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| Rams Head Range |
Yesterday’s rain cleared overnight and by the time I emerged from the tent this morning things were looking very good indeed. With blue sky and sun overhead and the prospect of a hot shower that night in Thredbo on the horizon I was pretty perky this morning. After a quick breakfast with Matilda and Felicity I had the tent packed up and was on my way by around 8:30am, a fairly early start for me. Saying good bye to Matilda and Felicity I shouldered the pack and set off on a mission to get to the Kosciuszko Express Chairlift top station before it closed for the day.
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The valley below Cascade Hut looked a lot better under this mornings blue sky.
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The AAWT continued it’s meandering journey northwards once again utilising Cascade Trail. Leaving Cascade Hut I headed up the valley of Cascade Creek for fifteen minutes or so to cross the creek and start the 300 metre climb up Bobs Ridge, my walk along the valley punctuated by a few stops to take photos of the brumbies that call this spot home. The climb along Cascade Trail up to the top of Bobs Ridge was a lot easier than I’d imagined than it might of been, probably helped by the fact that I was feeling a little better today and had a little more in the tank.
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There was a herd of horses grazing along Cascade Creek.
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My next objective on the AAWT was the climb of Bobs Ridge in the distance.
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Cascade Creek
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| The climb up Bobs Ridge was pretty good as far as climbs go. |
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Reaching the top of Bobs Ridge I dropped the pack amongst the granite boulders and pulled out my phone. Sam had been organising accommodation for me in Thredbo that night but I hadn’t been in contact for a couple of days so I wasn’t sure how she’d gone. Thankfully I got a good signal and was able to find out where I’d be sleeping that night as well as where to pick up the key, with the thought of that hot shower and washing machine waiting for me set off again with a spring in my step. The tops of Bobs Ridge now giving me the my first close up look at the snow streaked Main Range, now very close at hand indeed.
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The tops of Bobs Ridge was a nice spot to be today.
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I was able to get a mobile signal along here.
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| The Main Range was suddenly a lot closer now. |
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Dropping down the fairly gentle descent towards the Thredbo River I started to meet a few other walkers out and about, a couple of school groups were heading south and some day walkers were heading up to the top of the ridge. Talking to a couple of the day walkers who were resting on their climb they asked me where I’d walked from, when they finally comprehended where Walhalla was and how long I’d been walking the ladies flattered me by saying that I was looking good after all that walking. Hmm, I might of looked alright I suppose (although I'd be booking in for an eyesight test if I were those ladies!), but I felt totally broken. Sore shoulder, dicky back, and a crook guts…yeah, apparently looks can be deceiving sometimes!
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Dropping into the Thredbo River Valley.
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| The Thredbo River. |
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Dropping out of the Snow Gums towards the Thredbo River the view was quite spectacular, with the Main Range towering over one end of the valley and the pubescent Thredbo River rushing it’s way through the grassy flats around huge granite boulders this is a particularly nice part of the walk, I suppose that’s why I met so many other walker along here. Wandering up stream along Cascade Trail towards Dead Horse Gap I had another interesting human interaction this morning, having not had a lot of conversation over the last few weeks I was up for a bit of a chat when I came across other walkers, and most people, whether they be day walkers, school groups, mountain bikers or fly fisherman were all polite and while they were probably chatting to me to humour the smelly Feral walker, that didn't worry me as I was just happy with some small talk. Do you know the only group that gave me nothing, it was a group of four older walkers that, judging by their gear obviously knew what they were doing when it came to bushwalking. They were sitting on the side of Cascade Trail when I staggered up and thought I’d stop for a chat, saying hello I got a very luke warm reception, hmm, not to be deterred I followed up with the usual '
where have you guys come from today?' Once again I got donuts, one of my chatty mates eventually telling me that '
they’d been everywhere', hmm, this wasn’t going so good. Oh well, not to worry I decided to put it down to experience and head off, I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but I got the hint, saying my goodbyes one of the bushwalkers happened to ask me where I’d walked from (no doubt wanting to reinforce their ‘We’ve been everywhere statement’), I was already starting to wander off when I told them that I’d come from Walhalla, well fuck me I could see the cogs turning and lights flashing as they comprehended what I had just uttered, suddenly I had the four of them heading towards me all asking questions at once, I was suddenly part of the
in crowd, a crowd that I’m not sure I want to be part of really. Now this isn’t the first time that this has happened to me, maybe it’s because I don’t look like your typical bushwalker, maybe I look a little rough, I don’t really know what it is but most of my encounters with people who have almost fresh aired me has been with traditional bushwalkers. On the other hand fisherman, Four Wheel drivers, mountain bikers, day walker, novice walkers, farmers, loggers, trail bike riders, deer hunters, land managers, you name it, they are generally always are up for a hello and a bit of a chat. Anyway…I’m just saying!
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On a nice benign day, the walking along here is sublime.
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Cascade Trail sidles the valley mostly a fair way above the river.
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Crossing over the Alpine Way at Dead Horse Gap I avoided the temptation of the track down along Thredbo Creek to Thredbo and instead started my afternoons climb up to the Rams Head Range. This 400 metre climb getting the heart beating a bit. Leaving Dead Horse Gap the AAWT climbs a long series of steps before starting to climb more gently, crossing a few snow plains, last time I’d come through here I met up with a herd of brumbies on one of these snow plains and once again on this visit the horses were out. It would turn out that these were the last brumbies that I’d see for quite a few days, the horses only started to feature on the AAWT again once I’d crossed the Snowy Mountains Highway at Kiandra.
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Approaching Dead Horse Gap, that hot shower was getting closer now.
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The Alpine Way at Dead Horse Gap, this was the first sealed road that I'd seen since way back at the Omeo Highway near Mt Wills.
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The AAWT crossing Bogong Creek at Dead Horse Gap.
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| The climb from Dead Horse Gap to the Ramshead Range is a fairly solid little workout - well it is for me anyway. |
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The climb up towards the Kosciuszko Express Chairlift top station is a good one, well as far as a 400 metre climb at the end of the day can be! The Rams Head Range was still crowned with a patchy covering of snow giving my plenty to look at and photograph on my many stops, not only were the views of the Rams Head Range great, but the views back down over the receding mountain ridges towards Victoria, with their covering of dead Snow Gum stubble also drew the eye this afternoon. Topping out at I got my first look at the top station for the chairlift, now fairly close at hand. The AAWT descended down to meet the paved Kosciuszko Track a couple hundred metres north of the chairlift, the track skirting around some dormant ski infrastructure along a couple of nice sections of duck boards.
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Climbing higher the AAWT crosses a few of these nice snow plains.
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Looking back over receding ridge lines as I climbed.
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| Rams Head Range |
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Once I was on the paved Kossie Track I wandered down to the chairlift, packing my poles away and grabbing a jacket out. A couple of minutes after arriving at the top of the chairlift I was suddenly sitting on my arse being whisked down the mountain above the trees, passing a constant stream of mountain bikers utilising the lift in the opposite direction, it turned out that I was in Thredbo a few days after the mountain bike trails had opened for the summer. Deposited at the bottom of the mountain into the village I was suddenly back in civilisation, it had all happened so quickly that my head was struggling to keep up with my changing circumstances. Climbing up the village I made my way to Squatters Run Apartments, my home base for the next few days. Grabbing the key I let myself in and dropped my pack, pulled out my cleanest dirty clothes and headed to the shower, emerging 20 minutes later smelling and feeling a whole lot better. With Sam coming up tomorrow I had one night alone, so after giving her a call to let her know that I’d arrived safely I headed to the pub for a drink and a feed. Yesterday I was slogging through the rain and eating freeze dried and now I was drinking cold beer and eating steak and salad, I really love the yin and yang of this walking caper!
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There was still a bit of lingering snow up here.
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That big tin shed is the Kosciuszko Express Chairlift top station.
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The Dirt.
I walked 13 kilometres today and climbed 790 metres on another hard day on the AAWT. Over my 29 days so far on the AAWT I’ve walked around 488 kilometres and climbed 22,795 metres. Water was fairly easy to find in many spots today so I won’t go into every spot. Apart from the need to avoid camping near the ski resort there are many spots that I could of pitched the tent today. There are no real navigational challenges today on the AAWT either. My phone picked up a Telstra signal from Bobs Ridge, there would also be a signal near the Rams Head Range although I didn’t try today. If anyone following in my footsteps is reading this then you need to make sure that you reach the Kosciuszko Express Chairlift top station by around 4:30 pm in order to catch the last lift down. I was using John Chapman’s notes and maps along with Rooftop’s Corryong-Omeo-Thredbo Adventure Map for an overview.
Relevant Posts.
AAWT, Day 1, October 2017.
AAWT, Previous Day, November 2017.
Dead Horse Gap, Kosciuszko National Park, 2017.
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