A couple more photos from Team Bears weekend...we left some firewood at Mulhauser Top Camp and past Team Mittagundi Base Camp at Big River Saddle.
Might head up to the upper Mitta/ big River in a couple of weekends for a flick. How's it looking Steve? Most of the snow melted on Bogong now? Water temperature? I'm not asking much....
You could see significant drifts on side of Bogong last week from start of Longspur walking track at the end of the Longspur 4x4 track.... Track was very dry before this recent rain event. Both vehicle tracks 1/off Big River Rd 2/off Snowy Log Rd via Camp Mulhauser we’re pretty good as of last weekend. On a fine weekend the Upper Mulhauser campsite pictured above is sensational as long u have 4x4 to get in there.....bring up water. Poke head through bushes near table and topography drops steeply below....you can see most of logging coupes below and all the way to The Dartmouth Dam FireTower !
We are enjoying doing f.all in Mt Beauty cos it’s been a busy weekend ....and Team Bears have firgotten about the Melb.Terrorist Incident .... Warm but quiet in Mt Beauty .. Team Bears enjoying a coffee in the quiet ...We finished most of roof painting at Toms Hut...ran out of rust converter so a small area is still to be finished. Team Bears have done chainsaw run up Mt Wills Track from Big River Saddle....not much up there to be quite honest....Mittugundi has pulled out of Big River Saddle which they were using as a base camp.We saw them pack up this morning early.Nice fine weekend so quite a lot was accomplished. Came back over Hollow Way from Mitta side ....much road work in the first six kilometers....first sux is like a freeway.....after that it’s a bit ordinary with wheel ruts in many places. Saw new signage in Camp Creek Saddle at start of Eskdale Spur....it’s impressive. Hopefully paint holds on the Toms Roof....night was pretty mild with slight dew fall....keep fingers crossed on this one! Oh ....saw party of three heading for Cleve Cole come thro Big River Saddle about 10am. Two of which have come along from Canberra.Other side of Mt Wills Track wise is not brilliant they say!(Omeo Highway to Mt Wills Section..) Not our job...we have done enough between Mt Wills and Bossiea Hill.Job for other interested parties??
Snowy Log Rd is closed at Big River Rd....Sth. End No idea as to reason?? Big River Rd into Longspur Track is excellent.
Team Bears have activated our wasp traps in Big River Saddle and are successfully catching insects....so far flies but I think the trick is to get them out to catch wasps early.....catching a heap of flies anyhow! We left a wire grid at the fireplace ....only manmade thing apart from tables nearby.....so it was left on purpose....you can put it over fire and place billies on a stable flat surface .
I will be inspecting the whole Mt. Wills/ Long Spur/ Eskdale spur area on foot in Jan. 2019.I might drop past and look at Tom's Hut now that it has has been renovated.
Mister Tee, let me know if you see the remnants of the old hut on Long Spur I found ages ago. Several people I know have done that route in recent years, but they weren't looking for that sort of thing, so I don't know if its still there or if fell down / got burnt. Located 10 metres south-west of the 4WD track 2 1/2 km from Big River Saddle. It WAS fairly easy to spot. Grid reference (old grid) roughly 377 283..
I think it has long gone....it may have been at the end of the contouring part of track just where it heads steeply uphill at a right angle turn. I will look out for debri to confirm this!
Well it’s shaping up to be a bitch of a fire season....so hopefullly we don’t lose any Huts in Vicco.Certainly Toms Hut has had minor hazard reduction done around perimeter of hut by T.Bears.We raked all fine litter away and burnt it ...also cleaned gutters.little foot track to creek for water has been cleared.But not much you can do if something mean gets burning in there!!
Steve, you're a marvel - well done! Fwiw (I'm way overdue to climb up Long Spur) - been 10 years (my son's age) since my last visit - time to inspect your work & pay homepage to the 'Big Fulla'.
Long Spur is a nice way in during summer when access is easiest. Staircase and Eskdale are interesting but Long Spur is brilliant. Two choices....1/.older 4x4 (not new vehicle duco) come in via Big River Rd Park and onto end of track just east of Mt Mulhauser . 2/two wheel drive and newer vehicles in via Snowy Log Rd from north end and onto Camp Mulhauser Saddle ..located Nth of Mt Mulhauser..walking track uphill about one kilometre in length. Good time of year to do car shuffle......Eskdale/Staircase to Bogong ..Cleve Cole Longspur and either of the two Access routes to east end of Longspur... Bossiea Hill to the most western picnic table (half way along Longspur walking track approx is only section not patrolled so far by Team Bears.A chainsaw trip is planned shortly to do the last couple of kilometers ...so all fallen trees are off track. Enjoy those tables because we like folk to justify our labour getting them organised and carted in their.
Team Bears cruised rapidly up the Hume this morning...Lake Hume looking nice 4G reception at grid on Trappers Rd some five kilometers approx from Omeo Highway....nice day ahead of Team Bears ..... blue sky...warm and little breezy!Update later on weekend works !
Corrugated iron rust conversion and painting complete. Fascia board fitted and painted with terracotta weather shield. Some gaps in corners blocked up inside but with thin al.angle. Eve measured for weatherboards that will be fitted in future to box it completely in from weather. A splendid day...weather fine and warm ...good for painting.... Off to Big River Saddle now.Just zooming past Mitta Mitta..
$50 for Ten Liters of weathershield was hard to knock back! Regardless of colour. Weather boards are protected fir first time in many years now. Corrugated roof should last a few more years now the rust is neuralized and it has protective paint too. Terracotta is same colour as the red earth soil in places down there anyway. Eve has been stuffed for some time ...so it’s good to have it back on... Once it’s boxed in the hut will be more weather tight and warmer. Bit breezy up here at Big River Saddle ....time fir Team Bears to make their stew up....
That true Charlie! Challenging night at Big River Saddle ....Was a bit breezy....on waking mist quickly cleared to blue sky....it will be a beautiful day....Picked up some barbed wire rubbish.....having breakfast under a bit of shade offered by little wattle trees at picnic tables ....then up onto Long Spur to complete track inspection to Bossiea Hill.....well that’s the project today .....straw hat on now ....sun is blazing down. 4g telstra signal at the moment from picnic tables !!
Back to vehicle at 7.40pm. Team Bears managed to get out to the stsrt of Bossiea Hill.... And finished section between picnic table to almost the end of Long Sour. It’s bern a big day!
We forgot to mention.....the horse trail that negates the steep/slippery pinch ....it goes around the southern aspect of the hill just after Mulhauser Walking Track junction in micro saddle(with picnic table)was followed and cleaned of fallen debri on our return trip......it’s got a better footing for diwn Hill travel when you return from Cleve Cole.The view is pretty good from down there too we might add. Future works will involve a brushcutter trip along vehicle track leading in to lessen the damage to our paint work.Its not bad at present but could easily be improved with a days work.
Nice day on the back roads around the ovens valley. Thank god I bought a chainsaw! Gone... What’s my name? Say my name bitch!!! Nice day up on stony tops, couldn’t walk far as I had poochie with me. Firewood stockpile fattening!!
Oh splendid picture from old helipad...Nth Peak looks so good with those clouds around.. Really sharp pics.....just so nice to see that view again.... Good work with chainsaw.... Really good!!
The Alpine N.P. boundary on Stoney Tops track is half way between the seasonal closure gate and the old helipad. Once you are inside the N.P. , dogs, cats and firearms are not permitted. Having a chainsaw in the boot when driving along those backroads is a must. Is that an 18 inch bar?
The thing that is of real interest is that the Chainsaw is a Husqvy... I know fanatically loyal Stihl brand loyalists who think people who use any other brand of chainsaw are rather suspect. I'm surprised we haven't seen a bit of brand loyalty based snipping here.
Just getting to that. Not just suspect, possibly absent of soul!! I must say am very surprised, by my count, the Husky cut at least two medium logs without breaking down? Even more remarkable is the that EW got it started to get stuck into the first one.....
A few models already around, smooth to use - Honda are four stroke masters, unfortunately for portable hand tools, that makes them a little heavy & without the same zip as two strokes, which is really required for chainsaws, especially in the higher capacity.
I was just about to say....i've lent 2 people one of my saws cos their huski was 'broken'. By broken they meant a complete bitch to start. Both of these people have now bought themselves STIHLs for xmas.
Team Bears have nearly worn out their Echo 310ES ....that's what de motor mower man says!But its still cutting a lot of fallen timber regardless!
Well it’s been a hot day suppose some on the forum are not coping to well ?But what the heck? Now the micro gymnasts to coin a new term borrowed from one of Xplora posts have been busily at work loading the new picnic table destined for Toms Hut.Installation should proceed on Saturday arvo all things going well . Hopefully the little Team will return from Kittens after a few drinks/lap dances and be capable of the tourist trip back up to Toms Hut. Oh a picture is necessary! We will be off over the “horizon”early tomorrow!Caveman May hear the sonic boom as the rodeo rockets up the Hume over the fore mentioned horizon! Take care all!Xmas is comming....
Well all the Team are present....a hard night to sleep!! We will hit the road shortly with the new installation on the back.....
Toms table has landed in Mitta Mitta....morning tea for Team Bears then back up the gravel Rds to Toms....already it’s very hot here...little wind....nasty fire season seems inevitable !
Job complete ...it’s ffn. Hot out here...humid as....did a little work today but it’s not a nice day for too much strenuous activity . Up to Hotham shortly...Mt Creek picnic ground looked pretty busy as we tore past....very dry and dusty.Got cherries if lady where Tawonga Gap Rd hits Ovens Valley HWY...something too munch on as we drive up Hotham.Diamintina Hut Carpark and Loch Car Park also have many cars.Nice a mild up around JB Plain.
DSE have done road work with dozer right down to Toms Hut....so now Road Access is brilliant and smooth!
After Toms picnic table installation. TB’s proceeded to Mt Hotham ...hoping to Park at start of Brandy Ck FT Sunday with a.early start saw us descend the three kms into the Cobungra River below.....then the 700m till the start of Paling Spur. We had 310 Echo with us to despatch fallen timber over the track when required .Parts of the Spur are very bushy but the track is still discernable.....we used marking tape to make route finding more easily...somebody else had previously also used tapes to mark this track. Not many trees to cut....but plenty of bushes to push through. The top half of the Spur has been brush cut by other parties reasonably recently. We made it to the top and sat out on the snow plain while we ate lunch. The top of the track is marked by a rock cairn on a huge boulder ..to the right of the track.There are orange triangular markers too and a skull of an animal wired to a tree.From the prominent three stemmed ancient snow gum on the Plain you can see the rock cairn on the bush edge,The initial part of the track climbs up hill away from the plain.Other blazers and unconventional markers have been used on the top of this track to keep you walking diwn the correct track. We used a whole role of pink tape to further clarify the route.We chainsawed where necessary logs and protruding timber. Team Bears also cut some logs on the track along the river that links Paling Spur with BCK FT. It was a big day and a hard climb back out. So the Paling Spur is still a viable route if required ....
^^^^^ If You can find Your way up Paling Spur, what makes You think that the rest of Us need a roll of pink tape spread along the route?
Personally, I prefer at least three different colour flagging tapes, left over poo rolls adorning dead sticks & confusing cairns at varying distances....
Semantics my friends....some tape was present....Team Bears added to the markers.Further brush cutting required.The top half cleared by unknown group/service must have been a night mare to negotiate . When time permits Team Bears will take brush cutter for a walking trip diwn there some more .There are some wonderful unusual markers around the top half..got to take our hats off to those that stumped up for that work ! We like the official signs in the Cobungra showing direction to Cobungra Gap and Paling Spur ....buried under grass....good for rabbits and rodents if they have lost their GPS’s.
