Today was a day that would prove to be spectacular in place of hard! We set off from the delightful campsite at Roper's Hut with the general agreement that we could definitely have stayed there for an extra day or two, such is the beauty and magical nature of the place. Sal mused a hammock was the only accesory needed, as we already each had a good book in our packs! We walked up the fire trail to escape the tree line and were rewarded with 360 degree views from Mt Bogong to Mt Feathertop and all the peaks in between. It was especially heatening to look NW and view the entire Main Range, The Cobberas and much of the area I'd covered in the previous weeks. The sheer distance covered was only really just sinking in! We continued up and over Mt Nelse and down to The Park below. As we rose again to the saddle above Langford Gap, my attention was drawn to the quintesential Australian alpine spot. Hundreds of year old gnarled and stunted snowgums, short grass with wildflowers in their hundreds poking through. The spot looked over Rocky Valley Dam and the High Plains towards the evening's destination. There was no argument that this was the lunch spot!
The afternoon's walk was uneventful as we wandered down and joined the Langford East Aqueduct Track, which as you can imagine, is flat! This was followed until we spotted a beautiful grassy saddle above the track. I knew we were not far off from Wallace's Hut so we decided to go and check out the saddle as a potential campsite if Wallace's was as full as Ropers was last night. Mum and Sal dumped their packs at the saddle and enjoyed a shady break while I tried to figure out the quickest way to check the campsite at the iconic Wallace's Hut. To my great surprise when I arrived their was not a soul. I raced back to Mum and Sal with the good news and we climbed the last 500metres to the campsite.
My photo accompanying this blog is of Wallace's Hut and I'm guessing even if you have not visited the area you would have seen photos of this brilliant structure. The hut was built in 1889 by the Wallace brothers with locally sourced timber, split logs for the walls and uprights and a shingled roof. This was their base for High Plains cattle grazing. In the 1930's the then SEC took over the hut and it was used as a shelter during the construction of the hydro-electric scheme of the High Plains. The only alteration made to the hut at the time was to re-roof in corrugated iron. The SEC would later abandon the hut, happy to salvage their roofing iron as they left and leave the hut completely exposed to the elements. Luckily the Rover (scouts) who had a nearby chalet (still there today) fundraised to purchase the roofing iron from the SEC and re-roof the hut for a second and final time. This was done and the Rovers took over custodianship of the hut. The many visitors that now come to Wallace's Hut every day, have the concern of this group of people to thank for preserving an icon of the Victorian alpine area. The hut is about to receive some much needed maintenance to continue to stand the test of time. $25,000, a ranger informed me, is set aside for the jobs needed to restore the hut to it's former glory.