Thursday, 30 April 2026
Temp: 10-21°C
Distance 16.49km
Up 540m Down 7.49
Time 6:50 hrs Moving time 4:34 hrs
FB Bandaid left big toe
Food: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Shelter – Open wind Shelter + tables

Today was a big day. Suggested time from Bugiga to Barri Yalug is 5-6 hours with 14.7km distance. We thought we would be on our way by 8.30am but unfortunately it was 9.22am. Hopefully, we can get better as the next few days are big ones.

Last night was very warm only getting down to 10°. It was quite balmy. Today started with a beautiful sunrise, unfortunately I missed the best part and only caught the tail end of the colours. The first three kms was along fire trail and then single trail with a sandy track which we covered in about an hour and saw an eastern grey kangaroo right at the start. Then the rocky trail and ascent began. First was rocks amongst the dirt trail and then it became a rock platform, then it was scrambling up rocky boulders and manicured stairs as we weaved through the larger rock formations along the ridgeline. We saw some lovely colourful flowers, burnt trees and my favourite—fungi. There were some microscopic ones and some larger ones, colourful ones and plain ones. We continued up and up, on our way to Mt Rosea which had an elevation of 1006m. We stopped and chatted with a few groups along the way. A men’s group called “9 White Men” but one man said and a caramel koala. David reached them first and they asked him his philosophy of life. He was put on the spot and felt a little intimidated. They were a meditation group, very friendly and also shared some fresh grapes and dried mango with us. We would have spent at least 30 mins with them.

As we headed towards Eagle Rock (a magnificent collection of rock formations on the ridgeline) we met another young nurse from Melbourne on a few days break away from the real world. She works in the cancer ward in Melbourne. She was lovely and we talked to her for a while. David later stopped to help a lady who needed super glue to repair both the soles of her shoes which were coming apart. We then continued up some more to the summit of Mt Rosea. When we stopped for lunch, we had spent almost as much time stopped talking and taking photos as we had walking. We enjoyed lunch at the summit with a view of the valley, as it was too windy to sit at the summit overlooking Lake Bellfield. We met 5 girls from Adelaide who were here to celebrate one of the girls 23rd birthday.

We started the descent at about 1.10pm with 9km to camp. The first 2km was difficult rock hopping down hill, along with many rocky stairs and platforms. It also involved squeezing through large rock formations and narrow gaps. It took about an hour to go 2km. The next 7 km was still downhill, so hard on your knees, but a lot softer due to the trail terrain being normal dirt single trail. We saw a couple of pretty faced wallabies. The last km was uphill again with a little rock hopping. We arrived at camp just after 4pm, found our tent pad and went about the usual setting up activities.

We shared dinner with Molly, a 25 year old kiwi who had just moved to Melbourne. She has a degree in environmental science and was working on green house gas emissions in New Zealand. Her partner comes from Azerbaijan. She was shocked that we knew where Azerbaijan was. We chatted with her for hours after dinner. She was good company. She came from the south of the trail and had done our next 2 upcoming sections in one day but she went hard from 7am this morning and arrived about 5pm at camp tonight. That is definitely out of the question for us. It is a big 8.5 hour day tomorrow, so hopefully we can get moving earlier. We are off to sleep now 😴

“The 2024–2025 summer bushfires burned about 135,000–136,000 hectares in and around Grampians National Park, which was estimated to be nearly 80% of the park. The fires occurred in two major phases: Yarram Gap Road fire (started 17 December 2024) and burned more than 76,000 hectares. Wallaby Rocks fire (started late January 2025) and burned more than 59,000 hectares. Combined, the fires severely affected biodiversity, walking tracks, cultural sites, tourism infrastructure, and adjacent farmland.”

National Parks Notes
Day 6: (C2) Bugiga Hike-in Campground – Barri-Yalug Hike-in Campground
Start: Bugiga Hike-in Campground
Distance: 14.7km
Grade: 4
Key elevation points: Bugiga Hike-in Campground 625m, Mt Rosea, 1009, Barri-yalug Hike-in Campground 375m
Elevation: 550m up, 810m down
Names and meanings: Bugiga = ‘Bukika’: Unknown – refers to Mount Rosea (Bugiga-mirgani = ‘Bukika-mirkani’). Barri Yalug = ‘Parri yalook’: running river.
Highlights: Wet tall forest with a rocky steep climb through boulders to the Mt Rosea (Bugiga-mirgani) ridgeline. Cross the bridge at the Gate of the East Wind.
Climb through tall forest and onto the slopes of Mt Rosea. After reaching the summit, a long descent through tall forest leads to a footbridge over Fyans Creek next to Borough Huts, a great place for a cool-off. Workers lived at Borough Huts and maintained Stawell’s water supply in the late 1800s. The ingenious, elevated steel flume carried gravity-driven water along the Mt William Range before passing through a hand-hewn tunnel and on into Stawell. Cross Grampians Tourist Road and walk through forest and onto rocky slopes to Barri Yalug.
Important safety information:
– Serviced water tank at Bugiga Hike-in Campground
– Rainwater tank at Barri-Yalug Hike-in Campground