After loading up on the complementary jam and peanut butter from Wangaratta Maccas we arrived at the top of Mt Hotham in the Mt Lock carpark at 1pm on Friday.
The weather was gloomy, heavy misty rain with poor visibility and I had a bad feeling that we chose the wrong weekend.
We put on all our wet weather gear and headed off from the car
park toward Mt Lock. Within half and hour our luck had changed as the sky started to clear and we were able to remove heaps of cloths.It was here that I got an indication of what we were in for with our first sighting of Feathertop and the the razorback that leads to it. It looked amazing and I couldn't wait to continue.
After an hour we come to the start of the Swindlers walking track which headed in a south direction and it wasn't long before we hit Derrick Hut . At this stage we were still 1700mt high and there were great
views to the south. The track was well defined and at every 40mt there was a 15ft wooden pole .As we started to make our decent we headed into the snow gum forest, and continued down to the fast flowing Cobungra River. the track got quite steep near the end as we dropped down to 1300mt.
We had walked 9km, it wasn't even 4pm yet and there was plenty of daylite left, but we wern't going on. We had arrived at Dibbons Hut and new that this was the place that we wanted to spend the night.
The old log cabin was set in the middle of a grassy field , next to a flowing river and surrounded by mountains. Absolutely beautiful.
After setting up the tripod for the group shot we lit the fire, set up tents and relaxed just as the light rain started.
We rose early to clear skies and as I ate my porridge Kev was cooking up a storm, eggs, bacon, mushrooms. We left at 8.30, crossed a small foot bridge and headed north. It took us just under and hour and a half to reach Blairs Hut where we stopped for a break. As we were de-packing by yet another great looking log cabin which is on the West Kiewa River we were surprised by a person coming out of the hut in his PJ's which were pulled up to his chest. Harry was welcoming and told us he was staying in the hut for a few days. He had wire hoops everywhere that he used for a game of croquet. Harry mentioned that he had climbed Diamantina Spur over 10 times and it was tough, especially the first section.
We left Harry to his croquet and continued north along the river, mostly slightly downhill. At 10.55am we had reached the start of the dreaded Diamantina Spur Track and we prepared for the 3.9km climb to the Razorback.
The first hour was completely uphill with no flat sections. At times we had to scale rock faces and navigate ourselves around cliffs. There was a track the whole way but was tough to find in places. As we got higher up the mountain the track slowly started to get easier but it was still an uphill slog.
About 2 hours into our climb up the spur we stopped for lunch on a grassy area with sensational views of Hotham to the south, the razorback and the incredibly powering Mt Feathertop to the north.
As we continued our trek up the spur we could see a group of 10 walkers on the summit of Feathertop far in the distance. The south face of Feathertop had huge pieces of ice on it. Near the
end of the track there was a pretty good camp site not much before the junction of the Razorback. If you had some water left from the climb it would be a good spot to set camp as there wouldn't be anyone there. At 2.10 we had reached the Razorback. It had taken us 3hours, 15min to climb the 3.9km spur with full packs. Hard work but rewarding as we had a great view of the spur from the top and a massive scence of achievement.We had walked about 15 min along the Razorback towards Federation Hut when the weather started to turn. The clouds rolled in and the mist turned to light rain. From this point on our views were gone. Feathertop had disappeared and it was out with the full wet weather gear.
We arrived at Federation at 2.50 and thought I was back in the city with people everywhere. Tents spread all over the place and we figured there would be at least 20 hikers,if not more camping there that night. We had a quick think and looked at the map and decided to head for the MUMC Hut which is located 2km down the North West Spur.
As we walked back toward Feathertop to the North West Spur we come across another group of hikers who were heading to the MUMC as well. They had just come from the summit and said it was pointless going up as you cant see a thing.
About 500mt along the Northwest spur there was a fast flowing spring with heaps of fresh water. It took us an hour to get from Fed Hut to MUMC hut in poor conditions but we were glad to get inside and start drying off.
There was water at the hut but no fire place and no fires are allowed up there so hiking stoves are required.
The rain didn't ease all night and after Brent finished the port and we had a few games of Uno it was off to bed. The hut would easily sleep 20 hiker. Today we covered almost 15km.
The morning was no different, the rain continued and didn't look like easing. Our gear dried a little overnight but we knew the walk back to the car was going to be interesting. We left at 8.40, walking through what resembled a river. The water flowing down the mountains made the tracks soaked. We hit the start of the Razorback at 9.30 and started our final journey back to the car.
At no time could we see more than a few hundred metres so the famous views from the Razorback weren't to be today. Three hours of hard walking saw us get to Diamantina Hut at 12.30pm. We passed a few groups that were returning from Federation Hut and like us were looking forward to some dry cloths.
A short half hour walk along the road saw us back to the car at Mt Lock car park with the weather exactly as it was when we left on the Friday arvo. We had just walked 14km, 13.8 of which our feet were soaked.
This was an amazing trip even though the the rain spoilt the last part. I would recommend the course we took highly as staying at Dibbons Hut was a highlight and the walk up Diamatina Spur was challenging but rewarding.
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