Well today was a very big day. I decided to have a crack at 38km so I could get to camp with Jubbie and then have a rest day the next day at Blue Waterhole. Jubbie walked me back to the track (bye bye gazillion kangaroos), then I headed off along Orroral Valley. It’s so beautiful and peaceful walking through these valleys. It’s usually soft under foot and so green. I got back on to a fire trail then headed up hill for about 12kms, first on the trail then on a walking track which headed into the Bimberi Wilderness. It was super steep going and just before the top at Cotter Gap I was struggling up with my head down when a young guy said hello and scared the hell out of me! He was coming from Cotter Flat where he’d camped the night before.
After such a big uphill, the walk along Cotter Gap was a welcome relief, but the flies were not. They pretty much stayed with me for the rest of the day. There were wildflowers everywhere, it was soft underfoot and so beautiful. It was a fairly gentle stroll down to Cotter Flat where I stopped for some stretching, refilled one of my water bottles at Cotter River using my steripen to sterilise it and had some food before crossing the small river (hello wet feet number 1) and tackling the trail up to Murray Gap. It was 4.5km to the Gap, which is the border of ACT and NSW. I remembered it as being a challenging slog and my memory unfortunately did not disappoint. It’s really lovely scenery, but bloody tough going.
Getting to Murray Gap at the top is so worth it though. It’s an open plain that’s marshy and covered with wildflowers. It has an understated beauty that I love. I wasn’t able to avoid the marshy bits and ended up with previously teal, now brown trail runners (hello wet feet number 2). I think this part of the trail is one of my favourites.
The rest of the walk was cruisy and mostly downhill which was lucky because I was exhausted by the time I’d climbed to Murray Gap and was more than half way through my 38kms. I reached Oldfields Hut before I knew it and after a quick look through the hut I headed off again, ready to finish and get to camp. I’d already done the same distance as yesterday, but with big hills. Leaving Oldfields Hut there was of course another hill to climb. My feet were tired and I was over walking today. Past Pockets Hut and counting down the kms – 34, 35, 36 – surely the turn off to Blue Waterhole was just around the next bend. Finally at the 38km mark I got to the turn off to discover I still had another 3km to go! Gutted. The only saving grace was that I was walking along Currango Plain which I love. Huge open sweeping plains that have a subtle beauty to them. I can’t help smiling in this country, even if I do have 38km sore feet. I was walking into the sun and it got just low enough to render my cap useless, so luckily I had my brolly and I used that. The flies all loved it too – I could see them through the fabric hitching a ride.
Finally after 41kms I made it to Jubbie and Magpie Flat Campground. We had delicious tom yum veggie fried rice and then to bed. I was sore and exhausted and so happy to be horizontal!
Kerry's Hikes 