| Leader | Mentor | Tailender | |
| Standards | Brent | Peter M | Kate |
| Alternates | Linley | Ali | Joanne |
Distance: 16.2/9km, ascent: 776/507m, time: 4hrs
Anyone would have thought that those assembled by the bus at Bishopdale were downright keen to get on the way to Mt Grey, as 29 of the 31 of us were ready to go by 8.20! (Just one arrived at a perfectly sensible time later and there was one to be picked up in Woodend). Two of our number were welcome repeat offenders sorry, guests: Jenny and Peter.
Viktor, one of our favourite drivers, first dropped the 12 Alternates off at Lake Janet. A disclaimer here: please do not read too much into any placenames which may appear in this report. Mt Grey is not grey. Lake Janet is actually a murky pond. The so-called ford is a lump of broken concrete. No one looks out from the Lookout, and as for the Red Beach track (as the name appears on a topographical map) there ain’t no sand or seagulls there!
Clever Viktor then drove us 19 Standards about 2 kms down a very dodgy road until we got to a good place to unload. There followed a brisk walk downhill (yes, downhill- not the usual uphill slog straight off the bus!) on a road which was so rough it’s hard to imagine that in the past the bus used to go down it. We got to the decrepit ford, but fortunately we didn’t have to venture across the river.
Ah, the joys of a gentle, jolly jaunt uphill through lovely bush, with only a little bit of mud underfoot. Morning tea was at a civilized 10.45, and partaken by the track. For the rest of the morning, we continued to zig and to zag through bush on the Mt Grey Track. This is a much better option than the Red Beach/Beech track which goes up much more steeply. Even easier was the Old Lookout Track which the Alternates were taking to the summit.
By 12pm we Standards were above the bushline, but there was still a bit more walking to be done to get to the summit. Conditions were windy and windy (blame the English language for any ambiguity here, it’s all in the pronunciation).
The sight of us reaching the trig station on the summit at 12.30 was apparently more than the Alternates could bear: we could see them high-tailing it back down the Old Lookout track the instant we arrived.
The 360 degree view from up the top was incredible, but we quickly agreed finding a sheltered spot for lunch just a little downhill was an excellent idea. The wind blowing across from the snow-dusted Alps was a bit chilly.
As usual, the world was set to rights over our sammies (or in one case, a cold Couplands pie) with the usual unusual discussions about how good gravity was, and the life story of an obscure woman cricket player from way back.
After lunch and the obligatory photo shoot at the trig, we set off happily on the easy-peasy Old Lookout track. On the way, we passed the enormous telecommunications tower, moaning in the strong wind (the tower was moaning, not us) and the eponymous Lookout Tower. Before long we could see our bus way below us, though this white Tranzit one will never have the emotional pull of our beloved ones in Leopard livery.
After a while the open broom-covered hillside gave way to forest, an oddly mixed one at first, with both natives and grandaddy old pines, before we entered the pine forest proper. The Standards were fresh enough not to baulk at a proposed detour around Lake Janet, mainly because the ‘lake’ is so piddling it only took one minute to circumnavigate.
The Alternates had made it to the lake and the bus only about half an hour before us. Their tramp had been as uneventful as the Standards’ had been. However, some snuffling sounds had been heard close to the track on the way up. It was reported that piglets were the culprits, though others swore they had seen creatures with fluffy tails, almost certainly feral cats (which have rarely been known to snuffle, but who knows?). It was also reported that the Esteemed Alternate Leader did what looked like some outstanding Swan Lake moves not far from Lake Janet- but also that they weren’t intentional.
We had all made such good time tramping we were back at Bishopdale by 3.30, not bad at all for a mountain hike.
Text by Shirls
