NSW Nordic Ski Club
Dargo Dash - August '96
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Avid readers of the Trips Program would have noted that for the last four years I have advertised a XC skiing trip in Victoria. This touted that we would ski from the southern side of the Great Dividing Range across the Dargo High Plains to the northern side - an epic indeed! Well, for three years in a row there was not enough snow and I had to reluctantly implement Plan B and go skiing somewhere else. Then this year my spies reported that there was finally enough of the white stuff and so my long laid plans finally came to fruition.
After leaving our car at Harrietville and rendezvousing with Roy in his Toyota Land Cruiser we proceeded to drive up to Mt Hotham. This allowed us to drive past the exit point for the trip and, through the window, view the route for the last few days of the trip (I was thus personally able to confirm that there was indeed enough snow). Through the murk at Hotham we drove, past the frolicking at Dinner Plain we drove, past Omeo, through Sale, onto Dargo and thence up into the mountains we crawled on a mud slicked dirt road in the glooming ('twas truly an epic drive which our posteriors protested).
Finally through the lights there was the gleam of snow on the ground which progressively deepened. At a lonely spot in the middle of the forest Roy dropped us off (Grid 166868) and as his tail lights winked into the distance we knew we were alone in arguably the most remote part of the eastern Australia. Ahead of us 5 days of wilderness skiing!
Next day we shouldered our unfamiliar packs and began to glide down the road in brilliant sunshine. For morning tea we dropped our packs for a small diversion to visit the "Treasures" which is a collection of privately owned turn of the century gold mining huts. These have been done up to varying degrees to act as a dude ranch for horse tours in summer. Being unoccupied in winter we had the place to ourselves and went exploring. The most interesting feature was the collection of mature northern hemisphere trees. These included a Blue Spruce, a Douglas Fir and a Port Otford Cedar which looked very much at home in the snow but somewhat incongruous beside the snow gums (perchance they were planted by some lonely miner from the Klondyke?)
A further ski up the road brought us to the locked gate at grid 167897 before we emerged on Gow Plain. This is the first part of the "High Plains" and is a lovely open area with vistas in all directions. Through the remains of the morning we pushed on through the snow gums to arrive at Long Spur Hut (Grid 148926). This is a small hut which could sleep four at a pinch on the floor. However, as the floor was somewhat less than clean, we erected our tent and used the hut for meals & socialising as well as our base for the next two days.
That afternoon, freed of our big packs, we scooted around the main part of the Dargo High Plains. This was first class skiing on firm snow gliding through open forest to link up open glades and vales before emerging onto extended plains. We literally skied our hearts out and slept soundly indeed that night.
Next morn a day trip took us along the length of the Long Spur in search of Shepherd's Hut. After conversing with Monsieur Renard we skied for miles along the ridge before having to drop our skis for the last few km. Crossing through a gate we debouched onto a snow grass glade where a herd of a dozen steers were contentedly munching away in the sunshine. Having noted them I then transferred my attention to the pair of large majestic trees on the side of the glade which were truly arboreal wonders. A muted low pitched drumming followed by a cry of alarm brought my attention back to the steers which were now surrounding us at very close range. They had lovely soft brown eyes, long pink tongues, wet noses and gleaming coats - truly fine looking beasts.
Having worked on farms at regular intervals I realised that they were hoping to be fed some tasty concentrates as a winter supplement. I was unalarmed as I quite like cows, they are so beautifully contentedly bovine. However, my sang froid was not held by my companions, some trembled, some quaked and one even insisted that she was about to eaten and had to have her hand held very tightly (sensitive new age leaders have to do these things).
We then proceeded to wander through the forest searching for the hut followed closely by our woolly friends. Unfortunately the hut we could not find and so at last we wound our way back to the gate and bid a fond farewell to our four legged brethren. Their lamenting of our departure accompanied us in strident strains for some time thereafter.
That night a change came through which found as battling into the wind next morning while completing the final section of the plains to at last regain the shelter of the woods. Thence followed a delightful ski down the road to the saddle at the junction with the Blue Rag Range for lunch. Having erected the tent we skied off to traverse the range. This entailed a fearful descent into a seemingly bottomless hollow inhabited by wild pigs, followed by a heart thumping climb. The effort was worth it as then we had a lovely ski along the ridge under stands of majestic snow gums in a shimmering mist. On a clear day the views would be stupendous as would the XCD runs off the southern slope (don't believe the map which incorrectly shows the slope as covered in trees).The homeward journey was equally pleasant and was topped off by the hand maiden providing the evening entertainment over dinner in the form of a juggling act.
Once more the sun rose to bless us with a nice day which we used to the full, skiing along the ridgeline that links the Dargo High Plains to the Hotham Ridge complex. The road undulates slightly and provides good views to either side. In addition there are a series of wonderful Mountain Ash stands to glide through. Other entertainment was provided in the form of two juvenile foxes which we encountered at close range as they gambolled around a corner in the road. One of these exited stage left immediately but the other was more than a trifle bemused by these strange creatures in his playground and froze for 5 seconds until his synapses clicked in and flight occurred. In addition we dropped the packs to climb Mt Blowhard (who could pass up such a title!).
Lunch found us skiing on - SHOCK-HORROR - tracked snow! Even more astral was the rope tow that suddenly materialised and growled completely unattended up into the clouds! To get a dose of reality we paused by the Mt Hotham road and sucked in the diesel fumes as the busses passed. Whilst one of our number hitched a lift the remainder visited the site of the Mont St Bernard Hospice, which was completely covered by snow leaving absolutely nothing to see! (I suspected that may have been the case but as I will be skiing into the mirror imagine on the other side of the world next year I had to visit it anyway). A shower, a nice piece of steak, some crunchy salad and a piquant red wine rounded off the trip. In all a lovely trip to the infrequently visited, but well worth while Dargo High Plains.
For anyone intending to visit the DHP in winter I suggest the following for future reference:
To find out if there is enough snow ring either Hoys Coaches at Harrietville or the ARC gate station on the Hotham road and ask them how much snow there is at Mt St Bernard and more particularly on the Dargo Road.
- if they say heaps and that the road is a metre or more under then go with confidence
- if they say less than 1 metre but more than 30 cm you can still go but will have to accept that there will be some walking
- if they say the road is only partly covered, don't go
If you want to do the through trip it is unique but you have to reconcile yourselves to the long car shuffle. Alternatively you can ski in and out the same way from the Hotham Road. If so drive up to the turnoff, dump the gear & main party who should then ski off as the driver returns down the mountain to leave the car at Harrietville. Driver to then catch a bus or hitch back to the turnoff before catching up with the others. Day 1 ski to the junction with the Blue Rag Range (climb Mt Blowhard enroute) Day 2 spend a full day on the Blue Rag (this will be the best XCDing of the trip Day 3 ski to Long Ridge Hut by late morning tea, then have a BIG ski around the DHP in a loop down to Treasures and back Day 4 ski out to Shepherds hut and back (if you don't like cows, go only part way) Day 5 ski back out to the Hotham Rd (this is a full day so get going early), drivers to hitch down to Harrietville.
Maps: Dargo High Plains - Cobungra 1:50,000
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