{"id":1664,"date":"2022-03-22T08:24:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T22:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyergmail.direct.quickconnect.to\/wordpress\/?p=1664"},"modified":"2023-07-07T16:11:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-07T06:11:14","slug":"australian-alps-walking-track-day-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/australian-alps-walking-track-day-34\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Alps Walking Track – Week 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

It’s not the destination that matters,
it\u2019s the change of scene.<\/em><\/p>\nBrian Eno.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Day 29 was another day in the high country, but not as high as on the main range. The AAWT followed fire trails, which were relatively flat, making for fast walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I walked past an area known as Crooks Racecourse. This area is named after a man called Crook, who was a lethargic stockman. He was known to have once spurred his horse into a gallop in this area, hence the name \u201cCrooks Racecourse\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I followed the Grey Mare Trail through open country to Happy Jacks Road, which I crossed. The AAWT then follows a vague track before reaching Toll Bar Road. I picked up some water that had pooled next to the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Open landscape approaching Happy Jacks Road<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The AAWT heads north on the Tabletop Mountain Trail, through The Dip and around Tabletop Mountain. Shortly afterwards, I took a side trip to the Broken Dam Hut where I camped for the night. I managed to find water at the base of a tree near the hut, which was fortunate because on the high plains water was sometimes difficult to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Broken Dam Hut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On day 30 I met some of the National Parks maintenance workers as I was leaving Broken Dam Hut, who travel from hut to hut cutting grass and carrying out general maintenance. I had views of Tabletop Mountain as I continued north. The land here had been scarred badly by the bushfires at the end of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tabletop Mountain <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was not surprised to learn afterwards that Four Mile Hut had burned down in those fires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Fire scarred area near Four Mile Hut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The track was somewhat nondescript as I continued towards Kiandra, and the rain started to fall. I stopped to look at some of the historic buildings and interpretive signage at Kiandra, and then collected my final food drop which I had hidden near the Eucumbene River. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After lunch, I crossed the river and continued walking on the fire trails. It was pleasant walking here, through interesting country and classic Australian landscapes. I arrived at Witzes Hut in time for dinner. The hut was built in 1952 but looks older because it was constructed from materials from the remains of a nearby homestead which had been built in 1880.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Witzes Hut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I had heard strange noises through the night, and wondered what they could have been. On the morning of Day 31 I found out when, shortly after leaving Witzes Hut, I came upon an incredibly wide fire trail. As I continued along the Bullocks Hill Trail I passed a number of work crews who told me they were laying infrastructure for future hydroelectric works (Snowy Hydro 2.0).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Snowy Hydro 2.0 works on Bullocks Hill Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I followed the Bullocks Hill Trail until it crossed Tantangara Creek, and then to the Murrumbidgee River. I had read that there are times when the river is uncrossable but, when I was there, the water got no higher than my knees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Approaching the Murrumbidgee River<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after crossing the river, the AAWT crosses an area where there is no track. For a while I was able to locate the occasional marker but, eventually, I decided to take a straight line across the open country. At one stage I made a navigational error and, at another time, I tripped down a wombat hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after regaining the Port Phillip Trail I found myself at the Ghost Gulley Camping Ground. This camping ground makes provision for horse riders and, when I arrived, the Tathra Riding Club was in residence. They welcomed me with open arms and a cup of tea with real milk and biscuits (yum!). I stayed for an hour before continuing on my walk to Hainsworth Hut, where I camped for the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hainsworth Hut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 32 was another fine day (I had been so lucky with the weather). I was walking on the Mosquito Creek Trail. As I crossed the Cooleman Plain there were signs of brumbies everywhere and I saw quite a few mobs in the distance. I left the AAWT to make a side trip to Blue Waterholes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Blue Waterholes <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The water was clear and cold and I took a quick skinny dip. I then wandered up the Clarke Gorge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Clarke Gorge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I found the Cooleman Falls at the end of Clarke Gorge and explored to the bottom of the falls before returning to the camping ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cooleman Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back at the camping ground, I met a family from Narooma and we shared dinner together. There were also many kangaroos in the area as dinner companions (little did they know that my Pasta Bolognese contained kangaroo mince).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dinner companions <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the morning of day 33, I went for a walk up Nichols Gorge to Murray Cave. The extraordinary thing about this walk is that the creek, so full of water in Clarke Gorge, is totally dry in Nichols Gorge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Murray Cave<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I met a young German walker. He was planning to do the AAWT from Canberra down to Walhalla. He had no food drops, and my first thought was that he was being overly ambitious. But he told me it wasn\u2019t the first time he done this sort of thing, and explained that he walked from Germany to Spain, walked the length of New Zealand, and completed the Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia, all using the same method of walking long distances with one meal per day and stopping whereever he could to purchase food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I left the Blue Waterholes, walked up and over Pocket Saddle (bypassing Pockets Hut) and arrived mid afternoon at Oldfields Hut. I decided to have an early stop to my walking, and Oldfields Hut was very inviting. I found a jar of peanut butter in the hut and ate the lot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later that day three other walkers arrived and we all enjoyed dinner together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sunset over Murrays Gap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was misty on the morning of Day 34. Oldfields Hut has a lovely view across the valley to Murrays Gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Oldfields Hut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I bid farewell to the three amigos and continued walking eastwards towards Murrays Gap. Then I was in the Australian Capital Territory, descending towards the Cotter River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The three amigos (and me)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I crossed the Cotter River at the ford and continued on the AAWT up to Cotter Gap where I made camp for the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Campsite at Cotter Gap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 35 was another sunny day. I spent the morning walking down to the Orroral River where there were many kangaroos grazing. The AAWT then ascends 350m and connects to a fire trail, which took me to the Honeysuckle Creek campsite. This is the site of a former space tracking station and I spent some time exploring the area and reading the informative signage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 36 would be the last day of my walk. My knees were starting to seize up. I followed the AAWT past Booroomba Rocks and then around towards Mount Tennent. The track climbs 150m around Mount Tennent and then descends steeply, past the Cypress Pine Lookout, with views over Tharwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
View near Cypress Pine Lookout <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two kilometres later I was approaching the finish of the walk at the Namadgi Visitor Centre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Namadgi Visitor Centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The rangers at the Visitor Centre were very friendly. Apparently most through hikers don\u2019t bother stopping by and signing the book but for me it was an important conclusion to the walk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Me at the end<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some final totals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steps: 1,030,000
Snakes sighted: 23
Leaches sighted: 1
Other AAWT walkers sighted: 6
Roos sighted: a few hundred
Brumbies sighted: 138
Deer sighted: 2<\/p>\n\n\nPhoto Gallery<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\tAAWT_Week_5 <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>GPX\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/path>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/marker>\n\t\t\t\t<\/defs>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t50<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t100<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t150<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t200<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t\t5<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t\t10<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t\t15<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/rect>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\tDistance (km)<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t (m)<\/text>\n\t\t\t\t<\/path>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/line>\n\t\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t
No elevation data<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
Name: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Distance: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Minimum elevation: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Maximum elevation: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Elevation gain: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Elevation loss: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t\t
Duration: <\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\tNo data<\/em><\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t<\/table>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s not the destination that matters, it\u2019s the change of scene. Brian Eno. Day 29 was another day in the high country, but not as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[34,33],"class_list":["post-1664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bushwalking","tag-aawt","tag-australian-alps-walking-track"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/img_3337-scaled.jpg?fit=1920%2C2560&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1664"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3119,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664\/revisions\/3119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffgoodyer.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}