Quite an early start for some reason and we were on the road heading for Bright. The young group camped nearby were very quiet so a nice campsite in the end with only another 3 campers nearby. It came to our attention last night that Bright was hosting a 24HR MTB event this weekend so all the trails would be closed and accommodation would be well utilised. Another change of plans, not that we really had one to start with so we turned off and headed to Mt Beauty and Falls Creek.

A quick trip into the visitors centre at Mt Beauty and up the hill to Falls Creek through another 100 corners! We passed a few road cyclists riding up the hill, all 33KM of it. We decend this hill at the start of the Scody 3 peaks race next year. Falls Creek looked as dead as all the other snow villages we have visited but in a little corner we found a door to the visitors centre. The lady there was very helpful and they are on well on there way to completing stage 4 of their MTB trails network. They are not all open at the moment but next year there will be a heap more trail here. There is already quite a bit and we walked out with maps and good advice.

Edmondson hut

Last pockets of snow

Johnston Hut

We decided to start with a loop around some of the old huts in the area as there was a nice MTB loop around them. The weather was fine and plenty of sunscreen was apllied. The wind was a bit blowy but nothing to worry about. We got attacked by a magpie for a few 100M, he was giving me a really good hurry on. I tried to get some GoPro footage of him on the way back but he became a bit camera shy all of a sudden. A couple of climbs on rough roads and a decent or two and we had visited Edmondson hut and Johnston Hut. The climb out of Johnston Hut hit 19% for a while and in the long grass it was energy zapping and slowed you down to a crawl.

Almost coming off first time through!

Second time through…..

We took a wrong turn after this on a loop that linked up with another hut circuit and ended up a few KM from where we were supposed to be. No problem retracing as it was mostly down hill. There was no signage at this junction and we had to ride across a creek twice. There is significant fire damage in this area with dead trees as far as the eye can see. You can see clearly where the fires have run up the ridge lines.

Hiding from the wind refueling

It was retracing our path that we noticed the wind was now so strong it was difficult to stand up against it and riding into it was interesting let alone when it was side on. Behind the hills it was fine. We stopped at an emergency shelter to eat and reassess and we quickly agreed to return to the car and abandon the last 2 huts as that would add another 4km back to the car directly into that head wind. We abandonded doing any of the XC trails as well. Sharon tucked in behind me for the 1.5km ride back to the car. For half of it the wind was directly on our side blowing us out into the lane. Sure hope the finish of the Scody 3 Peaks is not like this. One loan road rider came past while we were packing up the bikes and he was not happy either.

We have settled into the Mount Beauty Holiday Centre & Caravan Park and we will have a go at Big Hill MTB park tomorrow if we don’t melt in the forecast 30 degree heat.