Baw Baw Plateau hike, Victoria

This was a walk I hadn't managed to do last year, on the Baw Baw plateau in Gippsland. I'm not a fan of out and back walks but I couldn't see any alternative.

1 January I left the car about a kilometre up the 4WD track from the Erica/Rawson road and started a long uphill walk to Mushroom Rocks car park, lovely fern and tall mountain ash and quite steep. Tiny creeks beside the track. It was just over an hour to the car park then I joined the real trail, climbing through mountain beech and gum trees to the rocks, total climb over 500 metres. Soon I was passing large boulders by the winding path but at Mushroom Rocks the boulders were much more dramatic: huge, clustered and some with overhangs that had sprouted above the base to give a real mushroom appearance.

There was a good place to camp on grass near some of the lower boulders, unfortunately no water. I was surprised how cold it was when the sun disappeared. The wind in the tree tops was loud. 7 kms

2 January I continued my climb up Mt Erica reaching beautiful dense forest of mature snow gums. Just past the summit I was pleased to find a good creek near Talbot Hut ruins to fill up and have a second coffee sitting in the stillness among the snow gums. I went over Talbot Peak in the snow gums towards Mt St Phillack descending then climbing with a few window views towards other peaks and small clearings of tea tree and mountain correa, many boulders. I stopped at the rock shelter, a low tunnel formed by a rock with its overhang reaching another rock. Over the summit (1569 m) near grassy St Phillack saddle I met several groups of walkers. I turned towards Baw Baw village and went down the trail as far as Tanjil Creek in a large clearing of scoparia and tea tree to get water and had a long sit for lunch. 

I went back up to St Phillack saddle and over the summit to the turn off for Mt St Gwinear to check on the water situation for tomorrow, then I tried to reach a camping possibility nearby but the prickly bushes were too thick and I couldn't get through. So I went all the way back over St Phillack summit to a grassy clearing I had seen and put up my tent. Lovely sunny late afternoon, awful mozzies but warmer even though I was much higher. 16 kms

3 January Back past the rock shelter for the short distance up Mt St Gwinear with views of St Phillack across a wide tea tree gully on the way. The summit of St Gwinear was granite with great views to the mountains around Mt Buller

then I descended on a sometimes open grassy trail, sometimes in forest to a car park. Coming back up I took another path through thicker forest which bypassed the summit but along the way had a very similar view to the summit view. I stopped for coffee where there was the view towards St Phillack. Windy. 

I had another break by the rock shelter because it was a nice heat trap and started the long descent to the gully below Talbot Peak; I only climbed this yesterday but I didn't remember it being an especially long climb! I stopped at the clearing at the bottom. Soon afterwards I saw a snake lurking in the grass beside the trail, its head upright as if frozen.

I stopped again to sit on a boulder for lunch, and walked up Talbot Peak

At the creek I turned off for the campsite at the hut ruins (just a chimney) and put up my tent. In a few minutes it was raining, got heavier and then thunder and another hiker arrived. We chatted. 16 kms

4 January I left the campsite with perfect blue sky and had breakfast by the creek then made the descent down Mt Erica

to Mushroom Rocks, had another look around.

Below the rocks I was in thick mist, very still. I had a coffee at the car park and went down the track to the car, it was completely overcast below the mist. 9 kms

Total 48 kms