Cathedral Ranges

This was our first hike with a hiking group in Melbourne and we were exited about making some new friends and the grade 5-6 hike that was ahead of us. We didn't know what to expect and as it was led by the group organizer, we were a bit relaxed than we were on our own. So we drove off to the meeting point in Taggerty, Buxton. The drive was beautiful and we passed many scenic sights and midst plains, villages, farms and occasional clouds.

Thick mist

We reached out meeting point right on time and we took a few minutes to stretch and freshen up and also to get to know each other with a brief introduction. After making sure everyone is packed with essentials, we set off. The path was well formed since it is used as a management track in some periods. We could see the once burn't tree trunks through the green regrowth.

Regrowth

We kept walking, chit chatting and after about an hour, the organizer declared that we had been going the wrong direction. That was funny and we thought that was a nice warm up session after all and started walking back to the starting point. We had missed the sigh to the Messmate track which was partly hidden and not so prominent.

Finally few found it and the track was just a narrow foot path through the jungle and we had to walk in a line one after the other. It was a bit tiring having to walk up hill at a stretch. We took five minutes break after every 10 minutes of walking and after about an hour, we reached to Sugarloaf car park. Everyone was starving by the time and so we decided to have lunch there and stretch ourselves before the climb.

Sugarloaf saddle

We were told the next 20 minutes is going to be bit rough as we will have to do some rock scrambling to reach the peak. We started of another up hill walk and it became harder with every few steps and finally we were facing the rocky wall. It was a bit scary as we didn't have any ropes or other gear to support the climb and it was so steep that looking down gave me goose bumps. But we managed to tackle it one by one and the group helped each other. We met another group climbing down the same rocks half way through and it was quite a challenge to manage to top.

Looking down

As soon as we reached the top, we were stunned by the extraordinary 360 degree view and it is worth all the trouble and risk we took to get there.

We sat on the rocks and enjoyed the view and it simply felt great. From here one can either climb down and take another similar challenge to see the Wells cave or take the Sugarloaf razorback circuit to the ground. We took the second option and we could clearly see the razorback from there.

Razorback

Interesting terrain

It wasn't boring at all as we had to jump, scramble, crawl and even squeeze through the rocky track. Some rocks were slippery and we found occasional wet swamps.

Challenging track

after about another two hours, we were able to arrive at the Farmyard campsite where we stooped for a few minutes to rest and have a snack.

Single tent in Farmyard

It was starting to get cold and we had another 2 hours walk to Cooks mill campsite. So we picked up our phase as we didn't want to walk through the jungle in the night. Climbing down wan't easy, specially in that speed but we reached the Cooks mill campsite in record time.

Kangaroos in Cooks mill

 Everyone was so overjoyed about the day's achievement and we decided to treat ourselves with some dinner on our way back. It was an unforgettable experience and we felt accomplished even with sore limbs.