Mountain Dash

A free long weekend and a promising looking weather forecast offered up the opportunity for quick trip down Kosciusko NP. The initial plan was to head down solo, perhaps explore the north of the park by MTB on the Saturday, and then run/walk the Main Range Track on the Sunday. Monday would then be an easy relaxing day and an early return home.

As it turned out, I couldn’t get hold of a bike, and running machine Antony made the decision to join at the last minute. This resulted in a slight re-jigging of the plans, with a bit more of a focus on running and an extension of the Sunday plans to what has been named the Aussie 10 Peaks (there is a helpful site at www.aussie10.com). Antony is as fit as a fiddle, and was most recently seen destroying my legs and self-esteem at the Sydney Oxfam 100k, so this little change was both exciting and a little intimidating (which I didn’t let on).

We made a nice early start on the Saturday, and made good time to Island bend. Interestingly NPWS had recently done a survey for Asbestos, discovering a number of contaminated areas and fencing off a number of sections of the camping area as a result. We diligently avoided the affected areas, but were entertained by one guy who had decided to pitch his tent right up against a warning fence. To be fair there is likely limited risk if you stop short of excavating your campsite.

After setting up we drove up to the Charlotte Pass turning circle and headed out towards the Blue Lake to stretch the legs. There were plenty of people out, and the clear skies and warm temperatures made for almost perfect conditions. We spent an easy few hours exploring around the Lake and taking photos of the remaining drifts of snow. My decision to scramble up one of the chutes was rather unappreciated by Antony, who didn’t particularly enjoy the exposure.

We made an early start Sunday on our Aussie 10 attempt, and hit the paved trail down to the Snowy River shortly before 7am. We walked reasonably quickly up the other side, before getting the legs going for the first time on the flattish path out to Twynam. From there we made the short diversion out to Tennyson Wood’s Knoll, stopping briefly for a few rather classy photos and a snack or two. From there it was a quick slog up to Caruthers, where we met a Japanese gent who was ticking off the Main Range Track in  a day. It was nice to practice a little bit of Japanese and hear how much he was enjoying his day out.

We stopped for a decent bite to eat on Northcote, before making our way out towards Townsend. The Peaks out in this little group are all close together, but there are few tracks and a decent amount of up and down. Fair to say it took us a little longer than expected, and we were starting to get a little tired by the time we returned to the spot we had dropped our packs below Townsend. We took the chance for another rest, taking on plenty of water and food, and giving the feet a quick soak. By this time the March Flies were getting pretty active, and as annoying as they were for me it was well worth it for the entertainment of seeing Antony’s reaction each time he copped a nibble from one of the evil little bastards.

Next up was Kosci, and we made good time to the junction with the main track up to the summit. Although the previous areas all had people out walking, it was a bit of a shock  to come across the hordes of people streaming up to the top of Australia. It was wonderful to see people out enjoying the outdoors, but it was nice to make our way off the duckboard and start heading cross country again as we made a line for the Ramsheads. We were definitely getting a bit tired by this point, and somehow managed to get our sense of direction and distance way off. What we thought was the Ramshead was the North Ramshead, and though it didn’t really cost us any time, it was a gentle reminder of how easy it is to make simple but significant mistakes. This was after all a perfectly clear day. I also took a small fall climbing the Ramshead proper, and I think at this point Antony was enjoying a little revenge for the suffering I put him through on our Blue Lake scramble.

Nevertheless from there it was back along the metal boards to Rawson’s Pass, straight up to the un-named peak above the over-engineered toilets and straight back down again. From there back to Charlottes was little more than a road run, but Antony was hard on the GPS watch and pushing the pace. I was clearly feeling a little more shagged, but did my best to keep turning the legs over. I managed to find a few good excuses for a rest, but we made good time back, ticking off the loop in a total of 9hrs 45mins. A grand day out indeed.

It was a relaxed and happy campsite that night as we recounted the joys of the day. It would be rare to have such great conditions and company for something like this, and we were both on a decent post run high. Beers and chocolate while soaking in the river preceded a tasty dinner and an early night. We took the chance on Monday to drive around the back of the Main Range and down to Geehi. My plan was to find the start of the Hannel’s Spur track for  a future trip up that route. A combination of a limited map and not reading the description properly had us faffing around for a while before we came across the hut and cleared area leading to the start of the track. By then it was time to make a move back to Sydney. All in all a cracker weekend with plenty of ideas for future trips and exploration. Link to the GPS map etc is here. http://www.movescount.com/moves/move24807780