Date: Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Kilometres: 31.8 AAWT
Total kilometers: 478.9 AAWT
Animals: birds
People: plenty
Weather: Very cold early, sunny
and cool later
Campsite: Whites River Hut
Camp location:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=-36.29976,+148.38589
Pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/byrnesinoz/AAWT2011Day2205April?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_us6Ozie2gRw
I left Thredbo at 6:30am and was
told at hotel reception that it was -2C. It was
foggy outside but following the Merritts Spur Track
up from Thredbo to the top of the chairlift, I was
soon above the cloud and warm enough. The climb was
steep with big steps in places and was a test for my
knees with the heavy pack. I took it slowly and
steadily and enjoyed the early morning views over
the cloud-filled valleys. From the top of the
chairlift, it was easy walking along a metal pathway
(to protect the alpine vegetation from heavy foot
traffic) for the 6km to Mt Kosciusko and I had the
place to myself. It was sunny and still - perfect.
The official AAWT doesn't go to the top of Kosciusko
(2228m) but I dropped my pack at the track junction
and walked the 1km to the top. There were already a
couple of day hikers there, but they left soon
afterwards and I had the highest mountain in
Australia to myself. By the time I returned to my
pack there were lots of hikers on their way to the
top (having taken the chairlift up from Thredbo once
it started operating). From Kosciusko I followed the
Main Range northwards and had superb views in every
direction on a sunny day. The track kept high on The
Great Divide and I stopped on Carruthers Peak
(2145m) for a panoramic lunch at noon. From there
the track was less defined but, being well above the
tree-line, it was easy enough to work out the route
from the topology. Later in the day, the navigation
became harder, but I never got lost. I decided to
push on to White Rivers Hut, even though it was
going to be a long day. It would get me past the
higher ground in case there was fog in the morning,
and it would save me putting up my tent. The last
high section was across The Rolling Ground where
there were no tracks and just rocky outcrops on an
otherwise featureless alpine landscape. It would be
easy to get lost, especially in foul weather. It was
starting to get dark when I finally found the track
down to the Hut which I reached at 6:00pm. There
were some National Parks workers there, rebuilding
the Hut (which was unusable), along with two
northbound AAWT hikers, Rob and Jill. I put up my
tent in a less than ideal spot in the dark and then
cooked and ate my dinner by their fire while we all
chatted. The workers had a generator right next to
my tent, so it wasn't a very quiet night!
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