Excursion Itinerary
Broad Detail
Destination: Baw Baw Plateau
Departure date: Friday 9th July
Departure time: 0700
Estimated walk distance:
Cost per person: tba
Permit required: no
Vehicle Depart from: Mt Martha
Walk Depart from: St Gwinear Car Park
Walk to: Plateau, Talbot Hut ruins, Jans Hut
Circuit Walk:
Retrace walk: Y
Vehicle Return Date: Sun 11th July
Vehicle Return Time: Noon
Home Return Date: Sun 11th July
Home Return Time: 6 pm
Vehicle(s) details:
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Parked location |
Owner |
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Party
- Please edit the page with the relevant details, No phone numbers
| Name |
Medical condition |
Next of kin name |
| 1. Anthony kost |
young buck |
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| 2. Michael Johnson |
old bones |
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3. Patrick Platt
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old muscles
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Communications
- Mobile
- UHF CB ch 28, repeaters
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- Broadcast AM radio
Emergency plan
- all punters please cater for 1 emergency meal.
- Contact will be made with Kaz Standish no later than 8 pm. Kaz should contact the Erica police if no contact is made by 11 am the following day.
Equipment for vehicle(s)
- 20 litre water container for bottle fill at Mt St Gwinear Car park.
Walk Summary
Friday morning will see jono and kosty rendezvous with platty at Erica whereby we shall serve a morning tea of thermos coffee\tea and fresh bee stings that Platty might have sourced en route from the outstation. We may leave one car at the Erica police station.
Drive the Thomson valley road and explore the sourrounds.
Saturday, we drive to St Gwinear car park and take make our way to Talbot Hut ruins. Make camp then set off for "Hobbit land" to lay eyes on old growth snowgums.
Back to camp for fire and feasting.
Sunday. Return to car park via same route.
History
History of Jans Hut
River crossings
nil
Food
Water
Shelter
Phase of moon
Maps
Authority
Links
First Aid Kit
- 1 triangular bandage and safety pin
- 1 medium wound dressing
- 1 X 10 cm elastic bandage
- 6 assorted bandaids
- Antiseptic liquid/cream
- Moleskin and/or blister kit
- 12 soluble Panadol
- Sunscreen (15+)
- Personal medication items - placed in a small plastic bag.
- Personal medication should be clearly marked and the leader notified of its use.
Suggested gear list
- Snow Shoes
- Waterproof jacket - MUST ALWAYS BE CARRIED Must be long enough to sit on. Must have an overlapping closure. Should have an integral hood
- Waterproof over pants - Wind and waterproof. Must cover from waist to ankles
- Balaclava or beanie - MUST ALWAYS BE CARRIED Woollen or thermal , must cover nape of neck
- Mittens or gloves - MUST ALWAYS BE CARRIED Woollen or thermal with waterproof over mitts
- Trousers Loose fitting wool/wool-blend, no jeans
- Thermal underwear Top and long johns. Underclothing can be used as night or spare day wear.
- Shirt. Preferably light wool/wool blend and must be long sleeved.
- Rubber Gloves
- Snow googles
- Snow pegs -
- T-shirt
- Jacket or Woollen long-sleeved jumper "Bush shirt", jumper or "Polar fleece" type jacket
- Socks Wool or wool blend or whatever works for you
- Boots Must be stoutly made, comfortable, well proofed and WALKED-IN
- Gaiters
- Thongs or wet suit booties for base camp get around.
- Spare Underclothes
- Spare Socks - one spare pair
- Handkerchief
- Pack - Comfortable and able to store all equipment inside. Always use a large garbage as a pack liner.
- Sleeping bag - Good quality bag suitable for zero-5 degree temperatures in a waterproof cover.
- Sleeping bag inner sheet – reduces need for cleaning bag and is warmer.
- Sleeping Mat - Closed-cell or self-inflating mat
- Torch - Small with spare batteries and bulbs Standardise on AA batteries
- Toilet Gear - Toilet paper in plastic bag (use only white).
- Small towel or "Chux".
- Soap (motel size)
- Toothbrush and paste
- Mug - Tough plastic or enamel (Note capacity to use as a measure)
- Plate - or Bowl Knife, Fork, Spoon Tough plastic or aluminium
- Water Bottle – X 2 Leak proof, 1 litre, plastic, aluminium and wine cask bladder (for base camp water gathering)
- Cord - 6 metres of light cord 3mm in diameter
- Sunglasses
- Compass
- Map in waterproof case
- Mobile Phone
- Emergency space blanket
- Bivvy Bag Bright colour
- MATCHES / LIGHTER in clip lock bag
- Whistle on cord
- Sponge small
- Scouring pad
- Spectacles - spare set
- Notebook & pencil in clip lock bag
- Dish Cloth
- Tea candles small
- Pocket knife
- Spare boot lace
- Personal treats - Chocolate, barley sugar, muesli bars etc for on the track snacks
- Rubbish bags - plastic shopping bags
- Ear plugs for snorers
- Extra closed cell mat
Group equipment
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- Matches - Waterproof type, 2 boxes
- Snow Shovel - johno
- First Aid Kit - Johno
- Trowel or equiv. to bury waste - Johno
Personal equipment for end vehicle
Bagged
- Change of clothes/footwear
- Towel
- Deodorant
Menu
- Day 1 (Friday)
- Breakfast - BYO
- Morning tea -erica, Bee stings via tralagon bakery Platt
- Lunch - unlikely
- Dinner - BYO
- Day 2 (Saturday)
- Breakfast - BYO
- Luncheon - BYO
- Dinner /Happy hour - BYO
- Day 3 (Sunday)
- Breakfast - BYO
- Luncheon - BYO
Post Walk report
This winter excursion 9,10,11 July) would have two goals. A visit to the historic Jans Hut on the slopes of the Baw Baw plateau and a snow shoe ramble from St Gwinear to Talbot Hut ruins with a visit to a off track patch of forest known as Hobbit land. This little area did not fall prey to the 1939 bushfires, hence, there are some very old Myrtle beech and single trunk Snow Gums.
I am always keen to get some snow shoe hours under under my belt so that I can increase my confidence for future snow expeditions. My days of XC skiing with a heavy pack are done. The weather reports prior to departure indicated that there was a moderate amount of snow up high but it would probably be patchy and we may not even need particular snow gear such as shovel, shoes and pegs. In any case it's always marvelous to take a day off work and head to the mountains with good company. Which brings me to our party. At this time in the societies history we have a number of members on furlough for various reasons. Hips, hatchings and sundry responsibilities. The weather forecast was for clear cold weather. Our party consisted of Johnson, Kost and Platt and we rendezvous' at Erica on Friday morning, 1000 hours. Patrick was coming from the Outstation and offered to procure cream buns from the Traralgon Bakery on his way through. A delightful morning tea at Erica would surely set the tone for the weekend. Johnno and I got he call enroute that the said bakery does not offer cream buns as a regular item. Patrick exceled with plan B with a lovely variety of pastries. We stopped at Moe for a quick recon of the cream bun selection at Moe only to find a township bereft of old style baking treats.
We lingered at the picnic ground in sunshine eating our treats then transitioned to Patrick's car for the trip up the Thomson Valley road to Jans Hut. Today was a planned easy day with only a 4.5km walk into Jans with no snow equipment carried. We parked the car at Hut road and before too long we bore witness to the storm damage from about 4 weeks ago. Many alpine ash and black wattle trunks adorned our path and made for some tricky traversing. Hut track is a gated high quality logging track but some sort of D9 would need to clear this track. We arrived at Jans hut at 1430 to see a big stick of Alpine ash across the corrugated iron roof. Our evening dining in the hut by the chimney fire was dashed. Such is the life of a mountain cattlemen's hut in tall timber. There was a layer of patchy snow on the ground at this level but we found three tent spots under some tea tree near the hut and the creek, that would serve us nicely for the evening. Gathered some firewood and dug a small pit for our fire. It was cold when we stopped working. The hut was provisioned with a couple of arbor saws and a very blunt axe which we used to finesse our camp. A old school wire bed frame was re purposed as a table along with a piece of core flute board and some other boards. Some larger stumps were fashioned into a bench seat. We got the fire going at about 1530. Daylight is short at this time of year. Johnno called happy hour with an offering of cheeses, twiggy sticks, fancy wafers to deliver a sumptuous pate. We were sated. The fire was now delivering its core payload to its custodians huddled around it. It was at this time Patrick revealed a new piece of kit in the form of a string of LED party lights that unrolled to a distance of about four meters. The party just got started. As dusk progressed we organised a swag of coals to heat up the Naan bread and Patrick ignited the Soto Muka to reheat the Butter chicken curry. The Cous Cous and Coriander were prepared and the party enjoyed another Butter chicken in another remote location. Temperature was dropping. More wood for fire. Hip flasks were flashed about as a digestive as we idled time by the fire procrastinating the inevitable retreat to single mans quarters. We broke at 2030 hours.
It was a long night with some of the chaps taking two visits to the outdoor privy in cold conditions.
Saturday morning presented itself with overcast skies and we were out about by first light, 0730 hours. Coffee and porridge and the striking of camp. We covered our fire pit and returned all the hut items to the broken hut. We departed the hut at 0930 hours. We loaded into Patrick's vehicle and made our way to St Gwinear carpark. Here we laid out the tarp and reorganised our Kit carry. Poor snow cover at the car park and the donut van was open. We elected to take the snow equipment as we were not sure the cover higher up. Johnno delighted us with some jam ball donuts and we brewed a coffee before departure.
We took the XC ski run up to the summit passing a couple of families sightseeing. The summit was under cloud with no views. We chatted with two members of the ski patrol for a while before pushing down to the junction of the Alps walking track where we had some cuppa soups. More snow here. We were now on a tighter walking track for the last 7km to Talbot ruins. Walking through the snow was tough. Not thick enough or consistent to put snow shoes on so it was like walking through sand. Still it was a delightful winter wonderland to be immersed in. We made Talbot Hut Camp site by 1630 with a fading light. We were all pretty exhausted and cold. I set camp and jumped into the sleeping bag to get the edge on warmth. The chaps assembled on the large rock near the chimney and prepared our BYO dinners with the Platt party lights strategically strung. Water was fetched from a nearby fall of water, but it was quite a feat of gymnastics to get the bottle in position. A low mist was settling on the Talbot hut ruins and a retreat to single man's quarters was imminent. There was nothing for it. A warm drink, exhaustion and very cold. To bed. It was going to be a long night. I was able to receive pretty good AM and FM signals here and so I listened to the ABC radio for a while before drifting off. It took about 30 minutes in the enclosed sleeping bag to get toasty warm.
We were going for a 0800 departure this morning so that we could take a side trip to "Hobbit land" on our return to the car park. Consequently I was awake by 0630 for porridge preparation in the tent vestibule and do the internal pack up. We resumed our places at the large rock for coffee. Good sun was breaking through. It was going to be fine weather all the way today. A little after 0800 we retraced our steps and dropped packs at the top of the spur to follow some pink flagging tape along the spur and then it drops down left into a gully. The landscape completely changes to a quiet almost womb like area beneath a large canopy of Myrtle Beech and tall single trunk Snowgums. The space is magnificent and I think I can say the party were in awe. These very old trees escaped the 1939 Baw Baw fires so who knows how old this growth is. We poked about for a while admiring this fragile pocket and then retraced our steps to our packs.
Back on the main track towards the St Gwinear junction we strung out finding our own pace. Good sunny weather, fine walking. We regrouped at the junction and ate some food. A tent was pitched on a flat part of the walking track with nobody around. No big deal. We then pushed to the summit and this time admired the views to the north. I was in my new salamon low cut shoes and blisters were once again bothering me. My judgement call was to remember to wear boots when I am carrying weight for the extra support. It will reduce slippage. The walk back to the car park was easy and we passed nobody.
We did a quick load into Patrick's car and headed down to Erica for a "tarp out" change of clothes and repack. The mobile coffee cart was closing by the time we got to the rec reserve around 1500 hours. We changed and prepared the vehicles for the return trip to Melbourne. I would be travelling with Platty. There was talk of a bakery stop on the way home. I did some live investigations only to find that Trafalgar or Yarragon would be closed by the time we got there. Our only hope was to pardon Moe and return to her CBD cap in hand looking for decent baked goods and coffee. We did find a nice little vietnamese run bakehouse that satisfied our 1600 peckishness. From here it was a pretty easy drive back to the eastern suburbs and little did we know, Lockdown v5.0.
A fine excursion and we were reminded of its proximity to Melbourne. We declared the we will schedule more of programs in this vicinity.
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