A full trip report from your correspondent in the field is soon to be forthcoming.

I took an old friend up along from Clover Arboretum out along the Bogong Creek Aqueduct and tramway and then went up the fire trails to Bogong Creek saddle (The old Helipad) for the first night of Camping.
Day 2 was the Big River crossing and the ascent up Timm's spur in the rain. We camped at Roper's Hut.
It was foggy coming over the Bogong high plains so a visit to Timm's Lookout did not happen.
Day 3 was Roper's hut/ Warby Corner/ Mt. Nelse North/ Unnamed 1893 M. peak/ Mt. Spion Kopje/ Spion Kopje fire trail to Bogong Village and then a road bash back to pick up the car at Clover Arboretum.

 

Day 1. 26/1/19. After setting out from Myrtleford( The Rotisserie, such a hot night ,the previous sleepless summer night was almost Indo Pakistani by its dry and roasting level of discomfort), and we got a late start by Mr. Tee standards. It was already hot and humid around Clover Dam and Arboretum. We left the Tee Mobile at Clover Arboretum car parking area , just off the main road.
We walked along ,crossed the East Kiewa River branch, and went along until we saw the start of the tram way and aque duct. There were two tram way bridge crossings. The first one was a bit scary and the second was to be avoided. We walked under the second one.
We started getting good views of the West peak of Mt. Bogong.
We approached a wire fence and went around it and continued along the tramway until it ended. Just before it ended there was a big pipe we had to walk across.
It was test your nerve time again.
After the pipe crossing the track continued up until it reached Bogong Creek and the East Kiewa Fire trail. It was there in that verdant area replete with the sound and sight of flowing water that we sat and ate lunch.
Ms. KJ had not been on one of my VIC ALPS green season multi night treks before, despite living in the area.
She managed to complete the route but she had some trouble doing it.
The drop from below the pipe would have been enough to cause some nasty injuries if one fell, so we crossed it as best as we could. The same can be said about the two tram way bridges. The gaps between the sleepers were unnerving and a bit scary.

 

Day 1.Lunch in the green and pleasant Bogong Creek valley. The creek is partially diverted here for the aque duct / water race . This is still used to generate Hydro electricity.

There is a good camp site near the tin pumping hut.

There was a ford, after lunch, that was a boots on job that was easy for trekkers with long legs and using trekking poles for balance(namely me only on this occasion). The water was cool and pleasant to drink. There were creek crossings all the way up the hill to Bogong Creek Saddle , which was good because the fire trails were hard work in the still, hot and humid conditions. Getting one's head wet and refilling drinking bottles was necessary along the way.

 

Day 1.The after lunch uphill slog in the heat .4 kms uphill with a 500 M. elevation gain. It offered good views of Mt. Bogong but I was glad to finish the walk for the day at the old helipad. I just ran out of water on arrival at the campsite. Thank you Hydrolyte and Neurofen.



Some other weary walkers appeared at the old helipad. They had grovelled and bush bashed up from Bogong Village via Black Possum spur and Mt. Arthur. They said at the upper sections of both of the said routes there is either no track or it is VERY overgrown. Those hikers looked very scratched, sweaty , dehydrated and worn out.

 

Day 1. Arriving and setting up at the Old Helipad. Ms. KJ appeared, eventually, looking somewhat rogered, totally stuffed really. I had already set up my tent and returned from fetching water down at the stream near the Quartz Ridge hikers' intentions book.
It was flowing really well . The water gushing out of the pipe under the Big River Fire trail was very good to drink and nice and cold too.The weather was not so hot up at the Old Helipad. There is a good view of Mt. Buffalo from that vantage point. I think we all slept a bit better with the cooler temperatures overnight. It rained overnight and we packed up in drizzle.
Day two was cool and damp, with showers all morning.

 

Day 2.
Crossing Big River , boots off , and ascending Timm's Spur in the rain. Some knob jockeys had left a big pile of rubbish at the camp site on the bank of Big River. Ms. KJ bagged it up and carried it out with her. Fooey on them!. Ms. KJ had never been to these places before.

 

Day 2
Slogging it up Timm's Spur.There are good views of Mt. Bogong and The Grey Hills Knob along the way up.

 

We did " tightrope walk " across the pipe!!.
Day 2. Timm's Spur and the Northern BHP to Roper's Hut. More noteworthy views of the Grey Hills and Mt. Bogong came into sight. Even though the rain cleared up , It was foggy and windy up on the BHP so a trip off the fire trail to Timm's Lookout will have to be for next time.

 

Day 2.More pictures from the Northern BHP and Roper's hut.
We ate lunch just near where the track emerges from the tree line. There are some good slopes there for the AT BC skiing crowd. It looked rather steep to me.


It remained dry enough at camp at Roper's hut for me to dry out some of my quick dry hiking attire. Whereas despite being told not to bring any cotton items at all somebody did exactly that and such garments would not dry out .
It was novel wearing a warm clothes after suffering through the Friday we had experienced , which was in the mid 40's C., down in the well named OVENS valley.
We strolled into Roper's hut camping area at around 2pm. There were quite few people camping there including a chap on a Mountain Bike who was doing a loop of the BHP from Mt. Beauty along the fire trails.

 

Day 2 . Roper's hut. Relaxing at the campsite. The stream at Duane Creek was flowing well. The sunset was rather good indeed.
Thankfully it stayed dry all afternoon and all night so just chillaxing on the grass and unwinding after a day of walking was enjoyable.

 

Day 3. Roper's Hut to Clover Arboretum. I walked the whole thing. It must have been nearly 20 kms. Ms. KJ conked out at Bogong Village. I was an hour ahead of her at least and I brought the car to collect the completely exhausted person with very sore feet.
She seemed to enjoy the walk up until lunch. After that I seemed to have the impression that she was in hell and it was not a hallucination.
I quite enjoyed the walk from Spion Kopje to Bogong Village. It was good to walk along solo at my own speed. I saw a dog on the fire trail that quickly vanished . PV seem to have made a perfunctory attempt to keep the Spion Kopje fire trail open, with evidence of brush cutting and chain sawing logs along the entire route. The upper section needs a D4 bulldozer. Bits of that are single lane foot traffic only at the moment.

The Mitta Valley looked very hazy with smoke and clouds mixed together.

I took this photo of the sunset reflected in the windows of Roper's hut on the evening of day 2.

 

Day 3.
The BHP. Visibility was quite good and it was cool but not windy. We could see the Cross cut saw in the far distance from the summit of Mt. Nelse North.
I went up to the Summit of the unnamed 1893 M. peak along the Spion Kopje track as well as the summit of Spion Kopje. Ms. KJ had no interest in such things which to me is bizarre and beyond my capacity to fathom. She enjoyed this part of the walk.

 

Day 3.Mt. Nelse North. 1884 M.
Bring on the XC BC ski season I say. I will be out there on planks for sure!
Ms. KJ , a Falls Creek downhill skier of sorts was still unsure as to where Edmondson's hut was located . I think further exploration of the BHP on her part is most necessary.

 

Day 3. Mt.Nelse to The Spion Kopje track.

 

The wee grey tent was inadequate. It did not keep water out from the floor.
Ms KJ borrowed the tent from another lassie. I still say Salewa tents for green season and W. E. tents for snow camping are the ticket.
Day 3. The Spion Kopje track.Warby Corner to The Grey Hills track junction.
The source of the name Spion Kopje came up for discussion. I guessed it has Afrikaans origins. I was right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Spion_Kop#Battle

A major figure in that battle was
General Sir Redvers Buller, VC, commander of the British forces in Natal. So another ski location in Victoria also has a Boer war connection .

 

Day 3. We stopped for lunch on scenic knoll above the track ,prior to passing Little Spion Kopje. After that point Ms. KJ was not enjoying herself. She was wearing somebody else's boots and had no hiking poles for the steep and bushy descent down the fire track ..

 

Day 3 .Spion Kopje to Bogong Village.The views from the lunch spot were excellent. There was water flowing across the fire track below the turn off for the steep jungle gym track to Howman's Gap. That was very handy and refreshing to find water at that point in the afternoon and it looks like it flows most of the year round .The creek crossing at the bottom of the hill at Rocky Valley Creek was pleasant and easy but with boots off.

 

Day 3 .Spion Kopje to Bogong Village.28.1.2019.
The photos thinned out after reaching the Junction picnic ground not far from the Bogong Power station and the tennis courts at Bogong Village. The place was like a ghost town. The Pub was closed and all. Not that I was too fussed, I don 't drink booze anyway.

 

I must have walked about 46 kms in three days over the January Long weekend so this summer I am putting in the kms on foot. Next week I am walking in the KNP in NSW : Dead Horse Gap to Dicky Cooper Bogong , including The Rolling Ground.

 

I have been to the Mt.Spion Kopje peak in the Lake TK area. The track is marked with orange arrows but needs a proper haircut for sure. I am aware of Mt. Arthur's previous name. It is very steep/arduous to get there and there is no water up there at all. It is an arsehole of a place in many ways.

 

I wonder when the Spion Kopje aqueduct was first abandoned and left in its present state of disuse.

 

That was an informative reply. What about Roper's Aque duct? That seems to be from the same period as the other low grade/we've run out of money aque ducts in the area.I presume that such a scheme will never be revisited in terms of potentially being used to generate hydroelectricity esp. because many of these things now fall within a national park or a ski resort.

 

Hi. I refer to the aqueduct that goes out to Roper's lookout. That is another channel/ race line that now provides an easy green run for XC skiers. I skied it last season and saw the snow poles also are next to a channel/ water race thingy. I am all for generating renewable/ green energy. The project should have been completed the way the Snowy Mountains scheme was. I do understand that diverting water flows mucks up eco systems in some ways. One can read about this issue on an information board on the Fainters Falls walk.
I think it is unhelpful for ultra greenies to hop up and down on the spot about the idea of upgrading and utilizing the aqueducts that were never used. I spend a fair bit of time in that area year round, year in , year out and I can't help wondering about these things. It seems silly to say "oh we can't allow any further development of a Hydroelectricity scheme because it is a national park now".
The bleeding aqueducts are already there. It would not take much to upgrade them and harness their potential for green power generation.
I support the VNPA but I would suspect the VNPA would have kittens over this idea.

 

I agree that the proposed Pretty Valley dam would have been an environmental disaster and we are lucky to have such a rare alpine environment spared from such development.

 

I am bit of a dud at using fancy graphics on computers. The Tramline and aqueduct starts just near where the track bifurcates and one route starts to climb up towards Mt. Arthur. The other continues to the railhead. The tramline continues for about 8kms. The last 1 km sees the aqueduct go underground via pipeline to the source which is diversion of Bogong Creek itself. The Tramline stops and becomes a foot track. Using the Spatial Vision Map of the Bogong area this demarcation is clear. It is the map I used to walk this route .

It is a pleasant loop of walking and camping over 3 days and 2 nights. Day one of the route after the tramway was an uphill slog only because of the heat and humidity. Fortunately there are multiple shallow creek crossings en route to the Old Helipad at Bogong Creek Saddle.
In terms of using this route to reach Roper's Hut for spring XC ski touring:
mmmmm.

I am unconvinced.

It is a day and a half at least of travelling on two legs to get to Roper's hut this way with a lot of walking uphill . The Big River Crossing along Big River Fire trail would be very cold in early September. Rocky Valley Creek at the 4 x 4 ford near the bottom of Spion Kopje fire trail may become too deep to cross if the water is too deep or flowing too quickly.
The route is quite sheltered until you hit the BHP au proper .The section that follows could be by passed cross country to hit the AAWT pole line from the ridge that leads to Timm's lookout.
Once you see the big old snow gum tree that is shown in this trip report then head off the 4 x 4 track towards the top of the ridge line.In white season you would not have the old wheel ruts to follow anyway. There is no pole line coming up Timm' spur once you leave the tree line. It is not THAT far until you reach the Pole line that connects Mt. Nelse with Roper's hut.
In a white out / challenging white season weather you'd be going by map and compass and possibly
a GPS co ordinate of the location of Roper's hut. I would hazard to guess that even in bad weather in BC XC ski season one would only have to stuff around for one hour between that old snow gum on the fire trail, which is bench cut , and locating Roper's hut.
An hour above the tree line in punishing weather is the sensible limit before a human starts to become hypo bleeding thermic
The Bowl above Roper's hut looks like XC ski heaven in terms of terrain that is easy and fun to ski on. The wetland at the bottom of it which precludes green season cross country short cuts from the Big River Fire trail , coming up from Timm' s spur would be snowed over. So skiing over that would be easy .

 

It is all hypothetical now. No further development will ever take place up there. I was merely speculating. I don't overall approve of development within National Parks.The aqueducts do make good walking/ski & Mountain Bike trails now. The pole lines that often accompany them allow for easier navigation in very poor weather.