April 1999 Easter Weekend  Guthega - Almost to the Kerries.

Pre-amble ...
During winter last year I had the opportunity to meet quite a number of XC skiers and hikers during my lengthy stay in the snowy mountains during the ski season. Of particular note, Steve the 'Tele-King' from Vico' had inspired me with stories of trips out from Guthega, Northward towards Jagungal, out into the Kerries and the Rolling Grounds.

Reading more about the area in general I found it was impossible not to be impressed by the many photos of tiny huts scattered in that region, hidden by alpine scrub and buried under drifts of snow. The only hut I've seen to date was Seaman's hut.
The areas I've walked in before have no huts remaining. I wanted to see these still standing, still functional huts. A small seed had been planted. During an overnight trip up the 'Snowy with Terry, I discussed the possibility of a walk up along the line of huts for a couple of days' and Terry was immediately enthusiastic. We penciled it in for early this year.

The Company ...
After a long period of anticipation, speculation, new inclusions and late scratchings, the group eventually settled to be four plus two, making the final compliment for this weekend to be: - Jenny-G, Steph!, Geoff (the chin-up king), and myself, (guest starring as myself), plus the Evil Popes, (Andrew and Bindy) who would meet us at Whites River hut, late on the first day.

The Drive Down ...
Was enjoyable AND eventful for a change !
With the people arranged, accommodation in Jyndabine secured, a meeting time and place secured, work over for the week, and even a departure plan in place. I was ready and anxious to go.
Our departure plan was for Geoff and Jenny to meet me at North Ryde, and together we would pick Steph up from Chatswood.

Geoff arrived early and we quickly unloaded the crap from my car boot into his to make room for the packs and food.
Jenny rang up not too long after that asking for direction from the M2 ! (Whoops! Forgot to tell her about that one!). In the dark and rainy night Jenny had inadvertently found herself on the M2 fast heading away from my work and now bound to pay the toll as well. (I know how that feels Jenny!). A few calls later and things were sorted out with Jenny arriving stressed but safe! We quickly stowed her gear into my car and then, as an afterthought, I carefully clipped my keys to my bag for safe keeping and without thinking, locked the car with a satisfying 'clunk'.
A quick round of cursing was followed by an even quicker round of thinking, and about half an hour later and using he fiberglass poles from my 'other' tent, we had managed to wind one of the rear windows down and re-gain access to my car and ofcourse, the keys.

 In my excitement and relief to be on our way at last, I missed the turn off to Chatswood and we were forced to detour
a short distance. Doh! Despite the minor scenic tour we found Steph without any trouble and load the food, water and her gear in a couple of minutes.
It felt good to have all the packing done and pickups done and be back on the road heading out of Sydney once more.
Despite the light cold rain there was an air of excitement and relief... Chatting as usual,  I missed the turn off to the freeway ...Doh #3!
Another quick detour, a U-turn and a left turn and we're back on track ... until the Canberra, Yass turnoff that is ...
Zooming along in the rain I realised my mistake too late and (embarrasedly) yelled "SHIT! That was the turn off!"
We continued on for a few minutes at highway pace looking for a turning bay, but in the darkness and rain (not to mention the speed at which we were traveling), this was proving fairly tricky..

"There's one!" everyone yelled at once ... Too late, we're already about a kilometer past it by the time I react. (Drugs in the 60's you know, man).
A terrifying 'slow reverse' along the road shoulder, followed by a quick spurt back onto the road, a radical move into the right hand lane, followed almost immediately by hard braking, and we're once again , on our way to Queenbyan and beyond.
 

Day one .... Disappointment spur to Whites River Hut
Friday Morning dawned all too early for me, but I knew once I got up, the effects of last nights long drive would quickly wear off. After all, there was still a small amount of packing to do as well!...
Slowly our little cabin came to life and the quiet of the morning was soon replaced with the sounds and bustle of four people stuffing stuff into packs and trying to justify what comes and what stays behind. With the packing done, our foremost thoughts turned to breakfast. The short drive into Jyndabine was eschewed in favor of a 'quickie' at the Chit Thai (that's Chit Thai!) ...An amusing meal followed, as just about every order had something wrong with it. i.e. Caramel milk shakes in place of Vanilla, Burgers sans butter turned up with butter but sans tomato etc. ... I guess it's hard when you 'learn english from book!'.

After one last brows' at Paddy's and we piled into the car for a short drive to Guthega. (Although we did detour to Island Bend by mistake! Doh #4)...

As we approached the car park at the power station, we were all surprised by the number of cars parked there. I thought it was probably the 'workers' car park but as we rounded the last corner we saw only walkers gearing up in all manner of walking, cycling and hiking paraphernalia. We quickly followed suit and, with bright sunshine and warm air, headed off towards the two tracks leading up Disappointment Spur. We deliberately chose the 4 WD track as everyone else seemed to be using the fire trail. In contrast, there was no sign of people going our way. Walking slowly in the bright sunshine, we very quickly gained height and soon found ourselves high above the valley and growing weary in the heat. We stopped for a short, and much needed rest at the tiny Disappointment Spur Hut. Inside the ram shackled little hut there is sleeping room for 6-8 people and a nice stove. I pulled the very full visitors book out and scribbled our passing on a space on the last page, and idly flicked back through the previous entries, noting that the book has itself survived there since about 1992 !!!

Jenny's curiosity was aroused so I passed the book to her and Steph, and climbed onto the top bunk to 'kick-back' for a couple of minutes. (A skill I learned in NZ!).

Lying on my back looking straight up I could not miss seeing the large collapsed portion of ceiling only inches above my face. Every time I closed my eyes I was sure I could hear tiny claws scurrying around in the darkness just above me.... Creepy !!! (Even the visitors book had entire pages and pages devoted to 'rat attack' stories!). All of a sudden, there is an exclamaition from the lower bunk.  Peering down at her from my vantage point, I see Steph is pointing to an early entry in the book ... "1993 Andrew and Belinda Pope, Andrew Introna and 'Tash!" ... Jenny hasn't yet to meet the Popes and Steph is in stitches at  the coincidence! A short explination later and Jenny exclaims "No Way !!" ... ... ... ... WAY I say !

Outside in the afternoon sunshine, Geoff and Steph are equally incredulous at Jenny's find, but it's time to move on. Traveling should be much easier now as we've done the bulk of the climbing. From here to Whites River hut, although still rising, the route is much flatter. As we shoulder our packs again, three guys pass the hut and ask us if we know a quick way out onto the 'Kerries ... We honestly can't help them, and only just barley hide our amusement at such a strange question. A few minutes later we pass them sitting at the side of the track. Nodding cheerfully we walk on by and don't see them again.

Eventually the 4 WD track meets up with the fire trail (and the power lines)  below Whites River hut. We stopped at this junction for a snack and to review our progress. Snack Good!... Progress Good!... As we left the power station I saw three guys pulling packs and mountain bikes out of their truck. While we munched our scroggin, the first of these guys came pedaling slowly up the fire trail, struggling under the weight of his pack and exertion.  As he approached we all cheered and shouted encouragement but despite our best efforts he petered to a halt about 10 m away from us. Waving happily he dismounted awkwardly and began pushing his mount on foot. His two friends were similarly defeated, and also slowly 'walked on by' and out of view.

Feeling much refreshed by our much break, Steph decided a short jog to start with was in order, Geoff reckon'd he was faster, and me being so easily led, decided to join in... (don't ask me why). We shouldered packs and took off at double time and passed Steph who was now fading fast, still fiddling with our buckles and straps. Up ahead the bike riders were collapsed at the side of the trail and looked back at us in amazement (or our stupidity no doubt) .... I was completly done in about 30 seconds flat and even walking slowly after that, it took ages to recover my breathing. This time WE got cheers from the bike riders.

Just below the flat where Whites River hut is located is a large boulder field. I was pleased to have remembered reading about this recently and was able to correctly identify it as terminal moraine from the glaciers that created this valley eons ago. Geoff made the observation that 'THIS.. was scree! Not like that pissy NZ shit !"
Now that's something I just GOTTA agree with !... We made White River hut with heaps of time to spare. All the way joking that the Popes would probably already be there. But they weren't. There was a small group of tents already pitched in front of the hut and one at the rear. A few people lolling about in the afternoon sun doing campsite stuff, but nothing much else happening. Dumping our packs in a small clearing, Steph produced her Katmandu Crushable Frisbee and we occupied ourselves with that for a while until the need for a cuppa, a chocolate easter egg, and a sit down won out.
 

With the air fast getting cool around us we lit a trangia and began erecting the tents. All the while keeping a watchful eye out for the arrival of the Popes. Pretty much right on time we spied a couple walking quickly towards us and re-lit the trangia. We sang a quick verse of the 'Popey-Popey' to celebrate their arrival and Steph settled down into cooking up a treat for dinner that night. Surprisingly we all stayed up fairly late (probably annoying our neighbors) with coffee, Schnapps, chat and laughter.

Not wishing the trip to be a difficult walk in anyway, I had hoped (and suggested) we would stay put with our campsite, and make day trips just to see what was around us. Andrew seemed perturbed as the thought of this and suggested instead that we should move at least a little bit away from the track. Belinda seemed happy with this and soon Steph also threw her hat into the ring .... Geoff and Jenny were being quiet.  Bugger it ! Lets go ... but not too hard OK !!

Day Two .... Gungarten and Tin Hut (With the Evil Popes)
 

A cold night had left a crunchy layer of frost on the the ground near the hut, but for some reason our little campsite seemed to miss out. We emerged early to the sounds of Steph and her moon. Breakfasting quickly and packing more carefully than yesterday, I was pleased to note that my pack felt much better balanced for today's walk than it had slogging up the trail yesterday. By 10am we were well on our way up the track to Schlinks pass. Our first stop for the morning was Schlinks Pass itself. The mood of the morning was apprehensive as Andrew had the reigns on where we were going, and for the rest of us, that could have been anywhere. Steph was keen to practice her map reading and enquired as to how we knew we were at the pass. With unbridled enthusiasm, we motioned to the landscape before us, the ridgline, the visable peaks and the river, and finally, the old wooden sign behind Geoff saying, "Schlinks Pass" ...

 About here Andrew suddenly got his 'Evil Pope' expression and, pointing into some thick scrub announced, "That way!" ...

Lovely!... wading uphill through spiky knee-deep alpine scrub. Just what I wanted. Jenny and Steph were having a much harder time though. What's knee deep for me reaches considerably higher for the two of them.

Our very loose plan was to walk up 'sort-of' near Gungarten pass and maybe even double back to Gungarten itself. Then maybe cross over to Tin hut or somewhere near there ... During the day we crossed a surprising number of different terrain's. Initially the thick scrub gave way to scrubby snowgums and eventually another large moraine deposit.

Jumping from boulder to boulder proved a quick way of gaining altitude and soon placed us well above the tree line and into the alpine grass landscape that I'm more familiar with.

Walking became much easier. We stopped for a late lunch north of Gungarten itself and were surprised to see people on the trig. We decided to go and investigate too ... Feeling almost weightless without our packs, Andrew, Geoff and I marched out quickly for 10 minutes and scrambled to the trig on top of Gungarten. To our surprise, we met the three guys from the day before (the ones looking for a quick way onto the Kerries)...  They greeted us warily and asked if there were any other people camping out where we'd come from .... We smiled cheerfully and said "not that we'd seen" although I think we were all thinking "how the fuck should we know!" ... strange dudes !

The rest of the afternoon was spent ambling along the valley and up the opposing small ridge to put us above and across from the spot on the map marked as Tin Hut, in the vain hope that we'd be able to see it.
 

No such luck ... As an alternative, we decided to head down to a small clump of trees and make a camp there. I think Jenny will want to place that portion of the trip as far from memory as possible. Thick alpine scrub covering an uneven ground, sharp and spiky plants, foot grabbing roots, mini streams and holes. To my amazement, as we approached our campsite we caught a good view of Tin Hut on the opposite ridge. Very enticing. We dropped packs in a small treed clearing and sat down to get out of the afternoon breeze.

 Steph went for a short walk and returned with news of a better camp site only a  hundred meters or so away. A perfect spot well out of the wind, and still with a good view of Tin Hut. With tents up and a short forage for sticks, we sat back and watched Geoff build a fire that only smoked at him. With this done and a few drinks out, Steph started dinner up and fed us until we could eat no more. So full were we, we couldn't even go the steamed pudding for desert.
Geoff and Andrew joined me for a Yagi or two and soon the exertions of the day heralded bed time and a retreat into our sacks for a well earned rest.
 

Day Three ... (1932) and south to the Schlink Hilton
A mild and warm night gave way in the morning to an overcast and misty day. I think Steph summed it up well when she described the views as "Tantalizing" ... now you see it ... now you don't. We breakfasted and broke camp quickly to avoid getting everything wet. Andrew was keen I think to head north some more, but I was thinking along the lines of keeping close to the trail and working back south to Schlinks Hut (the Hilton).

As a compromise we chose to head out over Kerries Ridge, then Northish a bit to a rocky outcrop near a spot on the map denoted as 1932. from here we could bash our way south-ish, and gain the trail again for a quick walk into Schlinks Hut. Navigating proved to be a little hit and miss initially. The visibility not affording the best of views. Andrew was spot on though with his map reading and feature recognition. Without too much ado he guided us all to 1932 and we lunched in the shelter of the rocky outcrop facing south and west, out where we indended to go next.

The weather even lifted a little and gave us a very good view of the valley and opposing ridgline to our west. Looking at the map Andrew pointed out that South, down the ridge we were on was likely to be 'scrubby' , but also likely to be the quickest way out.

Scrubby wasn't really the word. Initially perhaps, but very soon it became steep and surprisingly thickly wooded. Cutting short our options we abandoned following the ridge, and instead headed down to meet up with the road. As little bush bashing as possible thank you !
 
 

A very short walk south along the road brought us to Schlinks Hut. Wow ... What a crowd. As we arrived,  about10 people left (in a 4 WD). Inside the hut there were about 8 more people in the latter stages of resting. eventually they left too and we explored the very spacious and now empty hut at our leisure. More people arrived proving this to be probably "the" most popular spot in the region for a rest or rendezvou. We opted to camp far away.

Day Four ... Homeward bound.

The last day started early again. I think everyone had trouble sleeping. We gulped breakfast down fast and hopped around in the mornings drizzle trying to pack tents as dry as possible. Also, I put a little more effort into dressing for the weather. Today's walk should be easy, but sweaty. Fortunately the rain during the night has raised the level in the creek and no-one is going to miss out on a cooling wade to start the day with.

Shortly before the fire trail meets the 4 WD track, there is a small access road leading down to a tiny hut. Curious, we lope off down the hill to see what's there. A Snowy Mountains Hydro Electricity hut next to a small dam. No public access. Oh Well. Nice spot anyway.(Great spot for a winter camp!). After a little bit of a rest and some scroggin, we elect to continue along the access road and see where it goes, rather than hump it all back up the hill the the fire trail. To our relief and surprise it was a very level road leading all the way to the junction of the trail and the 4 WD track. Thus avoiding us an unnecessary uphill walk. I like discoveries like this !

I'm a little sorry to be back on the trail again, I do find it easier walking off track as the pace is slower. Walking along a fire trail like this sort of becomes a forced march if the leaders aren't careful. Along the way we bump into the NPWS people and their strange green shade cloth things again. Bindy asks the question ! ... A young feller comes over and very enthusiastically explains the experiment involving shade cloth tunnels across the 4 WD track to see if the track itself has some impact on the migration of small animals. It makes sense to us and we move on, happy with the answer to a question that has been lurking since day one. Disappointment Spur hut is no disappointment as it appears in the near distance. Bindy and I make a beeline for it and meet Andrew and Geoff who have already dropped packs and are languishing whilst waiting for the rest of us. The two of us have been fantasizing about dropping our packs and taking off our rainwear and cooling down, but as soon as we do so, we both agree it was a bad idea and rug up again. It's cold.!

'Tash arrives in the Popes Forester and we all scramble into our warm dry gear. My faithful old Ugh Boots come to the fore again!

Lunch at the Chit Tai ? .... Sounds good to me !