Conquered by the Viking circuit.
I was contacted by a friend who was hankering for some adventure. I hadn't seen Tom since my last bike/walk/ski trip to the Fainters. Like him, I two needed some adventure to make up for the enforced sabbatical last year caused by Government the Covid-19 lock down of Melbourne. After a bit of consultation with another buddy about speccy places to walk we decided to do the Viking circuit, which is located in midst of the Victorian alpine region.
There are some very good information sources on the Viking circuit on the internet and in books here are a few:
- Australian Alps walking track (book by John Siseman ISBN 09587874 8 4)
- Trail Hiking Australia (web site)
- Google or DuckDuckGo search "the viking circuit victoria"
The area is famous for the inspiration to the land-forms in Tomorrow When The War Began. With some inviting features such as The Crosscut Saw, Mt Buggary, Horrible gap, Mount Despair and The Viking; this is not an easy hike.
Mother nature had different ideas about any successful quest. Firstly we were not match fit. The missing year of 2020 saw little in the way of major walks, this was the first in nearly 12 months for both of us. We were fit from other activities but not walk-fit. Then there was the mad summer weather brought on by La Niña (interesting read about La Niña on the Bureau of meteorology here and here.).
When we set out the temperature was 37 degrees in Licola, so we chose to stay in the caravan park, sup a few cold beers and sort our gear out before heading to the hills. The caravan park has a nice setting by the river, it is a small one with limited facilities and the store closes on Tuesday. I like it, life is simple and there is , nothing too complex and stressful here. My car camping five minute instant tent served its purpose well, though I'll need to buy another because the zipper on the door broke.
The next day we set off for Howitt car park. The day was still hot. My preferred walking temperature is at around 10 to 18 degrees. This was not to be the case on this day starting reasonably cool, but increasing to around 30 degrees as we approached mid day.
Our plan was to do the Viking circuit in an anti-clockwise direction. We reasoned that we could warm up our legs on a relatively level terrain, camp and collect water at the Wonnangatta River, then seek more water at the Viking saddle. If there was no water at the saddle we could 'escape' by the same route.
Our research indicated that it can be tricky to find water on the Viking route so we felt that this would be a better strategy than tramping long hard days and running out by going the other way. Here is a Google earth link should you wish to explore the terrain online.
The Zeka Spur walking track that is marked on maps and also indicated by the gpx files (courtesy Trail Hiking Australia) no longer exists. It is now fire regrowth with lots of scrub and fallen trees. 5km of walking took us over 5 hours and 4 litres of water each. No water was suitable to collect along the way as it was polluted by deer raking activities.
We intersected the Zeka road which is a dirt road and chose to exit rather than continuing on, deciding that perhaps the weather and terrain was not going to be in our favour. Tom was also suffering with a large blister on the ball of one of his feet.
Along the road we were able to collect water to replenish our dwindling stock. It was quite pleasant walking, though due to its snaking path was much longer than the direct path of the 'walking trail' being over 13 km before hitting the main road to the car park, Our day was a long one of 12 hours.
We camped at the car park deciding to base camp at Macalister springs the next day or two. There we met a father and son team. Dad was regaling us with stories how he had done the circuit in both directions. Now he was spending quality time with his adult son car camping. Spending his retirement money and time he travels the country outback whenever he can. He has quite a nice vehicle set up with fridge, pop out table and other toys built into his vehicle to make outdoor life easier (I was taking copious mental notes).
Taking pity on our somewhat tired state he wandered over later and offered us two huge segments of cheesecake. Too polite to refuse we accepted gracefully. I don't think I tasted the cheesecake as it went down rather quickly. (picture courtesy taste.com - I was too tired to chase out the camera)
The next day was much cooler. It was only about 5km to Macalister springs over easy walking terrain so we took it easy getting there. This path is evidently a popular one. The path was well defined and there is a well made hut and toilet above the spring. Someone went to a lot of effort to design and construct them. The aesthetics somewhat a pleasing complement to the environment and different to the normally ramshackle badly maintained buildings in other areas.
The toilet - a loo with a view: why would you want to finish your business quickly ?
The architecturally designed hut (Vallejo Gantner Hut - built due to its namesake's tragedy) blends in well with the surrounds. As tempting as it was, we elected not to stay in the hut for the fear of rats and other creatures wanting to gnaw at our food and gear. It was fairly clean inside and there were plenty of nails to hang our stuff should we have elected otherwise, but I still prefer my tent for its privacy.
We found a good campsite located near the spring. This had convenient quick access to running water and wasn't too far away from the amenity of the hut.
The downfall to this choice was that it is on the main access route to the springs and the Mt Howitt / Mt Speculation tracks. Lucky for us there were few people, but we did encounter a professional horse trekking group. Fortunately we were present when they ambled by. Tom, however is allergic to horses and snuffled in response. Later on the track to Mt Howitt we were careful to avoid strategically placed fertilizer deposits (brings me back to memories of trekking in Nepal , but nowhere near the same level of course.)
The spring is the source of the Macalister river. Its drip feed here leads to a more significant stream as it flows into the Thomson river and ultimately Lake Glenmaggie. The water is clear and chill. It is quite possible to be ok drinking it as is, but having suffered a bacteria invasion in the past ( see my blog on the Munda Biddi ride). chastened with that memory, I purified it with a chlorine tablet.
Along the way we were treated with a display of wild flowers. The colours added a vibrant contrast to the somewhat muted tones of the olive green and muted green predominance of the scrub and trees.
An afternoon taster walk to a viewpoint of the Viking circuit finished the day. That view convinced us that an extended exploratory walk was mandatory. We had allocated 2 spare days over the 4 that it usually takes and decided that there should be an opportunity to at least cover a return walk to Mt Buggery or Speculation.
I am glad we had that spare set of days available as overnight it snowed. What a transition from high temperatures near 30 degrees to sub zero. Both of us had adequate gear and Tom was glad to prove his new 4 seasons tent. My ultra light Zpacks dyneema fibre tent stood up to it too.
Emerging from our cocoon was somewhat a pleasure with the complete overhaul from a green carpet of grass the day before to a blanket of white snow today.
The alpine flowers looked dapper with their chilly new raiment.
The skies looking grim meant made it hardly worthwhile for any excursion. We stayed most of the day in the hut. Yesterday we met a young family from Warrigal who arrived late. It stays late until beyond 9pm so that's not unreasonable. They were going to camp overnight in a site located above us, but decided at the last minute to stay in the hut. No rats were reported and the kids loved the experience. A fire in the hut to warm by and snow ball fights as well as a snow man were the order of the day. Tom had some marshmallows to toast and share so everyone was in good spirits.
The father was a rafting guide and now works as a youth outreach worker. Having explored most of Victoria's rivers he was a font of knowledge and provided his details should I need qualification on future pursuits with my packraft.
They left mid morning and couple of guys rocked up with mountain bikes. On the handle bars I noticed a packraft and started talking. They had come up from Melbourne, by train cycled via Arbuckle junction to here. They stopped here to reconfigure their trip plans as they found the same thing as we did that the Zeka walking track no longer exists. Their intention was to travel on the Zeka spur walking track to the Wonangatta river then to transport themselves along with bike on the raft down the river to Dargo road and then follow the Mitchell river out.
I tried bike rafting a bit cumbersome myself (see my blog here), but these guys had substantially lighter gear and a bike-rafting specific Alpacka Caribou packraft. These guys looked lean and tough. I did not know at the time but it turns out that one was quite famous in world of extreme sport: Lewis Ciddor. He has done numerous podcasts and is active on Strava. This adventure is on Strava too.
I learnt a lot from Lewis in our short time together. Lewis had a carbon fibre mountain bike - frame and wheels, built in dynamo to charge the electricals, Garmin tracker and so on. I was in gear heaven. His web site details the bike and gear he normally takes. The picture below is not Lewis's but shows the packraft neatly in place under the handle bars.
He showed me this great application called Mapout, which unfortunately is only available on Apple products. There are similar applications on Android but nothing that quite matches the polish and feature set of this one. I am now torn about crossing to the dark side. My Samsung Galaxy phone is now 2 years old and starting to show signs of age. The new Samsung phones take sensational photos, but this application is a trekker and cyclists dream. (look at the Mapout web site and you'll see what I mean.)
Quid pro quo: I taught Lewis one of my favourite card games dhumbal a Nepalese game, along with another couple of other hut guests. There are variations to the rules of this game in terms of going out or scoring but the approach is the same. Here is one set of rules on Pagat. My variation is to play to 100 and allow selection from any of the cards in the last player discard. After a few rounds, I think I might have a new set of dhumbal card addicts.
The other two hut companions camped above the hut and like us sought refuge. they had an interesting personal history in that they were boat refugees. Leaving home from a dangerous life in Pakistan near Afghanistan they left at the age of 13 to seek a better life in Australia. I can only imagine what it would have been like for their parents not knowing whether their child was going to make it, as many do not. Both knew each other by coincidence meeting on separate journeys being from the same village and ending up in Melbourne. They both work in different occupations and further with refugee outreach programs.
The weather cleared enough in the afternoon to allow some air. Lewis and his mate left the hut. Tom and I, along with one of our card playing companions decided to stretch our legs on an excursion to Mt Howitt. The mountains were cloaked in clouds which lifted enough to give us some landscape views. Here is some footage courtesy of Ramzi.
The walk to Mt Howitt though not as dramatic as the one looking on to the ridge of Mt Speculation has its own appeal with its plunging valleys. It was a relatively short and easy traverse and worth the effort.
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