The BLUFF Mount Buller, Victoria, Australia
By Geof on 24-Oct-04. Waypoint GCKX7N

Out for three days of sweeping the Hut2Hut 100km event around Mt Buller and couldnt resist grabbing this one on the way past! Thanks so much for maintaining this cache in this beautiful part of the world.

The Colombian and trigger 391 are walking with howqua 7 days. Lovely day and beautiful walk.

7 day hike find with the Colombian and howqua

Gorgeous day for a hike with my geobuddy bestie, TFTC

What a truly wonderful walk. Challenging at times but we’ll worth it just for the wild flowers and butterflies. Thank goodness my phone worked up here as I forgot to download caches when I left home. TFTC.

Due to unforeseen circumstances Mr Smokey Bear will no longer be a part of Team Smokey Bear and will continue his adventures as "SmokeyBearOG".

So I'm relogging all previous finds under my new account.
Unfortunately this log will not show the original logging date.

**Thanks to Geof for this adventure, looking forward to many more.**

Adam
SmokeyBearOG

Did we work for this alright. A hot day in the hills with the kids, read the sign as 4km return not 4km to the Bluff. We set off, Pacman, Aysen Zade and I to the top. A long route going from the hut, however I imagine still easier than up the other side.

Views here were just sensational, and stopped many times to get photos and take them in. Highlights of a good cache for me are how many photos you take, being memory you want to preserve. Mammoth effort from both kids doing this at 4yo and 6yo. Feeling it still this week. Rapt to grab an oldie too. Thanks for the sensational cache here, a FP from me.

Up at the bluff for the first time for a look. Well it did not disappoint.
Anyway after finding the off track cache down the other side we ventured up to the summit for a look.
Looked at the gps and then saw the very likely bush. Within moments the cache was found.
A great cache and in a great location TFTC

How lucky. Perfect timing. Decades on. Palpably thrilled to be here on THE BLUFF after so long. We hiked up the legendary Helicopter Spur which was a legendary effort really but we and my short legs loved every moment. Two nights at Lovicks so we could do a day trip out here before heading to Mt Howitt. via Mt Magdala and a few geocaches of course. A fave for fave views. TFTC and the fun!

Beautiful spot on the bluff tftc

upon reaching the bluff, i was reminded of a passage from a book i’d read recently

*"I still knew how to recognise each one of the peaks. I observed them while smoking, from east to west, and remembered all of their names. I wondered how high I'd reached, and thinking that I must have passed the three thousand metre mark without any adverse effects on my stomach, I began to look around for any marker giving the altitude. I saw that jammed into a mound of stones there was a metal box. I knew immediately what would be inside. I opened the lid and found a notebook inside a plastic bag, which had not wholly succeeded in protecting it. Its ruled pages had the texture of paper that had dried after getting wet. There were also a couple of pens inside, with which those rare climbers to this point had left a thought, or sometimes just a name and date. The last entry had been made over a week ago. I leafed through its pages and saw that no more than ten people a year had climbed this barren mountain, which cast its shadow over my house and which I already thought of as mine, and that its record of these climbers therefore went back over many years. I read many names, and hardly impressive comments. It seemed to be the case that after so much exertion nobody could find the words with which to express what they had felt; those who tried left only some poetic or ‘spiritual’ banality."*

so for once this log will not wax lyrical
but will simply say

i was here

A cool change and a long drive. Poor car was still having troubles, so I thought I would let it cool down and head for a stroll. Well, the approach was a little steep but reasonably short-lived. Once on the top, I was swarmed by flies, thankfully the muggles up here had the same problem, confirming that it wasn't the fact the last shower I had was 3 days behind me. A little rain and a lot of wind later, I had the CIH, overlooking some of the best views in the state. TFTC!!!!

So I was up here this weekend raining for Oscars100Hut2Hut walk and of course a few caches needed to be done, after nabbing a FTF just out the other end of the bluff where nobody goes I checked out the rock cairn and then bobbed along to this one.
Awesome and appropriate container for this area.
And wow what a spot this is, I’ve never been up here and was blown away by the peace and the very generous views.
Signed and returned safely.
TFTC.

Nice quick find at the start if 4 day packwalk over cup weekend from the the Refrigerator gap Car park and onto The Niobs, Mt McDinaild, and Eagles Peaks.
Great 360 degrees views from here.
TFTC

Date: 29 September 2018 Time: 14:36
Find #9819

While up here for the event, we stopped along the way to grab this one. It turns out we didn't need the snow shovel, oh well I guess I will get to use it at some point. Awesome location for a cache.

Many thanks to Geof for the cache. TNLN.

--- Big things are happening! *Are you joining the fun?*
[**THE**](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC75D90)
[**PARKVILLE**](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC75D90)
[**EVENT 2018**](http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC75D90)
*17th / 18th November 2018 – GC75D90 – Parkville – Victoria*

*29 Sep 2018, Found @ 1:39 pm, Find # 8379.*

Today I was heading for the hills to attend the Bluff Discovery event.
The gathering was assembled at the Bluff hut before making the trek in the snow to the event location at the summit and this one was a bonus.
Ben had streaked ahead and arrived at the summit before everyone else so as we were making our way to the cairn we noticed Bens tracks at a certain location, so we had a look and spotted this cache, we all signed in and headed over to the cairn for the event.

**Thanks to Geof for placing this cache.**

Found @13:42 #6845
Snow show to the nearby event all the way from Bluff Hut. Its only 4km but took much longer then expected. Great conditions but even with the light winds it sure was cold at the Bluff. Cache in excellent condition. Surprised there are not more caches along this impressive ridge line. Found in the company of Steve, JaminAppleford, Skullracing, TheTestPilot & ahomburg.
TFTC Geof

It’s AFL grand final day so I was up for something far away from that. Fortunately luck was on my side and my wife gave me the green light to go for a walk in the hills!
Thanks to AHomburg an event at The Bluff had been organised so I made plans to tag along. I was only making a day trip of it so I pushed on ahead and made it to GZ first up. After taking a few photos I then started looking for a cache...
I wondered if I’d need to dig far into the snow but luckily after a little while I managed to uncover the box. Woop Woop!
Beaut spot for a snow hike and a cache!

Thanks!

Good walk up ere. Still some snow around. Good little find

After sleeping by the fire at bluff hut we set off for the summit immersed in cloud. With too much wind to eat lunch on the top we used the bluff as a wind brake and ate a few hundred meters away. With lunch done the sky cleared up and we enjoyed the view, then packed up and left. After getting down the track 5 min later we remembered there was a cache to be had and we ran back for the find. Thanks for the hide

While doing a circuit from 8 mile over the bluff and down I decided to check this one out found it hidden in good condition

On a mission to nail some of the cool caches in great location ,I headed up into the clouds on a solo walk , very spooky walking along only to have another hiker appear out of no where coming towards you , hope I wasn't singing or talking to myself at the moment of contact
Cache found and in good order left a Pathtag and took Lex's made my way back along the ridge line awesome feeling on the cliffs with clouds swirling around
Thanx for the Adventure

Found on a beautiful clear day on the Anzac long weekend. TNLN.TFTC.

Great walk up to the Bluff and fantatic 360degree views on a stunningly clear day. Cache in fantastic condition for not having been found since 2014 !

Well, after driving past this cache about a gazillion times on 4wding camping trips up here in our favourite part of the world, today was the day to stop and tackle it!
With tonights camp spot at the Bluff hut just up the track and it still only early afternoon, we had enough time today to stop and do the climb.
The decision was made to go up the short steep side instead of the long not so steep side.......a decision we would question more than once on the way up
So with the GeoPrincess deciding to stay at base camp (the GeoTriton) and make sure it doesn't fly off into outer space, we started the climb with all smiles and enthusiasm......
Well THAT was soon wiped off our faces about half way when the "slope" turned into "a hell of a lot more slope"
But once at the top, all was forgotten as the quite strong breeze blew the fantastic views right into our faces.
A short stroll across the top and the cache was soon found and our autographs pencilled in the log book......finally!
As usual up here, the views are fantastic, we never get tired of coming up to the hills
Thanks for the cache Geof....this has been a long time coming, but worth the wait.

Now, on to hut to light the TV and settle in for the night.

Found on a 4 day hike from 8 mile flat-Bindaree Hut-Helicopter spur-Lovicks Hut-The Bluff and on the way back to 8 mile. Beautiful blue bird day. TFTC

After having camped at Sheepyard flats for the weekend, we decided to head out today to try and climb the Bluff. We headed off from the suggested parking wp and with the bluff summit looming in the distance above us we were somewhat worried it may be too difficult for us after having had a taste of some of the trails up here a week prior at Mt Buller with its west ridge walk. It was slow going as we steadily made our way up. Once up the top it was blowing a gale but otherwise we had great weather and felt the relief and accomplishment to have made it up, as these sorts of walks are a bit new for us. Must say love the feeling you get when you feel you are on top of the world. Near gz we were suddenly covered in a swarm of flies, however it was a straight forward find and the hardy ammo can was quickly in hand. SL, left our PT and a TB. tftc Geof.

[font=Lucida Console][green]"In winter under snow the terrain could go up to a 4½ or even 5"[/green][font=Verdana]

Tada! I'm the first _____ who found the cache in July Not knowing if I could drive all the way up to the carpark at S37 13.675 E146 28.851 I had the hiking gear in the car to walk in. Well it tunred out it was an easy drive so I turned off the engine with 1.5h of daylight left. Hmmm ... should I or should I not. Ah come one what could go wrong being in the High Country alone after dark with a little bit of snow-cover?

I got up to the summit-plateau around night-fall which gave some good views over to Mt Buller. The hike to GZ from there wasn't to bad despite some serious snow-cover and the snow-shoes living snugly in the boot of the car at that time. At least I had the snow shovel in the back-pack which I really needed to excavate the cache - even with the hint that took half an hour. From there it was a smooth ride with some photo-stops back to the car. Fortunately Vic Police left some trailmarkers on the steepest part so orienteering in the dark was very easy.

With the Bluff ticked off the List I had the Sunday for another round of mayhem. Let's say it wasn't as much fun but feel free to read about it in the DNF for [url=http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC38NAB]Mt Buller[/url].

Thanks
Philipp

Checking the weather report on Thursday i noticed that it would be mid 20's and sunny in Melbourne for the weekend. As i knew this weather wouldn't last for long. I decided to race up into the hill for one last good weather hike.

So up to Bluff Hut on Friday night i went. Up early the next morning i hiked to the bluff and back from the hut. About 2 1/2 hrs return. Taking some photos and finding a cache on the way. Then back into the car to drive to the start of my longer hike over Mt Howitt.

Cheers for bringing me out on a great walk.

Many Many flies.
Amazing views of the area.
Another peak bagged.
Another hut added to the list
Left Aus air services keyring, took purple clip. Happy Birthday Australia!!

What a day, out for a drive with MuggleWife.
Two hour drive from Goughs Bay via Sheepyard Flats to Bluff Hut and then a 90 minute walk across the mountain for one cache, magnificent views of the surrounding mountains including Mt Buller. Had lunch in the open air and then a little play in the snow just below the GZ.
Now I have to do it all again in reverse.
TFTC and the adventure Geof, The BLUFF is loved again.

Second go at this one. Its a lot easier without 3 foot of snow and a blizzard to contend with. Great walk with very rewarding views. We set off from Bluff Hut and made our way accross to the peak of the bluff. Well worth the effort. The cache was in good condition and easy to find. Left carabiner took nothing.
Thanks heaps. Next time I will come back in the snow and go straight up the face from Refrigerator Gap.

This entry was edited by GU4x4 on Sunday, 29 January 2012 at 19:48:30 UTC.

Found it and a travel bug will help it on it's way.

started out from bluff hut, covered in snow and rain falling as snow most of the day. Got to the top of Mt Edgley-Stoney 1660mt lost all sign of the track gps was pointing us in the right direction, but we havent been here before so we turned back to the hut. Visability was poor, but we had a ball, cant wait to get back and log this cache as found.

This entry was edited by GU4x4 on Sunday, 29 January 2012 at 05:31:30 UTC.

Found on a pleasant over night hike with Bushwalking Bandit and friends. The views from the Bluff were terrific.
In:Travel Bug. TFTC

Found with Wandarra, on a Peninsula Bushwalking Club ovenight hike camping on the little snowplain below the summit. Little hazy. but still great views. Still one of my favorite mountains. TFTC. Took GC.

Great day for walking the Bluff circuit with Phanton51. Geocaching added to the fun/challenge.
Took: Travel Bug
Left: Geocoin

TFTC

Had been wanting to walk this area for a long time and picked the right day to do it. Took the shorter, sharper climb up the face and reached the top in just over the hour. It was then onto the summit to soak up the views and to find the cache. A short break at GZ and then it was onto the high point of Mt Edgley-Stoney and then a return trip to the car via the same route.

Left a flashing pin

TFTC

Placing GC 99.9% sure this is the coin I placed in cache
Could next finder let me know if this is in correct
Cheers

Found with Oakydog on a fantastic day, loved the climb up, lot of small water falls to negotiate and all the snow was lots of fun. Very tied by the time we got back to camp but all the same well worth it
SL TFTC
Took wet weather gear
Left insect repellent

Found @ 1.30am Find # 403
Cache located & logged on our annual Camping/Skiing /Bushwalking/Geocaching, school holiday adventure.
While camping on the Howqua River we came up for a day hike to take advantage of the fantastic spring snow. Took the shorter but steeper route to GZ and enjoyed a beautiful day with lots of snow and incredible views. Almost forgot we were here to find a cache.
Unluckycharm was first to lay hands on the frozen cache. Getting the lid open proved another challenge as it was frozen shut, short spell in the sun shine soon had it open and all was well in side.
Thx 4 placing this cache, It was a added bonus on what was a memorable family hike

A 4x4 & Walking Solo Adventure - Day 5 of 5 - Cache 13 of 13

Came across from Mt Buller via Bindaree Falls and set out on foot from Bluff Hut to find the cache rather the the grunt climb up from the track at Refrigerator Gap. Mrs Biggles and I were up here in early January however I was unsure about Mrs B's fitness to manage the walk/climb to the Bluff. Tackling this cache was an itch that no amount of scratching would fix so I added it at the last minute to my adventures agenda.
Having now done it I think we made the right decision as it is definitely beyond her fitness level, that's for sure. The walk in from Bluff Hut took me about an hour (and 45min return), but I was really steamin' because I still had a long drive off the mountain and back home in front of me.

The cache was well hidden which I think was helped by the fact that the last visit according to the cache log book was last November so the natural flora has added to the camouflage. BTW the previous cache visitor hasn't logged their with Geocache.com, but left the "Everlasting SAAB' geocoin which I nabbed and will move on shortly.

The only downside to this was that I left the soddin' camera in the car at Bluff Hut and when I realised it, half way to the top, there was no way I was going back for it. Pity because I would have liked some photo's of the view to add to my adventure collection. (I feel another itch starting )

T-Geocoin-LN & TFTC

(Next . . . Home!)

#72 - Found with family. Nice easy find after reaching summit. Very windy and 11 degrees - windchill probably much colder with light drizzle. TNLN, TFTC. Great hike, excellent views.

Found at 3.10pm in the company of The Grovers. We were looking for somewhere to spend a few hours playing in the snow. So we left camp at Buttercup Creek and headed south through Sheepyard Flat and then climbed up Brock Rd. The view across to Mt Buller and Mt Sterling was absolutely magnificent - crystal clear , bright sunshine, dazzling snow capped peaks. When we got to the car park of The Bluff walk, we were not intending to stop, but seeing the snow on those other 2 peaks made us suddenly leap out of our vehicles and rush to the first steep bit - which wasn't that far in. After 40 minutes we reached the top and what fun we had with the snow that was lying in front of us. We continually fell knee deep in places, but we kept going and finally in a very strong and cold wind in the brilliant sunshine, we located the cache in a snow clearing - thank goodness for that!
Thanks Geof - this wasn't planned, but we certainly had a great time.

[This entry was edited by pprass on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 7:27:46 PM.]

Rated: for Overall Experience

I thought theUmp had done this but seems not. It has been active since the maintanance visit.

No snow this time of year?

Well after attempting to access the area 12 months back and failing I returned and replaced the cache with a new container and contents.
I wasn't sure what state it would be in so went with a total new cache. Well the ammo box was still sealed and but the paint was a bit burnt. It was replaced and the burnt one taken home to be restored. Most of the contents where melted however the log book, pencles and stashnote where all fine as they didn't contain plastic. The pencle sharpener has had its blades removed to sharpen one of the pencles and its melted shell has also been left as a reminder of what happened.

The road has had substantual work and crews where grading, rolling and replaceing drainage pipeing on the day of my visit. The grader driver will have a fun time on monday as by the time I left thay had gone home and the grader was parked and locked up with headlights still going.

Bluff Hut is also under reconstruction with saftey fences all around and what is built thus far looks to be the same shape as the original before the addon bits where built. On the drive out I passed 2 4WDs, both with trialers and roof racks loaded to the hilt with building materials that are most likly destined for the new hut.

The views are rather different and the vegiatation will take many years to regain its former glory but the snow gums are sprouting from the base and tiny shoots are springing up as the alpine ground cover bushes make an attempt to regain their place taken by the rapidly growing grass that sprung up first off.

Enjoy....

Plan to be in the area in a few weeks however after consoltation with local authorities it seems this area may be off limits for a good time to come yet. That being the case its time to pull this listing down to get it off GPX lists etc.
I still hope to relist / replace this when it can be checked.

My first and only archived cache to date.

See previous. Opps can't edit the date.

Sounds like an idea. Lets hope the whole place dosn't end up black but it could well do. If it dose it shouldn't happen again for a few months at least. The box will remain even if the contents and seal are melted. I expect to visit in Feb.

Due to the proximity of the bushfires [:o] and the closure of the roads to all but essential traffic, it might be wise to temporarily disable this cache

Thought it was about time for a checkup. I also replaced the Sistema Box with a 3.5 litre ammo box. Thanks to all for being carfull with the plastic Sistema box as the cache was in perfect order and dry even though it was under a heavy rock. Seeing a few broken boxes where rocks are involved I took with me a rag to dry it in case it was broken. This was instead put to good use on the G.G.S. safety log book cache at the summit as it was a bit damp.
It was darn hot on the way over from the hut today - a far cry from last visit. Views super as ever.
TB Back 2 School came to visit the G.G.S's largest "class room"

Found 11:16
Also in a party of 6

Took the Colonel back to civilization
Left a grass hopper

Found at 11:15 passing through on the way back down Jameison Spur. Party of 6 had just completed the Bluffs circuit walk from Clear Creek up past Mt Clear and the King Billy's.
The wind was extreme all the way along the Bluffs and chill factor was right up there. No snow though.
Fantastic views in all directions!

TNLN

A beautful sunny mid 20s day meant practicaly unlimited 360 degree views. Came from the Bluff Hut to cut off 200m of verticle (kind of cheating I guess), but made up for in horizontal distance. Quite possibly the most satisfying cache I have done and well worth the hike (and a bit of sunburn). Took Wookie TB, left colonel.

Found at 12.25pm,
For us caching is all about the journey,
A pleasant walk on a hot day,
Had lunch admiring the views and trying to spot a peak I haven't climbed - didn't succeed though,
TNLN
Thanks
K&M

With Rhinogeo and Johan Cruyff again!. Deep in the snow in the middle of November. Will have to go back to see the "so called" great view.

Found on 13/11/04 @ 1555 AESST. Woo-Hoo !! After walking out from Bluff Hut with Johan_Cruyff, Stewie, and Bruce and experiencing rain, sleet, and snow on the way it was great to have a FTF.

This cache would be MUCH easier to find when there is no snow around, digging in the snow with bare hands is character building to say the least .

Taking into account the wind chill, it was probably about -5 C while we took the obligatory photos at the summit cairn before going to GZ which was thankfully a bit more sheltered.

IN: I Bent my Wookie TB
OUT: Nothing

Cheers Geoƒ

Found in heavy snow with Stewie, Bruce and Rhinogeo. It was wet and a bit chilly as we left the Hut and headed to the top. It was freezing cold near the cairn and we didn't spend a second longer than necessary up there!

Went to GZ together and located the cache after reading the clues coz we wanted to get out of there!