Posted by Such a peaceful nights sleep in the hut last night. With only 25km to travel today I was in no rush. Plenty of time to enjoy a hit cup of coffee before hitting the track.
Like much of the last couple of days, today would also continue to be on closed vehicles tracks, the whole way to Kiandra and beyond.
I was looking forward to reaching Kiandra only about 13 kilometres away as it represented nearing the end of this AAWT journey. From Kiandra I would collect my last food drop I’d placed out giving me more than sufficient food to reached the end at Tharwa.
An hour or so in for the way and passing close to Mount Selwyn and the small ski field, I ran i to two south bounders, sisters Julianne and Alison. We stopped and chatted about what lay ahead each way for about 5 minutes. Julianne had committed to the full AAWT with Alison accompanying her sister through to Thredbo. They said a third fella Rob was about half a day behind them and I’d likely cross paths with him through the day. The girls were headed to Broken Dam Hut for the day where they had stashed their food drop.
Another hour and I’d hit the bitumen of the Mountain Highway at Kiandra. A ghost town now with the odd heritage building still standing Kiandra was once a thriving but short lived gold rush town. I meandered along the short heritage trail taking in the history of thr place off information signs and soon ran into Rob near the old court house. As he approached I said “You have to be Rob?” He laughed and said I must have run into the girls to know that.
We dropped packs by the side of the road, taking a seat on a low wall near the court house and exchanged stories. 7 days out from Tharwa, Rob had a food drop on top the hill I’d just walked down from to the highway; my drop was on a hill top on the opposite side of the valley. Rob was looking to take a day off and quizzed me about a suitable hut for this purpose. I recommended O’Keefes which was in range for him and would allow a day walk out to Jagungal if the weather was suitable. We wished each other farewell and continued on to collect our respective foods.
5 minutes down the hill and I’d hitcthe Eucumbene River which I’d have to cross before climbing the hill to my food drop location. I can tell you what, weather conditions were a darn sight better than when I was last here placing my food drop out. A few weeks back I had one opportunity to drive to Kiandra to get my food drop in and it was a miserable affair. I’d come down with a shocking head cold and the day was pouring rain. I’d also have to cross the freezing cold waters of the Eucumbene twice. In comparison, today was a blue bird day, with clear skies and a slight breeze.
At the waters edge I took my shoes and socks off to keep them dry and waded into the water. Still plenty cold, the water did feel great for tired feet and gave me the opportunity to give them a scrub too. You would be amazed at the amount of dirt the passes through the vented tops of trail runners making for very dirty feet.
Shoes back on and climbing a small hill I headed off track a short distance to locate my food drop, hidden in the base of a tree hollow and covered with bark. It was still in place and completely undisturbed, and still very difficult to detect to the casual observer.
With plenty of time left in the day and only another 13km to travel to Witzes Hut, I took my time at the drop site and opted for an early lunch.
There was more than enough food in my drop to see me through to the end so I sorted through the contents taking the best stuff and the minimum necessary to keep weight down for the final push the end. But most importantly, I had stashed a couple of beers and relished the opportunity to get stuck into one over a lunch of salami and cheese wraps.
Leaving my rubbish from the last stretch behind, along with old maps and track notes, I re-stashed the bucket in the same location and moved on.
Plenty of time in the day and in no rush, I’d reach Witzes Hut early afternoon, so took my time meandering along with a now heavy laden packed.
From Kiandra I’d be passing through the Tantangara Plains and while the walking was relatively flat and easy, the back end of the day felt much harder than I should have been. I put this down to a heavy pack, blazing sun and the annoying presence of blow flies.
This had been the first time flies have been an issues. Hundreds of them buzzing around my face and going for eyes, ears and nose. Yuck. My head net came in handy but I find it claustrophobic to hike in.
If you can remember back a week or so ago I stated that the smell of horse shit would for ever bring me back to thinking of Cowombat Track. I take that back. This smell will for evermore bring bring me back to the Tantangara Plains. The brumby presence in this area was insane as has to be four fold of that along Cowombat Track. The place was like one big open plain stable yards. Every which way I look across the plain brumbies could be seen, big mobs, small mobs and some individual animals. Unreal. It looked to be so easy to be able to set up a wide temporary yard and be able to herd them in by helicopter to remove them. And like all other areas infested with these beasts, all the water courses in the area had been disturbed and cut up with hard hooves.
I took a slower pace late in the day struggling in humid condition. The sun was out in force with storm clouds building and threatening rain. Sure enough, as I was approaching the last kilometre towards Witzes Hut I was hit by an isolated down pour. Way too hot for my rain jacket I just grabbed the umbrella for some protection and was prepared to get saturated if it came to that. My shirt was soaked from sweat anyway and could do with a wash.
Witzes Hut came into view around 3pm and there was still plenty of daylight left to laze about, read my book and get cleaned up. Showers would come and go with the sun still blazing as they passed so I took the opportunity to wash some clothes and myself.
There were a few food drop buckets left at the hut which provided the perfect tools for the job and water only 50m from a small stream near the hut. First thing was first, washing socks and my shirt would take priority. These things just absolutely stank after daily wear for a month, and only the opportunity for a hand wash at Thredbo, not a full blown tub wash.
Second priority was to wash myself. I was confident there was no one coming in on the track behind me and fairly sure anyone coming in from the opposite direction would arrive much later in the day so I stripped bare for the world to see for a bucket wash. Pouring cold water over my naked body and soaping up with a small amount of Dr Bronners soap to scrub the accumulated dirt and grime away felt like absolute luxury. Another bucket to rinse off and a few minutes to air dry I was done. I felt refreshed and renewed, slipping into my sleep clothes while my day clothes dried in the sun.
There was still room to cull weight from my pack so I sunk straight into another beer and a packet of chips lazing the afternoon away. That would be it until reaching Canberra now. Each resupply bucket had two cans of beers in it to either drink then and there or carry out with me.
I could have kept moving forward today but choose to have a lower mileage, lazier day and make use of the huts while I can. There is a day forecast later this week with 10-20mm of rain last I looked and there is nothing worse than having a wet start to the day from inside a tent. So while the huts are available they will do me fine. Very rustic and basic inside most but with fire, water and toilet, that is all I need.
I’m ready to be done with AAWT with these last few days feeling like a bit of a chore. The sounds if jet are constantly flying over head bow reminding me just how close to the Capital I am.
Mick Beckers 