Picture Gone Hiking
On the 5th of May 2001, Brett Ross and I set off to complete an overnight walk
in Victoria's High Country. The circuit walk starts at the Base of Helicopter
spur (not far from Bindaree hut), but luckily you don't have to climb it. You
head along an old fire trail towards the Crosscut Saw, turning right onto
Stanley Name Spur, which takes you up (with considerable effort!) to the top of
the Crosscut Saw in time for lunch.
Cloud quickly moved in as we sat and ate lunch, the temperature plummeted from
very cold to bloody cold, almost instantly. We didn't stop for too long as we
just wanted to get moving to thaw out, the short climb to Mt Howitt did just
that. Luckily cloud wasn't covering Mt Howitt which gave us spectacular views of
the surrounding mountains.
After a rest we scooted around the back of Big Hill and eventually into the
sheltered campsite in the saddle between Big Hill and Mt Magdala, this campsite
was excellent as had good views of the mountains around us, and even managed a
spectacular sunset which cast Big Hill a sensational shade of orange.
A cold start to the morning quickly change as we trudged up Mt Magdala, pausing
to take in views from Hells Windows (a gash in the side of the mountain gives
views of the valleys below). The wind was blowing a gale this day, the wind
cutting into out faces and chilling us to the bone, even more so from the
summit. Descending Magdala was a welcome as we were sheltered from the wind. We
quickly reach the King Billy track after some effort, we had some morning tea
and left the packs for a quick side trip up King Billy 1, but again we were
disappointed as the cloud moved in just as we reached the summit.
After donning the packs again, we made it the to the beginning of the decent of
Helicopter spur, I was a little concerned after hearing stories from other
hikers. The descent wasn't too bad, thought it helped having prior warning to
look for a track on the south side of a cliff to scramble down. A reminder to
anyone who wishes to tackle this descent- bring some rope.
After a couple of breathtaking taking hours descending the Helicopter spur we
arrived back at the truck and headed back home to the big smoke.
All up a fantastic walk that I would recommend to anyone, though good fitness is
required and patience when going down Helicopter Spur.
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