Traditional Custodians: Taungurung
Mt Stirling (1749m), the sister mountain to Mt Buller (1805m), is home to many trails of differing difficulties. What is wonderful about this alpine area is that it lies a mere 3.5 hours from the heart of Melbourne and is a great way to experience the Victorian Alps on a day off. Access to the trails is free and most begin at Telephone Box Junction, however during the ski season you may need to pay an entry fee to the mountain.
There is a map at Telephone Box Junction that will give you a detailed description of all the trails in the area and their level of difficulty.
My hiking companion Jack and I took the Bluff Spur trail on this occasion and within half an hour we were already treading on good snow cover. We witnessed the flora change as we ascended from into the high country.
After roughly 2 hours of walking you will find yourself at Bluff Spur Hut, this is a free-to-stay memorial hut, built in memory of two hikers that perished on Mt Stirling in the 80’s. It houses four sleeping spaces, a pot belly fire and a wood shed that is stocked year round by local rangers. Bluff Spur Hut is a jump off point for lots of great short walks and cross country skiing trails, which gives you the opportunity to drop your bags and explore.
We happened to bump into a few friends of ours that had stayed in the hut over night and dragged them out of bed for a short 15 minute walk up to the Mt Stirling Summit. From here you can witness panoramic views over the entire mountain range. On a clear, blue bird day you will be able to see over the Howitt Plains to Mt Hotham. From here we parted ways with Al and Nina and headed towards the Howqua Gap. This is roughly a 4 hour return walk and has a lengthy steep section attached to it. The Howqua Gap Huts are a nice spot for lunch and have drinking water and toilet facilities.
We arrived back at Bluff Spur Hut around 3.30pm, set up our beds and started stoking the pot belly. It doesn’t take long before the entire hut is toasty warm and you can sit around in a t-shirt and shorts, even when it’s -5 degrees outside.
We made one more unforgettable trip up to the Mt Stirling Summit to witness an impressively foggy sunset before cooking up some 2-minute noodles in the jet boil and calling it a night. By 6am we were up again and trudging back down to our car as the sun came up through the snow gums. If you walk briskly, the journey down should take little less than an hour.
By Ben Burgess
2017
