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Further Information The walk will
be from Round Mountain car park, across Tumut River, along Farm Ridge track
to Grey Mare FT. Camp somewhere around O’Keefe’s Hut. Climb Jagungal Wed,
down to upper Tumut river and back along Round Mountain FT. There may be
side trip if time allows. I think about 20 km/day and some up and down.
Photographs
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Walk
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track c |
track d |
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track h |
track i |
Our walking companion, Tom, turned out to be
born with boots on, young, fit and the current President of the ANUMC! A
high class companion for two old blokes.
Day 1
| Max said he'd take me
to Mt Jagungal, but I had no idea he meant door-to-door. It was
wonderful to be chauffeured in the big V8 and chat with Tom to find
out what's happening via ANUMC. From Duffy to the Round Mountain
Track Head via Cooma and Kiandra was 3hrs (6.10-9.00am). A little
overcast in places over the hills on the way, but broken cloud and
sun at the track head. Plenty of cars and walkers for a Tuesday. |
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Round Mountain Track Head - busy on a Tuesday |
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We set off along the Round Mountain fire trail,
all new territory for me. Cool at first and I wondered whether I had
appropriate gear for the cool night. After 1.5km we turned left onto the
Farm Ridge fire trail and soon came across Round Mountain Hut. A quick look
inside and we went on. |
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1 Round Mountain Hut |
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| The track continued a
further 1.9km down to the Tumut River. A lovely rolling view down to
the river sparkling in the sun. |
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Down the Round Mountain
fire trail to the Tumut River |
2 Tumut River from the Round Mountain fire trail |
| Not being one for bare
foot river crossings I waded across boots and all and suffered the
consequences of damp feet for the remainder of the day. Max and Tom
were more elegant, de-booting and crossing, then drying and
re-shoeing. From the SE bank of the river we could see a large party
of walkers climbing the footpad (the 'fire trail' had deteriorated
to such) up onto Farm Ridge. |
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From the ford the track climbed 300m
over 3.4km to morning tea on Farm Ridge. We passed a large group of
students and teachers from a nearby high school. They were going to
camp at O'Keefes Hut, so that fact added some substance to Max's
flexible plans - we would not. A wonderful snow gum and grassed
ridge, affording grand and ever closer views to our primary
objective. |
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Mt Jagungal from Farm Ridge at morning
tea |
3 Mt Jagungal from Farm Ridge |
| Having enjoyed out
morning tea break, the track/footpad took us a further 4.7km in
57mins (so easy walking) towards the junction with the Grey Mare
fire trail, part of the famed AAWT that several of my friends have
walked. Mt Jagungal loomed closer. |
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Mt Jagungal from near
the junction of the Farm Ridge ft and Grey Mare ft |
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At the well sign posted junction, Max
took us a few tens of metres to the E to a hut site. An obvious
stockyard on the opposite side of the fire trail and, just a bit up
and into the trees, a lovely bit of fencing. |
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Hut site
near the junction of the Farm Ridge ft and Grey Mare ft - marked as
ruin on 1st edn Khancoban 1-25000 |
4 Nearby stockyard fencing |
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Next came 3km (in 50mins so
continued easy walking) along the Grey Mare ft. A lot of the
area is burnt and grey with dead standing timber. Mt
Jagungal closer still. Pretty flowers galore - wish I knew
the names. |
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Mt
Jagungal from the Grey Mare ft |
Flowers |
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O'Keefes Hut provided a very
pleasant spot for lunch. The rebuilt hut is very well done
inside, with old newspapers plastered over the inside walls
and lovely furniture. And a fine collection of chairs, which
suited us very well when taken outside and placed along the
lee wall in the sun. A well spent 40mins. |
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Interior of O'Keefes Hut |
O'Keefes Hut |
Back on the track after lunch,
2km brought us to the meteorological station and the DFIR.
The signage says:
You are looking at a
Double Fence Inter-comparison Reference (DFIR), also
known as a Wind Fence.
The DFIR design is based on the World Meteorological
Organization standard. The structure that you see here
has been reduced in size from the standard design to
minimise impact on the environment.
The purpose of the DFIR is to improve the accuracy of
snowfall measurements by the precipitation gauge
(located at the centre of the structure).
In locations such as this, accurate measurement can be
difficult - especially at higher wind speeds - as a
large proportion of the snow can be blown over the top
of the gauge and not measured.
The two concentric fences of the DFIR reduce the wind
speed at the opening of the gauge, significantly
reducing the measurement error.
These structures have been placed at key locations
across the Snowy Mountains, and the measurements are
used predominantly to gauge the effectiveness of the
cloud seeding trial. The structure will also provide
rainfall information for park management at other times
of the year.
The data collected at this site is used for scientific
research by Snowy Hydro Limited, and the NSW Department
of Environment and Climate Change.
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DFIR |
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| At this point Mt
Jagungal loomed above us. |
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Mt
Jagungal from near the met station |
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From here we began the 400m
climb to the top, passing through relatively open scrub and
up into the open sub-alpine going to eventually gain above
the tree-line. A lovely view opened up behind us and the old
boys took many opportunities to appreciate it as we stopped
to regain our breath. The climb arced us around the NE flank
of the mountain and the view across to the neighbouring
ridge was most pleasant. |
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View down our climb to Mt Jagungal and our way in from
Round Mountain |
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View across to another ridge from nearer
to Mt Jagungal |
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We dropped our packs at a likely
camp site in the lee of the summit and scrambled to the top
for the huge all-round views. To the S, over the S knoll of
the top, Tom pointed out the recognisable tops of the Main
Range, including Mt Kosciuszko. Some drifts of dirty snow
remained. Nearby to the SW the Tooma River drained away and,
to the NW, the Tumut River. We could see the Round Mountain
fire trail that we'd tread tomorrow wending across the
alpine meadows. To the N, over the N knoll of the top, I
could identify Round Mountain (near where we started) - a
possible objective for tomorrow. Other hills and dales I had
no idea of. The view close by to the NE held my attention most of
the time we were about this place - a lovely open saddle
across to the next ridge falling away down to the Grey Mare
ft. The high point of Mt Jagungal is marked by a concrete
block cairn, the old one lying in ruin nearby and rusted
steel eyelets still firmly embedded in the rock which would
have held its guys. |
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View S from Mt Jagungal to Mt Kosciuszko and the Main
Range |
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View to the N knoll from the Mt Jagungal cairn |
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Back down, we set up camp. Tom
took all of 2 minutes to unroll his bivvy and give me a demo; Max and I a lot
longer to set up our more complicated and heavy tents. |
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Tom's bivvy occupied |
Water was available around 500m down to the NE
at the 1890m contour. We had a cuppa, another stroll around the top, a
little red plonk and bikkies and 'bert, then cooked tea.
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Donning warmer clothes, we
returned to the top to watch the sun go down. Another view
to the SE to the rolling alpine areas. To the W the sun
glinted on the Tooma River. Our exemplary leader shared
around tots of single malt. |
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View SE through S from the Mt Jagungal cairn |
Gas stoves are not conducive to standing around
chatting, so we called it a day. I wasn't exactly geared for the cool,
having brought no thermals, but down mummy soon warmed up. The tent-rustling
breeze died away in the early hours of the morning.
Day 2
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Location, location, location is
the catch-cry in real estate. Well, here's the view out my
front door and out the back to the next door neighbour. One
wouldn't be dead for quids! It was lovely in the still
morning sun, above the clouds filling the valleys below. |
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Sunrise on nearby tops from our Mt Jagungal
campsite |
Max's home at our Mt Jagungal
campsite |
Early morning views from our Mt Jagungal campsite |
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Breakfast over and packed up, I
took the opportunity to scurry up to the top another time
and head for the N knoll. It sports a star picket marker.
Views back along the top to the central knoll with concrete
cairn, as well as all round in the freshness of the early
morning sun. |
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5 Mt Jagungal cairn from the N ridge |
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Shouldering packs, we wandered
round to the SE flank of the mountain, dropped them, then
wandered up to the cairn for a final time and along to the
S knoll. Views again to the Main Range, the source of the Geehi River closer, and to some quartz blocks a few hundred
metres away to the SE. |
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Source of the Geehi River |
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Down we went to examine them,
quite a striking feature. |
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Quartz blocks SE of Mt Jagungal |
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It was time for day 2 to
seriously begin. We headed W across the S flank of Mt J,
surprising and being surprised by quite a large black snake.
Picking up a footpad, we descended 300m via a pleasant spur
and drop-off containing remnants of unburnt Snow Gums. The
footpad ran down the very source of the Tumut River,
crossing it where it comes out onto the Grey Mare fire trail
(AAWT). So both approaches to Mt J, from the met station to
the N and this one from the SW, are very pleasant. |
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Ford over the Tumut River at the
take-off point for the SW approach to Mt Jagungal |
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Heading W on the Grey Mare ft,
within a kilometre we came to the junction with the Round
Mountain Fire Trail. This is, indeed a fire trail. The area
is the watershed of the Tumut (flowing N) and Tooma (flowing
S) Rivers. An open alpine plain, it was easy walking today -
but would be hot on a Summer's day in the beating sun. We
reached Derschkos Hut and met four guys supporting a very
large (20+) D of E party. We'd guessed that we'd meet
someone, from the busy state of the car park the previous
morning and the smoke rising from the hut area which we'd
seen the previous evening from Mt J. So both groups we'd met
were very large - hardly minimal impact. |
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Derschkos Hut |
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From the hut it was quick
walking, 4.3km in 55mins to morning tea, then a further
4.9km in 1hr to Max's next surprise. |
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6 Round Mountain and the Round Mountain ft from near Pugulistic Creek |
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Setting a bearing, Max marched
us 2km through a little scrub and across alpine meadows to
find the Cool Plain Hut ruin. A ruin it is. A shady spot
under the trees nearby was an excellent place for lunch. |
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Cool Plain Hut ruin |
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Our trusty leader's remaining
offer was to take a B-line from our luncheon trees to the
car. Only Round Mountain stood in the way but, as he
explained, there was no extra distance involved. This leg
started pleasantly enough, first across the alpine drainage
flats from which we could see an open patch on the flank of
Round Mountain, then though leads rising through the scrub
and regrowth. However the 250m climb soon became unpleasant,
with increasing steepness, regrowth and the dreaded
'pick-up-sticks' of fallen timber. But in our 30 hours of
knowing Tom we mature gentlemen had gauged his capabilities,
so gladly hung back to let him make the going ( = we were
buggered). A grand job he did, breaking through
pick-up-sticks for our benefit and generally waiting
patiently as we gasped for air. Lovely views down to Cool
Plain on the way up. At
last we reached the open top, the chain-draggers finding
Tom's pack hung up on a flimsy branch (yes, he carried
around 9kgm, compared to my 16.5kgm on setting out -
including 2kgm of water, 1kgm of goodies and 1.7kgm of
camera) and Tom up Lett Trig. Grand views over much of our
route and, for me, an even more welcome view down the NE
side of Round Mountain to the Tooma Rd and promised track
head. |
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Cool Plain from
the climb to Round Mountain |
Lett Trig on Round Mountain |
A view of much of our route from
Round Mountain |
An easy 200m descent to the Tooma Rd (if you
want a hint as to which side of Round Mountain to climb, work it out for
yourself) and around 1km of black-top verge back to the car, arriving at
4.10pm.
Magic thanks Max and young Tom.
Distance: 42.3km Climb: 1300m. Time:
2 days
Grading:
L/M-R; H(12)
KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps:
Mt
Jagungal and Round Mountain
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