2012 Trip Note

Pack Carry: 19-21 October 2012 - Mt Stapleton - Golton Gorge - Potters Creek

Contributor: Gillian Wainwright

Source: "The News", December 2012

Photogallery: Mt Stapleton - Golton Gorge - Potters Creek

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Bob and Richard at the northern Grampians

On Friday afternoon (19/10) Bob, Richard Deb and Gill met for the drive to the Northern Grampians for a pack carry weekend organized by veteran bushwalker Bob.

We had the luxury of taking the trip in Richard’s nice new Land Rover, which fitted the four of us and our gear easily. We arrived late evening at Trooper’s Creek and quickly set up tents and settled down for the night.

During the weekend we climbed Mt Zero, Mt Stapleton and Hollow Mountain. These climbs involved a lot of rock scrambling to get to the top but the views were absolutely wonderful. You get a 360deg look at the surrounding countryside from the farmland in the north to the rugged Grampians to the south and east.

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Wild flowers in the northern Grampians

We camped Saturday night at an old copper mine site near the top of Golton Gorge and took a quick walk down to look at it in the morning.

One of the highlights of the walk at this time of year in the Grampians of course is the wild flowers. We passed through a variety of flora and terrain.

This was my first pack carry with the club. Everyone had said “if you want to get into pack carries go with Bob”. They certainly gave good advice as he had planned everything magnificently and was generous in passing on tips to make things easier (and lighter).

The whole weekend was terrific and some of it (for me) a bit challenging (Bob later admitted some of it was on the hard side of medium, which made me feel a bit better).

Many thanks to Bob for a great weekend, thanks to Richard for driving and to Deb (the self proclaimed Bob groupie) for her help.