Kidman's Hut Kosciuszko NP

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Kidman's Hut Kosciuszko NP

Postby snowgum » Fri 26 Nov, 2010 7:51 pm

We wanted to check out our new packs and a 4 season tent, so what better way than to hike into the Kosciuszko NP and spend a night or 2. We started at the Snowy River on the Island Bend Fire Trail @ 9.30 in high spirits and slowly climbed up to the Burrungubugge River and the turn off to the old jeep track leading to the Burrungubugge Hut ruins. The jeep track is getting overgrown with small shrubs but still navigable with only 1 fallen tree to negotiate. Apart from a copperhead snake sunning itself in a small grevillea the walking was pleasant. There is little left of the hut save for a burnt out corner post and a sad looking pot-bellied stove.
We headed for the river and slowly made our way up the valley the best we could through the knee high undergrowth and occasional boulder field. Spirits weren't so high when Julie had a close encounter with another snake she swears was the biggest she's seen heading straight for her and a gap in the boulders. In fact she did a lot of swearing.
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The knee high scrub, trees and boulders heading up the Burrungubugge valley.
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We reached the head of the valley where it opens up into buttongrass plains and set our course for a waypoint (yes I had my GPS and a SAT phone) east of Kidman's Hut.
The plains near the river are a bit boggy so we skirted the side on rising ground, reached our WP and headed to Kidman's arriving about 4.30. There was a lovely grass area just flat enough for a tent site and camp was made. Thanks to the Kosciusko Hut Assoc for leaving 2 camp stools in the hut, preparing dinner and relaxing in the warmth of evening was comfortable and our energy quickly returned.
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The evening light on our camp at Kidman's Hut. Our tent underneath the trees.
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Day 2 was beautiful and the sun was on the tent by 6am and we spent time relaxing before heading off up a small valley east of Kidman's Hut to a saddle south of Mt Gungarlin. A small foot track with cairns was picked up which made easy going.
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Looking back to Kidman's Hut and the main range.
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A rest was taken before heading down the other side towards Teddy's creek and the fire trail leading to the Snowy Plains near Davey's hut. The drop off the other side of the saddle is steep and leads to dense undergrowth by a small creek. We battled through this on the southern slopes of Mt Gungarlin until finally common sense prevailed and we stopped to assess the situation. We were 1 km north of where we needed to pick up a jeep track, and paralleling it heading further into no mans land. We decided that the only course was to push on through the tangled web of trees and scrub to the south side of the creek and head for the waypoint. We joked that the going was probably better on the other side and guess what.. it was. We were greeted with open forest and a few fallen trees. We picked up our pace and took a straight line to the WP and lunch. The moral of this, do your homework, as the shortest route is not always the quickest. Checking Google Earth images later showed the open forest south of the saddle leading all the way to the jeep track. Lesson learnt!
After lunch we followed the very faint jeep track to Teddy's river and an easy fire trail out onto the plains just north of Davey's hut.
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On the jeep track after lunch. Fluid intake is important and hydration packs are a mixed blessing being easy to drink from but difficult to refill without emptying the pack to gain access
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Davey's hut while interesting does not make a good camping spot due to accessibility of decent water. We reluctantly shouldered our packs and headed for the Gungarlin river and a great camping area 40 minutes away arriving about 4.45. With the tent set up and a picnic table at hand we drank hot chocolate and cooked pasta for dinner.
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A scarlet robin joined us for dinner next to the river
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Day 3 we left out beautiful camping spot and heading up the fire trail back past the Burrungubugge river following the power lines back to island Bend.
snowgum
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Re: Kidman's Hut Kosciuszko NP

Postby kanangra » Tue 11 Jan, 2011 7:02 pm

Fascinating trip through an area very infrequently visited. I knew the hut in the Burrungebugge as Constances.There used to be another hut on the other side of the valley roughly opposite, by the name of Reids. A track went by there over into Tolbar ck where there was another hut. Did you find any trace of Napthalis Hut about 1km north of Davey's? Did you see any sign of the diggings near Kidmans? there used to be a track over to the old Alpine Hut from there. Unfortunately that was all lost in the big fires of 1979.

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