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Drynans hut to Mt May

PostPosted: Wed 23 Apr, 2014 1:10 pm
by ofuros
Sunmap 1:25000 Maroon

Great roller-coaster route to Mt May, lots of clear views of Mt Barney & Mt Maroon
Yellow tailed black parrots screeched their way down the valley, rock wallaby's preened themselves on the sunny ledges,
An olive green snake, pencil thin and as long as your forearm, quickly wiggled away through the fallen sticks & leaf litter.
A bushfire has been through there recently & the air is scented with charcoal, but it makes for
easy walking. It's a dry ridge walk, up hill all the way so take plenty o' water.(I should heed my own advice) :wink:

Early start at Drynans Hut.
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A cool, clear creek crossing for starters...
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As soon as you hit the ridgeline, this scene comes into view.
So many ridges....so many routes. My eyes traced out future routes.
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You can see how easy the walking is, as I make a brew.
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Ran out of water at this point, dehydration became a real concern and with Mt May within reach,
and no water resources ahead, I decided to head back down & camp on the clifftop above Barney creek,
so I could grab some water & wake up to the morning sun hitting the craggy face of Mt Barney.

Being only a short walk back to my vehicle, I crossed the creek again in the morning, left my boots
& socks off & walked over patches of soft pine needles & through long grasses laden with cool morning dew.
The earth under foot was surprising warm from the day before.
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Fast forward a couple of weeks, time to finish off this walk.......

This time access via the short but steep SE ridge to Mt May...
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Soup & noodles in the saddle (campsite) between the double headed Mt Mays.
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The ridge in the foreground, heading diagonally left to right, looks like dense bush but in reality its very easy walking under the tree canopy.
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Second section now completed, I took a left turn at a boulder cairn (one of three found) on the way back & completed the Mt May circuit,
just to round out a great days walk.

Rewarded myself with a steamed sticky date pudding & powdered milk, while watching the setting sun,
before dropping off the summit & winding my way back down to my vehicle.
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PS. Very, very surprised ...On a lovely warm Autumn day, the ice in my raspberry cordial lasted for more than 12hrs in my thermos
with a couple of stubby holders as extra insulation. Happy hour here we come. :)
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