Lake Jindabyne
1.
We hiked 3 days in parts of the Jugangal wilderness
from 25th to 27th of December 2016.
(The Jagungal Wilderness Area is located just north
of Mt Kosciuszko in southern New South Wales.)
It was in Eddie's wish lists for a while.
Unexpectedly the chance to do it came to us.
First day we walked from Guthegar Power Station to Mawson's Hut.
We expected we could do this part within 8 hours but
in fact it took us 10 hours and 10 minutes.
Second day we adjusted our plan.
We gave up the route to Mt Jugangal.
It could have taken 10 hours to accomplish the plan.
But we simply headed towards Valentine Hut.
I was torn between being relieved and being regrettable.
We walked only 4 and half hours in total on the second day.
It was our relaxing day.
Third day we went back from Valentine Hut to Guthegar Power Station via Shlink Pass.
It took us 6 and half hours to finish it.
Against Eddie's original plan our actual hike route made a smaller circle omitting the way
to Mt Jagungal unfortunately.
We decided we didn't need to push ourselves too hard.
We were there to enjoy it.
Not to torture ourselves.
One day we could go back for the parts we left behind this time.
Maybe same time next year.
Third day I had developed a bad headache
thus I felt my pack was getting heavier and heavier.
Even though we had a really easy day on the second day.
I had to drag myself after Shlink Hut where we had lunch.
So I realized we had made a good decision to shorten the course the previous day.
One time Eddie forcibly grabbed my pack while I was washing my face at the creek
,briskly walked away from me ,made a huge distance between me and him.
I couldn't catch him easily unbelievably.
I didn't have anything and he was carrying two big heavy packs.
He wanted to help me but I knew how heavy his pack was.
I have never ever seen anyone with that big and heavy back pack except him.
I didn't want to be a burden.
Also I wanted to finish my walk on my own.
Mt Kungartan
2
Just like I thought before K 2 K
I wished there would be other group of people
while we were doing this course of track.
I was simply scared of being in wilderness alone.
I knew there would be only us in some stages.
I saw 2 cars already parked at the parking lot before we set off.
I had no idea when they actually left.
It could be the same day as us.
Could have been one day before or even 2 days before.
When we were about to start
one car arrived but a couple were inside the car
and didn't come out until we left the car park.
I suspect they were those who we met around Valentine track later on the third day.
After that we didn't see any single soul that day in the mountain.
I fully enjoyed our own company at the first hut though.
Mawson's Hut
Eddie was hesitant to sleep in the hut as usual.
He never liked sleeping in a hut.
But I felt secure in it after conquering the feeling spooky
in the old dirty(?) dusty barren place.
Surprisingly it became as a quaintly good memory spending a night there.
When you opened the door of the hut,it had a hall way
with two separated rooms at the left side of it.
(one of a fire place with a table and chairs,the other empty for sleeping)
At the far end of the hall way fire woods were stacked.
There were small collections of things here and there too.
Old glass bottles,candles, a couple of match boxes, old books and magazines etc.
First day's view was grandiose especially around Mt Gungartan(2068m)
and Kerrie Ridge (2040m) with still unmelted snow mounds,numerous scattered boulders
and even brumbies we encountered.
There was one optional place for camping near a creek on the flat area before Mt Gungartan
but except that the terrain there was covered with indescribable tall grasses and swamps
for me it was hard to imagine to settle for a night anywhere before the hut.
We arrived at the first hut at ten to 7.
Still we had plenty of sun lights outside which was summer hiking's benefit.
After a trip to the creek for washing away our sweats
from a long grueling 10 hour's walk we felt amazingly refreshed and clean.
we had a simple dehydrated meal after that and prepared for night.
We traveled along the water line
which was basically one thing with different kinds of shapes.
Pools,creeks,swamps or rivers whether they looked clean or dirty.
Whether they were big or small.
Whether they were hidden or open for us.
It goes without saying that it was easier than to set up the tent.
We simply pulled out and spread our mats and sleeping bags
on the barren wooden floor at the sleeping quarter.
Strangely the army of flies didn't follow us too much inside the hut.
But with caution we set the mosquito coil burn in the hall way
to repel any kinds of insects during our sleep.
It was always hard to kill time till at least 8 at night
without any book or any electronic gadgets in the mountain
but that day it was already over 9 after we did all simple survival activities only.
It dawned on me again naturally,
"What do you basically need in keeping you go in life?"
Eat,excrete, and sleep.
What else?
I had dinner around 8 pm but I went to bed soon after 9 pm.
I walked 10 hours and 10 minutes
and didn't eat extra bit of food like I did normally.
I didn't have any digestion problem at all.
So I didn't need to wait 3 hours before bed after eating.
Beauty of hiking.
You are seemingly more content with simple basic life requirements in mountains.
First day of multi day hiking
my mind was busy digesting the grandeur trip
and struggling with insignificant daily life stress yet.
Luckily the inner murmuring got weakened day by day.
There was a small square window on the wall of the hut.
After the sun set it was still dimly bright with remaining light a long time
until it got totally dark.
I could see bright star lights from time to time from my sleep too.
I was tossing and turning in my sleep as usual but
it was one of the most memorable and comfortable sleeps in my life.
We were isolated in nature from human world when your senses awoke to
appreciate your surroundings in a deeper but more relaxed manner.
In some stages it made yourself believe falsely(!?) to think more generously
and wistfully about human noises.
3
We wore as usual long sleeves shirts and long pants with wide brimmed hats.
My hat even covered my back of neck too.
Only parts we didn't think were our hands.
After a whole day's exposure my hands were sunburnt with skin changed dangerously red.
One more thing I had that day was a fly net I bought early this year for Uluru trip.
Eddie laughed at me about that at first but
later he realized it's very useful.
Flies were everywhere and even it was in his mouth one time.
I had to endure their buzzing sound in my ears all the way during the walks.
We were well equipped with gaiters and rain gears along with walking sticks.
I was a little bit nervous when we started walking.
First day's tension and inexplicable anticipation was there.
Especially as we climbed up out of Shlink Pass to no path bush land before we met Valentine Pass.
I remember I kept on looking back on the flat wide fire trail we jut abandoned until we couldn't
see it.
I didn't know what this area would be like.
It's actually called WILDERNESS.
There was no words for me to describe the place once I was in this wilderness.
It was totally different from what I imagined.
It's often simply described as an open grassy treeless field.
But grasses were grown densely high and shrubs were tall and tangled with creeks criss-cross
which made us try to find a way to pass very hard and our progress very slow.
We had to concentrate one step at a time very carefully.
It had the same effect as we had to walk on high snow accumulation areas which made us two times more
tired.
In K to K tracks were faint
whereas in Jugangal Wilderness there didn't exist any track.
Mt Jugangal far away from Mawson's Hut at sunset
4
Second day we started a day lighthearted.
We enjoyed walking the way to Valentine Hut very much.
It's not grandiose like first day but we fell in love with that part of walk.
There were still a lot of boulders here and there at the fields
when Morning was cool and fresh.
When you felt happier about everything.
We liked so many wild flowers freshly glowing in the fields.
I recalled a scene from Twilight.
Edward and Bella were lying on a green field covered with colorful
pretty flowers.
I thought they put flowers artificially on top of grass for dramatic effects.
But I realized climates in both places were similarly extreme with lots of snow
so the combination of unnaturally dark green grasses with unnaturally fresh
looking silver or grey colors of stems in flowers could be real.
It was quite an interesting thought or discovery.
Also I felt I got used to this no-path wilderness already.
I expected I had very sore feet or knees after 10 hour's walk but
I was OK to my delight.
We passed plains,valleys,Valentine Creeks,waterfalls
and numerous beautiful sceneries.
Around midday we were already there.
As soon as we clambered up back to the Valentine Trail from there
magical environment enveloped us dissolved into normal ones without knowing it.
There we found a cute and small hut painted in red.
Inside the hut there were bunk beds and a kitchen area with a fire place.
We cooked our lunch inside the hut and noticed
some people left their sleeping bags and back packs.
Apparently they went out for a walk and would come back to stay the night or nights there.
Valentine Hut
Eddie found a good spot for our camp a bit further
on a hill closer to the creek.
After setting up our one day home
we set off towards Geehi River without our heavy packs.
We wanted to go and stroll parts of tracks we had forsaken.
On the way we glimpsed top part of Mt Jugangal far away in our eastward side.
Bush trail had also tall grasses growing in the middle part of it
as we made more distances from Valentine Hut.
Eddie seemed wistful looking at that symbolic figure.
Mt Jugungal image from website
We walked a pretty trail a couple of hours
,arrived at the hill where we could overlook the river.
We didn't go further.
Geehi River image from internet
When we were back at camp we noticed a tent was set up behind the hut.
So I felt it was suddenly very crowded compared to the night before.
There were too many dead and dried white trees in those areas.
They looked pretty in a strange way to me.
A big wide creek was flowing affluently wrapping around the base of the hill where the hut
was standing.
We went to bathe there twice that afternoon.
Hot,muggy day swamped with millions of flies and insects.
I heard rain started dropping on top of our tent around 1 AM next morning.
It didn't stop until mid morning.
But we felt amazingly cozy inside the tent.
I thought wistfully about people sleeping in the hut
but Eddie found sleeping in the tent on a rainy day
the best thing ever happened to him which made me smile.
We climbed down to the creek for washing our faces
and filling up our bottles for the last time after breakfast before
we set off for the third and last day of our hike.
Time stopped momentarily there and then.
The misty cool summer morning when light rain moistened my hair and clothes softly and pleasantly.
I looked Eddie in his happy eyes there.
Ingrained in my good memory now.
Warm shower and washing clothes at the proper facility was really good at the end of a 3 day hike.
Along with a good hearty memory
which no one could guess you have but Eddie.
We have shared one more exciting memory through this journey.
How about that?