29 December 2017
We were driving to Jindabyne from Yackandandah through a mountain road passing Tredbo today.
I recalled a time when we first visited Mt Kosciuszko National Park in 2015.
We were staying in Tredbo and one night we drove up the road to admire one of the most amazing sun sets
near Dead Horse Gap.
We were standing on a remote road and I wondered looking at the other end where it started from.
It was the unknown world to me then.
And here we were driving just that road (from the unknown world then) from Victorian mountains to NSW mountains
passing the exact spot where we were standing.
By connecting dots into clear lines which made me feel amazed.
We checked out at our accommodation and decided to have a look at Yackandandah town centre
before we headed to NSW.
It was an old historic mining town with typical combinations of shops.
We walked around a short main steet taking some photos of them.
We started our journey soon and stopped for a simple lunch on the way at Khankoban which was more like a dead town.
It was built to accommodate workers and their families when they were working on Snowy Hydro scheme.
We arrived at Jindabyne around 2:30pm.
This was our third time in this area so everything looked quite familiar.
We checked in at our hotel and first of all I did some laundry.
We went a simple grocery shopping and afterwards luckily found a really good hat for me.
As usual most of the time except while we were moving we enjoyed our own cooked meals.
During our hiking trip I usually went through detox in terms of everything.
Simple healthy food, being away from daily stress or news etc.
Life was simple consisting of not many factors.
At night I was awake due to a sudden big T.V noise from next door.
I tried ear plugs which I found in the cupboard earlier realizing why they were there
and it didn't work.
Luckily it wasn't until 30 minutes or so later they must have decided TV was not fun
and quiet came instantly.
30 December 2017: Anticlock wise to Clockwise
It was our last hiking day before going back home.
We decided to do Main Range Track in Mt Kosciuszko National Park for the second time.
We drove to Sharlott Pass around 8 am where we would start our hike.
On the way we happened to give two young hitch hikers a lift from Perisher.
They were hitch hiking from Canberra till there and then hiking around the area.
I thought it was amazing for young people like them to do such a brave thing before University.
On arriving Sharlott Pass we found it was extremely gusty and cold.
I was very shocked with sudden temperature changes which was unexpected.
Also it was very crowded already with hikers and their cars parked.
We had to wear our rain jacket as wind breakers the whole day.
From the beginning shivering from cold strong wind we came across another setback which changed
dramatically our direction of hike.
Walking down the steep hill from the starting point I saw a big group of people gathered far down
to cross Snowy River.
Instantly it crossed in my mind that it was due to overflowing stream.
I couldn't formulate courage at all to take off socks and put my feet into the freezing cold water.
We tried to find a shallow point we could just jump over the stream.
The task seemed very easy and suitable at that moment.
First there were more of other people with us who had the same idea as us but soon everyone gave up
and gone except us.
We kept on walking up the stream with the track getting distant from us.
It never got shallow as we walked up the river.
Time passed without any good result and my mind got blurred when I gauged both the river water flowing menacingly
and the thinning line of the main track far away.
We were walking off the track with knee high shrubs and numerous hurdles hidden under.
It evaporated our energy in no time and made us out of breath sooner.
I was not worried in fact as I had already had numerous wilderness experiences and we had a GPS etc...
Also we did and knew this track and both of us instinctively agreed without much discussion to divert our direction
( because we were getting closer to the other end of track)
,we started climbing up aiming to reach the track which looked quite closer but it was much harder than we thought
and took longer as it was as if wading through deep snow mounds ,plus it was extremely steep uphills.
Finally we were back up on the track after one and half hour's useless efforts.
Around 10:30 am we were still at the early part of the Summit track( from Sharlott Pass to Seaman's Hut) which was supposed to be our returning part.
Later I read one hiking review which suggested Clockwise Circuit of Main Range Track by doing Summit Track first exactly based on the same reason as we had.
When we first did Anticlockwise circuit at mid Feb 2015 it was no problem at all at crossing the river so we didn't realize it.
In two hour's time at 12:30 pm we arrived at Seaman's Hut when the wind got steadily strong.
I was staggering to keep myself on the track fighting with winds all the way until almost the end of the day.
If you were not resisting enough you felt like falling down by the strong hands of wind.
My new hat didn't have any string so I had to put my handkerchief on top of hat fastened under my chin.
It couldn't stay long and I had to fix it several times fighting with howling winds.
We cooked our instant noodles inside the hut which was extremely suitable for the weather.
How enjoyable our coffee was along with the noodle then!
In fact I was secretly smiling because Eddie as very private and self conscious about these things
but on this weather you couldn't help it.
So happily we were having a good lunch time inside even though many people were in and out
continuously.
Mostly people hate carrying too heavy back packs as this hike itself was challenging anyway.
Also unlike us people here tend not to eat hot food for lunch.
If people knew how many things Eddie carried in his monster pack and how heavy his pack was
they all must have been shocked or thought he was definitely crazy.
In fact two rangers who driving around the national park with a four wheel drive gave me a thumbs up
for which I guessed I looked well equipped(?) and according to Eddie they asked him if he was camping
there overnight cos his pack looked really heavy and big.
He was running ahead of me to reach the hut first and prepare our lunch before I arrived.
When Eddie said no they told him again if he was training for some occasion...hahaha
We concluded it was meant to be better we took the clockwise circuit accidentally.
Otherwise there was no where we could cook our noodles or coffees.
We didn't go up to Mt Kosciuszko summit and turned around straight to the Main Range.
We've done that before and for me it was good to reduce time, for him to avoid crowds.
Summit was swarmed with people due to the fame( this is the highest Mt in Australia.)
Through the whole hike due to strong winds it was extremely hard to walk straight.
But the place was absolutely gorgeous and splendid I was very happy in it.
Also even though I am getting older with weakening knees I felt fitter than first time
doing a long hike like Main Range which was a nice and rewarding feeling.
At the end of hike we were happily crossing the Snowy River with our bare feet which soothed our tired feet
from the whole day's walks.
With water levels lower and temperature higher it was perfect.
