Moondog55's 2014 snow trip

[Cecile]

"If anyone needs to test equipment, Pretty Valley is the place to do it!"
and
"I've lost my sled."
and...famous last words
"I am not coming up here in winter again without a GPS...shuddup!" (one thousand points for Cecile!)

Ted's camp survived the blustery weather yesterday. He on the other hand, headed to PV hut, and within ten minutes of leaving there the mountain was in whiteout conditions. Plus, his torch battery died. Plus, he missed the road and was "lost." Safest option was to follow his tracks back to the hut, where he sheltered and spent a warm, but uncomfortable night. "Where's your sled?" "I left it where I turned back to the hut so it's somewhere within ten minutes walk of there." Unfortunately said sled is painted off-white. Not orange, or blue. White. Hmmmmmmmm.

Today he headed down to the village to have a ski, and get some bread, eggs and a few other things. He called again when he was about half an hour from the camp to say the skiing was good, it had been raining all day, he was wet and tired and looking forward to his warm sleeping bag and a hot cocoa. A little luxury in the winter camp. He is really looking forward to having visitors, and the weather on the weekend is supposed to be sunny.

[Tortoise]

"If anyone needs to test equipment, Pretty Valley is the place to do it!"
and
"I've lost my sled."
and...famous last words
"I am not coming up here in winter again without a GPS...shuddup!" (one thousand points for Cecile!)

[Travis22]

I love your updates Cecile.

Sounds like MD's having an absolute blast! I really want to visit MD up there this year but it all come down to when bubs#2 arrives. Could be tomorrow or a month from now..

I hope he's taking good care of your camera, but I also hope he's getting lots of photos too!

Travis.

[sim1oz]

Cecile, thanks for the updates. Glad to hear MD is having fun and looks to be having visitors this year. I'll be playing with our new gear tomorrow and dreaming of our snow trip to visit MD camp in a week. Hope everyone who goes up this weekend has a great time!
Sim

[FootTrack]

Hey Cecile,

How long will Moondog be up there for (i.e. date)? I wouldn't mind heading up myself to visit him if uni/commitments allow

Cheers.

[Cecile]

Hey Cecile,

How long will Moondog be up there for (i.e. date)? I wouldn't mind heading up myself to visit him if uni/commitments allow

Cheers.

I'm not really sure, to be honest. There are a group of folks going up tomorrow, and another for the weekend of 9/10 August. After that, I'm not really sure. I think he intended initially to stay for all of August, but after the horrible winds he may cut it shorter. As soon as I know anything I'll post here.

[Giddy_up]

I plan to be up on the plain for a week from the 9th onwards. Hope he is still around then!!!!!!

[Cecile]

I plan to be up on the plain for a week from the 9th onwards. Hope he is still around then!!!!!!

He's expecting you! Sim1oz will be up there 9/10 as well I believe so it'll be a busy camp with lots of activity. I expect you have worked out how to get out there? If you need a mobile number for him, let me know and I'll PM you (even though his reception is sporadic, at best.)

[Cecile]

Hi all. Ted just left me a voice mail. He tried to get down to the village to ski, but the wind and ice were so ferocious he could not get through. It's supposed to be much better weather for tomorrow, for those of you coming up. I was not to able to ring him back as he switched his phone off before I got the message.

[andrewbish]

.. It's supposed to be much better weather for tomorrow, for those of you coming up...

I hope so!

[sim1oz]

Hi Cecile, good news... MDs new gloves are packed safely in my suitcase!

[Cecile]

Hi Cecile, good news... MDs new gloves are packed safely in my suitcase!

Oh good, I'll let him know.

[Giddy_up]

I plan to be up on the plain for a week from the 9th onwards. Hope he is still around then!!!!!!

He's expecting you! Sim1oz will be up there 9/10 as well I believe so it'll be a busy camp with lots of activity. I expect you have worked out how to get out there? If you need a mobile number for him, let me know and I'll PM you (even though his reception is sporadic, at best.)

Well I'm all packed for my first snow walking experience. 8 days food, clothing and fuel, totalling a knee jarring 19.5kg!!!!!!!!!

[Cecile]

I plan to be up on the plain for a week from the 9th onwards. Hope he is still around then!!!!!!

He's expecting you! Sim1oz will be up there 9/10 as well I believe so it'll be a busy camp with lots of activity. I expect you have worked out how to get out there? If you need a mobile number for him, let me know and I'll PM you (even though his reception is sporadic, at best.)

Well I'm all packed for my first snow walking experience. 8 days food, clothing and fuel, totalling a knee jarring 19.5kg!!!!!!!!!

If you want any fresh food, eg sausages, bacon, milk, eggs etc you can either buy them in Mount Beauty before you drive up the hill, or at the IGA in Falls Creek village.

[Cecile]

"It's a beautiful day today. I was literally stuck in the tent for three days straight. I'm going down to the village to replenish supplies."

"I've lost so much weight that my warm overpants fell right off when I put them on."

"I've lost andrewbish! I skied down to try and meet him on the road and did not find him." So Andrew, if you see this, he'll be back at the camp by 5pm or so.

Crazy men who like camping in the snow.

[Cecile]

"I have completely lost my dignity. You remember those skis I was given (very high end from a former racer, or ski patroller)? Way beyond my capability. It took me over 45 minutes to go down Ruined Castle. Next time I'm going to switch to downhill boots. Telemark is HARD."

"I sent andrewbish home, shattered. I think he had a good time. I love teaching people outdoor stuff!"

"I'm going to break out my duvet, since it's been just a little cold at night."

He's looking forward to next weekend, when sim1oz and Giddy_up will be joining him.

[icefest]

Thanks for the updates. I'm living vicariously through him.

[andrewbish]

"I have completely lost my dignity. You remember those skis I was given (very high end from a former racer, or ski patroller)? Way beyond my capability. It took me over 45 minutes to go down Ruined Castle. Next time I'm going to switch to downhill boots. Telemark is HARD."
"I sent andrewbish home, shattered. I think he had a good time. I love teaching people outdoor stuff!"
"I'm going to break out my duvet, since it's been just a little cold at night."
He's looking forward to next weekend, when sim1oz and Giddy_up will be joining him.

"Shattered"? "Exhilarated", maybe. Or perhaps, "delighted". We had an easy snow shoe for the 4kms to the site, a leisurely day of XC skiing and an easy snow shoe out, with sunny, blue-sky days and clear, cold nights. If we're having a hard-man contest, I will point out that while the other three persons at the camp were complaining of the cold while wearing 5-6 layers, yours truly did just fine in his 3 layers.

Speaking of hard men, we were all topped by the army team doing survival training nearby. On one night they had 4 newbies dig themselves a trench in the snow where they spent the night. They used ski poles and a small tarp as a roof. They were given 4 mats, 2 sleeping bags, a stove and some food for the night. brrrrrrrrrr

This was my also first opp to try out my new MYOG down quilt and I am happy to report that it performed well in the -7/-8 nights. Will do a separate post on this.

It's a marvellous location and Mr Moondog is a hospitable host. A convivial chat around a hot fire in his DIY steel firepit, with a glass of his treasured port, made for pleasant ends to each day. I'll post some pics soon.

[Travis22]

Glade to hear you had a great weekend Andrew, I seriously cannot wait to see your photos.

I read Cecile's comment as saying MD was shattered that you had to go home.

Travis.

[Tortoise]

I read Cecile's comment as saying MD was shattered that you had to go home.
Travis.

Yep, it took me a minute, but that's how I read it too. If I still lived in Vic I'd love to get out there as well.

[neilmny]

Glade to hear you had a great weekend Andrew, I seriously cannot wait to see your photos.

I read Cecile's comment as saying MD was shattered that you had to go home.

Travis.

X 3

Well done Andrew I'm green with envy. It must have been fantastic.......looking forward to some photos too.

[andrewbish]

Can you please stop going on about who was shattered?!

[neilmny]

I'm shattered ....................nah...........anyway how long did it take to do the walk out there Andrew?
We are off to Falls but staying off mountain next week............hmmm very tempting...would a day walk (snowshoe)
in good weather be realistic?

[andrewbish]

I'm shattered ....................nah...........anyway how long did it take to do the walk out there Andrew?
We are off to Falls but staying off mountain next week............hmmm very tempting...would a day walk (snowshoe)
in good weather be realistic?

Yeah, yeah - we're all shattered...

Around 3 hours from Windy Corner to Pretty Valley. Heading out the easiest route is via the High Plains road. Coming back it's quicker to descend from 'the gate' down towards the reservoir.

[Cecile]

I will point out that while the other three persons at the camp were complaining of the cold while wearing 5-6 layers, yours truly did just fine in his 3 layers.

Wait...are you telling me that MD was complaining about the cold? His famous statement is usually "there's no such thing as bad weather, only poor clothing!"

I'm glad you had a great time, and also looking forward to some photos.

[sim1oz]

Hi andrewbish, glad to hear that you did make it to MD's camp last weekend. We are still planning to head up this coming weekend. I'm tossing up catching the chairlift up or snowshoeing the whole way to PV. Which way did you go that took 3 hours? I will have an 8yo and 10yo with me. If we take the chairlift we can't take the toboggans... but the kids might thank me for the shortcut

Cecile, back in Oz with MD's gloves and all our new gear, tent, shovels... very, very excited to unpack it all this afternoon! The kids love their new packs.

[andrewbish]

Hi andrewbish...Which way did you go that took 3 hours? I will have an 8yo and 10yo with me. If we take the chairlift we can't take the toboggans... but the kids might thank me for the shortcut ..

Hi

We walked in via High Plains road, which is the most straightforward.

We came out by dropping down to the lake after the top gate (near turnoff to Mt McKay) - the drop off is pretty steep and would be no fun the other direction.

[andrewbish]

Pics of Moondogville from last weekend.

Rocky Valley Lake

Moondog

Digging out the vestibule

The morning view from my tent

Pretty Valley, with the dunny in the foreground

[andrewbish]

More pics from Moondog's base camp:

Dusk over camp moondog

Camp Moondog

Pretty Valley

Grayson and Christina approaching the top gate on the way out

andrewbish, fully loaded

Last edited by andrewbish on Wed 06 Aug, 2014 8:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Travis22]

Awesome Andrew, just awesome.

Travis.