Scrub free routes in Kosciuszko NP

[Johnhqld]

Hi all

I am planning to do two five day circuit walks in the Snowies region in the next few weeks. I have done most of the planned routes before but a long time ago. After some unpleasant experiences with alpine scrub in the past I am keen to get up to date information so we can avoid if possible.

Walk One will include doing a short day circuit walk from the headwaters of Strezlecki Creek. First part is to walk down the Blue Lake Walk from the top of the range to Blue Lake. My preferred option is to walk off track to the base of Crummer Spur, then up it to Little Twynam and Mt Twynam and back to the start. I have been down Crummer Spur in the past and I don't recall anything particularly bad. What are the current conditions like? The other option is to walk to Charlotte Pass via the new Snowies Alpine Walk, then along the new track that follows the Snowy River to the Illawong swing bridge, and up to the top of Mt Twynam and back to the start. This will be a lot longer and does not excite me that much. I have walked from the Illawong bridge to Mt Twynam before and apart from being a slog with through packs not a big deal. I have also walked along this part of the river before the new track went again and I recall that this was not a lot of fun, so the new track sounds like a good idea if you are going that way! Thoughts please?

Walk Two will start and finish at Munyang Power Station. Rough circuit is Munyang - Whites River Hut - Schlink Pass - Mt Gungartan - The Kerries - Mawsons Hut - Valentines Hut - back to start along road. I have covered a fair bit of this on a 10 day walk I led from Kiandra to Perisher back in 2002 so the conditions may have changed a lot in that time. The part that was a bit of a nightmare was the descent from Gungartan to somewhere between Schlink Pass and Whites River Hut after travelling south along the Kerries from our previous night's camp. I do not recall the exact route although looking at some old marks on my map it looks like we went south from Gungartan to about the 2000m contour, then SW fairly directly to Whites River Hut. The scrub we hit was diabolical and my friends still remember it too. What is the best way to get to Gungartan and the Kerries from the Munyang - Geehi road please? Any other comments on possible issues are welcome.

Thanks everyone in advance for your help and advice

John

[Lophophaps]

John

I've done the first walk but like you it was a while ago. I'll see what I can find.

I've done all of the second walk in stages for many years. Coming from Guthega Power Station at the top of the hill the road goes down to the ford below Horse Camp Hut and on to Schlink Pass. From the top of that hill (see picture) if you go left on a minor but good road you can get onto the Aqueduct Trail. The start is a bit tricky to find, too many roads.

Junction above Guthega PS

Once you are on the Aqueduct Trail it's easy to follow. While it has a few bumps it's mainly flat at around 1600 metres except at the end where it's quite steep for a few minutes. Horse Camp Hut is not far from the Aqueduct Trail, steep. The Aqueduct Trail continues to meet the Schlink Road a bit below Whites River. I like this way as it keeps high insted of down and then up, and avoid a wet crossing at the ford.

Another option is to go uphill from the surge tank-valve house region near the south end of the Aqueduct Trail, circa 256765. My maps are 40 years old and the map base has changed, so the grid references will be out a digit or two for the last digit.

Rolling Ground

The scrub is mainly open - I cannot recall much about this. I am certain that once you reach the treeline it's open easy walking. There are no tracks. Continue north over the Rolling Ground to above Schlink Pass. Descent is a bit tricky. From the last bluff go south-east and the north east. There are sheltered campsites on the east side of the plateau with water everywhere. In bad weather, navigation on the plateau will be hard. There's an old 4WD track down to Whites River, but the top is a bit hard to find. Going up is much easier navigation.

Form Schlink Pass go east, south-east and north-east to get to Gungartan. This avoids the boulder field at around 1900 metres in a little valley. There's a good very sheltered campsite just east of Gungartan, but probably no water. See picture. The nearest water is probably Gungartan Pass. The ridge north to above Mawsons Hut is open. The last 500 metres distance to the hut is a bit scrubby.

Gungartan camp

An alternative is to take the spur at 246860 south-west to Schlink Hut, open and light scrub.

From Mawsons the route is fairly easy to follow. There's a bridge across the creek just before the Valentines track is reached. I cannot find my map so I cannot say exactly where it is. From memory there's a straight open valley heading westish to this creek, and the bridge is at the end.

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

2nd loop (ex-munyang) is relatively scrub free. To get to Gungartan, one option is to take the dissapointment spur track (ie. cross the river at the power station) and go off track onto a relatively scrub-free dissapointment ridge maybe 10 mins before the big bend east of dissapointment hut, and follow the ridge to gungartan. Or (and better i think) just trail-bash via one of the 3 tracks to Schlink pass and make a bee-line for the summit, picking your way among scrub free leads... gets more open the higher you get. Once on gungartan you can then pick up a track from the summit down to the saddle below the kerries. The kerries are relatively scrub free - there's a bit on the northern end where you descend to mawsons but if you find the track that starts at the descent point (there may be a cairn and stick, but can't remember) it weaves it's way through scrub free bits down to the open forest above the hut. They're the only two potentially scrubby bits of the route you describe, and as i said it's easy enough to pick your way around them.

BTW as an alternative to going directly from mawsons to valentines, i'd personally rather take the longer way over the cup and saucer to bluff tarn, then west to cut valentines trail on the ridget top between valentine and geehi rivers. Adds a couple of hours but much more scenic IMO.

[Lophophaps]

The bridge at the power station crossing the Munyang River has been closed for some time. Has it been opened? The rocks below this may be safe for crossing, or not. I've skied from Gungartan to the big bend at about 274787, scrub for the last bit. Another option is to go north-east to the saddle at 1790 metres 278793, then north-westish to Gungartan. This is mainly light scrub.

I was at Mawsons Hut a few years ago and could not find a track. The picture below is from about 40 minutes up the hill, with the hut just visible centre right below the cloud.

Mawsons Hut and scrub from The Kerries

Cup and Saucer and that region are nice, but the rivers could be up. Another option is to go from Gungartan to Tin Hut, then north to the west of The Brassies. From Mawsons Hut go east and then south-east to a crossing that is often shallow The picture below shows it a bit drier than usual..

Valentine and Jagungal

The steep slope on the left may be the one that leads to the hut - you have to be north of the creek on the west side.

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

AFAIK the bridge at Munyang is still out, but it's an easy rockhop under most conditions. Re the photo of Mawsons, that looks to be taken from further north on the Kerries than I've approached it from (ie. looking SSE ish?)... the faint track I was referring to heads S then SSW from Mawsons and terminates at a small saddle on the range circumventing/going through some of the scrub present at higher altitudes on the way?

[Lophophaps]

From Mawsons Hut I went up SSW keeping to the east of the creek west of the hut. I reached the short flattish ridge at 1830 metres, then went straight up the slope, more or less south-west. The picture was taken from that region. I'm fairly sure that I'm a short way above the 1830 ridge, at an angle in the pic. The scrub is easier than it looks. From memory the scrub eased at 1880 metres. Navigating on the socked in Kerries was problematic, GPS weather. In very thick fog I carefully descended a technical rocky section. Then the clouds lifted briefly and I saw an open grassy lead 20 metres away, an easy walk instead of 10 minutes of trauma.

[snowygreybeard]

Few things to add:
Schlink Pass to Gungartan - I follow an old cairned route https://maps.ozultimate.com/?id=1733178028461. Needs careful route picking, do not rely on seeing cairns (most have gone). Light scrub, maybe short yucky bits.
From Mawsons to Valentines, do not go along the Valentines R. Head NW then SW just below the treeline to saddle at 249901. Some track may be found then going down creek towards Valentines.
Bridge at GPS across to Disappointment Spur trail has been completely removed. Depending on flow level can be an easy rock hop, or -after rain or in spring - a wet wade. Consider planning to cross at the end of the trip. Can be very icy in winter.

[johnw]

Schlink Pass to Gungartan - I follow an old cairned route https://maps.ozultimate.com/?id=1733178028461. Needs careful route picking, do not rely on seeing cairns (most have gone). Light scrub, maybe short yucky bits.

Many years since I've done this, but that pretty much matches how I found it. A bit of faffing around at Schlink Pass to suss out the first part of the route.
After that it wasn't too hard; some dodging and weaving around scrubby bits. Anyone watching would have thought I was drunk.
It's also documented in the Geehi Walking Club guide books but not in much detail. The 8th edition has some brief advice and interesting facts.
In any case it isn't that far, maybe ~1.5 km of walking from SP to Gungartan. Actually it's got me thinking about going up Dicky Cooper Bogong as we have a week in Jindabyne end of Dec.

First part is to walk down the Blue Lake Walk from the top of the range to Blue Lake. My preferred option is to walk off track to the base of Crummer Spur, then up it to Little Twynam and Mt Twynam and back to the start. I have been down Crummer Spur in the past and I don't recall anything particularly bad. What are the current conditions like?

I've done this several times. Just need to find a crossing over Blue Lake Creek then it's just a very steep walk up the Crummer Spur mainly on snow grass to Little Twynam and beyond.
A number of years since I last walked it but that route is all alpine and very slow growing. I can't imagine much has changed; that area is still recovering from when grazing ceased in the 1950s.
I always take pains to avoid the sensitive windswept feldmark plants on the eastern side of Twynam if coming up via the Crummer Spur. I did visit Twynam via the standard route in 2022, and nothing had changed significantly that I could see.

The other option is to walk to Charlotte Pass via the new Snowies Alpine Walk, then along the new track that follows the Snowy River to the Illawong swing bridge, and up to the top of Mt Twynam and back to the start. This will be a lot longer and does not excite me that much. I have walked from the Illawong bridge to Mt Twynam before and apart from being a slog with through packs not a big deal. I have also walked along this part of the river before the new track went again and I recall that this was not a lot of fun, so the new track sounds like a good idea if you are going that way! Thoughts please?

I'm possibly going to try the new Snowies Alpine Walk to or from CP end of the month. But we're holidaying in Jindabyne with small granddaughters and my main role is keeping them occupied.
However I'll hopefully get one or two long day walks in. I did walk Guthega > Illawong Lodge > CP in 2022 on the new track. They were still finishing bits around Guthega but otherwise it's mainly a raised metal highway after Illawong Lodge. Easy, fast walking along that section. The new bridge at Spencers Creek is interesting.

[Lophophaps]

After that it wasn't too hard; some dodging and weaving around scrubby bits. Anyone watching would have thought I was drunk.

That was me on The Kerries in fog.

I most strong suggest that an attempt at crossing the Munyang at Guthega PS be on the first day. What happens if the party comes down the Disappointment Spur track on the last day and the river is high? If the attempt is made on the first day and the river is high then the party can go up the road to Schlink Pass.

I have never seen cairns between Schlink Pass and Gungartan. Keeping south of the creek in an arc that goes north to Gungartan at the end is the way to go. This is similar to the Dicky Cooper Bogong route from Schlink Pass – south-westish to turn the boulder field, west and a bit of north west. It may even be NNW. There's an on-off track-pad for this route. Once the plateau is reached 30-40 minutes above the pass it's easy terrain, flat and gentle undulating plains.

[north-north-west]

After that it wasn't too hard; some dodging and weaving around scrubby bits. Anyone watching would have thought I was drunk.

That was me on The Kerries in fog.

That is me all the time in scrub. Dodge and weave is far easier in the long run than the crash through or crash approach.

I have never seen cairns between Schlink Pass and Gungartan. Keeping south of the creek in an arc that goes north to Gungartan at the end is the way to go. This is similar to the Dicky Cooper Bogong route from Schlink Pass – south-westish to turn the boulder field, west and a bit of north west.

That sounds about right, but I have seen the odd cairn or two on that line. Once upon a time.

It may even be NNW.

Leave me out of this; I havent been up there for something like twelve years (I miss the High Country, but).

I once went more or less straight up Disappointmnent from the snow gauge. A little bit of regrowth lower down but it opened up fairly quickly and was mostly good going. It's easy to then arc around to reach Gungartan.

[Johnhqld]

Hi all, thanks everyone for all the great advice. Have marked up my old 20 plus year old maps and think I have it pretty well sussed out now. We have delayed planned start date from Thredbo to Monday coming due to the forecast dodgy weather. Next week looks better although not perfect.