Days before the NSW lock-down got serious, Vice-President Rob Scott left for the last leg of the Australian Alps Walking Track in the Snowy Mountains with 7 other bushwalking mates. Staying in a cabin outside of Jindabyne they set-off early on March 23rd, starting at Charlotte Pass.
The alpine track is above the snow line and at 1,837m it was only 4 degrees at the start. Dropping steeply down to the headwaters of the Snowy River (wet feet), after 18kms the group climbed Mt Kosciusko, attaining the top of Australia at 2,228m. After lunch at the 'top', just another 8kms to Dead Horse Gap where the cars were waiting. With over 1,000m of descents and 800m of ascents for the day, the beer back at the cabin was very much appreciated.
You can see a few photos here:
Charlotte Pass, the start of the walk at 1835m
Descent to Snowy River. It was a lot longer down than it looks in this pic.
The scenery doesn’t look much, but it's really breath-taking. The view down to Club Lake towards Mt Kosciusko.
Top of Mt Kosciusko
AAWT walk stats and elevation diagram. Explains in a glance why there is more down's than up's.
Whilst on the track, the group, of course, practiced the appropriate social distancing rules !
