Mt Erica - 22.05.2020

After several weeks of lock down, National Park Closures, stay at home rules and, because of these, missing the first blast of wintry weather on the hills, it was with immense relief that restrictions were eased and I was able to make my way up to some "proper" autumn weather!

To avoid any possible crowds i choose to dive to the Mt Erica car park in Gippsland and take a stroll through mushroom Rocks, over the summit of Mt. Erica and along the Australian Alps Walking Track. The previous few days had seen a major cold front roll across Victoria, so I was hopeful about seeing my first snow of 2020.

When I first arrived at the Mt. Erica car park, it was raining and the whole mountain was socked in by a low, grey cloud.

The path was saturated and the ferns and bush were heavy with water, so hung low over the trail.

But, it was cool (about 2°C) and it wasn't long before I began seeing small patches of melting snow and some beautiful ice formations on the greenery beside the trail.

As I progressed further up the mountain the snow become more prevalent, the temperature dropped and from about 1300m I found myself in a truly magical world of snow and ice.

Right from the start it was obvious that there was a thaw going on, as the woods were filled with the sound of running water, the crash of chunks of ice falling off the trees and the trails were often streams.

But, due to the thaw, and the cold blasts of wind that kept screaming across the plateau, the melting water rapidly refroze and coated everything in a layer of ice, or created stunning icicles everywhere. I was kept exceedingly busy taking videos and photographs as everywhere I turned there was another amazing sight to see. It was a truly stunning day.

 

I stopped for lunch in a clear area just past Talbot Hut and warmed up with a good meal.

If I look chuffed, it's because I was, I love this sort of weather and the chance to get out into it, so this was pretty much a perfect day for me!

After lunch I returned along the same trail to the car park. The thaw has been rapid and many areas that had been covered with snow earlier that day were now much greener, from this, 

to this...

As soon as I dropped below 1400 meters, the snow was gone and I was back in the damp. misty world in which I had started. That actually makes Mushroom Rocks, with it's fantastic granite tors and formations a relatively spooky place to be - I love it!

I like to call this one "Sandcrawler Rock" - my Star Wars obsession
comes into play again!

At the end of the day, I'd covered 15.71 kilometres, and had yet another amazing walk in the Australian Alps. Now it was just time for the 2 hour return drive home...

Big Al.