to real life. We realize the simulator can't show everything.

Australia is our 251st country/territory. And since we have a great fondness of it and want to see more than just one part, we've decided to do at least one cache in each state.

Victoria is the 6th state and while normally we are only doing one cache per state we decided that we really need to do two here because our son spent a couple of years living in the area. He visited the Grampians several times and really loved them so we just had to do one cache there.

Yours may be a difficult mountain to climb but it wasn't too bad flying to the cache location. We took some nice virtual pictures that we hope you'll enjoy. Thanks for letting us pay this virtual visit. - ST, Vernal, Utah, USA

We camped below at Troopers Creek and followed the path up from there. A very nice stroll!
As mentioned by previous vist - the cache was quite damp inside considering the container. All contents safe though.
Admired the view - had a snooze for a bit then headed down. A great afternoon.
TNLN

I must admit that I thought this cache was going to be much more demanding that it turned out to be. This is probably because I chose the route from Mt Difficult Rd. I broke the journey for 10 minutes to log "A Short Break", and then continued on. With 240m to go, the track becomes less distinct, however, some kind soul has marked the path with small cairns of stones. [^] I followed my GPSr to GZ, but ended up 10m too high in altitude. Then my hat blew off! The wind up there is fierce. Eventually, I found my way down to the cache site, and I had it in my hands at 0845. Total time to GZ, including the break and the false start was 95 minutes.

Surprisingly, the inside of the cache was wet--very unusual for this type of container (a lock and lock). Most of the contents are plastic, so they were not affected. I poured out about a teaspoon of water, and wiped everything dry. Then I took a walk up to the trig point (twisting my ankle on the way [B)]) to really appreciate the 360° views. Fantastic! The walk back took 65 minutes: just over 7km for the round trip. Notable fauna I saw: Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Boobook Owl, and three feral goats. Thanks muzza (and Two+Four) for an eventful and enjoyable morning.

I've been following in Romax's footsteps in the Grampians, but they didn't make it to this one. At least one of their smiley faces did.

IN: Suction cup smiley face (from "A Short Break")
OUT: Nothing

I paid a visit to this one to replace the container which had been attacked by an animal, presumably some rodent. I came up from Mt Difficult Road via ‘A Short Break’ which is the easier option.

Upon arrival at the top, there was a young couple enjoying the views. We started chatting and I explained what I was doing up there. There names were Robert and Caroline (Rob and Bob). I gave my GPS to Caroline (Bob) and let her go find the cache. After about 10 minutes, I headed down to GZ to see how she was going. She had checked around but hadn’t found it. She said that there was one action she hadn’t taken though, so I suggested she try it – bingo, she found her first cache.

The cache was partly filled with water so I emptied it and dried the contents as best as possible, then placing them in a new container of a similar size. I may hear again from Rob and Bob when they get back to Adelaide so they may make more finds later

Well what to say about this one? We found the short break cache and the other girls decided not to go on with this one and went back to the car. I decided to try and go a bit further and could always come back if I couldnt make it. The male members of Hall of Fame took off like a rocket up the steep mountain side, while we trudged on after them. Unfortunately after a while we somehow veered off the track and ended up scrambling through the bush hoping to rejoin with the trail. After this didn't happen for a long time and we were still about 700m to GZ we gave up and worked our way back to the trail marked on our GPS.
We ended up back down at the car a bit sore (after I fell a hurt my butt) and totally filthy. But it was a bit of an adventure. Not sure when we'll be able to try this one again as needed a 4WD to get there. But oh well we tried.

Decided to continue on after finding a short break,wife & daughter deciding to go to car,smegheads deciding to return after another 200m. 2 sons & self Got within 200m of GZ but realizing time was against us turned back as well.We will return at a latter date by ourselves to continue the adventure.

Found 3:00pm

It was blowing a gail. But the views where fantastic. Planned on doing circuit walk round Briggs Bluff and MacKezie River, but the rain made walking treacherous. Slipped and slid back to the car after a howling night at camp site near Mt Diffiult.

Looks like a local rodent has taken a fancy to the cache and eaten a fair portion of the container. Log book dry though.

Great cache Muzza

Found at 1.25pm, An easy find after a pleasant walk. Had lunch on summit and looked at fire smoke billowing up south of Lake Wartook.
Took foot care kit and left an MP3 CD.
Great cache Muzza, We really enjoy caches with a bit of walking involved
K&M

Maccamob found this one as most of us were scambling over the rock face near by. It was a fantastic walk up and a great view. Took nothing left nothing

Found by maccamob at around 1215. A large cache strike team set out for the summit using an alternative approach and, according to team Boodi, who had tried both approaches, this was by far the better way to go. As we neared GZ, teams spread out as they all tried different ways across the many rocky outcrops. David was not the first to the general area but had the advantage of being at the right level and having seen muzza's location photos, so was able to pounce after others had bypassed the hiding spot. The wind was strong and cold but the views were magnificent. Took carabiner, left Nokia Accessory Pouch. Many thanks to Muzza for a great spot, to Pyrenees Kid for the 4WD support, and to the rest of the group for making the outing so memorable.

[last edit: 3/10/2003 12:19:18 AM PST]

A bit worried about this cache name, but was reassured by Team Boodi that it was achievable. Pleasantly surprised at the gentle hike to the camping area - much easier than the last couple of mountains I've been to!

The rock scrambling however was a different matter... Took me a while to work out the best approach (the others had gone ahead), but eventually crawled/scrambled/pulled myself to GZ. The rest of the group were happily examining the cache contents when I arrived.

I took a stick-on funky flower and left a foot care kit for the next finders. Thanks Muzza - glad it wasn't too difficult the way we came!

Another great cache found in the company of the BBBB group. Thanks Muzza

this was an excilent treck with stunning views left twist tie roll and took the tourch, one of a few finds of the biggles bear birthday bash, thanks muzza

Found 12:20 by probably one of the biggest cache hunting groups ever seen in Victoria. Another great Muzza cache, with some spectacular views.

Took Nokia accesory pack and left Tigger, thanks Muzza.

A brilliant view at this cache. And our second cache on the BBBB weekend. We went on the day before the main attack as we had to go home the next day. We really would like to thank Biggles Bear and Maccamob for help in working out a route.

Muzza it was a brilliant cache. Allthough the easier route was faster, having done it before the long route is the most scenic.

Left stick-on funky flower took puzzle.

[last edit: 3/12/2003 12:21:00 AM PST]