It was a perfect day to climb the highest mountain in Australia. A clear blue sky, a gentle breeze and warm.
At Thredbo we bought tickets for the ski lift and it took us gently and effortlessly up above the treeline, up to the beautiful alpine herbfields. Then we walked the 6.6 km raised metal boardwalk to the top of Mt Kosciuszko.
When Phil climbed the mountain in about 1962 the family drove their car almost to the top and then walked a short distance but thankfully that isn't allowed any more. The boardwalk was installed 20 years ago to stop the erosion created by thousands of footsteps and has been very successful - for the most part people stay on the path and the vegetation on the original path is recovering. There was also a lot of damage done in the past by grazing cattle what is now a National Park. Just below the peak, where the carpark used to be, there is a marvellous waterless toilet block, the highest dunny in Australia, that looks like an underground bunker.
I was delighted to reach the top because I'm not the fittest person in the world and had thought I might only get to the lookout 2 km into the walk. The whole walk was an absolute delight because of the views and the flora. March is not the peak flowering season but the higher we got the more I found plants actually in flower. And we were also delighted to see a Bush Rat under the boardwalk, I'm posting a heap of photos, uncaptioned because I don't have references with me.
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| The chair lift at Thredbo |
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| Metal boardwalk |
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| Mt Kosciuszko is the middle peak. |
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| Growing safely through the boardwalk |
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| Bush Rat under the boardwalk |
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| Bush Rat and Phil's shoe |
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| Lake Cootapatamba, a glacial lake. |
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| The toilet bunker at Rawson Pass. |
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| Nearly there |
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| At the top |
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| Fish in a little creek on the mountain |
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| The chairlift ride back down to Thredbo |
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The way I felt having achieved the climb.
'Mountain Dance' by Thomas Bucich, 2006. Thredbo. |
2 comments:
You got some great pics. About 35 years ago I walked from Thredbo to Charlotte Pass via about seven peaks (a two day walk). I was expecting some great views but it was so cloudy at the the top of Kosciuszko that if you put your arm out in front of you, you could hardly see your fingers.
Great photos. It is a wonderful walk on a fine day, still interesting on a misty day, but awful when the weather really comes in.
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