Lessons in the Alps - Kosciuszko National Park

On this, our first (ever) extended walk in Kosciuszko National Park, we learnt a few lessons - that Pygmy possums appear like a blue flash out of the corner of your eye, that rivers move equally fast on the back of rain. We learnt about theft and mountains and aesthetics and adventure. Each lesson reminded us that when out walking, it is so much about the journey not the destination. Here then, are those lessons.  

Lesson No.1: Theft

On day 1, we set off at 8:50am from Munyang Power Station, one of 7 power stations that make up the massive Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme. The scheme, built between 1949-1974 is considered “a breathtaking monument to vision and ingenuity, and to the vast and painstaking effort to build it”. About 100,000 workers from 30 different countries worked on the scheme and to now see the places that its pipelines traverse, and the location of now abandoned workers villages, is eye-opening. 

Our walk begins with a climb up Snowy Hydro’s switchback road in glorious weather - clear skies and spring flowers. At an intersection we take the left fork, opting to walk the ‘pipeline track’, which traverses the side of the Munyang valley, rather than following Schlinks Pass Road through the valley floor. The pipeline track dips in and out of every side gully. Each of these is noisy with a decent amount of water flowing from the high country above. Each of them also has its water diverted into the pipeline, with a series of grated, concrete traps. This is the first lesson - how radically altered this landscape is by human engineering. 

Served by 1600km of roads and tracks, Snowy Hydro collects 99% of run off from the Snowy Mountains, in a 225 km network of tunnels, pipes and aqueducts. It stores this water in 16 major dams holding 7,000 gigalitres, or 13 times the volume of Sydney Harbour. This supplies about 5% of the electricity used in the south-east of Australia. It also provides most of the water to irrigate the country’s major food bowl agricultural land to the west of the range. 

Before visiting here, I knew of the Snowy River and its altered ecosystem -  deprived of natural flood and flow from the spring thaw, conservationists for many years have been arguing for increased environmental flows so the downstream ecosystems can be partially restored. 

However, I never pictured of all these tiny gullies; every side-creek and every tributary being tapped at their source - their water stolen to power our increasing greed for electricity. We walk along the side of a mountain, above a valley, that will never know a flood again. At regular intervals a red ventilation snorkel protrudes from the underground pipeline and each thrums and hums with a windy, hollow sound. In the surrounding snow gum forest, a grey thrush is singing, and honeyeaters are banging out tunes at a furious whistling pace. Wildflowers line the track; mainly leafy bossiea with its dense yellow pea and whiff of cheap perfume. 

Lesson No. 2: Off-track walking in the high country 

We reach Whites River Hut in time for lunch. It is nestled on a grassy, high opening beside the Munyang River. A boisterous side creek passes by the hut, draining off the sides of the alpine meadows which are now in sight, just above to the south. It is a lovely location and glorious to lounge on the soft green grass, eating a simple lunch of biscuits, cheese, cucumber and salami. 

We have 4 nights worth of food on board and plan to undertake a mix of track and off-track walking - a route that will give us a feel for the local weather, the local scrub; experience in pushing through the undergrowth to get a feel for its strengths and weaknesses, experience crossing the high plains and meadows and rocky peaks. 

From our off-track ramblings on this walk, we learn these things: it is easier walking downhill through heather, than up against its leaning growth. We learn that once on the high meadows, the landscape takes some interpreting - at first it appears indistinctly undulating. We orientate the map to get our bearings. I think the 1:25,000 topographic should have more contour lines on it when compared to the steepness of the hills and valleys around us. We learn, three days later, despite being a 1:25,000 its contours are not 10m apart but 20m apart, like a 1:50,000. We learn; it pays to read the fine print.

Then there is the pure joy of navigating on a clear day, in such open terrain. We pick a destination, and we just walk there. The ground is lumpy, the grass nearly as soft as sand, there are rocks, there are boggy drainages and seeps to avoid, there are delicate plants to worry about. It is often slow, deliberate and tiring walking but there is such a free wandering feeling. The landscape is so clear and open. It is also equally apparent that in a whiteout it would be a confusing, circle-turning, challenge. 

Lesson No. 3 - Mountains

We camp high for a night on Dicky Coopers Bogong, admiring the impressive views south across to Watsons Crags and the Main Range. Many mountains here are called Bogongs. The word is drawn from the original Aboriginal name for peaks, which in turn comes from their name for the moth (Agrotis infusa) that migrates here each summer and hides itself amongst the cool and shady nooks and crannies found on the bouldered high places. 

Each October the moths arrive (sometimes in their millions) and for an estimated 5,000 years (before European arrival) Aboriginal tribes gathered in the mountains for ceremonies and moth feasts. Within these gatherings there was a tradition that each family or clan group had its own ‘pitch’ containing its own moth supply and this is thought to be reflected in the places names -such as Dicky Coopers Bogong. 

(Information from Snowy Mountains Walks, 8th Edition, Geehi Bushwalking Club, Aboriginal history by Josephine Flood)

There is another kind of family that still lives here and relies on moth hunting for its survival. On our walk through the Munyang Valley on Day 1, we run into a Conservation Contractor, employed by NPWS to trap feral cats in the valley as part of protecting the endangered Pygmy Possum. We pepper him with questions and learn the following: 

He has taken five cats out of the Munyang Valley already this spring. The soft trap is his best weapon. In winter the ski resorts can use cage traps and this winter Thredbo caught 12 cats. The Pygmy Possum lives in boulder fields and this is where he finds the cats. It can be frustrating work - the females will make a home in the boulder fields and train their daughters there. The male cats just tend to scatter all over the mountains doing male things. He does not think they will ever eradicate cats. The aim is to keep them at a level that gives the Pygmy Possum a chance. The possum has a body about the size of a man’s palm. They are fast and you usually see them simply as a flash of blue out of the corner of your eye. The population crashed in the early 80s, due to drought conditions in western NSW and SE Qld where their main food source, the Bogong Moth, migrates from. Numbers now have slowly built up to a resilient level. However, night trapping sessions in early November this year have seen volunteers collect only handfuls of Bogong moths where normally they would be collecting bucket loads. Once again the drought out west and north is to blame and there are real concerns about how well the possums will cope. 

Each year volunteers come together at Charlottes Pass to do a Pygmy Possum count. It has been going for more than 30 years, and is thought to be the longest running animal survey in the world. The Conservation Contractor tells up how he likes the windy, wild days as cats need to roam further to find food and so are more susceptible to trapping. On calm days, which usually happen in dry seasons, nothing can beat the cat. It has such a strong collection of senses it can just wait and hunt. And it backs itself like no other creature. It knows how good it is and, even when trapped, they rarely panic. 

Lesson No. 4 - Aesthetics

We pause for morning tea one morning at a stand of burnt snow gums. The girth on two of the trees is 2-3m. Their age then, I think, must have been tremendous. The 2003 bushfires, that burnt through so many acres of Australian alpine country, has killed these two old, gnarly, ancients. Like many trees affected by that hot, vast, rare fire they have not re-grown from their lignotubers. We sit in the shade of their once grand canopy. Is it just human aesthetics that make me think this is a lesser landscape, now these old trees are white bones rather than colourful, living snowgums? There are bird chicks squawking in a deep hollow in the trunk of one of the trees. The adults are nervous with us sitting here and stay at a distance, despite the hungry calls. 

We choose a camp for our second night on the north-eastern edge of the Kerries Ridge, so we can admire the wonderful view of the Valentine River snaking through an open, wide valley. The tent is nestled in a grove of wind-flattened, fire ravaged snow gums. They have healthy re-growth from the base of their burnt trunks. In the night’s sunset light, the dead wood catches each soft hue of the sky. Orange, then pink. And they are beautiful. 

Lesson No. 5 Huts

On Day 3 we debate whether to visit Mawson’s Hut, in the valley below us near the Big Bend on the Valentine River. The Australian Alps has around two hundred historic huts, a combination of old cattleman’s huts, Snowy Hydro workers huts, and backcountry skiing huts. Twenty-three Huts, were destroyed in the 2003 bushfires. Many have since been restored by the Kosciuszko Huts Association and NPWS. They are all unique, with their own particular architecture and style. They are situated in tranquil scenic valleys and for us, luxurious enough to live in. They are a haven for bushwalkers in summer. Many people use them not just as emergency shelter (as they are intended, more so in winter). They make a cosy alternative on a stormy night. They are loved and abused, in equal measure. People seem to want to carve their names in the furniture. And leave a lot of used tea-light candles. 

Instead of visiting Mawsons Hut we decide to head over the hills to Valentine Hut. It will make for an easy day and give us time for a side trip to Valentine Falls. Valentine Hut is cute verging on kitsch. It is painted red and white with love hearts over the door. There is a similar motif under the toilet seat. Inside, there is a large framed map of Mt Jagungal and the Brassy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park. It is a fabulous old map with the bottom border of it dedicated to Wilderness Quotes from around the world, including Ghandi - ‘There is more to life than increasing the speed’ - and (ironically) from Hardin - ‘Wilderness should not be equipped with artefacts to aid comfort or survival.’ 

Lesson No. 6 - Adventure

Sitting in the sunshine on the grass outside Valentine Hut, we meet adventurers as they come and go. First to arrive are three bushwalkers out for an 8-day walk through the Jagungal Wilderness. They have come from Grey Mares Hut and the track has 7 river crossings - shoes off, shoes on, shoes off again, on again. Then comes a man on his mountain bike. It has fat wheels and is set up for light-weight bike-packing. He is riding solo from Canberra to Ararat via the mountain roads, through the Jagungal and Pilot Wilderness Areas. Today he has pushed his bike more than ridden it. Last to arrive are a father and son walking from Dead Horse Gap to Kiandra. They have already walked 21km today, much of it off-track across the Main Range and The Rolling Grounds. They decide to push on to the next hut, Grey Mares, which will mean a 29km day. 

Everyone is making decisions with the weather forecast in mind - tonight they predict heavy rain, tomorrow it is due to begin snowing. 

Lesson No.7 - Always pack an extra night’s food

The forecast rain arrives at 10pm and does not let up until after lunch the next day. By 9.30am, the Valentine River has become a force to be reckoned with. It is twice the size and a fast, deep beast of a thing. It is amazing to see the sudden change. All morning there are heavy showers and we wait inside the refuge of Valentine Hut. About 10am the first decent break arrives. We frantically pack up and start walking. Fifteen minutes later and we are walking in a good, hard, long shower of rain. It feels a lovely time to be out and about, the wind and rain at our backs. Every gully is gushing with water. 

We pause at Schlinks Hilton Hut for lunch then continue along the road. The rain stops. There is intermittent sunshine. By the time we reach Whites River Hut we have walked into a beautiful, blue sky day. 

It is terrific to have a lazy, cruisey afternoon, a late cup of tea, drying my socks in the sun. We clean the hut and collect a bag of rubbish to carry out. A few Snowy Hydro workers drive past over on the main track. The afternoon moves quietly on and we settle in for a good night’s sleep. 

In the morning, I roll over so I can see out the window of the hut. I have slept on the bottom bed of the wire spring bunks. The window is fogged up. Actually, no its not. It takes me a minute to realise, just as Caz calls out from the next room, its snowing. Already, about two centimetres of snow have completely transformed the landscape. 

All morning the snow falls heavily and silently. It comes in thick flurries, the same way the rain did yesterday. Then it stops for a minute or two, then drifts in again. I slip on my freezing, wet shoes and go running around in the fabulous, powdery white stuff. The small heath plants have already gathered a thick coat of it. The path across to the Schlinks Pass Road is disappearing. 

In our backpacks, we have just 4 muesli bars left. Despite being desperate to stay another night, hunger drives us down the Munyang valley and back to the car. We stay at Whites River as long as possible watching as the snow builds and builds. The forecast says to expect 12cm today, and another 20cm tomorrow. 

So often we carry extra food in case of unexpected delays, which may occur in particularly when off-track walking. But for this trip we were comfortable with our timings as there was so much track walking involved. I eye off the emergency ration of 2-minute noodles someone has left in the hut. It would not be enough. Instead, I enjoy the snow while I can. I race around and build two snow-people with smiling faces. Caz runs around getting glorious photos. It is late November (22/11/18) and yet, over the next two days, the main range of Kosciuszko National Park receives more than 25cm of fresh snow.

As we finally leave Whites River, the westerly wind is starting to get ferocious. There is snow down to 1400m. As we reach the turn-off to Horse Camp Hut, lumps of it are falling off the snow gum trees, sometimes missing us, sometimes landing with a thud on our backpacks or shoulders. It is amazing to see the brilliant yellow flowers of the phebalium now peeking out from under the snow. 

Lesson No. 8 - How to Plan the Perfect Introductory Walk in Kosciuszko National Park 

Read lessons 1-7. 

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