Saturday, March 13, 2021

Mt William, Major Mitchell Plateau

Victoria 2020, yeah na Covid stuffed that but luckily in between 2 lockdowns Kell and I were able to pack our gear and head a couple hours west to the beautiful Grampians where we were to hike out from Mt William onto the Major Mitchell Plateau for a nice over night return trip 



We arrived to zero visibility and light drizzle, but our spirits were high so forward we went making our way up the road 2k to the top of Mt William. 
We hit William and didn’t bother going to the summit cairn so we hit the single trail and pushed forward. 
The trail was well marked and easy going. The drizzle was light and the visibility zero and we were soaked as we brushing up against the drenched low lying shrubs, but no worries.


Some nice rock formations were pretty cool and we knew on a clear day that the views would be amazing. 
One thing that stood out were the wild flowers, they popped in this low lights and I’m not normally one to take in flowers but on this day they were pretty much the only thing to look at. 

A few hours and a couple of small ups and downs we were at camp. First Wannon hiker camp was out destination, nice little spot with about half dozen sights on a beautiful little flowing creek, an ideal spot. 



We had arrived early and the weather was crap so we set the tents side by side and spent the arvo cooking noodles and relaxing in our tents. 

What a place to camp, the sound of the creek during the night was so peaceful, and the rain in the tent made sleeping easy. 

We woke the next morning to pretty much exactly the same conditions. Both slept pretty well but were a bit deflated that the sky was still gloomy and we were putting on wet boots.
Today the idea was to check out more of the plateau but unfortunately the Trail was closed after the campsite. So we had no option but to just return the way we come. 



Mid morning things started to change. We had come across a wallaby that was friendly and happy for us to just chill and watch him have morning tea. It was weird as it was at this point that we saw a strange thing in the sky, the colour blue. This was the point that our hike had changed to the next level. 







For the first time we could see what we were missing out on the previous day and a half. This place was stunning. The views and rock formations were amazing. 
We depacked and spent at least an hour eating our wraps for lunch looking over the plateau. 

We slowly walked back to the summit, this time
It was worth the stop, 360 degree views were on point. 
We were so glad we had a break in the weather to get to experience this mountain range. We only scratched the surface, we need to return as we have some unfinished business.