Built in 1971 Built for Memorial | Built by Volunteers Accessed by Walking track | |
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Similar Mount Howitt, Mount Buggery, Alpine National Park, Arbuckle Junction, Craigs Hut | ||
Spring outlet pipe near vallejo gantner hut alpine national park
The Vallejo Gantner Hut is located at Macalister Springs near Mount Howitt and the Crosscut Saw. The construction commenced in late 1968. The hut was built as a memorial following the death of a young man named Vallejo Gantner.
Vallejo Gantner was born in San Francisco and moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 12. He was a student at Melbourne Grammar School and was involved in outdoor activities throughout his student life. He was killed at the age of 19 when his shotgun accidentally discharged while hunting rabbits.
His mother Neilma Gantner (see Merlyn Myer) asked the Victorian State Government permission to construct the hut as a memorial to her son. The hut was built with considerable difficulty due to poor access and adverse weather conditions over a two-year period from 1970–1971 with the help of friends from student days at Melbourne Grammar School and from other schools.
The hut was designed by architect David McGlashen. Its unusual triangular design like a hiking tent readily sheds snow in winter.
The hut is a popular destination for bushwalkers in summer and for cross country skiers in winter and is known colloquially as "Gantner's". It is now within the boundaries of the Wonnongatta-Moroko National Park.
A relatively recent addition to the site was the construction of a naturally composting pit toilet with a magnificent view down the Macalister River Valley and across the tops of nearby snowgums and mountain ridges.
The site is listed in the Victorian Heritage Register.