| Leader | Mentor | Tail Ender | |
| Standards | Brent | Steve B | Judy S |
| Alternates | Bev | Wendy | Tessa |
Statistics: Time 5hr 35 min; Distance 13km; Elevation 750m
On a crisp and clear late autumn morning 21 of the 33 trampers set out from Mistletoe Flat for this season’s Camp Saddle circuit. Judging by a few recent emails this trip was keenly anticipated. Also, being a little later than usual in the season and after a few southerlies over the last month, some discussion on the bus revolved around encountering snow and ice on the route. We were not disappointed.
At 10:25am we began the walk up the Broken River road for 3 or 4km to access the Camp Saddle track, stopping for morning tea briefly at the junction to the environmental education centre. We arrived at the bushline at 12:20pm in brilliant sunshine and a few centimetres of soft snow on the upper reaches of the track to the saddle. Gaining the saddle, we stopped briefly then climbed the 60 or so metres for our lunch break at point 1550 metres, the day’s high point. With significant snow up high, we were rewarded with a magnificent view over the Craigieburns, from Hamilton Peak just visible to the north west, directly down the valley to the ski field and looming large across the valley, big Mt Manson.
After our lunch break we walked for about 3km along the undulating and, in some parts, gnarly south east ridgeline encountering light snow and ice in patches where careful footing was required. Everyone negotiated this travel well which brought us to the top of the scree slope for our descent and access, for our return, via the Luge/Mistletoe track.
We were faced with a snow-covered scree slope descent of 250 vertical metres to the head of the track. After some initial trepidation, and a few slips on the way, everyone managed the exhilarating scree descent safely. Thankfully the snow was soft and not icy. On reflection heavier footwear with stiffer soles would have made descending the scree slope easier.
At about 3pm we were on the track to the Broken River road arriving at the bus just after 4pm. A bluebird day of alpine tramping with approx 750 metres of vertical ascent on a 13km circuit.
The Alternates ascended Helicopter Hill walking up the access road then turning right on to the Luge track to Lyndon Saddle then the summit for lunch. Returning to Lyndon Saddle, they turned to the Craigieburn Forest track then on to Sidle 73 track to the bus.
Text by Stuart C
