LONG WINDY DAY

Day 3 – Rooftop Walk: Dibbins Hut to Mt Hotham to Cope Hut (33.5km)

Thursday February 25, 2016

Last night I heard a tree fall in the forest. The sound was like a thunder clap. Maybe it sounded greater because we were camped in a valley surrounded by deep forest all around.  Reminded me of that expression ‘if a tree falls in the forest an no one hears it, did it really happen?’
We were a bit slow to get going in the morning knowing we had to climb Swindlers Spur first up on our way to the summit of Mt Hotham.  The clouds looked threatening and sure enough half way up the climb it started to rain.  I stopped got my rain jacket on and started walking again only for the rain to stop and the sun to come out, then it was  jackets off. We were rewarded by a brilliant rainbow over in the direction of Mt Hotham.

Swindlers Spur is not such a long climb and we were within sight of Mt Hotham ski area in no time. Wind was picking up and as we got past the ski fields it was gusting. It was still relatively warm so the wind was not a problem.

We reached the top of Mt Hotham and spent a bit of time enjoy the stunning view of mountain peaks. We had to shelter behind the cairn as the wind was howling up on top.

Lou-Seal bagged another peak, but needed a hand to stay upright in the strong wind. 

We got away from there quick smart and headed off to Derrick Hut where we planned to stop for lunch. After a delicious lunch, which involved lashings of peanut butter, we made a change of plan. As it was still early in the day and we were feeling strong we decided to have another long day of walking. So rather then return to Dibbins Hut and stay for the night we were going to walk on over the Bogong High Plain and stop at Cope Hut not far from Falls Creek.

And we did it. Lashed by strong wind throughout the walk on the high plain, we made Cope Hut 11 hours after we left Dibbins Hut for the summit of Mt Hotham.

Feeling very happy!