Hi. A friend and I went for two nights of camping at the Bluff Spur hut camp site. The rainwater tank at that hut was empty. The Tanks at : The GGS hut; King Spur Hut; Cricket Pitch shelter; The Razorback Huts and at Hut No. 3 all had some water in them. Fork Creek was flowing . The springs on The Summit West trail and the Stonefly track/South Summit trail near the Keep Dry hut ruins were barely trickling and a pump up water filter was necessary in order to fill containers and filter it.
We walked up the Bluff Spur track on Monday , set up camp and went in search of water and visited the summit.
Tuesday 19/3/19 We did a day walk in good weather from the Bluff Spur Hut down to the Razorback huts and back. We saw many school groups on the Mountain . It seems Mt. Stirling is popular in Autumn esp. because many other places in the Vic. Alps are on fire.
There was a lot of horse poo every bleeding where up there and MTB action seems to have caused some wear and tear on the foot trails.
The Mountain is very dry and dusty.
The Cricket Pitch and King Spur hut look like the best spots to camp in good weather in green season.
Today , Wed. 20/3/19 was the walk down the steep and slippery River Spur and along the Circuit road back to the Car at TBJ. After taking in some food we piled into the T mobile and headed up Road No. 3 to visit the very impressive Hut No.3. We liked that hut and setting very much even if there were cows grazing nearby.
However the road back down to Carter's road after the Hut visit deteriorated severely and it was at the very limit of what both my car and I as a driver can do to descend that 4 x 4 track safely and without doing some serious damage to the underside of my car.
Like some other BC off road access options once you commit to driving along it then turning back on that steep, rocky , loose, dusty and overall shite road is not possible
….. and then that is it. You have to go through with it. My car managed to go down it very slowly in low gear with a lot of braking but it would not have the power, clearance or true full time power to 4 wheels that you would need to go up it .
I had to get out and walk sections of it to pick the right line as well as remove large rocks from the ' carriageway'.
:-0
So I missed out the views from that drive because I was looking at the road like my life depended upon it.
Once we reached the junction with Carter's road I could relax. The road became very reasonable and easy to drive on.
WHAT I FOUND OUT FOR BC XC SKI PURPOSES:
Some of the Ski runs on Mt. Stirling such as the Huts loop look skiable for my level whereas the Race Loop and the black run section of the Stirling trail still look tricky without snow.
The Hut at Hut no. 3 is magnificent and stands at about 1500 M ASL and is surrounded by mature living and ghostly dead snow gums. The distance from the parking space,
from the junction with Carter's road and Road No. 3 to Hut No. 3 is 6.2 kms.
Carter's Road seems totally doable in all weather in an AWD RAV 4 with All Terrain Tyres. The steep zig zag hike up to Hut No. 3 in white season would take just over 3 hours with a heavy overnight winter pack with skis strapped to the pack. Snow shoes might be necessary or maybe micro spikes could be better.
The terrain along Road No. 3 down to The Razorback huts is mainly down hill with one cattle gate to contend with. It offers potentially good XC skiing in sheltered terrain in a snow gum forest and lower down near the Circuit road more Mtn. Ash trees and the like.
The No. 3 Hut has a wood burner and an interior that would make Ubi Steve swoon and the axe out the front is attached to the building by a chain. The outhouse offers a place of relief that is not too far from the hut , although in a white out it could become interesting to find the hut again ;-P.
I am taking my car to be serviced next week. I hope I have not scraped the shite out of anything important underneath the vehicle.
We made it back to Melb. without any car problems.
I will cogitate over doing a Hut No. 3 ski trip from the top of Carter's road this coming XC ski season. I would prefer to do it with another BC XC skier for safety reasons as much as sharing the adventure..
Standby for photos .
We walked up the Bluff Spur track on Monday , set up camp and went in search of water and visited the summit.
Tuesday 19/3/19 We did a day walk in good weather from the Bluff Spur Hut down to the Razorback huts and back. We saw many school groups on the Mountain . It seems Mt. Stirling is popular in Autumn esp. because many other places in the Vic. Alps are on fire.
There was a lot of horse poo every bleeding where up there and MTB action seems to have caused some wear and tear on the foot trails.
The Mountain is very dry and dusty.
The Cricket Pitch and King Spur hut look like the best spots to camp in good weather in green season.
Today , Wed. 20/3/19 was the walk down the steep and slippery River Spur and along the Circuit road back to the Car at TBJ. After taking in some food we piled into the T mobile and headed up Road No. 3 to visit the very impressive Hut No.3. We liked that hut and setting very much even if there were cows grazing nearby.
However the road back down to Carter's road after the Hut visit deteriorated severely and it was at the very limit of what both my car and I as a driver can do to descend that 4 x 4 track safely and without doing some serious damage to the underside of my car.
Like some other BC off road access options once you commit to driving along it then turning back on that steep, rocky , loose, dusty and overall shite road is not possible
….. and then that is it. You have to go through with it. My car managed to go down it very slowly in low gear with a lot of braking but it would not have the power, clearance or true full time power to 4 wheels that you would need to go up it .I had to get out and walk sections of it to pick the right line as well as remove large rocks from the ' carriageway'.
:-0
So I missed out the views from that drive because I was looking at the road like my life depended upon it.
Once we reached the junction with Carter's road I could relax. The road became very reasonable and easy to drive on.
WHAT I FOUND OUT FOR BC XC SKI PURPOSES:
Some of the Ski runs on Mt. Stirling such as the Huts loop look skiable for my level whereas the Race Loop and the black run section of the Stirling trail still look tricky without snow.
The Hut at Hut no. 3 is magnificent and stands at about 1500 M ASL and is surrounded by mature living and ghostly dead snow gums. The distance from the parking space,
from the junction with Carter's road and Road No. 3 to Hut No. 3 is 6.2 kms.
Carter's Road seems totally doable in all weather in an AWD RAV 4 with All Terrain Tyres. The steep zig zag hike up to Hut No. 3 in white season would take just over 3 hours with a heavy overnight winter pack with skis strapped to the pack. Snow shoes might be necessary or maybe micro spikes could be better.
The terrain along Road No. 3 down to The Razorback huts is mainly down hill with one cattle gate to contend with. It offers potentially good XC skiing in sheltered terrain in a snow gum forest and lower down near the Circuit road more Mtn. Ash trees and the like.
The No. 3 Hut has a wood burner and an interior that would make Ubi Steve swoon and the axe out the front is attached to the building by a chain. The outhouse offers a place of relief that is not too far from the hut , although in a white out it could become interesting to find the hut again ;-P.
I am taking my car to be serviced next week. I hope I have not scraped the shite out of anything important underneath the vehicle.
We made it back to Melb. without any car problems.
I will cogitate over doing a Hut No. 3 ski trip from the top of Carter's road this coming XC ski season. I would prefer to do it with another BC XC skier for safety reasons as much as sharing the adventure.
.Standby for photos .
*pedant mode off*
