Crinoline and Long Hill from Shaw Creek (mid-Nov'18)

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Crinoline and Long Hill from Shaw Creek (mid-Nov'18)

Postby LLSC » Mon 03 Dec, 2018 8:54 am

After spending a bit of time on Crooked River Track, Matt and I treated ourselves to a walk up Mt Ligar. We’d been wanting to walk here for ages and settled on a route from Shaw Creek to Long Hill and back, with a side trip to Mt Ligar.

Like last time we were at Shaw Creek, Wednesday night was very cold as the fog came in. Next morning when we woke, it looked like the fog wasn’t going anywhere. We set off in raincoats to keep out the wind and light drizzle.
FogRockShelter2_large.jpg
Dense fog on the outward trip lessened the views: as seen from Rock Shelter. Great views next day when the camera had stopped working.

The track was as expected: generally level; initially a good 4WD track which became a good walking track, then a foot pad which was mostly pretty clear. There had been some work put in by people before us, marking the track using cairns, pink tape and laying small logs along the edge of the track. There is one area not quite so well marked at about 649 533, where there is a clearing and the track appears to run out. The best approach would be to head due west from here for about 500 metres, until hitting the south-running terraces. We saw some pink tape and followed it through the bush but it led us too far south. The GPS helped us regain the line of the track and a series of pink tape markers but it was much slower following this, compared to our return journey, when we followed an old cleared track adjacent to the terraces. There was a bit of a clearing, marking a good campsite at about 643 522. Matt noted that there was a clue on a tree with ‘WAT..’ scratched on a tree with an arrow pointing east. We followed the arrow and soon found WAT (ER) running in the creek. We had not been sure it would be running, nor that we would find it, so brought two days’ water with us.

By now, it was afternoon tea time, so put up our damp tents to dry while we had a cup of tea. Then it was off to The Crinoline. The sun was starting to come through the clouds a bit, so the views were improving. I was surprised it took us over an hour to get up The Crinoline. Don’t make the mistake we did for a while: if you need to start rockclimbing, there is an easier way.
AscendingCrinoline_large.jpg
Ascending The Crinoline from the north: stay left
We eventually found the way up and made the top without fuss. There are plenty of trees up the top, impeding the view a little compared to the lower, clear slopes. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful spot to spend half an hour in late afternoon sun, looking over the valleys to the west.
TheCrinoline_large.jpg
The Crinoline in late afternoon sun.

It was a bit over an hour to go up but not much more than half an hour to get back to camp.

Next morning, the sky was clear: we had magnificent views of the morning sun lighting up the valleys of the Macalister and Wongungurra Rivers, as we headed north along the terraces. We also stopped for a while at the magnificent nook at Rock Shelter. That looks like a very inviting place to return to camp at, as long as I bring water. We got back to the cars around five hours after leaving the Long Hill campsite: about two hours quicker than the outbound trip.

Summary: mostly fairly level ground; a mix of 4WD and walking tracks; mostly easy to follow; great views when the cloud is gone; good camping but possibly unreliable water source at Long Hill. A pleasant two-day walk, with shorter second day. It would be good as part of a 2-day circuit including Mt Tamboritha, or a multi-day circuit including Lake Tali Karng.
LLSC
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Re: Crinoline and Long Hill from Shaw Creek (mid-Nov'18)

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Wed 05 Dec, 2018 7:11 pm

Thanks for the photos. I have not been there for over 6 years.
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