Trip Report Green season Hike.Lake Mtn./Keppel Hut/Upper Taggerty road.9/3/20

Your correspondent in the field used the public holiday here in VIC. on March 9th 2020 in concert with favourable weather for bushwalking. The plan was to walk a loop that is known to other walkers but needed investigation. The Upper Taggerty road is a 4WD track that has been closed since the 2009 fires wiped out the entire area including the infrastructure at Lake Mountain resort.
I must have walked up to 20 kms.
The Hut loop and Keppel's Hut foot track both need poles cut and some serious whipper snipping and brush cutting. They are not in good condition at all. The resort does not care and Parks Vic. who manage the Yarra Ranges N.P. do not have the resources or interest in maintaining these routes.
There were some people visiting Keppel's hut by 4 WD when I appeared for lunch seemingly like magic out of the bush. None of these people were carrying a chainsaw in their cars ,in case one of those big old dead trees fell on the 4 WD track, as they do .
After lunch I powered down the Keppel's hut 4 x4 track. It would be great to XC ski down in the right conditions.
I then continued back towards Snowy Hill car park along the Upper Taggerty road. It has many pleasant views of the valley , plenty of water courses where one can refill a drink bottle , tree ferns, massive dead trees fallen across the vehicular track and some even bigger dead trees waiting to fall , standing like ghosts in the blue skies and autumn sun. There are some old rusting relics from ye olde woode cutting days too.
The march flies seemed to have gone away . It was a suitable temperature for walking 6 or 7 hours in a day with a day pack.
The whole route could be XC skiable if there was sufficient snow at Mt. Margaret Gap ( 1100 M. ASL). In white season the trail from the Snowy Hill Car Park and day shelter to the Lake Mtn. summit would be under snow in good snow conditions so there would be less road walking to meet the groomed Ski trails .
I just started the walk by walking 2 km up the road from Snowy Hill car park to Gerrarty's car park at The LM Resort itself .I then followed Royston Track, Panorama Track, Hut Loop , Keppel's hut walking track to Keppel's hut . From there I followed the said 4 x 4 tracks to complete the loop.
McFadyen's track coming in from the winter gate a number of km. further north of Keppel's hut could have BC XC ski potential because it sits at 1300 M. which is higher than most of Lady Talbot road and the Upper Taggerty Track.
I found a leech on one of my gaiters when I got back to the car at 1630.
:-0
I stopped by to tell @teckel in Narbethong about the fallen logs on the track. She said she will mention it to the local CFA.
I will post a good number of photos soon.

 

A good day for walking the big loop , anti clockwise.
9.3.20

 

My film cameras were playing up. They sit in the cupboard and are neglected. The colour and composition with film when I was using the medium were generally better.

 

Walking along the LM XC ski trails, the place where I first took to XC skiing.

 

Heading down from 1400 M + to Keppel Hut(1292 M.) through the blackberries and overgrown scrub. The Team Leader @Ubiquitous Steve and I will have to do some scorched Earth policy whipper snipping ( and cutting some fallen poles ) along the foot track that connects the ski trails with the hut before the gates are locked in June to 4 x 4 traffic to the Hut.
Blackberries be gone !!!

 

Part 3 .The 4 x 4 walking route from Keppel's hut back to Snowy Hill car park at LM via the Keppel 's hut 4WD track and the closed to traffic and neglected Upper Taggerty track. If this closed 8.8 km route is cleared then mountain bikers, XC skiers and walkers would all benefit.
The Keppel's hut 4 x 4 track had one gnarly bit that has deteriorated as result of the heavy rain we have had recently.There was a huge root ball blocking the Upper Taggerty track that only a bull dozer with a huge chain could move.

 

The Team leader and the bears will be interested in these pictures of fallen logs, blocking fire truck access along a crucial route near the LM resort!
This route would be quicker on BC XC skis if the snow cover was sufficient. There are some wide downhill runs which would be better to BC XC ski on than some of the more narrow and challenging terrain in the Baw Baw N.P..

 

If conditions allowed doing this in white season then it could be better clockwise starting from Snowy Hill car park. The finish coming down Royston trail on skis would be the place where time could be made up in fading winter light.