by ggorgeman » Mon 25 Oct, 2021 11:58 am
Squeezed in an overnighter last Fri/Sat that was primarily the Northern Grampians' Mt Stapylton Loop with an extension at the southern end of the loop to the Coppermine Camp for the overnight stay. Return leg back saw the continuation of the loop, back to Zero on Sat morning.
Arrived at Mt Zero Carpark Friday morning and did the Zero summit first, which was magnificent in it's own right. The perspective that you get re the rest of the walk is fantastic. Then back down to hit the main trail. Once up and over Flat Rock, we had decided to take the "left hander" at the start of the loop, thereby tracking clockwise. What a fantastic walk through some stunning country. Quite a variety of landscape, some sandy stringybark scrub country and plenty of rocky elevation and features. Peak of the spring wildflower season too, so the vivid colour that was prevalent was brilliant.
Plenty of the content online and in the guidebooks leaving no doubt that this loop is highly regarded, and it didn't disappoint. A little bit of free climbing to get up those last 40m to the actual summit of Stapylton was well worth it. Getting there, the Taipan Wall amphitheatre was breath-taking. From the summit we continued the loop SSE with the intention of following the trail and avoiding the right-hander that continues the actual Stapylton Loop, in order to press on through sandy scrub country to Coppermine. In doing so, we encountered a new section of trail that will form part of the GPT through to Coppermine. Thus, the sections of 4wd track that we'd planned weren't necessary. This section of GPT pops out onto Coppermine Track about 300m north of the campsite. The new GPT trail to Barigar continues across Coppermine Track here, so we did approx 1km out/back to check this out. Then back to Coppermine Camp for the night. A couple of car campers were also present but it was quiet.
Day 2 involved a few kms of Coppermine and Pohlners Track before reconnection to the actual Stapylton Loop and heading back to Mt Zero. Pretty much mostly level or downhill apart from up/over Flat Rock. From Coppermine back to Zero was only about 2.5 hours.
For an overnighter, I'd rate it 10/10. Stunning country and conditions. Plenty of options if wanting to avoid Coppermine Camp itself for the overnight stay, but the water supply there and longdrop are handy. It does seem that these re-equipped sites are situated (with GPT in mind?) so as to involve water sources (tanks) that are assured of being full all year round?
Gear taken: BA FlyCreek1 tent, GoLite Pinnacle pack, MD Airlite mat, lightweight down bag. Expecting several running creeks and the likelihood of a tank (with water) meant it wasn't necessary to load up with excess water, which was good. All gear performed well. Pack weight (incl nearly 2 litres water) approx 15kg.
- Attachments
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- View from Mt Zero summit back to Mt Stapylton and Flat Rock
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- Yes, it's called Bird Rock
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- Mt Zero as seen from Mt Stapylton summit
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- Trail heading SE, having passed Mt Stapylton
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- Coppermine Camp
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- Taipan Wall from SW section of the loop
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- BA FlyCreek UL1 set up
Last edited by
ggorgeman on Mon 25 Oct, 2021 2:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.