CliffCare Victoria

Grampians Road & Track Report 17th February 2012

Tracey — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 07:22:46 +0000

Here’s the latest Gramps road and track report. Rather than copy and pasting it all here, I think I will just stick with a download – Road Report -17 Feb 2012 although you can catch it in its entirety every week on the Grampians tab. Exciting stuff these options I provide

Climbing in closed areas

Tracey — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:21:52 +0000

Thought this might be an interesting topic to ruminate on and promote some lively debate whilst also informing the climbing community of a recent accident.
I was speaking to the Grampians Head Ranger last week re Rosea and re-opening timelines, work that needs to be done by them, by us etc when he told me of a rescue that took place the week before at Rosea. It being a currently closed area and all. This happened after hours and he didn’t really have too many more details from the SES except that it was a broken ankle. I did explain, and he is aware of this, that the information re Rosea and its current closure has been distributed to the climbing community. But of course, there will always be a small minority who choose to do their own thing and go ‘under the radar’. Which,being a small minority, for most of the time, stays under the radar. Except of course when you need/or want a rescue. Dave did ask me to reiterate to the climbing community, ‘ the respecting of closed areas’. Which I am doing now.

So climbers – thoughts?

Access & Environment Report February 2012

Tracey — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:24:29 +0000

With Christmas and the new year out of the way, comes the time I have to sit down and try and put down what has been happening in the wonderful world of Access since I last sat down and typed the Argus report. Hmm….. where to begin.

Grampians
Bundaleer opened as planned just before Christmas. As noted in my last report, the area itself stood up well to the floods and no extra work has been needed. The road situation is still ongoing and because of this access into the cliff via the usual ways has slightly changed. The only access is via Glenelg Road then Stony Creek Road. You will need to park near the intersection and then walk down the Rosea Track past the road closed sign. This has been approved by PV as a way for us to access the cliff. At this stage, you are unable to access Bundaleer via the Silverband Road. This is currently closed due to VicRoads starting work on the lower section of the road. Rosea is still currently closed – will be organizing a work day soon to do a little work on the area before it is accessible.

The Gallery
The Gallery in the Vic Range, Grampians was impacted by the floods and the climbers access track was closed due to flood damage . Due to this climbers then realigned the track around the right hand side of the Aboriginal art shelter and through a revegetation area. Interestingly, years ago, PV worked with climbers to create a separate climbers track(the now damaged one) that directed them away from the shelter. This was for fear of erosion and impact to the site. So…not so good that this was occurring again.
Following a climbers query about the new track and the old one being closed, I contacted Dave Roberts, ranger at Halls Gap, who was very appreciative of the information and acted upon it quite quickly. Current situation is as follows:

PV have opened up the first part of the loop up until where the track heads up to the Gallery.So basically you head up there and back down, the same way. Please use this access and not around the right side of the art shelter. There are some sections that are eroding quite badly on the climbers track so I will be visiting sometime soon to look at what we can do to control it. This is not a PV maintained track, care of this will be up to us climbers to maintain – this is the way that PV would like to see most of the climbers tracks managed.

I will be looking for volunteers after the initial inspection to help with the work and am hoping that those climbers that do use this track and the cliffs to climb at will be involved.

Hollow Mountain Track closures
Hollow Mountain Walking Track – Track closure February 2012 - Work will commence at the end of the school holidays and will continue for up to five weeks through February, however this track will be open to visitors on weekends. Work to be completed includes re surfacing of the walking track, installation of drainage and steps. Access to Summerday Valley climbing area and Gulgurn Manja Art Shelter will remain open during this time.

You Yangs
Although the details have yet to be worked out, it looks like the grant money we obtained for work at the You Yangs in 2010 (and put on hold because of the flood and park closures) will be put towards building a retaining stonework wall in the Urinal Wall area. Some work has already taken place stabilizing the area as well as repairing and rebuilding the steps to the climbing area but the remaining problem now of loss of vegetation further out from the base is a very real one. Currently we have some branches to deter people from moving further into the trees when waiting at the base of the climbs but as Urinal Wall is a group climbing area, this will become more eroded bit by bit. Though nowhere near as extensive as Summerday Valley stonework, the same concept will be applied.

Campground Host - Arapiles
The Campground Host program ran for its first trial run at Arapiles. I have written a small separate article for this so you can find out how it all went. (see an earlier post or visit the Campground Host Very positive feedback and think it will be a good move forward for the campgrounds. I am still looking for people who might be interested in being a Host. Free camping, a worthwhile experience for you and contributes to climbers having a hand in how the campground is run. For more information, drop me a line – cliffcare@vicclimb.org.au

Burnley Wall
Having been successful with a grant for facilities upgrade to the Wall, we can now start to put the plan into practice. A new matting path will be put down between the two walls, bike racks installed and an interpretive sign will also be erected at the far end of the vertical wall closes to the bike path. I will announce some dates for working bees shortly for this so hope that those who use the wall will rock up and help out for a couple of hours.

Volunteer Opportunities

Graphic Design. I am looking for some graphically talented people to help with the CliffCare Education Project. This project will consist of a number of elements that will require graphic design work – first off I am looking at posters. Drop me a line cliffcare@vicclimb.org.au

Cheers,
Tracey

Grampians Road & Track Report 27th January

Tracey — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:41:17 +0000

Hi All,

The latest Grampians Road and Track Report has just landed in my inbox, See below for any updates. You can also download it here if you want a copy yourself.

PV Staff have graded and reopened Sawmill Track, Boundary and Red Hill Roads in the Victoria Range area. These roads were affected by the Sawmill Fire a few weeks ago.The Mt Zero Road has become quite dusty and corrugated in places so drivers need to slow down and take care when driving on this road. Staff will grade this road next week depending on weather conditions as the road requires moisture for grading to be successful.
Hollow Mountain Walking Track Closure
Works will start on the walking track on the week starting the 7^th of February 2012. The track will be closed during this time and will reopen early March. The Summerday Valley climbing area and the walk to Gulgurn Manja Shelter will remain open.

Red Hill Road   Back Rd – Glenelg River Rd.   Public   2WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Red Rock Road      Public   2WD      Open   Water across road in sections
Redman Track      Public   2WD      CLOSED
Reed Lookout Road      Public   2WD   Bitumen   Open   No Issue
Rose Creek Road      Public   2WD   Gravel   Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Serra Road   Glenelg River Rd – Grampians Rd   Public   2WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Stapylton Campground Road      Public   2WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Sundial Road      Public   2WD      Open   Good Condition
Syphon Road      Public   2WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Wonderland Road      Public   2WD   Bitumen   Open   No Issue
Yarram Gap Road      Public   2WD   Bitumen   Open   No Issue
Zumstein Track (Shortcut)      Public   2WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain

Beehive Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open
Black Range Road      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Boundary Road      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open
Brim Springs Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open
Burrong Track (Shortcut)      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open
Cassidy Gap Road      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      CLOSED
Cooinda Burrong Road      Operational – Open All Year   2WD      Open   No Issue
Coppermine Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open   No Issue
Glenisla Crossing Road      Operational – Open All Year   2WD      Open
Golton South Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Henham Track North      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      CLOSED
Henham Track South      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      CLOSED
Hines Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open   Wet / Slippery in Sections
Mt Difficult Road   Boroka Lookout – Lake Wartook   Operational – Open All Year   2WD      CLOSED   See Notes
Old Mill Road      Operational – Open All Year   2WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Oslers Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      CLOSED   Very Wet
Phillip Island Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open   Wet / Slippery in Sections
Pines Road      Operational – Open All Year   2WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Rosea Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD   Sand / Gravel   CLOSED
Sawmill Track      Operational – Open All Year   2WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Spears Road      Operational – Open All Year   2WD      CLOSED
Stony Creek Rd      Operational – Open All Year   2WD      Open   See Notes
Taylors Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open
Wallaby Rocks Road      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open
Yanganaginj Njawi Track      Operational – Open All Year   4WD      Open
Yarram Park Road      Operational – Open All Year   2WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain

Bellfield Fireline      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open   Watch for Fallen Trees
Briggs Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open
Burnt Hut Creek Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open
Chinaman Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      CLOSED
Fields Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      CLOSED
Flagstaff Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open
Geerack Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open
Goat Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open
Homestead Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      CLOSED
Launders Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open
Link Track   Pohlner Rd – Smiths Rd   Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open
Lynches Crossing Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open   Good, but will be slippery after rain
Matthews Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open
Moora Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      CLOSED
Mt Cassell Fireline      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      CLOSED
Muirfoot Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open
Sanders Track      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      CLOSED
Victoria Range Road      Operational – Seasonal Closure   4WD      Open   Watch for Fallen Trees

Billywing Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Bomjinna Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Burma Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Carter Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Castle Rock Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Cranages Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Crute Link Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Crute Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
East Wartook Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Golton Link Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Griffin Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Happy Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Heatherlie Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Hut Creek Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Ingleton Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Kaylmna Falls Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Link Track   Serra Rd – Henham Tk   Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Long Point Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Lynchs Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Mair Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Pomonal Fireline      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Ricky North Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Serra Range Track   Glenelg River Rd – Syphon Rd   Operational – MVO 4WD CLOSED
Serra Range Track   South of Cassidy Gap   Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Seven Dials Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Shilcock Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Stockyard Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Terraces Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Victoria Range Track South      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Waterworks Track      Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED
Zumstein Track   Zumstein – Chinaman Tk   Operational – MVO   4WD      CLOSED

Hollow Mountain Walking Track closures and The Gallery Track repairs – Grampians

Tracey — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:29:02 +0000

Hollow Mountain Walking Track
For those of you who like a little mid week action make note of this – Hollow Mountain Walking Track – Track closure February 2012 - Work will commence at the end of the school holidays and will continue for up to five weeks through February, however this track will be open to visitors on weekends. Work to be completed includes re surfacing of the walking track, installation of drainage and steps. Access to Summerday Valley climbing area and Gulgurn Manja Art Shelter will remain open during this time.

The Gallery Walking Track
For those climbers who are physically blessed to be able to climb the routes at The Gallery in the Vic Range, Grampians, you may have noticed last year that after the floods, the climbers access track was closed due to flood damage. Parks staff also laid branches across to deter people from travelling that way. Unfortunately, this caused climbers to then realign the track around the right hand side of the Aboriginal art shelter and through a revegetation area. Interestingly, years ago, PV worked with climbers to create a separate climbers track(the now damaged one) that directed them away from the shelter. This was for fear of erosion and impact to the site. So…not so good that this was occurring again.
Following a climbers query about the new track and the old one being closed, I contacted Dave Roberts, ranger at Halls Gap, who was very appreciative of the information and acted upon it quite quickly. Current situation is as follows:

PV have opened up the first part of the loop up until where the track heads up to the Gallery.So basically you head up there and back down, the same way. Please use this access and not around the right side of the art shelter. I have not yet had the opportunity to visit myself so any feedback on this would be appreciated.
It was also noted that there are some sections that are eroding quite badly on the climbers track so I will be visiting sometime soon to look at what we can do to control it. This is not a PV maintained track, care of this will be up to us climbers to maintain – this is the way that PV would like to see most of the climbers tracks managed. From my reports -” On the first part of the track there is one stretch where there is some deep erosion probably half a metre deep for 20 metres. The second part of the track is basically obliterated and probably needs marking with tape.“

I will be looking for volunteers after the initial inspection to help with the work and am hoping that those climbers that do use this track and the cliffs to climb at will be involved. Stay tuned!

*** Should there be any cairns remaining that are still directing climbers past the art shelter and revegetation area, please take it upon yourselves to remove these. Cheers!

Mt Arapiles Campground Host

Tracey — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:59:09 +0000

For those who happened to be braving the heat at Arapiles over the Christmas to New Year break, you would have seen the Campground Host, Lee, in place – centre in the lower Pines. The Campground Host program is a new collaboration between Parks Victoria, CliffCare and Friends of Arapiles. With less Ranger presence in the park (yes, yes…some would say this is good) many of the issues that impact the Campground and Park are inevitably going to become more so. This program will allow us as climbers and users of the park to have much more of a hand in keeping an eye on things and educating those who might not be so clear on what some of the rules are and, more importantly why they are there.

From the feedback and experience Lee received in the week she was there, it seems that the Host was a welcome and appreciated addition to the campgrounds. This program is a work in progress for us and much of the feedback will be used to develop a plan that works for the park and for its users. A few points are listed below on some of the situations that Lee had to deal with. As she noted, diplomacy is a key skill to dealing with people.

4 cases of dogs in the park. Some walking on leads some tied on long leads to cars. (no dogs or cats allowed at any time in the park, campgrounds inclluded)
2 cases of campfires as well as some enquiries re being able to have a fire (campfires are not allowed at Arapiles from November to April)
5 cases of campers set up in the day visitor area
3 administrations of first aid

As well there were numerous enquiries about the weather in the days ahead, where they could get various supplies, handling a few camper complaints about NYE party noise and general enquiries about the Campground Host role. Feeback was positive.

I would like to thank Lee for being our very first ‘host guinea pig’ and for handling each and every situation with diplomacy for a very positive outcome. She enjoyed the experience and has put her hand up for more. Thankyou Lee! I am still looking for more Campground Hosts at Arapiles so if you think it might be something you would like to try, please drop me a line at cliffcare@vicclimb.org.au

Grampians Road and Track Report – Bundaleer open today!!

Tracey — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:16:34 +0000

Here’s the latest Grampians openings and closures. Good news is that Bundaleer can now be accessed. Mt Abrumpt is also open. See the following:
You can also download the latest colour coded map here

Mt Abrupt–open Friday 23 December 2011
The Parks Victoria flood recovery crew are very excited to complete works on the Mt Abrupt walking track. This popular walking track in the Southern Grampians, was badly damaged in January 2011 from an enourmous landslide that also caused significant damage to the Grampians Tourist Road. Even though a lot of work has been completed on this track, visitors do need to be aware of the risk of walking in a landslip hazard zone. Parks Victoria recomends that walkers should read the walk description on the attached sheet and to take note of the warning signage along the walking track.

Bundaleer Climbing area – access Stony Creek Road from Glenelg River Road
The Bundaleer climbing area will also open on Friday. Access to this area is along the Stony creek Road from Glenelg River Road to Rosea track. From the gate there is a 200m walk to the Bundaleer climbs.

Please note that access from the Silverband Road is not available.

Mt Difficult Road – Closed
Unfortunately Mt Difficult Road received quite a lot of damage from flash flooding early this week. The road will remain closed from Boroka lookout to Lake Wartook Picnic area until further notice. Access to Lake Wartook and Boroka Lookout is open.

Road & Track Closures

• Silverband Road (Silverband Falls Carpark to Sundial
Road turnoff)
• Glenelg River Road (Boreang Campground to Mt Victory
Road)
• Stony Creek Road (Rosea Track to Rosea Carpark)
• Henham Track
• Mitchell Road
• Redmans Track
• Mount William Picnic Ground Road
• Emmetts Road
• Mafeking Road
• Syphon Road (From Glenelg River Road to Sawmill Track)
• Moora Track
• Fields Track
• Rosea Track
• Homestead Track
• Oslers Track
• Mt Cassel Track
• Chinamans Track
• Sanders Track
• Mt Dificult Road
Campground & Site Closures
• Bomjinna Campground
• Kalymna Falls Picnic Area
• Golton Gorge Picnic Area
• Zumstein Area

Walking Track Closures
• Wonderland Loop (Halls Gap to Wonderland Carpark)
• Venus Baths
• Splitter Falls
• Bullaces Glen
• Mount Rosea
• MacKenzie Falls River Walk
• Zumstein Area (All walks)
• Tower Hill
• Red Gum Loop
• Bomjinna Track (From Bomjinna Campground to Mt William
Carpark)
• Brownings Loop (Mafeking)
• Golton Gorge Loop
• Tilwinda Falls
• Major Mitchell Plateau
• Fortress
• Wonderland remote overnight hikes.

Simon Carter’s Rock Odyssey presentation and book launch

Tracey — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:04:58 +0000

CliffCare and the Victorian Climbing Club are sponsoring Simon Carter’s Rock Odyssey Show and book launch. This will happen on Tuesday 20th December. From all the feedback from the shows in other states, this promises to be a great night. CliffCare will also have a display up so you will be able to see some of the work that has taken place over time and you can also buy last minute Raffle tickets for the Raffle which will be drawn at the end of the night.

Location:
1000 £ Bend 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne
7.30pm for 8pm show start

For a nice glam poster of the event check this out: SimonCarter show flyer

Mt Arapiles Campground Host Program

Tracey — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:29:28 +0000

CliffCare Victoria, Friends of Arapiles and Parks Victoria are working on a new collaborative version of the Campground Host Program. I will put up some further info on this over the next week.
The first trial run of this will be from Boxing Day 2011 until New Years 2012 Our campground host will be Lee, who some of you may have met over the years. She is a long time climber, long time Araps visiter, camper, climber and one could possibly say she has earlier dirtbag credentials. Great lady and think she will defintely be a caring eye for Araps and the campground. She will be there to offer information and guidance on what is available at Araps and the various rules and guidelines that are in place. Hopefully steering some of those who may not know, what’s hot and what’s not when it comes to looking after the area.
She is not there to bust any balls, be they male or female or family ones so be open to any information she can offer. There will also be information available at her tent area, on CliffCare and Friends of Arapiles, and the work they do,
Our meetings and training days with PV have been positive and the manual that we are required to write up for the program has been discussed and worked on by Louise Shepherd and myself. This is expected by both sides to be a work in progress. Lee is keen and available to take on more of the Campground Host stints but if there is anyone that thinks they might be up for it, please drop me a line. We are aiming at having a host on all the school holidays, long weekends etc. It is not an onerous role but great experience if you are looking for some skills to write up on your CV especially if you are interested in Land and Conservation, Ranger work etc.

Grant funding outcomes

Tracey — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:28:30 +0000

It’s taken a while for the official news to come through on the two Community Group Grants I applied for. So it’s good new and not so good news.

The great news is that we were successful with our grant application for upgrade work to the Burnley Bouldering Wall. This will focus on improving the area itself rather than the wall.
The grant money will fund a matting path/pavers between the two walls.
Bicycle racks will be installed.
An interpretive sign will be errected explaining the wall and bouldering to less climbing knowledgable visitors.

The gravel area between the two walls has been commented on many times over the years. Switching between climbing on each one means much of the gravel gets walked around and onto the mats not to mention the soles of climbing shoes not liking gravel too much.

With many of the people who visit the wall riding their bikes there, space for parking them is becoming limited. These racks will provide more safe space for locking up bikes should you want to and keep the bikes out of the main climbing wall area.

The wall is a facility that is used by many, some are climbers and some are families and visitors who are curious about the background of the wall and the techniques of bouldering. This interpretive sign which will be situated near the path end of the vertical wall, will give a condensed outline of bouldering.

Work days will be organized for this in the new year so stay tuned via all the channels such as VCC website, cliffCare website,facebook pages and Chockstone. Drop us a line to let us know you’re keen to help out.

And the not so good news:

Our ongoing project at Mt Arapiles, the Pharos gully Repair project unfortunately missed out on funding this year. We are coming very close to the end of this project and there is no way that this setback will hold us up. Never fear rockhaulers…..I have plenty of rocks still for you to haul. We shall have to find some funding in other ways in order to continue to employ our stonemason.

walter our stonemason on section of Pharos Track

Again, keep your ear out for future work bees. I’m sure lack of funding didn’t stop the Egyptians from hauling rock for the pyramids and so it shall be with the Pharos Gully Repair project