Walking Since 1939

Viking Circuit: exploratory Feb 2025

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Trip Overview

Join us for a challenging 3-day (47 km) circuit hike in the Victorian Alps that take in Mt Howitt, Crosscit Saw, Mt Speculation, The Razor, and The Viking. This hike is a difficult exploratory hike; the last time I completed the hike to Mt Speculation was 2 years ago and The Viking section over 10 years ago. Recent walk notes of the Viking Circuit on the AllTrails website suggest that several sections of this hike will be overgrown and bush bashing is required. We will start hiking at 7 am on each of the three days.

Camping

We will be camping north-east of Mt Speculation (7 Feb) and at the Wonnangatta River campground (8 Feb).

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Itinerary and Walk Descriptions

AllTrails map

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/viking-circuit-c5b2ceb

Distance: 47 km
Elevation gain: 2,800 m

We will be starting at 7 am on Friday, 7 September, so it will be best if people arrive the night before. Unfortunately because of the long first day we will be unable to wait for latecomers. We will begin our walk from Howitt Rd near View Point.

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Day 1 (Fri, 7 Feb) – Howitt Rd to Mt Speculation (15 km)
We start from Mt Howitt and climb until the junction to Mt Howitt where we drop our packs for a side trip to Mt Howitt. We retrace our route back to our packs and continue to the Crosscut Saw, Mt Buggery, and Mt Speculation. We will camp east-north-east of Mt Speculation, often we need to trek about 500 m (a 100 m drop) to access water at Camp Creek before returning the same way to our higher campground.
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Day 2 (Sat, 8 Feb) – Mt Speculation to Wonnangatta River (17 km)
We drop down the same steps to where we obtained water the previous evening and then continue along Speculation Rd until the hiking trail (just before a saddle). We continue along this trail to Mt Despair and the Razor junction, where we drop our packs for a side trip to The Razor. We retrace our route back to our packs and continue to The Viking and finally drop to Wonnangatta River, where we camp for the night.
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Day 3 (Sun, 9 Feb) – Wonnangatta River to Howitt Rd (15 km)
We follow the Wonnangatta Track south-east and then turn south and climb the steep Zeka Spur Track until we reach a saddle. We leave the track at the saddle and follow the spur back to the Mt Howitt Walking Track, which we followed on the first day and returns us to our starting point.
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Transport

Transport to and from the walk location is by car. Please indicate your transport requirements and preferences on the booking request form when you book in.

If you don’t have a car, we can’t guarantee to provide you with a lift – this will depend on available drivers and their locations.

Passengers must pay the driver their share of car-pooling costs as described on the Car-pooling page. Please discuss the preferred method of payment with your driver.

 

Booking

Booking is required for this walk. Please indicate what similar walks you have done recently (that is, in the past few months) to give the leader confidence that you are capable of doing this hike. Refer to Walking Grades which, in conjunction with the walk description, will help you assess whether you have the required walking fitness and experience to do this walk.

The Leader will confirm your acceptance on the walk, or not, via email.  The leader will provide details of where and when to meet.

By booking into this event you acknowledge that you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct.

Booking Fee:
Members: free.     Non-members: $12.

Payment:
To avoid handling cash, non-members are required to pre-pay their booking fee by PayPal or credit/debit card.

Cancellation:
If you need to cancel, please advise the leader as soon as possible, so that someone else has the opportunity.
There will be no refunds, so please do not book unless you are fully committed to walking.

 

What to Bring

• All the equipment, clothing, food and water you will need for the walks and overnight stays (refer Trip details above).

Refer to our Gear Checklist page for more details, or discuss with the leader.  If you are not properly equipped, the walk leader can decide not to let you participate on this walk.

 

Emergency Club Contact

The emergency club contact for this walk is Ken.  The leader can provide you with the contact’s phone number, if you wish to pass this on to any friend/family member who may be concerned if you return late.

 

Safety and Ambulance Insurance

We strongly recommend that you have Ambulance cover. If conditions are hazardous, the walk may be cancelled. If any doubts at all, check your emails the night before and the morning of the event. For more details refer to: Joining a walk and your safety

If you are Covid-19 positive, have any Covid-19 symptoms or are a contact of someone with Covid-19, please follow the instructions in the Coronavirus Victoria website.

 

Still have questions?

Check out What happens on a walk.

Check out Weekend and extended walks.

Contact the leader using the “Enquiry” button.

 

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Activity Date(s)

Start:

February 7, 2025 7:00 am

End:

February 9, 2025 4:00 pm

Information

Type:

Pack-carry

Grade:

Hard

Leader:

Frank P

Booking Request

We're sorry, but all bookings have closed because the event is expired.