Your correspondent in the field left a supply drop in the bushes near Mt. No. 3 Refuge hut in the Mansfield state forest and I recorded its position with a waypoint on a GPS device in 2020. The Melbourne lockdowns in winter and Spring 2020 disallowed this trip and the chance to utilize these goodies in a snow camping setting. I retrieved these items in Nov. 2020.
. So In March 2021 I took a friend up there to camp the night and I hid a fresh supply drop of canned/ tinned victuals, combustibles, candles, firelighters, and so on.
The window of opportunity finally opened with a break in lockdowns , permission to leave Melbourne from Stairman Dan, plenty of snow down to King Saddle in the Mt. Stirling ski trail report and relatively benign but possibly wet weather for terrain above 1300 M. to 1540 M. in The Buller/ Stirling area for 3 days .
So on 30/7/21 @beefa skiing and I met before dawn at my home address, loaded up the two chainsaws , skis , packs etc. and drove up to Mansfield from Melbourne and onto Tomahawk Gap at the top of Carter's road.
The road was clear of fallen trees and DEWLP seem to have a presence up there.
We got our equipment and ourselves ready for the slog up the closed winter road that is an endless series of steep ascending switchback turns. Road No. 3 ascends 400 M. in elevation in about 3 kms.
Day ONE. July 30th 2021
Saddling up the packs with ski gear strapped to the packs and slogging it up Road No. 3.
We stopped to add micro spikes to our bushwalking boots somewhere after the locked gate.
Once the snow became 10 cms deep on the No. 3 road we changed to ski boots, BC XC skis and skins to get up the hill with heavy packs.
It was a tough slog to reach the hut. There were a number of big wash outs closer to the top of the switchback road section, where we had to take the skis off and walk/ post hole or side step along narrow fingers of washed out snow , down 50 cms in depth to the mud and then back up onto the snow pack to continue.
We met a couple out for the day , (a skier and a snow shoe walker) out there and a school group from Timbertop school too.
The snow cover improved as we ascended.
Finally we reached the summit area of Mt. No. 3 which is well over 1550 M. ASL. It was very scenic and quite windy and cold.
. So In March 2021 I took a friend up there to camp the night and I hid a fresh supply drop of canned/ tinned victuals, combustibles, candles, firelighters, and so on.
The window of opportunity finally opened with a break in lockdowns , permission to leave Melbourne from Stairman Dan, plenty of snow down to King Saddle in the Mt. Stirling ski trail report and relatively benign but possibly wet weather for terrain above 1300 M. to 1540 M. in The Buller/ Stirling area for 3 days .
So on 30/7/21 @beefa skiing and I met before dawn at my home address, loaded up the two chainsaws , skis , packs etc. and drove up to Mansfield from Melbourne and onto Tomahawk Gap at the top of Carter's road.
The road was clear of fallen trees and DEWLP seem to have a presence up there.
We got our equipment and ourselves ready for the slog up the closed winter road that is an endless series of steep ascending switchback turns. Road No. 3 ascends 400 M. in elevation in about 3 kms.
Day ONE. July 30th 2021
Saddling up the packs with ski gear strapped to the packs and slogging it up Road No. 3.
We stopped to add micro spikes to our bushwalking boots somewhere after the locked gate.
Once the snow became 10 cms deep on the No. 3 road we changed to ski boots, BC XC skis and skins to get up the hill with heavy packs.
It was a tough slog to reach the hut. There were a number of big wash outs closer to the top of the switchback road section, where we had to take the skis off and walk/ post hole or side step along narrow fingers of washed out snow , down 50 cms in depth to the mud and then back up onto the snow pack to continue.
We met a couple out for the day , (a skier and a snow shoe walker) out there and a school group from Timbertop school too.
The snow cover improved as we ascended.
Finally we reached the summit area of Mt. No. 3 which is well over 1550 M. ASL. It was very scenic and quite windy and cold.
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