2014 - Falls Creek to Eskdale Spur via Mt Bogong - Day 4 - Up Quartz Ridge to Mt Bogong

 We woke upto a very cold morning. Lots of frost on the tents and on the ground. Clear skies and what looked to be a great day for gong up Quartz Ridge. After breakfast we loaded our skis into our packs and walked down to the start of Quartz Ridge. After registering our intentions in the the book we started our gentle climb up Quartz Ridge taking care not to miss the turn off for Quartz Ridge. Missing the sign post would have seen us walk down to Cain Hut which would not have been particularly helpful. 

We walked for a few kilometers before hitting enough snow to don our skis and to start the slow climb up. he weather was just totally brilliant and yet another day of wearing a t-shirt. The climb up was pretty uneventful. We stopped for lunch just below Quartz Knob and enjoyed great views of Mt Bogong to the north, the gullies to the east and the a rugged drop off to the west. After lunch we decided to walk up the remaining distance to Quartz Knob. The consequences of a slip and a fall would have been dramatic. We checked the weather forecast for the evening - light winds, clear skies etc etc so the decision was made that we would setup camp on Mt Bogong. Not all party members were comfortable with this decision.

We donned skis just after Quartz knob and headed along Hooker Plateau to Mt Bogong. We arrived at the summit at about 3.30pm and started to setup camp. A previous group - as it turned out a group of police who were engage in a rescue - had camped there a few days before. We dug the area a bit more and expanded it to accommodate 3 tents. The breeze was a steady southerly so we setup our kitchen on the northern side of the cairn.

We had a beautiful night on the summit with clear skies, a small crescent moon and once again a spectacular sunset. Dinner was had, washing up and off to bed.