Alpine has been on our minds for a long time and after seeing many interesting articles about walks done in this region, we thought to give it a go. We decided it would be good to start the walk on the Christmas day as there will be less people on the track.
The initial plan was to Drive to Harriateville village and park the car and then start walking towards Mt.Hotham.
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| The route |
On the 25th we arrived at Harriateville as planned only to find a deserted place. It's not that we expected shops to be open on Christmas day but where are all the people? We drove up and down the road and found the walking tack but there wasn't any place to park the vehicle. The information center is the same as the general store but it was also closed.
So not knowing what to do, we browsed the net for any place to park and saw a lot of walks started from Loch car park which is close to Mt Hotham sky village. As there weren't many options left, we decided to drove there. After a scenic drive of about 25 minutes up the Mt. Hotham, we arrived at the Loch car park.
It was a huge park near a closed ski lift with a register book in a drawer to sign in before and after you leave for hikes. It was so windy that we felt strangely chilly.
The view around was so pretty and the endless mountains looked inviting. It felt wired to think about spending that night on one of those mountains.
After entering the details on the register, we stuffed our packs got in to the boots and hit the road. The map showed a small walking path which would cut us through to the Razorback track, but it wasn't in visibility. We don't really need the track as we have the GPS device, but it always felt good to know we are on some sort of a track.
Once on the track, we had to walk few meters passing a watch tower.
Then another few meters down through the bush to the tarmac, where the Razorback track begins.
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| Diamantina Hut |
It was bit of a surprise for both of us that we didn't notice the track when we were on our way. We sure did noticed the fleet of cars parked by the road and wondered, what was there. So yes, some people had chosen to park on the road side. It's of course an option if you are doing a one or two day hike.
Crossing the road, we entered the Razorback track and it looked very impressive.
It was lovely walking in such open space and soon we were above the surrounding mountains and view started to get better.
The scenery kept changing all along even though it's the same set of mountains. The plains were full of wild flowers giving the place a magical touch.
I think we walked for more than 4 hours or may be close to 5 hours and all that time, I never got bored of the view. I actually slowed the pace by stopping every few steps to take a snap.
It was around 7 in the evening when we reached the Federation hut, out stop for the night. There were a couple of groups already camped.
We could see the Mt. Feather top peak clearly from there. We could have gone to the peak as we had few hours of sun light left, but our legs were a bit sore and needed a rest.
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| Feathertop |
Bunnies were hoping around and they seemed not very shy, that I could actually talk to one while capturing a close up.
Soon it started to get cold and it was time to snuggle up in the tent for some warm supper followed by a good nights sleep even though I never sleep well in tents.
We intended to walk up the Feathertop early morning, but had to change plans a bit as it was freezing. So we took another hour to stay in warm sleeping bags until it's sunny enough. After a quick breakfast, we left for Feathertop with only a water bottle, leaving our stuff in the tent. That made our walk a very enjoyable one and climbing steep bits were a piece of cake without heavy packs.
Halfway through, we could see the Harriateville village down below where will be and perhaps stay the night later that day.
The place was full of wild flowers in full bloom. It was very pretty, that we didn't mind the steep climb.
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| Peak |
Once on the top, it was magical. There are no words to do justice to the spectacular scenery and I will leave it at that. It is worth everything.
I don't think we can ever capture that beauty in a snap but this would be the place for a nature photographer.
Spending a good amount of time admiring the superb views, we descended back to the camp site. It took another hour to pack the stuff and get ready to hit the Buglow spur track leading all the way to Harriateville.
