THE VIKING - Where's Rob? (Upper Howqua to Harry Shepherds Track)

Four 'Old' Firefighters out for an adventure. Day 1. Starting out from Upper Howqua Camping ground we briefly lost our way then crossed the Howqua River seven times after which we ascended Mt Howitt and camped in tents near Vallejo Gantner Hut. Day two we crossed the long and rocky Cross Cut Saw, then by-passed Mt Speculation for a more sheltered campsite at Catherine Saddle, due to an expected heavy storm. Soon after setting up camp lightning and thunder hit and roared for some hours. A large quantity of water fell that night. Day three we scrambled across Mt Despair and The Razor then summited the Viking, passing through 'the chimney'. From the summit Richard and Mick said goodbye to Trevor and descended the steep north face which was very wet and a little slippery while Trevor began the return to Catherine Saddle. Running out of water he continued on to Camp Creek at the base of Speculation and camped up at the middle camp ground. One Alpine Copperhead took a liking to his walking pole as it was dropped in fright on the snake. Day four for Trevor was one of the most difficult days hiking ever. Lite snow had fallen nearly all night leaving almost everything covered with white and the track hard to follow in some sections. Thinking that it was better to complete the return in one day rather than camping out in the snow he mapped out each section and headed back to the Land Rover at Upper Howqua. Descending below the snow line at 900 metres was a relief and eventually returned to Upper Howqua after wading through the seven river crossings of the swollen Howqua River. Meanwhile Richard and Mick completed their journey to Harry Shepherds Track on the morning of day four in good spirits after having a good sleep at Barry Saddle. A fantastic adventure enjoyed by all. Several months later Rob and Trevor returned to the Viking via Barry Saddle, camping on the summit. We arrived in the dark with head torches glowing. The following day we descended the south face, across Viking Saddle towards the razor then returned over the Viking down to Barry Saddle and out to Harry Shepherds Track. Again, a great adventure.