HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mount Bogong, , located in the
Alpine National Park The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the hig ...
and part of the
Victorian Alps The Victorian Alps, also known locally as the High Country, is a large mountain system in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. Occupying the majority of eastern Victoria, it is the southwestern half of the Australian Alps (the other ...
of the
Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
, is the highest mountain in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, at
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...
. The Big River separates the
massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
of the mountain from the Bogong High Plains to the south. From the nearby town of
Mount Beauty Mount Beauty is a small town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The town lies alongside the Kiewa River, at the junction of the Kiewa Valley Highway and Bogong High Plains Road in the Alpine Shire local government area. History The town was ...
to its summit, Mount Bogong rises more than , thus making it one of the highest peaks in Australia not only in terms of its elevation above sea level, but also in terms of actual base-to-summit prominence. Mount Bogong is a popular
backcountry skiing Backcountry skiing ( US), also called off-piste ( Europe), alpine touring, or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which ...
mountain through winter but only has snow for the mid winter-spring months. It is around by road and walking track or direct to
Mount Beauty Mount Beauty is a small town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The town lies alongside the Kiewa River, at the junction of the Kiewa Valley Highway and Bogong High Plains Road in the Alpine Shire local government area. History The town was ...
. Falls Creek and
Mount Hotham Mount Hotham is a mountain located in the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, in the Australian state of Victoria. The mountain is located approximately north east of Melbourne, from Sydney, and from Adelaide by road. The nearest ...
ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...
s are also nearby. Camping is relatively safe below the
treeline The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...
but the summit ridgeline is very exposed. Emergency shelter is also available at Bivouac Hut on the Staircase Spur, and at Cleve Cole, above Camp Creek on the broad ridge to the south of the summit, and Michell's Hut on the Eskdale Spur.


Etymology

In the
Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...
Waywurru and
Dhudhuroa The Dhudhuroa people (or Duduroa) are an Indigenous Australian people of North-eastern Victoria, in the state of Victoria, Australia. About 2,000 descendants exist in Australia in the early 21st century. Name The endonym Dhudhuroa has been analys ...
languages, the mountain is named ''Warkwoolowler'', meaning the mountain where Aboriginal people collected the ''boo.gong fly''. Additionally, in the Dhudhuroa language the word ''Bugung'' means the brown moth, referring to ''
Agrotis infusa The bogong moth (''Agrotis infusa'') is a temperate species of night-flying moth, notable for its biannual long-distance seasonal migrations towards and from the Australian Alps, similar to the diurnal monarch butterfly. During the autumn an ...
''. While "Bogong" in the local Aboriginal language is believed to mean ''bigfella''.


Flora and fauna

The lower slopes of Mount Bogong are covered with tall forests of Alpine Ash (''
Eucalyptus delegatensis ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including ''Corymbia'', they are commonly known as eu ...
'') to an altitude of about . From to , woodland and open woodland of Snow Gum (''
Eucalyptus pauciflora ''Eucalyptus pauciflora'', commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally, is a species of tree or mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters of between sev ...
'') dominate, and above , the vegetation consists of alpine
shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ...
,
grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...
and
herbfield Herbfields are plant communities dominated by herbaceous plants, especially forbs and grasses. They are found where climatic conditions do not allow large woody plants to grow, such as in subantarctic and alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a t ...
. Animals that live on Mount Bogong have all found some way to adapt to the environment which is very harsh. For example, bogong moths gregariously
aestivate Aestivation ( la, aestas (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and a ...
in caves throughout the mountain to avoid
desiccation Desiccation () is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. A desiccant is a hygroscopic (attracts and holds water) substance that induces or sustains such a state in its local vicinity in a moderately sealed container. ...
. Other animals that live on Mount Bogong include the pygmy possum, smoky mouse, broad toothed rat, powerful owl, spotted tree frog and she-oak skink. Much of the mountain, especially the northern side, was badly burnt in the
2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires The Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires were a series of bushfires in 2003 that burnt in the Alpine National Park and Mount Buffalo National Park in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The bushfire started with eighty-seven fires that were starte ...
.


History

Mount Bogong towers above the Kiewa River valley and is of great significance to the local traditional owners.
Parks Victoria Parks Victoria is a government agency of the state of Victoria, Australia. Parks Victoria was established in December 1996 as a statutory authority, reporting to the Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change. The ''Parks Victoria A ...
states that "Many Aboriginal people have a remarkably rich history of Aboriginal use in the Victorian Alps and a vast knowledge of the cultural sites, oral history and ancestral stories that relate to the alpine region of Victoria. Throughout the many seasons each year, Aboriginal groups would come from as far away as the coast and south west slopes, to meet with the tribes of the mountains for intertribal ceremonies and feasting on Bogong Moths. During these festivities they would exchange cultural objects and materials for tools". According to Eddie Kneebone, an indigenous historian, "the Yiatmathong (people) controlled the Kiewa and Mitta Mitta valleys, they also had control of the Alpine region on the Victorian side. Their southernmost boundary extended to Hotham and ran along the highest ridge line of the Alps in an east-west direction. Because Mount Bogong fell within the Yiatmathong territory, permission had to be gained from them by the other tribes participating in the summer feast. Once this was done, the tribes would spend summer in the cooler climate of the mountains feasting on the protein rich Bogong moth". Kneebone claims that prior to climbing Mount Bogong and the Bogong High Plains, the tribes would gather by the Murray River at Mungabarreena (near modern Albury). After ceremonies, initiations, marriages, trading, settling of disputes, and renewing of alliances and friendships, the groups would walk from Albury to the mountain region to feed on the protein-rich Bogong moths. Following European settlement, indigenous groups were decimated and survivors were placed onto settlements, often far from the traditional lands. Indigenous visitation to Mount Bogong is generally understood to have finished by the mid19 century. While there was cattle grazing for some time, it was the walkers and then skiers who became the next group to visit the mountain in large numbers. In August 1936 Mick Hull, Howard Michell and Cleve Cole attempted the first winter crossing of the Bogong High Plains. The group became lost in blizzard conditions and Cole died of hypothermia soon after he and Mick Hull were discovered by a rescue party raised by Michell. Cole was buried on 22 August at the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery. The hut commemorating Cole's life was completed in 1938, and has served as the hub of back-country skiing and bushwalking exploration of the Bogong area since. Accommodation at the hut is free on a first-in-first-served basis, although donations to The Bogong Club are welcomed. Parks Victoria advises skiers and walkers to carry an alpine-capable tent, and not to rely on accommodation in the huts. Cole's death illustrates the danger of Mount Bogong and of the Victorian Alps in general. The mountains are geologically old and worn. Their low altitude and flattish, rounded tops make for easy skiing and walking, but descent of their steep sides in whiteout conditions can be perilous.


Ascent routes

There are many routes up Mount Bogong for hikers, including (clockwise from north west) Staircase Spur, Eskdale Spur, Granite Flat Spur, Long Spur, Duane Spur, and Quartz Ridge. All involve a climb of more than from the saddle or creek at the base of these spurs. The two main walking trails lead to the summit. The Staircase and Eskdale Spur can both be accessed from a trail that begins at Mountain Creek Picnic Area. It is also possible to access Camp Creek Gap on the Eskdale Spur in a 4WD vehicle along Eskdale Spur Track from Trappers Gap. Both trails are of moderate difficulty. Starting from the picnic area, the Staircase is a return trip, normally taking 6–9 hours return, while the Eskdale Spur is a return trip, normally taking 8–11 hours return. The Staircase Spur is a difficult ascent due to its steep slopes. From the base of the staircase it is to the summit. Halfway up the staircase is Bivouac Hut which sits about from the summit on a small flat section, it offers emergency refuge, camp sites and a resting spot before heading to the summit. The Eskdale spur may provide a slightly easier option up to the summit of Bogong if you have a 4WD, although if you walk up from Mountain Creek, it is just a longer way to do the same ascent. With a 4WD you can drive from the bottom of the Staircase Spur at Mountain Creek, through to Camp Creek Gap, from where it is about 2.5 hrs walk to the summit of Bogong, and this is the easiest winter access, although occasionally the 4WD track is covered with snow. Just over halfway up the Eskdale Spur is Michell Hut, which burnt down during the 2003 bushfires but was later rebuilt. Michell Hut provides emergency refuge, toilet, camp sites and a resting area before the final climb up to where the Eskdale meets Granite Flat Spur at the treeline, where there is also a good, but exposed campsite. Granite Flat Spur also provides access to the summit. It can be accessed by 4WD either from Eskdale, or by continuing on from Camp Creek Gap around the 4WD track, which is only possible outside of winter. An hour beyond Camp Creek Gap by 4WD will get you to the end of the 4WD track, from which it takes about 1.5 hrs walk to the summit (i.e. it is no quicker than walking up the Eskdale, but you walk less, and drive further). Above the treeline, both the Staircase and Eskdale Spurs are very exposed, particularly in winter, and they may "ice up" after about 4pm, making progress dangerous.


See also

* List of mountains in Victoria *
Skiing in Australia Skiing in Australia takes place in the Australian Alps in the states of New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory as well as in the mountains of the island state Tasmania, during the southern hemisphere winter. Skiing ...
* Skiing in Victoria, Australia


References


External links


Parks VictoriaMt Bogong Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogong, Mount Mountains of Victoria (Australia) Alpine National Park Victorian Alps Mountains of Hume (region)