Guthega - Kosciusko - Guthega Trip Report - 26-28 Jan 2017

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Guthega - Kosciusko - Guthega Trip Report - 26-28 Jan 2017

Postby roguetrooper » Mon 30 Jan, 2017 9:44 pm

Hi all,

I reckon I will keep this fairly short as the unknown is part of the adventure. Hopefully some of the info will help others plan their trip. Note, we had two full days so we did not stop for breaks very often and were travelling at a reasonable pace.

Day 1 -
Left Guthega car park at 8.30am and got to the top of Mount Twynan around 11.45am. The path up from Illawong swing bridge is obvious enough but be prepared for a bit of cross country to reach the saddle between the Twynan's, which is easy enough in clear weather.

The Main Track from Mount Twynan towards Kosciuszko is straight forward (and busy). It was a clear sunny day and having good head cover important - there is virtual no shade up there. We got to Wilkinsons Creek around 3.00pm after summiting Mount Caruthers, Mount Lee and Mount Northcote (the latter two require a bit of off-track walking). Getting to Wilkinsons Creek early in the day meant we got to choose our spot and get a little shade amongst the rocks (and protection from the strong winds that started that night). There is a well defined track (North side of Muellers Pass) to Mount Townsend and an old 4-wheel drive track leading down to Wilkinsons Creek (South side of Muellers Pass) - neither of these are marked on the 1:25000 topo. The track to Mount Townsend would make the climb up the second highest peak a lot easier than trying to traverse Muellers Peaks.

Day 2 -
We packed up our camp and were moving by 5:40am and reached the summit of Mount Kosciuszko by 6.30am. We had to express from Wilkinson's Creek to make it in this time and I'd suggest allowing more time - at least 1.5 hours.

The wind was gale force from the North which made the hike along the Mt Kosciuszko Track towards the Eagles Nest restaurant interesting - by the way it opens at 9am. After a most rewarding breakfast we headed south towards Mount Stilwell at 11am. On the topo, the trail marked just south of the bridge does not exist but cutting up through the gap in the granite crags will take you in the right direction. Although extremely windy it was a clear day and it was easy navigating by sight across the plain to Kangaroo Valley and up to Mount Stilwell. The terrain is straight forward although a little boggy in the valley and sticking to higher ground South of Kangaroo Valley would probably have been easier. The 20m contours on the topo map certainly don’t help completing the last part to Mount Stilwell as there are many high granite crags to the west that are not marked - essentially you just keep going till there is a steep descent and a crag with a trig point.

After descending to the Snowy River via Charlotte Pass, we headed along the Southern bank as there is a slight trail. It only lasts about 100m so don’t get your hopes up - traversing the Snowy to the junction of Spencer Creek and the Snowy River is a tough slog through knee to waist high heather. We crossed the Snowy a couple of time chasing slightly more open terrain but it took 3 hours to cover the 4.5km, with no break. I do not recommend trying this.

We camped 100m south of the of Spencer Creek and the Snowy River junction on a flat grassy patch with the creek not to far away - it made for a great campsite and one worth spending extra time at as there are numerous swimming holes - the water temperature was surprisingly mild and we even went for a skinny dip!

Day 3 -
Woke late, breakfasted and packed up camp by 9.30am. Scrub bashed to the Illawong swing bridge (400m) and expressed it back to Guthega car park arriving at 11am.

PS. Guthega Alpine Inn was closed
PPS. The Mount Kosciuszko Perisher Thredbo Sutmap has more terrain detail
roguetrooper
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