Lunch ryvitas cheese, ham and Vegemite ( no corn chips they wouldn’t fit in our bucket 😢)
Dinner minestrone soup, spaghetti bolognese and wine then hot chocolate.
We enjoyed a late start 9am while we packed up and finished the last of our surplus food.
The trail up towards Johnnies Top was very indistinct in long grass for the first 1.5kms and then steep up or overgrown or both for about 6kms. Roads for another 10km mostly up.
The trail through long grass
Arrived at Johnnies Top about 3:40pm so nice rest.
Dinner savoury mince and veges and rice cream, custard and peaches
We hiked quickly down to Gill Creek about 1 hour, we were glad to have camped up on the trail as the campsite near the creek was not ideal.
We needed water so a short stop to filter some.
After crossing the creek we had a long very steep climb at times. Our navigation was good early. We stopped at a creek on a forest road for lunch and Chips decided it was a good place for a tub 🤣
Photo posted with permission 💜
About 20 mins after taking this photo 9 4WDS came along the road lucky they didn’t come earlier they would have got an eyeful 🤣 they asked if we needed a ride, we politely declined.
From Taylor’s Crossing we hiked the roads as we heard the trail was very overgrown. It was very pleasant walking past the farms, the cows and horses didn’t really like our hiking umbrellas though.
Bridge at Taylor’s Crossing
Our journey down to Marass creek was a bit of a disaster, we followed the app and it gave us a bum steer what a mess. We now call it Morose Creek. Eventually we got back on track found our bucket and ate.
Marass creek crossing Ahhh wineFOODSet up
I have posted a video of us opening our bucket on our Facebook page The Adventures of FishnChips if anyone is interested.
Weather coldest start yet! tent, shoes and trees were frozen. Cleared to a warm breezy day.
Food
Breakfast cooked breakfast and coffee
Lunch ryvitas tuna, cheese and Vegemite and corn chips
Dinner Lamb fettuccine and apricot crumble
Frozen treeFrozen tent
Freezing start, took us a while to get moving, very uncomfortable hiking. Super windy walk down long spur. We stopped for a cup of tea at one of three random picnic tables.
After removing our warm gear we had our first mornings no snake encounter. I was just taking a step with my left leg walking on fire trail, Chips was to my left and a big fat snake slithered from my right and under my legs to the other side of the trail. 😱 We then had a break at Big River saddle for a cuppa.
Found an antler
We stopped at Mt Wills for lunch
Difficult navigation off Mt Wills. We camped right on trail on the way to Gill Creek.
Weather cool and dry to start, stayed cool became overcast threatened rain and then the sun came out again
Food
Breakfast noodles and coffee
Lunch ryvitas ham, cheese and Vegemite and corn chips (see a recurring theme!)
Dinner chicken tikka Marsala and chocolate brownie pudding
Beside the aqueduct All packed up
Off we go at just after 7am. About 2km down the trail we see a small school group from Yarra Valley we talk to the teacher and two outdoor educators for a while and a couple of boys come and join the conversation. One boy says “I caught a fish yesterday!” One of the educators shows a photo of the boy holding a lovely brown trout unfortunately it was 5cm undersize so he threw it back. In talking to the teacher he told us that the kids do all the cooking and the reason their packs look so big and heavy is they are carrying basic stuff not like our lightweight stuff. It’s their last day hiking today they are getting picked up at Windy Corner.
After a while we are thinking about stopping for a cuppa and as we approach an intersection of four trails we see four people walking down the hill towards us. It turns out to be “4 non-blondes” a group of four women hiking the AAWT SOBO they left Canberra about a week before we hit the trail.
I give them all a hug as I feel like I know them from reading their posts on Facebook we swap stories for a while and soon they leave they are planning to stay at Cope hut tonight.
We decide to stop for an early lunch at Ropers hut there is a loo woohoo and a swooping magpie boooo 🤣 we have a lovely restful break even manage a ten minute kip.
It’s only about 6kms to our next stop but it’s a steep descent and a river crossing and then a steep climb up.
Crossing Big river
The climb up and the hike to our stop makes our hike since lunch more like 8kms but we found no a really good spot next to a running creek. We have coffee and a bar and have time to wash our legs, socks and undies and hang them out to dry.
Breakfast sultana bran, custard and peaches OJ & coffee
Lunch ryvitas ham, cheese and vegemite and corn chips
Dinner Roast beef and veges with apricot crumble for dessert
Stuart was kind enough to drive us to the Loch car park where our journey continues . It’s very easy walking today as we are following numbered snow poles.
Looking back towards Loch car park (red roof)Hotham village
As we approach Derrick hut about 4km from Hotham we notice a large group still packing up. They are a school group from Melbourne Grammar and they are the 14th of such groups out on the trail so we will probably see more people today. We chat to the educators for a while and find that their destination tonight is way back from where we are planning to camp.
Next we meet a woman hiking solo towards Hotham she has a disability and she loves adventure her husband is staying in Hothan and supporting her while working at his online business. It was lovely to meet her and we will keep in touch.
We make it down to Dibben Hut get some water from a fast flowing stream and use the hybrid loo. (Those playing along in America that’s a toilet) Always nice to find a loo on trail. As we are hiking up the hill to the plains we meet another Melbourne Grammar group and pass them. So many people on trail today because shortly after that we meet Merinda and Jess who hiked out to one of the huts and stayed a couple of nights, now they are heading back to Hotham too.
Dibbens hut and water collectionSnow polesMt Jim I dubbed Mound Jim 🤣
We make a stop for lunch under a lovely tree. As we are eating the second school group passes us and some of them have packs that are almost as big as they are!
After lunch we hike up onto the plains and the hiking is quite flat then, still following the numbered snow poles. We pass the boys again as they have stopped for lunch too. We won’t see them again because they are stopping at a hut not far up the trail.
Pole 333 apparently is a thing to have your photo taken with it
Next we meet 6 older men hiking towards us they are from Gippsland and we ask them their destination tonight and it’s the same as one of the schools so they say they will choose a different location.
As we reach another junction we meet a group of five who have just hiked towards us from another trail and are waiting for the other half of their group who soon arrive and they hike down a completely different trail to their final destination.
Alpine NP as far as the eye can see
We stop for a cuppa and a break and hike on towards where we have chosen to stop we pass three more school groups all with their tents already erected, even in the spot we had planned to camp so we hike a further 500m and camp beside the aquaduct plenty of beautiful running water.
Walked about 6km back and forwards to The Genny for lunch and dinner.
Weather constant drizzling rain
Food
Breakfast Sultana bran with custard and peaches
Morning tea 2 real coffees each with yummy slices
Lunch ham and cheese toasties and a pint 🍺
Dinner steak with chips and salad and of course a pint 🍺
Today was all about relaxing, resupply, washing and eating.
While I am updating the blog and fixing our camera problem (fixed yay!!) Chips does our washing and then we both fold and organise our clothes and pack our food for the next four days.
We then walk down to The Genny for coffee and lunch while catching up on some business including fixing our flights to NZ that got cancelled 😡 weird thing is we got flights on the exact same dates just later in the day why didn’t they just reschedule and send us the new times??
We then return to the apartment to relax and watch a bit of telly including Tipping Point 🤣
Chips portioning out our canned ham for lunchesOur scratched up and bruised legsView from our veranda this afternoon so glad we are not hiking today
Chips went to see Stuart to see if he has located his Nalgene (expensive water bottle) and while he’s away I have a FaceTime with Jesse, Chelsea, Ari and Lily (our dog). Chips returns and huzzah he has his bottle.
We walk through the mist to The Genny for dinner steaks all round mmmmm good 😊 while we were eating got a FaceTime call from Jon, Sarah, Roo and baby Abi Joy (well she’s there and kicking 🤣)
Weather very cold start which developed to very warm and sunny
Food
Pre breakfast bar and coffee (another super early start)
Breakfast noodles
Lunch ryvitas and tuna or vegemite (cheese ran out)
Dinner entree prawn and ginger dumplings
main chicken Parma chips and salad
Dessert banana spring rolls caramel sauce and icecream
Oh and 2 pints 🍺 each
Up at 4:30 to hike by 5:30. It was such a cold start that puffy jackets, woolly hats and gloves were necessary. Our goal today is Hotham because we have two nights booked and we really need the break.
We followed the course markers for the GSER (Great Southern Endurance Race) most of today and I sent them a message saying Thankyou because we definitely needed it.
Because we are following Jeep tracks and fire trails most of the day we see a lot of squashed blue tongues.
We arrive at the Alpine Highway (10km from Hotham) around 4 pm. We DO NOT want to hike this last 10km up the road after 34km today. So we use our TOWN sign (yellow background with black writing that we made for hitchhiking on the PCT) there is a fair bit of traffic going down the mountain but none going up, so I turn to the downward traffic jumping up and down with my sign and pointing back up the mountain begging people to pick us up. About 10 mins later a car pulls up and turns around to pick us up there are three women in a station wagon with their packs in the back so the front seat passenger nurses my pack and Chips his. They have been hiking on Mt Feathertop and are very interested to hear about our journey. They drop us at Hotham and we ask if we can repay them somehow and they say “just pay it forward” so kind!
We get some help and advice from Stuart the resort manager and then he offers to drive us to the General Store for dinner and up to the Loft car park on Wednesday morning to start our journey again so kind.
We go to our apartment and have really long showers and get fresh.
We arrive at The Genny and first order is a beer so I order two pints and casually tell the barmaid Stormie that we have been hiking for 12 days so I’m really looking forward to this and she says “oh are you Tracey and David?” And when I say yes she says our friend has phoned ahead to shout us dinner tonight I nearly cry. So generous Thankyou you know who you are 💜
all the staff are amazing and we enjoy our evening before walking back to our apartment. The bogong moths are awful and as we enter our apartment they break in with us and are fluttering around all night!!!
Sleep is not great as we are both quite sore and it feels very hot in the bed I am sure there’s an electric blanket on the bed but there’s not.
Cold start Mt Selwyn VIC summitLast water collectionCheersView from our apartment
Leaving camp coffee and bar (got going very early and I cannot eat early)
Breakfast noodles
Lunch ryvitas cheese tuna and vegemite
Dinner Beef Teriyaki and hot chocolate
After hiking across the back of the Razor VERY sketchy not sure how anyone hiking alone does it, I needed a lot of help, we stopped in Viking saddle for breakfast and to steel ourselves for the task ahead, to climb through the chimney up to The Viking.
On the way up to the chimney I stepped over a blow down only to lose my leg up to the knee, I had to remove my pack to extricate myself.
Oopsies
We then made our way to the chimney. It was a bit of an operation getting ourselves and our packs up through the small aperture. First Chips climbed up with our hiking poles and then came back down to give me a knot tying lesson, I tried to understand it I really did!! So he hoisted up my pack and then it was my turn to tie his pack on the rope so he could hoist it up. I tied what I though was the clove hitch he’d taught me but when he hoisted it to the top he said “nope” and laughed it didn’t come undone so no harm 🤣 then it was time for me to climb, I have very weak arm strength so I had to work out a way to use my leg strength instead it took me a while and it wasn’t pretty but I made it.
From the baseChips tying my packUp he goesUp goes my packClimbing a bit moreWinnerV for victory
Climbing down the Viking was HARD work. 50 -60degree slope for 1.2kms. It was like kitty litter so really hard to get any purchase. Thank God for the snow gums to hold on the sides of the trail and my poles got a workout.
We had lunch once we reached level ground and then hiked to Barry saddle where there was a small water tank with lovely sweet, cool water.
We had a bit of an oops, missed a turn so had to backtrack. We met s group from Wodonga TAFE who were hiking a section to the Devils Staircase which is near Mt Howitt they are all carrying HUGE packs (group of 9) and tell us they are camping at Viking Summit tonight. It’s already 4:30 so we find it hard to believe that they will make it up before dark.
We lose the track about a km from the next water tank and end up hiking the road towards it. Our book tells us there is a campsite close to the tank but we end up hiking another .6 to find a ‘suitable’ campsite.
Lunch Ryvita biscuits with vegemite, corned beef and cheese. See below for explanation
Dinner butter chicken and strawberry ambrosia (you know it’s good Stu & Kelly!)
Normal ups and downs to Mt McKinty, very rutted descent and then towards Mt Sunday. We had lunch in a little flat spot on the grass before Mt Sunday. So we packed out canned corned beef but so we didn’t have to carry the can I precut it into portion sizes and put it in ziplock bags and the cheese is the processed cheddar that you find on the supermarket shelf. These were necessary as we couldn’t put fresh cheese in our drop boxes.
Today we saw deer, more lyrebirds and robins and many beautiful wildflowers.
Mmm someone lost their gearbox Fancy saucers 🤣Relaxed coffee in the shade of our umbrellas
Took a wrong turn at Mt Sunday helipad clearing and walked around Mt Sunday adding about 4km to our day but the silver lining was that the road led directly to our campsite and we had an easy water pickup along the way. Low saddle has no water and a difficult pickup.
We arrived early into camp and enjoyed a lovely coffee sitting in the shade and then we set up and relaxed until dinner time.
Lunch ryvitas and corned beef, cheese and vegemite
Dinner beef bourginon and apple pie
Worst day on trail so far!
We had a MASSIVE astounding storm last night. Being in a tent with all that lightning and thunder was scary. The rain was really heavy and our poor old Big Agnes has seen better days and it did leak (been there eh Hammer and Corky) so we were doing a bit of water mitigation in the middle of the night but we stayed surprisingly warm and dry.
Then came the climb up Mt McDonald, wet molasses bushes and leeches OMG the leeches on our arms, hands and legs. After hearing a story a while back about someone having a leech in their eye I was super paranoid but we managed to avoid that. This track is some very indistinguishable as I have already shard so on three occasions today 1 on the west peak 2 on the actual peak and 3 on the East peak we lost the track we estimated for probably 3 hours all up.
On one of these occasions Chips slid about 15 meters down a rock slope of about 35 degrees it was horrifying. These off track experiences left us scratched, bruised and disheartened. Bent but not broken we soldiered on. Because we lost so much time today we revised our finish point and decided to hike to High Cone camp. When arrive there Nick and Roly are there having hiked from Hotham over the previous 4 days so we hike on another .4 and find a really lovely sunny spot on the hill beneath High Cone. So we are able to dry everything out and get water from a puddle we saw on the way up the hill.
Break just before west peak Mt McDonald BEFORE the first time we got lostMassive earthworms Morning tea on West peakPack explosionDrying out our bits
Today nearly broke us both but we are strong and better together.
The Adventures of FishnChips 