I was brutally yanked from my sleep at 5:22 by a crow cawing at full volume next to my head. It was shortly joined by a group (now I know where the term “murder of crows” came from) all cawing loudly around our tent, jumping on it and flapping their wings against the side. That all lasted about a minute before they flew off and seemed to be providing the same wake up service to our neighbours. Maybe we should have given then snacks last night when they asked. Even dad wouldn’t have liked these crows! We had a lovely leisurely porridge and tea breakie in the morning sun sheltered from the wind before packing up. I’m off for four nights five days so needed to pack accordingly. This top seemed to suit my journey, so it made it into the pack.
The trail started straight up Tabletop Track past some of the old buildings of Kiandra. When I was right up the top of the hill I saw Jubble drive away heading off to stay in a lodge in Thredbo until I arrive there in five days. Hhhmmmmm. Why am I doing this again?? The trail followed the Selwyn Cross Country ski field across the top of the mountain. Talk about windy. And beautiful. It’s amazing how when there’s the slightest bit of relief from the wind, flowers grow. And on this rock, nature threw a bit of love my way in the form of some lichen (I think). I took it as a sign I was in for some great days ahead. That and the fact that the weather forecast is totally shining on me. Getting warmer and warmer with no rain or snow forecast as I pass through the highest section of the track. Thank you.
I came across a couple of lovely guys, Brett and Mitch, who are doing the same walk as me in reverse. They’ve been out 40+ days so far and have loved it. I was pretty happy when they told me I didn’t have anything to worry about in terms of river crossings coming up. They made a great recommendation to detour past Four Mile Hut – so grateful for that recommendation. It’s gorgeous. I stopped there for morning tea. Thanks Brett and Mitch!
I sadly learnt after returning home that Four Mile Hut burnt down in the January 2020 bushfires. It was the last of the original miners huts in the mountains and the favourite of many cross country skiers and bushwalkers. A real piece of history gone forever.
Shortly after leaving Four Mile Hut, I saw my first snake! I think it must have been trying to warm up on the path and I scared it before I saw it. It was small and brownish green coloured. Luckily for me, it got off the path super quickly. Unfortunately for you, that means no photo. But I did take a photo of the bush it crawled into. I got my first glimpse of what l think might be Mt Kosciuszko! Super exciting! [Comment after the fact – I don’t think this really was Mt Kosciuszko because there was too much snow on top!]. I came across a small group of brumbies right on my trail. By now, I know how this thing works. You get close, they run and that’s the end. But not this time. They didn’t know they were supposed to run. I got closer and closer and they were all very dismissive of me. There was a big one sitting down amongst the grass who finally stood up as I got pretty close. He did that head down dominant thing and I was worried he was going to charge me or something. I realised he was probably a lone male hanging near the group because there was another male in the group. None of them cared about me at all!
The daisies up here are so wiry and rugged. A bit like lavender. Really quite beautiful. The country up here is so dramatic. I’ve been surprised by the vastness of the plains. It changes as the hours pass and today I was treated to big, expansive views across to remote mountain ranges. For this trip I bought a Telstra sim for emergencies, thinking they’d have more coverage than Optus. After waiting on a windy hill this afternoon for an hour in a spot where l had one bar of Optus coverage for Telstra to not fix whatever problem they have and activate my service, l continued on to find Happy’s Hut. The notes in the book say “walk 0.3km east from the junction with Boltons Hill Trail before turning south into the forest to descend for 1.2km to Happy Jacks Hut”. Well, the reality was nowhere near as pleasant as that description sounded. At first it was great. I was off track for the first time, using my compass and feeling like a bit of a legend. Then the valley I was following got thicker and denser and harder to push through all the plants. Then there was a small creek to navigate (ie not repeatedly step into). It turned out to be a massive bush bash slog. I knew l was heading in the right direction (south), but wondered if I’d ever come out at the bottom, particularly before the sun went down!
And finally I came out at Happy’s Hut. True to name, it did make me happy. It’s a cute little one room hut with a wide verandah. At first I set my tent up on the verandah but it was just too windy so I moved it inside the hut. The wind is forecast to drop off soon for the night. Hope that’s right. Apparently this hut nearly burnt down in the 2003 bushfires. It was only thanks to the efforts of a helicopter water pilot who kept it wet that it survived while the bush around it burnt.
Sadly I learnt after returning home that Happy’s Hut burnt down in the January 2020 fires. I would have been one of the last people to use this hut which made the devastation more real somehow and also made me incredibly grateful I did this trip when I did.
Kerry's Hikes 