The winter bonus period was getting close to finishing and I was keen to get a couple more high scoring summits done as I approached the Mountain Goat milestone. There are two 8 point summits in the Yarra Ranges National Park that are relatively easy to access – Federation Range (VK3/VN-029) and Mt Donna Buang (VK3/VC-002). With good weather forecast for this Saturday, I put up alerts and packed my pack.
I have recently been upgrading my camping skills to include snow camping after many years of day skis and hikes in the snow. I recently attended an Alpine Search and Rescue training weekend in some adverse conditions (lots of snow and wind) which has boosted my confidence in these conditions. Consequently I decided to repeat my trip to the Baw Baw plateau in winter, but this time starting from Mt Baw Baw resort and trying out winter hammock camping at the same time. Continue reading