The first part of today felt like a great big slog! The fires in 2019/2020 went right through this area ferociously, and five years on, it all still looks devastated. There is regrowth, but it’s so slow. This meant hour after hour, kilometre after kilometre of walking through burnt out landscape under a bright sun, with a relentless swarm of flies around me. There were hundreds of flies on my backpack and arms and every time I stopped walking, they swarmed up into the air around me. But there were beautiful aspects too – so many wildflowers and also loads of dandelions (whilst a weed, still pretty).
I’d started the day wondering what the hell I was doing going out for three nights by myself. I still had the story Kevin told last night about the button man, a creepy guy who walks through the Victorian high country. Apparently, one guy came out of his tent to find the button man had walked up quietly and was warming his hands at the guy’s fire without saying anything! I kept reminding myself that’s not the area I’m going to. Thanks Kevin for that story! But then just out of Kiandra I met an older guy doing the AAWT. We stopped for a brief chat and he reminded that this is the kind of person I’m going to meet out here – nice, normal, backpack on back, not creeping around in the bushes and I felt much better!
I stopped in at Fout Mile Hut which has been rebuilt since it burned down in 2019 and it’s as cute as ever. Parks has done such a great job with rebuilding these huts. It’s a bit sad they don’t have the trees all around them anymore.
I was considering staying at Happys Hut, having just learnt it was rebuilt after burning down in 2019. But I got there just after 2pm and that was way too early to stop walking for the day, so I continued on, aiming for Mackays Hut. I figured I’d get there before dark if I kept up my pace (which I did, arriving at 6:15pm). Walking along Happy Jacks Plain was such a pleasant change of scenery. Even though the trees bordering the plain were burned, the plain had that wide open, subtle beauty I have come to love. And there were wildflowers everywhere.
The last 10kms were tough. I just wanted them to be finished. I was counting down the half kilometres until I’d arrive at Mackays Hut. And there it finally was. I arrived to find four tents and two groups of three mountain biking guys who offered me a cup of tea as I walked in. They were really interesting and interested guys, and it turned out to be a great group to spend the evening with (no button men among them, Kevin).
My highest priority upon arrival was food. I was absolutely starving and felt a bit headachy. But after a delicious dinner (stock and miso paste with rehydrated mushrooms, rice, black beans and spinach) and some hydralite, I felt normal again. The guys built a fire and we chatted for a couple of hours before heading to bed.
Kerry's Hikes 