One very cold night on Dingo Hill Track near Higgins Hut in the Victorian High Country
On the June long weekend in 2013, we drove to Licola and headed north up Tamboritha Road, then north west into Dingo Hill Track. We found a nice campsite just before the road crosses Shaw Creek on the hill with breathtaking views. At 7pm we knew it was going to be a cold night as the table had already frosted over and the car temperature gauge read -2C. We cooked a couple of steaks on the gas stove but the gas was struggling. Lucky we like our steaks medium rare. Even the fire was struggling so we went to bed in our Oztent RV4.
Our sleeping bags were getting old and only rated about +8C and we felt it. About midnight we both woke up to put extra clothes on, gloves and beanies. Vic’s Mount Franklin Water bottle was already frozen rock solid! Somehow we managed to fall asleep but it was a night that we’ll never forget. At one time the grim reaper knocked on our tent but we daren’t upzip it!
We were up before sunrise and stoked the fire back up which took some effort. Walking around the campsite we stood and jumped on solid frozen ice that were just puddles the night before. It must have been so close to snowing but it didn’t. The temperature gauge in the car read -7C at 7am. As tempting as it was to stay another night as the surrounding landscape was breathtaking, we decided to head on. The next weekend we bought new Black Wolf sleeping bags rated about -8C.
To see all the photos on Google, click here.