Journal:
I slept badly
initially as I was sleeping on a table in the BBQ
shelter and there were some small biting insects.
Eventually, I gave in around midnight and found some
insect repellant and rubbed it on my exposed skin.
Thereafter I slept well until woken by a rain shower
around 4am and by 6:30am, when I got up, it was
raining steadily. I celebrated my good
judgment in choosing to sleep in the shelter.
I breakfasted and packed up and then hid my supply
drum, and took a GPS location, in nearby bush.
I will pick it up on my next trip to Melbourne.
The rain was steady, although not heavy, as I set
out along the road. I was making a detour from
the official
Hume & Hovell
route because a footbridge had been washed out
further downstream. The detour didn't involve
extra distance, but did require walking along a
country road. There was almost no traffic and
the scenery was autumnal with the occasional bright
yellow tree and mist hanging on the sides of the
surrounding mountains. Very pleasant.
After an hour I rejoined
the official route which then turned down a farm
road that followed a rural valley upstream for about
6 kilometres. There were more autumn colours,
a babbling creek and open pastures populated with
cattle, sheep and kangaroos. The grade was
easy, I had the place to myself and it was easy to
ignore the continual rain. I passed the
remnants of an old logging mill and other rusting
machinery and soon after reached the end of the
valley and began zig-zagging up the side of a steep
mountain through dense brush which was wet and
overhanging the trail. Before long I was
sodden and getting a bit cold. Higher up, the
trail emerged from the brush and followed the
mountain contours, weaving between huge mossy
boulders in a majestic eucalypt forest. Still
raining and I sat on a rock, huddled from the
weather, and had my first and only break and snack
for the day, having walked for three hours.
After the break the trail left the forest and began
crossing some precipitous open pasture land. I
had to follow either fence lines or the ubiquitous
white Hume & Hovell market posts that were visible
at long distances. This was the pattern for
the rest of the afternoon. The grass in the
pastureland was short so the walking was easy apart
from the steep ups and downs. The wind was
becoming noticeable on the ridges and I was
bordering on cold but didn't want to stop and get
any more gear out as there was no shelter and things
would get wet.
Around 2pm I descended to the Snowy Mountains
Highway. The Hume & Hovell Track continued on
the other side of the Highway, after following it
for a kilometre, but I had decided to go into the
town of Tumut, 10km further down the highway, and
get a motel room for the night. I had washing
to do and batteries to recharge and the thought of a
hot shower was icing on the cake. I thought
about calling a taxi, but didn't want to risk
getting my phone wet and the rain was now pouring
down. I knew that there would be a school bus
coming along later in the afternoon, but there was
nowhere dry to wait so I decided I might as well
walk towards town. I would be there in two
hours and it would keep me warm. I didn't
hitch-hike, but thought there was a good chance
someone would pick me up and, sure enough, the third
car along stopped and offered me a ride in their
luxury SUV. Very apologetically, I dumped my
saturated pack on the back seat and sat my sodden
butt on the front seat for the short ride into town
from the friendly local.
He dropped me in the centre of Tumut and, after some
quick consideration, I decided the motel across the
road would do me fine and went to Reception.
As soon as they saw I was a hiker, they said Warwick
Hull, the Hume & Hovell Trail Coordinator had just
been in looking for me! They helpfully
organised a washing machine and dryer for my gear.
I showered, put on a load of laundry, and called
Warwick. He was still in town (he works in
Wagga Wagga) and we arranged to have a cup of coffee
nearby. His colleague Peter was with him and
we had a really nice chat about the Hume & Hovell
Track, other hikes and running for an hour or so.
Warwick had actually intended to give me a lift from
the trailhead into town, but I wasn't answering my
phone.
So, another day has ended on a good note, due
largely to the help and kindness of strangers.
I called the school bus company and they will pick
me up at 6:45am in the morning from near the motel
and return me to the trail for $2!
I bought pizza for dinner from across the road and a
few batteries I needed from the adjacent supermarket
and then updated my diary after dinner and packed
ready for an early departure tomorrow.