Mount Bogong Summit Overnight.

After nearly 20 years in Australia I was really questioning why I hadn't yet tackled my home states highest peak - Mount Bogong, 1986m. So, seeing fine weather on the horizon and the chance for an open air summit camp, I finally made plans.

After finishing work slightly early on a Friday, I set off. The drive from Melbourne to Mountain Creek Campground took a little under 5 hours and I was slightly concerned to see temperatures as high as 30°C registering on the car temperature gauge as I approached. I knew that the climb to the summit up the notorious Staircase Spur was not meant to be easy and I wondered how I'd go in the heat.

I arrived just after 9pm and it was a lovely, cloudless evening. I enjoyed a late snack under moonlight 

before (due to my sheer laziness and unwillingness to unpack my hiking equipment) settling down to a fairly uncomfortable nights sleep in the back seat of my car.

I awoke at 6am the next day and after a quick breakfast was on the trail by 7am. It's a 2.5km walk along Mountain Creek road from the campsite to the start of the Staircase Spur, and from there 6km of fairly unrelenting track to the summit. The information board at the bottom gives an estimated time of 2 to 4 hours to reach the summit and the elevation gain over the 6km route is 1452m. I was enthused, chipper and ready to go!

I'll be honest, with the heat and the 4.5l of water I had in my pack, it didn't take too long for me to realise that a rapid ascent was not on the cards. At about the 2km point I decided to slow down and saunter my way up - after all, unlike many people who were doing up and back in a single day I was going to be spending the night on the summit, so there was no rush to get there.

The path up is fairly narrow and winding, but most of all it's upwards and in many places, pretty steep.

It's not until you hit the 3km point and reach Bivouac Hut that the views really start to open up, but when they do, they are worth the climb. It was a beautiful day and I relished the fresh air and the long views now being afforded to me.

Bivouac Hut

First clear view of Mt. Bogong summit

I was very grateful to be able to refill one of my water bottles from the tank at Bivouac Hut as I had already emptied it due to the heat and exertion of the hike.

There were also lots of smaller things to observe too and I enjoyed some quiet moments watching the local wildlife.

After Bivouac Hut the trail passes through low growing snow gums and then out onto the open slopes of the higher elevations of Bogong. As before, the track alternates between some relatively flat sections where you can look around and catch your breath

and then some rather steep sections where there is a need to watch your footing and focus on staying upright!

I stopped at Gorge Gap for lunch and enjoyed the views, before deciding to take a longer break and have a snooze! 

Gorge Gap, looking over to Mt. Buffalo

The view from Gorge Gap up to the summit

The sun was beating down so I lay down with my head on my pack, pulled my hat over my face and rested. Several hikers passed during this time with one enquiring of their partner if they thought I was OK and whether or not they should check - I raised a hand and waved to let them know I was still alive!

After I had rested it was time to tackle the final ascent to the summit, and the steepest part of the track.

Looking back down to Gorge Gap

I was glad I took a break before tackling it as I meant I could enjoy the final distance to the summit, take in the views and not collapse when reaching the top - as I saw several other hikers who arrived whilst I was up there do. I arrived shortly after 4pm - having taken about 9 hours to ascend! I did say that I took it slow! 😉

To me, there are few better feelings than the one I get upon reaching the high point of a walk, and the summit of Bogong was no exception. The 360° views were incredible and it was gratifying to know that I had plenty of time to enjoy them. So, I relaxed in the shade of the summit cairn and enjoyed the vista before me.

Mount Feathertop in the distance

I also set up my bed for the night and watched the birds that hopped around in amongst the alpine grasses catching insects.

By the time the sun began to set (and the best light and views of the day arrived) I was alone on the summit. I made my dinner, sat back and enjoyed the wonderful environment I was in.

Almost exactly at sunset the summit cairn came alive with Bogong Moths, in their thousands.

So many, in fact, that I was forced to move my open air bed away from the cairn as they were covering my sleeping bag and getting inside it! Fortunately, I didn't have to move too far, and the views from my bed were spectacular!

Shortly after sunset I decided to get some sleep. I set my alarm to wake me up shortly before moonset, so I could indulge my passion for astrophotography. And when I did awake, it was a spectacular night!

Moonset behind the summit cairn

It's an indescribable feeling being out under a sky totally filled with stars, especially high on a mountaintop and all alone. An almost overwhelming sense of wonder and freedom and utter insignificance. I spent a good two hours taking photos and just revelling in the beauty of it all. 

Returning to my sleeping bag I spent a while lying there staring up into the star filled sky before I finally fell to sleep. I awoke again at 6am, just in time for sunrise.

Almost immediately the heat from the sun was intense, so I resolved to make a quick descent and I was packed up and on the move down the mountain shortly before 7am.

At the junction to the Eskdale Spur track, looking back towards Bogong summit

Top of the Eskdale Spur track

To make my walk a circle route I'd decided to come up the Staircase Spur and head down the Eskdale Spur track. 

The route took me past Michell Hut,

which I had observed from the Staircase Spur track the day before.

The Eskdale Spur proved to be as tough going as the Staircase, exacerbated by my keenness to "beat the heat" and by the time I reached Camp Creek Gap and had completed the major part of the descent I was overheating, exhausted and my upper thighs were objecting to what I was putting them through.

So, at the start of the walk along Mountain Creek Road I stopped for breakfast and a long drink, before the final 6km back to Mountain Creek Campground.

It was a hideous walk, in high humidity and the direct sun most of the time, with an air  temperature of 31°C - hotter in the direct sun

 and I soon become very grumpy...😠

So, I was very relieved when I made it back to my car and was able to refresh, drink some (sugarless) Redbull, clean up, change and then start the drive home with the air conditioning blasting!

I stopped in Tawonga to take one last photograph of Mount Bogong,

and my cars temperature gauge,

before commencing the 5 hour drive home, with the words of Edmund Hillary being echoed in my own thoughts which were simply, "Well, I knocked the bastard off!"