The club has walked The Razorback many times, but this time it was a bit different.
On this occasion, we organised a shuttle bus, from Harrietville to Diamantina Spur, and then walked all the way back to Harrietville via The Razorback and the Bungalow Spur. With a detour to Mount Feathertop this meant a 24km adventure, taking most of the day.
We started walking at about 9am, and had morning tea in a sheltered location (sheltered that is from the very high wind) at 10.30am.
Arriving at the saddle where the track to Mount Feathertop goes off to the right, we had a quick lunch and then geared up for the ascent of Feathertop. There were eight takers for this optional side-hike, with the remaining five taking cover under an enormous snow-gum.
The views from Feathertop were amazing, particularly so given the dynamic sky we had been in awe (fear?) of all morning.
However, the rain held off for a little longer, and all of us were able to admire the views, and that blue haze that typifies the mid-latitudes right around planet earth.
Having regrouped from the ascent of Feathertop, we meandered down to Federation Hut, where we loitered for a while before facing the music of the relentless descent back to Harrietville.
There were several groups of walkers setting up camp near the Hut, and we were envious of them, but given what occurred overnight (weather-wise, all hell let loose) maybe not!
We passed the old hut site, endured a very light shower, and then ambled down to Wombat Saddle, admiring the change in vegetation as we went.
The transition from snow-gum woodlands, to the tall timber of the lower slopes, and then the fern glades was exceptional, as was the wildflower display.
Unfortunately, at the western side of Wombat Saddle I severely jarred a tendon in my left knee, and had to hobble all the way from there to the finish.
This slowed things down a lot, however my walking friends helped out, with heaps of tolerance, support and first-aid.
The group split into two at this point, with the front group keeping up a good pace down to the start, so as to organise some cars to be at the finish.
Finally, it was about 6.30pm when I staggered over to these welcome sights (the cars), totally exhausted.
Back at Harrietville, Saturday night was very noisy, with thunderclaps and heavy rain; Sunday morning was very grey, and very threatening
This led us to meet up at Bella’s Café in Harrietville for an hour long morning tea, and then head for home. This was a good decision, as the morning rain was very heavy, and the wind very powerful.
Overall, a great weekend; it was a very interesting route with an excellent crew.
Many Thanks to Jeanette for her first aid skills; to Hugh for coming to meet us, and carry my pack for the last kilometre; to Michael, and Steven, for organising the cars at the finish, and to everyone for their support of their hobbling team leader.
[Chris]