With a surprise TV appearance done and
daylight fading under ominous skies, we
bunkered down close to the road.
True to predictions, Mt Skene bestowed a
good dose of High Country harshness
overnight, with wild winds, snow and sleet.
After scraping ice and snow off everything,
including the camels, we made good our
retreat down the mountain to a camp below
the snowline. Penned in for the night, the
camels seemed happier and settled. But on
waking next morning, the boys were nowhere
to be seen.
It was a sinking realisation, with only
impenetrable forest in every direction, and no
idea which way they’d decided to go for a
midnight stroll. But to our surprise and great
relief, we eventually tracked them back atop
the mountain to our previous camp, above the
snowline, by following scat, fresh tracks in
snow and finally hearing their clunking bells.
It’s fair to say, John’s High Country shortcut
was becoming more of an endurance
challenge, but at least for the final walk down
to Licola, it was mostly with gravity
assistance. We also had the assistance of
some forestry workers we’d met the previous
day, who dropped in a bottle of rum to ensure
some additional warmth for the night.
Descending through low hanging mist, we
detoured via a dirt road into the upper Licola
Valley where cows followed our progress in
adjoining paddocks. We stopped for a quick
chat with local Ralph Barrowclough amidst
his collection of old Land Rovers beside the
track, before arriving beside the McAllister
River and town.
Gradual progress from Mt Skene to Licola, Vic.