Summer is ending and the days are getting shorter. Figured I should get a big day hike in while the sun is out. Time to tackle Mount Bogong, the tallest mountain in Victoria!
https://www.trailhiking.com.au/hikes/mt-bogong-staircase-spur/
A ~9 hour, 21km hike with 1.5km ascent should fit the bill. <sweat nervously>
Given it is 4+ hours away, decided to make a weekend of it. Scooted up after work on Friday and camped at a caravan park in Tawonga which made for a short 10 minute drive in the morning to get an early start on what promised to be a big day. I assumed I would be knackered after the hike, so was planning to spend Saturday night there also and head back Sunday.
Alas the accommodation didn't quite go to plan. Got in at 10pm and found someone fast asleep in my assigned spot. A maintenance guy spotted me and just told me to spend the night in the next door spot, so no drama on Friday night. However I got up and left before my squatting neighbours woke up, and before reception opened... so I just threw my tent in the car and left for the hike as I didn't see an easy, and timely, way to iron out the problem.
So headed along to the Mountain Creek camp area where the track started, only to discover it was insanely busy. The line of cars parked along the road stretched from the camp site for 700m! Eventually found a spot, close to the camp site thankfully, and discovered that the annual Mount Bogong Conquestathon was on. This turned out to be a fairly popular race up Mount Bogong following the same track I was planning to walk. Thankfully the race started 1.5 hours before I arrived so I wouldn't have the spend the morning being overtaken by racers; that would have been rather demoralising!
The walk started out nicely. The first few kilometres were fairly flat, with some delightful scenery; a bubbling creek, tall dense gums, and giant ferns.
Unfortunately, this is where the pleasurable part of the day ended, and the mountain began. My god, this was a brutal assent. Seven relentless kilometres of up, up and up. Had to stop for many breaks along the way as my pulse would frequently crack 150 and the sound of the blood throbbing through my head would drown out the music.
When I wasn't drowning in self pity, I was able to appreciate the scenery. The diversity of the flora as I went up was impressive; the changing gum trees, the ferns, the bushes, and finally the tundra above the snowline.
I eventually made it to the top and the view almost made the hike worthwhile. Endless mountains in nearly all directions, and with the help of an app, I was able to identify Mount Kosciusko in the distance.
From the summit, it was all downhill, and it was a pretty easy decent. Lucky as I was spent. Soon after I started to overtake the stragglers of the race and this gave me a huge confidence boost. Until I realised I had only caught up to family groups with senior or young kids in them.
While I can appreciate the mountains and the dense forests in areas like this, I am coming to realise that I do prefer the wide open plains where I can enjoy disant views. Might explain why I love places like the Grampians so much. It also might explain why I only remember the first 2 lines of this poem stanza:
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
Started back towards the caravan park and decided the effort of setting up tent/camp again was all too much; it was easier to drive home and enjoy sitting down for the 4 hours. Was a fairly uneventful drive and after a short nap around half way back, had no troubles staying awake and alert.
I listen to the audiobook of Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway while driving and quite enjoyed it. Short, vivid, and captivating. One quote stuck with me:
Why do old men wake up so early? Is it to make the most of one last day?
Thought that was great, but after looking it up later, seems I got it wrong. I like my take better than the original.
Why do old men wake so early? Is it to have one longer day?
This was possibly the hardest hike I have ever done, and it made me complain more than usual. All things considered, it was a good day and glad I did it. Not sure I am overly keen to do it again however!
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