The Retire active walking group (previously ARPA) recently organised a walking camp using Mt Buller Alpine Village, Victoria, as the base for members who wanted to do B & C walks. (The camp for the A & B groups followed.)

Many members split the journey into a number of sections but a few did the journey in one day. It was about 9.5 hours driving and took us about 11 hours including a few stops. The drive up to the village is along a good but continually bendy road, past interesting names such as Killer Hill, Gnome Tree, Thank Christ Corner and White Bridge Falls. Most of the names were coined by strong, fit men and women who used to walk up the hill carrying all their equipment, in order to ski in the area before the roads were put through and the ski lifts created.

The group stayed in the Schuss ski lodge in Stirling Road, which has good facilities and is situated in the ski resort. Each bedroom has an ensuite shower room and is a reasonable size. The dining area and the lounge room are both large. The kitchen is large and well set up for self-catering. It has three ovens and hobs, a large preparation area, two sinks and a fast dish hygiene washer. Each bedroom has its own area allocated in the food cupboards, fridge and freezer.

Near the entrance are two large drying rooms which also act as boot storage – very good for a large number of people sharing facilities.

The ski village was very quiet. The other people staying there were mainly mountain bikers. There were only a few restaurants open but that did not bother us as we all did our own cooking (creating our own Covid bubble) and on the last evening bought a take away meal to eat at the lodge.

The camp was well run by a husband and wife team both members of Retired Active. They had obtained a number of very useful tourist walking and cycling maps which showed (approximately) the various routes around the mountains. The lodge also had some ski route maps.  We used all three maps sometimes to ensure we were on the correct route!

Friday 7th

The weather on Friday was forecast to be rainy and misty so it was decided to start the walks after lunch to allow the weather to improve. In the end the weather stayed very misty and damp.

The B group went for a long walk which took in Little Mt Buller and the surrounding areas. A lot of ascent and decent was involved with difficult map reading being required due to the thick mist. They did manage to obtain some views when they were under the cloud. It turned out to be a long hard walk.

The C group walked to the top of Mt Buller and on to the summer fire view station. The mist was very thick and unfortunately made it impossible to obtain any views. Indeed, the mist was so thick that it was easy to lose sight of other walkers in the group. It was necessary to take care. The return walk used the Nature trail which works its way down from the top. There were many alpine plants to look at. To name a few, Candles Alpine, Stockhausen, Native sorrel, Alpine Heath, Billy Button, Prickly Starwort, Candle Ricker, Dusty Daisy Bush and Victorian Buttercup. The walk took about 3 hours. The drying room was well used by most walkers to dry their wet gear. 

Saturday 8th

For Saturday’s walks the weather was much nicer and allowed for extensive views to be obtained. The walks were very enjoyable. Both groups drove to and started from Telephone Box Junction but used different paths to ascend.

The B group walked to the top of Mt Stirling via Summit Loop and Summit Interpretive Loop, past Bluff Spur Memorial Hut and using West Summit Trial and Top Of The World to reach the top. They then continued along the Howqua Gap Track, past the Howqua Gap and hut, along the Corn Hill Track back to the lodge.  It was a long 14.6 km walk with around 800 metres of ascent and most people were happy to get back to the lodge.

The C group also went to the top of Mt Stirling but by a different 10km route, using the Upper Baldy Trail. Past the Machinery Shed and Shelter, along the Wombat Drop Interpretive Loop, near to the Cricket Pitch Hut, up the Summit Loop, past King Spur Hut up the Stirling Trail to Mt Stirling.  Extensive views were obtained all the way to Mansfield, the nearest large town. A number of original bushman’s huts were passed. Each had a plaque outside giving the history of the hut. A group on mountain horses were seen as were a few mountain bikers and even a few 4 wheel drive vehicles, (probably driving the 21 km to Craig’s hut used in the film).

More pretty Alpine flowers were seen such as Bush Daisy, Grass trigger plant, Showy violet, Snow gum and Derwent speedwell.

Lunch was eaten on the top of Mt. Stirling before returning to the cars via the same route that group B used to ascend. A great day’s walking.

Sunday 9th

The weather was good allowing for good walking and extensive views.

The B group did a difficult route. First, they walked from the lodge up to Mt Buller at 1805m. Then along the very exposed West Ridge with its steep, sharp  sides but magnificent views.  A steep decent involved sections of scree with frightening situations and then a walk along Doughty’s Road where the C group had left two cars for the B group to use for their return to the lodge.

The C group drove to Sawpit Settlement and Waterfall.

The walk initially went along the river Delatite River but quickly turned up into the forest and worked its way up to a lovely waterfall. (A great photo opportunity.) This area has some interesting history of early settlers and how the trees were cut and milled. There are some plaques and photos explaining and showing the danger involved and techniques used, to saw down the large magnificent trees. They also built a special small railway to transport the tree trunks. The walk eventually looped its way back to the river where lunch was eaten. (The river was reasonably low so four men has situated themselves, their chairs and their beers in the centre of the river in a lovely cool spot much to the envy of all around them.) The water temperature was very pleasant. After lunch the walk was extended to walk up-river to the next settlement.

Monday 10th

Officially this was a “Rest Day”. However, most people went walking or cycling. There was talk of fishing but no one had brought appropriate fishing gear. (In later walks we met various fishermen who claimed to have caught plenty of fish.)

Some people did the walk to Mt Buller and returned via the Nature Trail. This time they enjoyed nice weather and were able to see the reservoirs and views.Two others walked up to the village then down past the Navy ski lodge, down a gravel track which basically followed a winter ski run, down to a T junction where it joined The Whiskey Creek Trail. The trail was used to pass the Bull Run and Federation ski lifts along to the branch off to Little Mt Buller. They then walked up to Little Mt Buller (1507m) along the difficult, rocky path to the view point with incredible 360 degree panoramas.

Tuesday 11th

The B group walked from the lodge to Mirimbah about 16 km. This walk was a slow decent through beautiful mountain ash forests and crossed many bridges made out of felled tree trunks placed close together with packed soil in between the trunks, plus a few creek crossings. It was originally a difficult walk but the path has been extensively remodelled to allow a fast decent for mountain bikers. This has made it an easy and pleasant walk all the way.

From the lodge the group went down past the water treatment plant to the Corn Hill Track before turning left onto the Delatite River Trail which it follows with some views of the river below all the way down to Mirimbah. The C group was met part way down. They had brought sufficient cars to transport all the walkers back to the lodge after walking up the Deletite River stopping to look at flowers and wildlife along the way.

Wednesday 12th

The walk on Wednesday, in theory, was similar to the previous days walk, in as much as it was an up from or down to Mirimbah. In fact, they were very different and so very enjoyable. This walk was on a narrow bridle track, through lovely forest, unaffected by mountain bikes or horses, sometimes with quite steep drops down through the forest.

The B group drove the cars to Mirimah and walked up the Klingsporn Bridle Track up to Mt Buller Alpine Ski Village and then back to the lodge. A long, quite steep walk, uphill for approximately 1000m.

The C group started at the lodge, walked up to Mt Buller Alpine Village and then picked up the Klingsporn Bridle Track. The same as for many of the walks, the start was not well indicated and was difficult to find. However eventually a nice cross ski route link was found which went across near or under the Tirol T Bar and Northside Express Chairlift and ended up at the Bonza Chairlift. That area is really the start of the Klingsporn Bridle track which goes all the way down to Mirimbah. The two groups met part way and then the C group continued down to the cars which they drove back to the lodge. Quite a lot of wildlife was seen including two magnificent Wedge Tail Eagles.

Thursday 13th

The last walk of the camp involved a 1.5 hours drive to the Howqua valley, past Sheep yard Flat / Howqua Hills, past a number of bush camp sites to the start at 8 Mile Flat. 8 Mile creek joins the Howqua river here. About half of the journey was on a rough dirt road. Both groups drove to and from together as much of the walk was on the same route.

The previous evening, one of the group, gave a short talk on how to cross rivers safely using various techniques.

Both groups started up the “High Trail” but did not walk together. This was a narrow single file track carved into the hillside. The walk went high above the Howqua river and allowed great views of the river below and the surrounding forest and countryside. It involved some ascent and decent but not too much.

At the point where the High Track met the Low Track the B group turned off to walk to and from Ritchies Hut. They would eventually return and continue the walk along the same return route as group C. 

The second half of the walk involved wading across the Howqua River 12 times!

This in fact turned out to be very pleasant as it was a hot day and the water was a very comfortable temperature. All of the group kept boots and socks on and carefully waded across. When not in the river the walk was through pleasant forested areas. An unusual but very enjoyable walk.

Both groups eventually met back at the lodge.

The last evening the group bought a number of take away Pizzas from one of the few open restaurants and ate a meal together.

A good camp with lots of great walking.