Trip Report Mt.Stirling 2021: News , chat , trip reports.

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

Hi. I thought I would start the ball rolling for Mt. Stirling for 2021.


I went up there for a walk to the summit via the Bluff Spur track and I took Ms. W. who had never been there before. She enjoyed it and the weather was clear.


Visibility from the Mt. Stirling summit was very good on March 29th 2021.

I completed a supply drop near Mt. No. 3 refuge hut for a BC XC ski trip and camped at the hut and enjoyed a roaring fire in the NECTAR front loader wood burner last night.

There was a full moon and a light frost .

The Dept. have been grading Road No.3 and flailing the shoulders of the road with heavy machinery .
The cows crap in the Mansfield state forest everywhere,
but come XC ski season there will be no other cars or cows and The easy drive from The Mt. Buller Road up Carter's road to Tomahawk Gap ( hoping no big trees will be falling down of course) should be straight forward enough to get to the locked seasonal gate at The Carter's Road / Mt. No. 3 road for a BC XC ski trip and some snow camping using the salubrious and easy to heat No. 3 hut as a base to ski into King Saddle and back along Road No. 3 .

The Dept. may possibly have even graded / repaired Road No. 3 all the way down to Tomahawk Gap . I did not check it out the whole way .

The road up to Mt. Stirling is 2 WD drive standard and so is the Circuit road .After that Road No. 3 where it leaves the Circuit road is 4 WD grade with some rocky steepish pinches which would be good to ski down if there is sufficient cover in season.

The Dept. are repairing the Mt .Stirling road and there are delays with a red traffic light on the drive to and from Mirimbah/TBJ.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

A fence has been erected along the Summit saddle 4 WD track to keep 4 WD users from driving off track and getting near the summit tree and/ or Summit trig. point.
A sign has been installed explaining some things about the summit tree which was vandalized in 2018. Some authorized arborists were collecting seeds from the heritage snow gum tree on the summit for the purposes of raising seedlings from it elsewhere.


I think an extra window has been installed /fitted into the Bluff Spur Hut which was quite dark and dingy in the past .There is a new picnic table at the Bluff Spur hut area and more "No camp fires" signage now.


The scenery was showing off . Mt. Cobbler , The Cross Cut Saw, The Bluff , Mt.Buller
et al were all clearly on display .

Some photos.
March 29th 2021.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

March 29th 2021.
We visited both summits and The GGS hut as well as walked along the Summit west track. There was quite a bit of water flowing from the soaks and springs along the summit west track.

The pony trail riders' Horse poo is something I do not miss in ski season , nor the 4WD users churning up the track surfaces on the summit
and Howqua gap tracks.
There were many school groups active in the whole area we visited over two days.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

March 29th 2021
We were lucky to have Mt. No.3 Refuge hut to ourselves. It was a peaceful place to camp, the water tank was full and I brought some pre cut hard wood logs to burn in the hut wood burner.
It is one of the better rebuilt huts in the Vic. Alps.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

March 29th 2021 .Autumn Sunset along the ridge on Road No. 3.
There are views of Mt. Buller up there from a different angle.
I look forward to BC XC skiing on this track. It sits at 1489 M.-1500 M. ASL .There are good views and very old snow gums out there.
The temperature dropped like a stone down a well once the sun set.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

March 30th 2021.
A clear and cold morning.
The drive out via The Razorback hut ( home of the green season Horsey people ) and Carter's road campsite. Carter's road has increased signage now. It is 11.5 kms from The Mt. Buller road to the seasonal closure gate at Tomahawk Gap. The road is in good repair. The Dept. have not had to deal with fires this year so they are mending the roads.
Mansfield was full of elderly drivers who would fail their driving tests if they had to sit them again :-0. We stopped so Ms. W. could get the coffee she wanted just how she prefers it from a reliable cafe . We filled up with fuel and were back in Yarra Glen before too long to collect the vehicle of Ms. W. who'd parked it near the Police station.

Led Zeppelin was the sound track for the drive.

A pleasant green season trip to Mt Stirling was then concluded. I think my friend has been converted to the attractions of Lake Mtn. and Mt. Stirling.

Mt . Baw Baw is next .