Another trip into the mountains near Mansfield with a group of work friends from Bangalore. We took a more direct route to Mansfield this time, however had to make a detour around Mill Park due to fatal road accident, however the detour allowed us to travel along the back roads near Whittlesea where we spotted a few kangaroos.
We arrived in Mansfield early morning where we met up with Kim and his family. A quick look around the bush market and a coffee before heading out to the King River.
The river was much lower than the last time we were up this way, and the river crossings posed no problems. Kim had an opportunity to get the wheels on his cruiser a little wet.
We set-up for lunch on the King River near King Hut. It was a warm day, and the flies were out in droves, but the food was fantastic and the chance to stretch the legs welcome. Everybody had brought something different, and it was great to taste different home made Indian dishes.
I tried a little trout fishing but caught nothing. We could see the trout; they just weren't interested in getting caught today. A quick group photo and we were back in the car heading up to Mt Cobbler.
We made our way up the Staircase easy enough, though I did touch bottom on a few of the rougher places. Kim had no troubles either in the stock standard Cruiser.
Up on the Cobbler Plateau the wildflowers were spectacular; with everlasting daisies lining the track side.
The plan was to drive to Camp Creek and then walk up to Mt Speculation. We tagged along behind the Park Ranger, who graciously cleared a fallen tree from the track, however by the time we reached Camp Creek there wasn't enough time to make the return walk to Mt Speculation, so we returned along the track and made our way straight to Lake Cobbler.
Lake Cobbler was as beautiful as ever, and we enjoyed an afternoon tea before heading off on a walk to the Dandongadale Falls
The first falls we came to had only a small trickle of water falling over some cascades before the sheer drop into the valley. The view across the ranges was magnificent.
We continued along another track to Dandongadale Falls proper, which had a reasonable amount of water falling over the falls edge.
The rocky escarpment with the sheer drop of 250 metres plus was spectacular. The rock shelf hanging suspended with vast views off over the high country.
We returned back to the lake, where a lot of campers were setting up for the night, and after a cuppa headed down the other side of Mt Cobbler. We could see the falls from the roadside as we climbed down into the valley and slowly made our way through Whitfield and back to Mansfield.
We stopped in a park near Mansfield for dinner, finishing off what was left over from lunch, before returning to Melbourne.
| Track Name | Surface | Travel Time | Total Distance | Avg Speed | Min Alt | Max Alt |
| King Hut to Speculation Road (The Staircase) | 4WD, rock steps | 36 minutes | 10.3 km | 17km/h | 794 metres | 1272 metres |
| Speculation Rd to Camp Creek | 4WD, last portion overgrown | 22 minutes | 8 km | 21km/h | 1348 metres | 1502 metres |
| Lake Cobbler Track | 4WD Easy | 13 minutes | 6 km | 28km/h | 1106 metres | 1362 metres |
| Lake Cobbler to Mansfield via Whitfield | 2WD Gravel/Highway | Approx 2 hours 45 minutes | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
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