It’s supposed to be the biggest rock monolith in the southern hemisphere but I can’t help but be a bit dubious of the claim. Parks Victoria states that Pine Mountain is 1.5 times bigger than Uluru, but it really doesn’t have the iconic status that Uluru does. Despite all of the rhetoric, Pine mountain is a fairly impressive place. In fact it reminds me a little of Mt Buffalo further to the southwest. Sure, Pine Mountain is not as high nor as spectacular but it does have some alluring points. Firstly Pine Mountain is off the beaten track and as such rarely sees visitors. It is also covered in black cypress pine woodland, an especially attractive and unusual form of vegetation. Best of all, however, is its amazing views. No other mountain in Victoria delivers such a feast for the eyes. Greg, Karen and I reached the summit ridge at just after 1pm on a hot summers day. This is one of the walks we are including into our new Daywalks Around Victoria guidebook and we needed to check out the trail and accurately GPS it. Even with the heat haze we were treated to uninterrupted views along the crest of what is the highest section of the Great Dividing Range. The mountains culminated in the dramatic western faces of Mt Kosciuszko, the highest point in Australia. Slightly south we could see the remote, almost mystical Cobberas, the birthplace of the Murray River and the start of its 2560 kilometre journey to the sea in South Australia. We sat on the summit rocks and ate lunch. I think if I come back up here I’ll try to time it for early spring. The mountains would all be covered in snow then and the views would be amazing.
