other thoughts almost suggesting ‘you
do that, and I’ll mess with you’. Off
we went, Dave motioning for me to
go forward.
Within a few hundred metres my
hand said enough was enough … no,
it wasn’t I replied. This track wouldn’t
have been tough under normal cir-
cumstances, now every jolt, bump
and twist of the handlebars was driv-
ing a cold forged chisel into the back
of my hand … bloody hell it hurt …
the grin on my face was ear to ear.
This track went on and on, I knew
I was slowing but didn’t care, despite
the discomfort I was having too much
fun in the challenge of a different
sort. Occasionally I caught a glimpse
of Dave behind me, not the sort of
riding he would normally take on, he
was good enough not to say anything.
Dave and I reached the top of Mine
Creek Road, I’d remember that one,
I’d return to have greater fun with-
out the hinderance. We were now
on something called Number Three
Road; in the distance we could hear
the three other bikes approaching.
“I’ll slow them down,” Dave
laughed as he sent them through the
large, twisted gum trees. We contin-
ued on Number Three.
I couldn’t help wondering where
he’d sent them, apparently it was
something called the Bus Huts Loop
Trail. There was a trail?
Amongst a criss-crossing maze of
trails, we all regrouped at the Razor-
back Hut. Again, no fire, but it was a
chance to rest the hand before taking
on the last leg. We hadn’t travelled
too far, yet we’d been at it for most of
the day, time was flying.
Razorback Hut is another one of
those iconic constructions made
some time ago to be used by the
mountain workers, in this case the
High-Country cattlemen and until
recently it was still being used during
the cattle drives, it’s now a refuge for
hikers, bikers and general public. It
was a great opportunity to make a
TRAVERSE 22
few minor repairs and take a short
break before heading to the next hut
… the Howqua Gap Hut.
The riding was now easy, the
Mount Stirling Circuit Road winds its
way through the alpine forests, the
scenery spectacular, the road wide
and smooth. Perhaps a little boring
in some ways, just what my hand
needed.
Occasionally stopping for photos
and to admire just where we were the
ride took perhaps 50 minutes to reach
the most iconic of all High-Country
huts; the famous Craig’s Hut.
Amazingly, Craig’s Hut is the least
authentic of all the huts. Original-
ly built in 1982 for the feature film,
The Man From Snowy River. The
hut needed to be rebuilt in 2008 after
bushfires raged through the area two
years earlier.
Sitting atop Mount Stirling the
views are stunning, even as the
fast-approaching bad weather sur-
rounded us, there was something