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Early Seasonal Track Closure, Kelly Lane.
With wipers on to clear the falling snow from the Parks Victoria Hilux windscreen, we stopped at the northern end of Kelly Lane to lock the Seasonal Closure gate. Kelly Lane, a short but important track, has its southern entry point at Thomastown, off the Tamboritha Road north of Licola and the northern end, off the Howitt Road. The track follows Shaw Creek and gives access to two historic huts, Kelly Hut and McMichaels Hut. I was travelling with Sam, Parks Victoria acting Ranger Team Leader (Heyfield). We had run into fresh snow at 1000 metres above sea level. It was certainly cold, but the landscape looked fantastic, almost monochromatic, with the white snow and dark grey sky.
Many tracks in Victoria’s National Parks are subject to Seasonal Closure. Quoting Parks Victoria, “Tracks are closed to vehicles for visitor safety, to maintain water quality and prevent erosion during the wetter months as rain and snow softens the tracks, making them vulnerable to damage”.
In the Alps, Kelly Lane, King Spur Track (access to Mayford and the upper reaches of the Dargo River) and the central section of Davies Plain Track are often closed earlier than the normal Kings Birthday date in early June. With an expected closure date of May the 1st, Kelly Lane was kept open a week longer this year due to dry conditions. Sections of the three tracks traverse very fragile alpine environments, like heathland and peatlands. Run off from vehicles using wet muddy tracks could severely impact these plants which play a vital role in water capture and filtering before it enters alpine streams. As an example, degraded water quality in Shaw Creek would have implications along the whole system down into the Gippsland Lakes. The other consideration for the early closure of these tracks is the nature of the track surface, which unlike a rocky or gravel based track, is expensive and difficult to repair.
As Four Wheel Drive Victoria Regional Representative, Gippsland Alps, I had been invited to ride along with Sam as he checked the track conditions, confirmed that it was time to close the track and carefully scouted all the possible places someone could be camped so that nobody was locked in behind the gates.
The fresh snow, ranging from five to ten centimetres deep on the track, had not melted and soaked in so the track surface was still very firm. As we drove in to McMichaels Hut, a short distance off the main track, a small flock of yellow tailed black cockatoos flew off. There were wallaby tracks in the snow on several places along the track. Before heading back to the Parks Victoria office in Heyfield, we had lunch in the vehicle at the small picnic area beside Shaw Creek at Thomastown, watching the increasingly heavy snowfall. We had an interesting discussion about planned upgrades to picnic and camping areas and the amazing amount of work that has been undertaken to improve visitor experiences in the Alpine National Park over recent months.
Thanks to Ranger Team Leader Sam, for inviting me to travel with him.
Greg Rose.
Four Wheel Drive Victoria Regional Representative, Gippsland Alps.
