Hiking isn't for everyone, so we organised a trip that involved both four wheel drives, and hiking. For the destination, Craig's Hut near Mt Stirling was chosen as its a well known 4x4 area, and has plenty of hiking trails. In the end it was still too much like hard work for the 4x4s, so we just went hiking. Alan, Chris and Zoe setup camp at the Sawmill camp ground at the base of Mt Bulla and Mt Stirling. Tim, Misty and Andy arrived later, opting not to setup a tent. Chris and Alan slept peacefully in a two man tent, while the other 4 crammed into Zoe's 3 man tent. Suffice to say they didn't get much sleep that night.

The party hadn't even left Telephone Box Junction (TBJ) before the first rock was placed in a pack. The antics continued all weekend, with Tim's 'rock shelf' (aka Caitie's 7 litre hand bag for carrying her crap, that bolts onto Tim's pack) being a prime target. The hike started at Howqua Gap Hut, and went straight up to the summit of Mt Stirling. The track across to Craig's Hut was a lot friendlier than last summer, with no one sliding down the steep hill on their butt. After stopping for a reasonable lunch, they arrived at the hut at 1:15, with over 4 hours to wait until they could start cooking tea (6 o'clock rule).

The hut wasn't the same as when they had left it the winter before. The 4x4 club that maintains it had installed a new fence around the perimeter, re-decked the balcony, and put gravel down on all of the paths. It now has wheel chair access. This all seems to be in preparation for the Government sealing the road to the hut, making it accessible to every man and his dog. Its only a matter of time before the first vending machine appears. At least during winter it will remain hard to get to, as all of the roads are closed due to the snow level.