by kanangra » Tue 07 Jan, 2014 3:12 pm
Between Christmas and New Year I got away for my annual trip in the Northern Snowies. This year I thought I would visit the Bogong Peaks area as I had not been there before. I drove down to Tumut late one night and arrived at the Thomas Boyd Track Head at about Midnight. There were several families camped there some of whom were still up when I pulled in. It was a clear night so I didn't worry about the tent. There was no moon and the night sky was ablaze with stars. I could feel it doing me good already.
I was up and going before sunrise. All was quiet and still in the camp ground as I made my way through in the early morning gloom. I began by following the Hume and Hovell walking tack which led across the river on a large swing bridge. Once on the other side it passed through farming properties never straying far from the bank of the river. Another large swing bridge led back to the northern side at a Travelling Stock Reserve and then out onto the road for a short distance before recrossing on a concrete causeway on the "Federal Park" property. This led by the homestead and shed. As usual farming equipment from over the last 100 years lay strewn about the paddocks. I couldn't believe how quickly the country side had dried out in only a few months.
A little further on the track passed through a section of bush. There was no sign but on consulting the map later I noticed this was a thin extension of KNP which protruded all the way to the southern bank of the river. This is very close to the northern most point of the park, which here is only about 400m wide. The track began to swing to the left and leave the valley of the Goobarragandra behind. I would not see the river again till late on the afternoon of the following day. The way now led up the side valley of Walls Ck. I passed a side track which crossed the creek and a set of old yards before noting what looked like a minor farm track heading up to the left. Even though there was no sign this was the beginning of the Warogong Track which would be my way of route for the remainder of the day as it traversed the length of the Bogong Peaks Wilderness. Sure enough after a short climb there was a KNP sign declaring that I was entering the wilderness. The track continued to climb and then passed a swampy area on the far side of which was the turn off to Buckleys Track. This is marked on some maps as the Sugarloaf Track because it leads to the Warogong Sugarloaf which is the northern most of the Bogong Peaks. Not far past here I walked off the Lacmalac 1:25,000 sheet and onto Blowering. (I've often wondered if signs should be posted on trees whenever a map boundary is crossed much like local government boundaries on roads, though I suspect this would conflict somewhat with the wilderness values of the area?)
Before long I came to signpost announcing Nicholas Track off to my left. This track was marked but not named on my map. I noted it led back down to the river after passing through an old mining area. (There had been a lot of goldmining in these hills in years past and I would see evidence of that as my trip progressed.) The track continued to climb, steeply in parts, but despite that the views were quite limited. The surrounding country was heavily forested mainly with Mountain Gum and Messmate. After a good couple of hours I passed below and around the summit of Mt Hovell. Named after Capt. Hovell, one of the two leaders of the Hume and Hovell expedition. But the explorers crossed well to the north of here where the country is easier. Mt. Hovell is one of the Bogong Peaks but as this was an introductory trip I had no time to explore further.
The next landmark was the Cliffords Ck Fire Trail junction on the right. This leads all the way down to the Snowy Mts highway in the west. It actually comes out at the Hume crossing rest area on Blowering Reservoir. According to my GPS I had come 31.8 km. It was 12:30 and I thought about stopping for lunch but decided to keep going as it was a hot day and I wanted to wait until I struck some water. There had been none at all since I had left Walls Ck. I continued heading south along the range seeing very little wildlife except that I did come upon the largest wild sow I have ever seen. She was accompanied by a litter of piglets. No more than a few months old those things scampered fast in all directions as I approached. Fortunately the boar was nowhere to be seen.
Sometime in the early afternoon I walked off the Blowering sheet and onto Talbingo. As there is roughly 15 1 km. grid squares from the top to bottom of each map this gave some rough indication of distance travelled. Near here I came across my first running water since Walls Ck. and topped up my supplies which were running low. Next Cotterill Fire Trail came in on the left. This leads down across the Peak River to the Goobarragandra Powerline Rd. (For future reference this would probably be a shorter way in.) Past here the track began to descend and soon I came to the lovely flowing waters of Rings Ck. Named after aboriginal bora rings which are reported to be on the tops nearby. Apparently this area was important to the aborigines not just for food gathering (bogong moths) but also for ceremonial purposes. It had been a long hot day and I was very glad for the refreshing waters of the mountain stream. It was 2:45 and time for lunch. I had come 42.3km. I lay back on the grassy banks looking up at the rocky summit of nearby Bogong Mt and thought I have to return to explore this area more thoroughly.
TBC.
K.