Distances and height changes are fairly approximate. Most days were cold and windy - better than hot with March Flies of course!
Day 1 - 9 km, 150 m ascent/descent
We started from the 'Cesjacks' gate up near Jagungal at 1415 (drive from Sydney) and followed the old 4WD track along the Divide to Smiths Perisher. The old track up this seems to 'lost' now, so we went up at an angle to pick up the remains of the track at the top. A bit of scrub. We crossed the unnamed valley between here and the Bulls Peaks and camped in a nice spot at the top.
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Day 2 - 18 km, 350 m
An early breakfast and we were away heading along the valley just below the peaks. There used to be the remains of a reasonable 4WD track along here, but it was not visible today. Instead, a rather gross feature of today was a heavy smoke haze from farmers burning off outside the Park. We zipped past the Brassys at some speed.
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After passing Tin Hut at a distance we made a poor tactical decision to angle up the hills (the watershed) to Gungarten Pass. The scrub was very heavy, and we did not enjoy that at all. A better route would seem to be weaving through the grassy patches up the bed of the Valentine. Over Gungarten Pass we skirted hard left above the top edge of the huge scree field to hit grass on the side of the spur from Gungarten and followed that down the true left bank of what we call Schlink Hilton Creek, to the hut. It's not a bad route.
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The Schlink Hilton has been rearranged internally a little and it now has mattresses on some of the wire stretchers. Oh WOW!
Day 3 - 22 km, 400 m
The forecast for Perisher had been for overnight temperatures in the 2-3 C range. They were not too far wrong: -1 C actually, with frost. We were up at 0545 and away before 0700 for Whites River Hut - which also lives in a frost hollow!
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There's a mesh bridge across the river now, and the 4WD track up onto the Rolling Grounds is quite visible. We followed that up: it gets a bit vague and then disappears at the top, but no matter. A little bit of compass work had us at Consett Stephen Pass in short order. Guthega Dam below us looked a bit empty. There are even traces of a pad (or very old 4WD track) in places on the Rolling Grounds, but they don't persist. In fine weather it's very nice country.
We followed the fair track (remnant 4WD in places) around the side for a while, then climbed up on top and went over Mt Tate. From here on there was a visible foot track all the way. The Feldmark above Blue Lake seems to be doing well, now that
there is a visible track. A number of day walkers were headed for Mt Twynam.
Day 4 - 16 km, 1,500 m
A change in the night had brought much higher levels of cold humidity with it, so we had condensation inside the tent on the windwards side. Some of it dripped onto my quilt, making it look a bit wet, but the DWR held and I was able to mop most of it up. Another early start saw us keeping our thermal tops on for a little while.
From the saddle above Blue Lake there is now a flagged path for a considerable distance: to be deplored but the Great Lakes Walk sees 1000 or more day walkers every year.
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Now, laying all these flagstones is hard work, so the NPWS uses some Bobcats for the heavy lifting. The effect of the rocks on the rubber tracks is apparently severe, so maintenance is needed. At least they use tarps to keep the oil off the ground.
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There used to be some wandering across the (very rare) Feldmark patches on top, which was getting worse with the increased traffic, so today Lee and Northcote are bypassed by a rather long steel boardwalk - installed with really minimal damage to the surrounds.
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Again, to be deplored in the abstract, but the traffic levels are very high and at least the vegetation is now protected. Fortunately the interesting rocky bits above Lake Albina are, for the moment, preserved. I hope that continues. If you fall off here they might need a chopper to fish you out of the Lake.
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From Mueller Saddle we took the track to Mt Townsend to go over the top of Abbott Peaks and down to Byatts Camp. This was a really big mistake, as it took us over the granite boulders of the Western Fall. It also took us a long time to get down! But we did, picked up the cut track from Byatts Camp and followed that to the Hannels Spur signpost. The signpost does seem to be a trifle old ... especially compared to the shiny new one at the bottom.
Then down the cut track for a late lunch at Moiras Flat, picking up water at the signposted spring nearby. I can't say the the Flat is all that 'flat': a clearing maybe. The clearing they have done is valuable, but it will need to be repeated every year or two. The dead trees are still falling.
From Moiras Flat down to the saddles around 1000 m the track is very steep and is covered in much bark and dead leaves. Traction was very poor and I landed on my bum several times. Sitting down did not hurt too much, but getting back up without
sliding was sometimes tricky. We reached the first saddle about 1630 and stopped there. It is the one before any of the bumps. My knees were a bit jelly-like at this stage. There was not a lot of room in the saddle for a tent, but we managed.
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Day 5 15 km, 1,500 m
The track after the saddles is much easier - mostly. It does a lot of sidling around the steep hillside in places, which can be a bit slippery. I am sure when we came up in 2006 we missed a lot of the sidling and went straight up the crest of the spur. Anyhow, we eventually hit the old 4WD track at the bottom and cruised happily down to the rebuilt Dr Forbes Hut. The interior is a bit spartan - a plain concrete floor, but there is nice grass outside for camping.
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Continued in Part 2 because there is a 10 photo limit.
