Seaman's Hut to Dead Horse Gap via Merritt's Track, Snowy Mountains, NSW. March 2011

It was the final day of walking in the Snowy Mountains and the theory was that it should be a stroll back to the car. Following the previous days shenanigans though, I was not exactly jumping out of my sleeping bag. First of all, it's difficult getting a good nights sleep when one is lying on a dirigible. I woke up in the middle of the night at some weird angle due to the possessed Exped mat.

Whilst lying there coming to grips with the universe I became aware of some weird noises. I could have got up to investigate, but I was too stuffed, so I just let my mind run rampant with scenarios. I concluded it was one of three things. The first being the yowie from the previous evening was on the roof trying to get to get to my hoard of Dilmah. Secondly, it was the Mary Celeste being towed past the hut on the back of a truck or thirdly it was windy and raining. I managed to conclude that it was the last, even though the first two would have been way more interesting. Seaman's Hut makes some weird noises in the night which I assume is something to do with the metal roof. The walls are so thick though I didn't hear the rain until I looked out the window in the daylight and saw it was pouring down. It was wet for the last day with the wind blowing in cloud all around us. It couldn't have been more bleak, but at least it shouldn't be too much of a problem getting wet when we were only heading back to the car. It would have been different if this was the first day of walking.

Bleak landscape near the hut...

Now, when we set out a few days earlier I knew the weather forecast was not going to be too bad.  So, to dump weight I elected to leave my heavy duty raincoat in the car. I was initially going to bring some overpants as they also act as a good pair of windbreakers. The trouble is when I told MK this as we were getting our packs ready she replied, "You have to be joking." Well, no I wasn't. I thought it was a great idea, but she intimidated me so much I said, "Yeah, what sort of man carries overpants around?!" The result though is I had no overpants and no raincoat. It's not a total tragedy though, as I did have my trusty North Face Sentinel Windstopper jacket as I've reviewed before. In fact it's my only review, which reminds me I must pull my finger out and do some more.

As soon as I slipped the jacket on I immediately felt stronger and as mean as a croissant made without butter. I began to swear for no apparent reason and I felt compelled to slip into a lat-flare pose down which was difficult in the confined space of the hut.

With the rain still pelting down we were pretty slow getting ready. MK spotted of all things a white four wheel drive on the track heading our way. Was it the rogue car from the previous night? I have no idea what had happened to that as there's no exit in the direction we saw it headed. I watched it slowly drive towards us before stopping right outside the door. It was a Parks vehicle with three people in it and as I looked out the window I could see the driver looking back at me. Although I was a little fearful of an intensely powerful, big and beefy moustache that the bloke was packing, I did have the jacket on which gave me the upper hand. I stared at him and he stared at me until it became a stand off. It looked like he wanted to have a chat, but as he was wearing a short sleeve shirt I felt he wasn't going to get out in the rain. It also must have been daunting for him seeing the blazing red 'Summit Series' logo on a large man with his lats flared. The result? There wasn't much the moustache could do other than turn the car around and drive back in the direction he came. It's a physical world this hiking business.

The track to Charlotte Pass in the early morning gloom...

Well, after all of that manly business it was time to head off. We again had to climb for a couple of kilometres back to Rawsons Pass which was the third time we had walked on this stretch of road. It was made even more enjoyable by a headwind, driving rain into our faces. I got wet pretty quickly, but didn't feel cold due to the exertion of the constant hill climb. After the traditional pit stop at Australia's highest comfort station it was back to our favourite part. The steel boardwalk that leads all the way back to the chairlifts from Thredbo. The terrain was quite easy walking, but again the steel under foot was causing a fair amount of aching to my feet.

Although the weather was still pretty grim, the rain did ease up which revealed day trippers appearing out of the gloom heading to Mt Kosciuszko. I didn't think I would see many people on such a dodgy day, but maybe there was a favourable weather forecast as the light was getting brighter. I turned on my 'G'day' social convention overload as we passed a few people and I was impressed by some of the hardcore gear they had on. Heavy duty raincoats and overpants as if they were headed to Antarctica. I was feeling a little under-dressed! It was balanced out though by a bloke with an umbrella and a handy-cam glued to his eyeball. Nothing like an umbrella to combat those alpine winds!

There wasn't a great deal to look at as we covered the ground we walked a couple of days earlier. I did spot something at the side of the track which I thought was a barbecue. I mean, why can't we have Australia's highest barbecue up in the Snowy Mountains? If 100,000 people per year come up to the summit, imagine how much New South Wales Parks would make if they had a sausage sizzle going? One dollar for a sausage with sauce and bread and two dollars for a sausage in a roll with sauce and onion. Hang on. This may work. I crunched out all the numbers including overheads, until I got a little closer and deduced it probably wasn't a barbecue at all under the cover.

Australia's highest barbecue...

As we clanked away on the steel grating I did find a Nikon lens cap on the ground. Considering all the Canon ones I've lost over the years, I thought it was time I found something for my camera! It was a 67mm one as well which will come in handy. I'm probably committing some sort of crime amongst Canon/Nikon fanboys by putting a Nikon lens cap on a Canon lens. Oh well, that's the way it goes when you live your life as a wild-man such as myself. Always pushing the envelope. That was about it for entertainment until we reached a number of rocks where again currawongs sat in the gloom.

There was a nice view of the origins of the Snowy River. It's hard to imagine such small streams end up as a whopper sized river. Well, big for Australian standards anyway as it's not exactly the Amazon.

A few more photos later and we had reached the chairlift which leads back to Thredbo. Now MK has my ailment regarding walking over ground previously covered. We both hate it! I much prefer a circuit walk any day than a straight out and back number. The car was parked at the end of the Dead Horse Gap Track and it would have been easiest to head straight down there. The trouble is we had come up there on the first day and to do it again would be a little too 'easy' I think. So, it was decided we should go down to Thredbo via an alternative path.

Upon reaching the bottom of the mountain we could then walk another four or so kilometres on flat ground next to the Snowy River back to the car. Actually, the easiest thing of all would be to hop on the chairlift for a five minute trip to the bottom. The trouble is it costs $23 one way, not to mention the likely destruction of my hiking credibility. Merritt's Track starts next to the chairlift and whilst standing there for a moment we were approached by a very large man (VLM). He had an offer. "I can send your packs down on the chairlift for free if you want, and then you can pick them up from the operator at the bottom." It did have potential until he said, "If you're going down Merritt's you won't have much fun with a pack on." Hang on. Now I am going with my pack on. Is this a challenge?!

Start of Merritt's Track. Looks pretty bare plus a little steep...

So, down we went with packs on. It was definitely steeper than the the Dead Horse Gap Track. I'm glad we hadn't used Merritt's on the first day as I was feeling stuffed enough as it was. MK and I also decided that we wouldn't see anyone for the day climbing this track. We had a suspicion it was way too steep for the chairlift punters. In fact it was way too steep for me! It's also called a 'nature' walk which means it's not urban I guess. It wasn't so bad, but it did give my knees a bit of a workout going down some mighty steps with a monstrous height difference between each one. There were the odd spots with a nice view which were all happened to be facing in an opposite direction to the chairlifts which go down the mountain.

There was a nice waterfall on the way down which would be pretty impressive in spring with the snow melt running off. It's a pity it didn't have a lot of water in it to practice my 'milky water' photo method. I had plenty of time to do this though, as MK disappeared again to clamber over rocks whilst I lay back with the tripod. After a solid stop it was downhill again. The weather was the complete opposite of the start of the day. The sun was now out and being lower amongst the trees it was quite humid. It had gone from chilly to meltdown in only a few hours. I did enjoy the nature the 'nature walk' was giving me though.

After following the track which zigzags down the mountain we came to a nice little table which would have been a perfect spot for a snack. The trouble is we were over the walk a little and just wanted to get it over with now. It was a handy spot though to drop the backpack for five minutes and lie back and take in the view. Lucky a chain had been especially installed for my feet to rest on.

Once going again we reached the bottom of the mountain and now found the path which runs parallel with the road which our car was parked on and the Snowy River. In theory it should now be plain sailing. If only it was that simple, as this hike had dished up plenty of adventures and even near the end kept on delivering. We came across a nice waterfall hidden amongst the trees and ferns complete with a seat which would be nice to sit on in the shade. I was going to take some slow motion photos of the water when I looked around and was a little startled to see a man silently standing about 20 metres away.

What's interesting was he was actually standing in the stream. I looked at his face and my quick analysis was that he was quite clearly insane and was about to expose himself. Really? Well, he was the first person we had seen for quite some time and what else would he be doing silently camouflaging himself in the bushes unless he was going to produce his wanger and yell out "Surprise!"? In the end all he was doing was taking photos of the waterfall from a distance and he appeared to be a little traumatized that we were in the way of what was going to be a 'magic shot'. Didn't he realise that if he took a photo of me it would be a 'magic shot' as none actually exist? I mean, have you seen any photos of my face in this blog? No? I didn't think so, as around the clock I actually wear a welding helmet. It's not the most romantic item in bed, but with some imagination it can work.

The waterfall which I really hoped to get a better picture of...

Well, we couldn't block his shot forever so we moved on and I was cursing I didn't get to take a million photos of the waterfall which is my usual technique. I love digital! We passed 'stream-boy' at a closer distance and I noted he did have pants on, so my initial analysis that he may be giving us an eyeful of his tallywacker could be wrong. The judgement may not have been totally incorrect though because I noted he did have a Nikon camera judging by the massive 'NIKON' written on the strap, so the insane part of the analysis still may have been correct. A short distance further on there was more action as we saw writing on the slats of the boardwalk. I thought it was a cryptic message and at first I was a little annoyed I had forgotten my titanium Rosetta Stone. In the end it wasn't a message from the past, but just old sign posts that had been turned into boardwalk.

Wow. It's a message!

I was feeling slightly shell shocked from the constant action, when all I wanted to see was the car. We still had a few kilometres to go and I wasn't sure if I could take it when the tension went up another notch. We walked out of some trees and I spotted a flying saucer that had landed. It was a pretty cool looking UFO as it came complete with a television antenna. These aliens knew how to relax. Remember, there's one thing I was taught when around aliens and that's, 'it's a cookbook!'

UFO. Look how clear the photo is. Is that a first?

We avoided abduction for the day and then we came across something I again didn't expect. Do you find on hikes that at some point you realise that it's all over? You have returned to the 'world'? Well, I found that moment when I stumbled upon the sixth hole of a golf course. The hole actually had a name called 'the wedge' and it's a par 3 if you're wondering. The green also looked in pretty good shape.

Yeah, I know. I'm no longer in the 'wilderness'...

This epic hike had reached comedy status now as we left the golf course behind. There were a couple more spots to look at the river though. There was one impressive waterfall which I contemplated getting my tripod out for. Living on the edge though, I thought I'd go for a long hand held shot. My hands were jumping around as if I was dying for a scotch and coke, but I thought I could pull it off. It was close, but the blur got me in the end. The lesson? I'm not a tripod.

Finally, can this walk ever end?  It seemed as if we were on the eternal river walk. It was quite undulating as well which affected me mentally as I expected 'flat'. More views of the river? Well, why not.

Suddenly, it was all over. I spotted the car and managed to stumble across the road without getting flattened and finally dump the backpack for good. We hadn't really eaten so we both flaked out near the car stuffing our gobs with food. I looked at the GPS and it had some pretty good numbers for a hike that was only two and a half days long. The total distance walked was 53.66 kilometres and total elevation climbed for the hike being 2059 metres. The last day according to the GPS is as follows...



A distance of 14.09 kms and the laziest elevation gain for the trip being 278 metres. I was feeling absolutely wrecked and aware that my entire body was sticky with stale sweat. Pretty erotic huh?

The river was a short distance away so I made my way there and in a bit of tree cover from the road jumped in. Oh yeah, I took my clothes off as well. 'Stream-boy' had given me some good ideas, so it was my turn to cool off in the water keeping rampant schlong exposure to a minimum. The most refreshing feeling of all was for my aching feet to be in cold water. Magnificent!

Well, that's an interesting hike finished. It was a lot harder than I imagined which seems to be a common theme. It would be a nice spot to return in spring when there's still some snow around. Well, maybe later in the year, although there's millions of other hikes to do as well before then. In this blog entry I reduced the size of the photos. I do love a massive picture, although some punters reading may not. The main reason I reduced them is they take a decade to upload! If I have the patience I may revert to whopper photo size again next time...
 

The final GPS numbers...

One last shot of the sky with polarizer for good measure...

Main Range Circuit, Snowy Mountains, NSW. 15th March 2011

Seaman's Hut at sunrise...

Writing about hiking can be a funny thing. Upon reflection, a painful day of walking may be remembered quite fondly. As time passes, it seems the nasty parts of the walk are forgotten and a more upbeat memory remains. A bit like relationships really?! The trouble is I'm writing this only a week after the long day of walking on the 15th March 2011. In fact, right now I can still feel what that day did to my legs. My heels still feel as if they've been beaten with a cricket bat and my thighs still have an incessant dull ache. The only way I can describe the pain is this scenario. First of all, dim the lights and lie back on your chesterfield couch and imagine you are jumping out of an aeroplane (oh yeah, sorry, but you forgot to put your parachute on). After picking up a little speed over a few thousand metres, you land perfectly upright with both feet onto concrete with a few garden tools dotted about just to make the landing a little more interesting. You know, a rake and mattock for starters plus maybe a few bowling balls. The end result of how you now feel is what I'm feeling as I write this blog entry.

Anyway, the day started out okay. It was as well as could be I guess, as I'd had slept most of the night either on the floor of the hut or on the deformed mat with my feet in the vertical position. I guess one should elevate their legs after a day of walking shouldn't they? Well, I've got the solution and that's get an Exped SynMat and wait for it to detonate internally. Describing the mat as having a pillow inserted in it is not really accurate. It was more like the Hindenburg airship had docked in the middle of my mat. I like Exped stuff, but everything I've had from them has ended up conking out. I think it's time to move on to different products! MK and I had actually ordered some spanking new Thermarest Neoair Trekker mats for this hike, but they hadn't arrived before setting off. So, we were both left with crap mats to endure for a couple of nights at least.

I had woken up with a booming headache and grief from a wisdom tooth that seemed to be trying to escape through my cheek. It was a struggle and it's interesting to see how much I've complained in only two paragraphs? Oh well, maybe in future I should write things up a few weeks after the event. There's no obvious water source near the hut, so it caused some breakfast trauma. Our eggs had to be scrambled instead of poached. Shocking.

Do you know why it's called Seaman's Hut? Well, now you know...

The stone walls of the hut really seemed to block the cold. I didn't feel the temperature drop at all and it was quite a surprise to walk outside and find it quite chilly. The weather looked okay though, in that there were pockets of sunshine mixed in with a few clouds whizzing by. It should be a good day for walking and our plans were a little fluid. The aim was to complete the entire Main Range Circuit and either finish up at Seaman's Hut again or continue on somewhere else! The main thinking though was that we should get back to the hut no later than 8 pm so it would still be daylight.

So, we set off retracing our steps up the track to Rawsons Pass. It's a different looking world in the daytime compared to night. Firstly the track had a number of curves in it which I didn't notice in the dark! Looking at the surrounding countryside though it brought back memories of walking in Wales. Okay, I walked in Wales when I was 9 years old so I might be pushing things a bit here. With the green landscape devoid of trees and hills shrouded in low cloud that's what it reminded me of anyway!

One of the first things we noticed was how cultured the walking surface is. The Main Ridge Track appears to have been graded until level and generally consists of crushed rock held together with big rubber things. Is 'rubber things' a technical term? I think it is. Anyway, one of the noticeable aches early on was in the feet. I thought the metal grate of the previous day was a bit of a bummer, but that seemed like a bed of feathers compared to walking on the rock. It was going to be a long day and any thought of having another look at the summit of Mt Kosciuszko were scotched when low cloud swung in again reducing any view. So, besides stopping at the Australia's highest toilet our main interest was Lake Albina and in particular a hut that's near the lake. Well, we found the lake alright, but we couldn't see the hut until we realised it's marked as a 'ruin' on the map. A bit of scouting around off track and we confirmed the hut wasn't in the greatest of condition.

Lake Albina Hut...

So, instead of having a snack inside the hut we opted for a one surrounded by rubble. It's a beautiful spot though, as Lake Albina sits in what appears to be a valley which drops off suddenly at the end of the lake. Clouds kept coming up drifting by, but we had plenty of sunshine as well.

Lake Albina

Clouds drifting by Lake Albina with hut ruins on the right...

As we lay on the grass munching on a sandwich MK showed a bit of interest in a ridge line opposite us. Within the ridge line was Mueller Peak and a bit further back was Mt Townsend which is only marginally smaller than Mt Kosciuszko. Well, I think it was Mueller Peak as I don't have the map in front of me. MK was the official map holder so perhaps I should buy my own before attempting to write this up!

Anyway, being a part of those weird rock climbing hombres, she wanted to scoot up to the top of the ridge via the boulders in front of us. No easy stroll up the spur line I'm afraid. With my masculinity being under threat again all I could do is say, "Yeah, this will be easy as I'm a man if you haven't noticed." This was said whilst I was eating a turkey sandwich with brie cheese and cranberry sauce. So, we picked out a point to climb up having dropped the backpacks. I was confident of getting up first because I was going for the shortest approach. Straight ahead was the theme. At this point the sun came out and all photos for this section went berserk due to the polarizer. It's not often you see a polarizer disclaimer is there?

Straight up I say...

The sky is quite blue isn't it?

I was stumbling through the vegetation and noted I had fallen behind within 8 seconds. The reason being I was too busy taking photos and not for the fact I'm a bit sloth-like in movement. I did get some nice photos on the way though.

It wasn't too bad going without backpacks though. I was feeling confident as I started to climb up a grassy gully. I did note that it was a little wet making it a tad slippery. I was concentrating on a firm foot hold before inching up when my foot slipped on a wet rock. Gravity then became an important part of my slip, as I fell down about 10 feet on my bum. It was a fairly painless ride, but I wasn't impressed with my pants being pulled down as I continued to slide on the wet grass. With the strides down a little I had the comfortable feeling of grass and debris forced into my boxers. How erotic is this hiking stuff? Upon regaining control I now had the feeling of officially having a 'grassy arse'. It rhymes, so it doesn't seem so bad now, but it wasn't a barrel of laughs at the time. Well, up I continued as there wasn't too far to go. I had lost sight of MK amongst the rocks, but I thought I was possibly in front.

Looking straight up the gully I was clambering up...

The view the other way...

Finally I reached the top. There was a nice grass saddle amongst the rocks which was quite nice to lounge around on. I didn't know where MK was, but I had a feeling she was still coming up somewhere.That was until I heard a voice from behind, "Oh, there you are. I thought I could hear you." I was sitting on a rock perfectly quiet, but apparently my breathing sounded like an old locomotive. She had beaten me by a decade and had spent some time exploring the area whilst waiting for me. Blast! Oh well, it was a great view of the lake below though. A smaller lake had a nice reflection going on whilst looking at it from a different angle.

We had considered going on to Mt Townsend, but peak bagging wasn't an important part of the trip, so maybe another time. We had a bit of a rest, taking in the sights under a blue sky mottled with clouds that had cruised in and continued to send my polarizer bonkers. The bare rocks made a good contrast to the sky though.

Whilst lying around we did manage to spot some people which was the first human sighting for the day. They were on the Main Ridge Track descending from the other direction we were about to head. They were carrying small packs so I assumed they were day trippers. They certainly didn't stop anywhere and just continued on sticking to the track. Well, time to get going, so we headed back to pick up our backpacks. We set off at the same time, so I'm not sure how MK ended up so far in front of me as the photo below shows. Actually, while you're at it, if you grab your portable Hubble telescope you can see our packs at the ruins of Lake Albina Hut in the lower centre of the photo, whilst the Main Range Track is easily seen crossing below the ridge. I mean if you can't see that track then I suggest some reading glasses constructed out of an electron microscope. How cool would that be? A bit crazy for driving though.

Heading back to pick up packs...

Upon grabbing the packs we headed straight up the slope to re-join the track. As we were doing so another couple of people went strolling past which made it four human sightings for the day. It was starting to get busy. My pack was getting lighter because somehow I had drunk nearly four litres of water for the day. I would need a re-fill soon and our next major stop at Blue Lake might be the ideal place. I was mildly dying walking straight up the slope to the track, but once on that level crushed rock I was soon racing along again. MK wasn't happy though as she wanted to see what was at the end of valley that Lake Albina seemed to disappear into. Was there a waterfall? I had no idea and hadn't heard of one so I had some interest. It wasn't long before the packs got dropped again and we were heading off the track again to get some Lake Albina action.

Off track again. How did MK get so far ahead again?!

It was nice to see the lake from the opposite end, but there wasn't much water flowing out of it. I can imagine in spring it would be a different scene with the melting snow. The valley which stretched off into the horizon was quite nice to look at whilst I lay down yet again for a rest. Is there a theme here?

Lake Albina again, but from the other end for some variety... 

Well, all good lounging around has to end and we slogged back up to the track to grab our packs again. Clouds kept enveloping us as we began to climb towards Carruthers Peak. I was noticing my feet were getting pretty sore walking on the crushed rock and was hoping for something a little less 'constructed' to walk on.

Back in the clouds again...

It was quite a climb and I did notice one other person on the track a fair way behind us. What? Five people in one day? It appeared everyone was sticking to the track though as MK found another spot to disappear to another rocky lookout. It wasn't a bad one either as a rock appeared to have settled in an ideal spot to sit on to look down into another impressive valley. I actually didn't mind the stops as it was a chance to dump the pack again.

Nice spot to look down the valley...

It was now time to head off and make our way to Blue Lake. At the turn off it was a chance to guess what? Yep, dump the backpacks and head off on the track to the lake. I took my water bag with me as I was officially dry. Apparently the lake has magnificent water, so I thought if I was going to refill anywhere this might as well be the spot. It's a pity it was so cloudy as the lake had a bit of a bleak look about it.

It's looking drab, but that's Blue Lake...

There's a timber landing set up as a look out of the lake, but we continued past that and walked the kilometre or so down to the lake edge. It was time to fill up my four litre MSR Dromedary bag as at this stage I was dying of thirst. Straight out of the lake the water was smooth and tasted insanely pure. It could be placebo pure, but I was impressed. Whilst MK set off climbing over rocks again, I declined to join her as as my job was as the official photographer. This meant I had to lie down and take photos whilst lying on a soft rock. I enjoy my job as the photographer.

MSR Dromedary bag modelled by Blue Lake.

Whilst relaxing, sorry, I meant working, I noticed down amongst the rocks and water a very colourful feather. I'm not sure what sort of bird it came from, but it made for a nice photo with the water droplets on it.

So, it was time to move on and I then realised that walking uphill for a couple of kilometres carrying a four litre water bag was quite annoying. How heavy can four kilograms be? Well, heavy enough that I had to cradle it like I was carrying a baby, complete with swapping arms all the way back to the packs. That MSR water baby was bloody heavy in the end. I made a bit of a tactical error when I put it in my pack as well. Instead of putting it a bit lower in the compartment, I just stuffed it in near the top. When we started walking again, I immediately noticed the pack besides being weighed down was bit top heavy. Oh well, we had a number of kilometres downhill so I didn't worry too much at the time. There were no major sights to see now as we headed towards the Snowy River, but we still had to negotiate the Main Ridge Track official hay bale steeplechase which was mildly entertaining.

It looked like we would be finishing in the dark again as the light began to dim and the moon became visible. MK told me that it was all downhill to Charlotte Pass. This was the case until in the distance a sizeable hill was appearing with a track heading up the side of it. I was thinking this wasn't in the script as I felt a bit 'hilled' out.

Even more interesting was a white four wheel drive slowly cruising along the track leading back to Seaman's Hut. I've no idea who would have been in it other than possibly it being a Parks vehicle. As my legs were feeling sore I had a cunning plan that if the car reappeared we could get a lift. I was still concerned about my masculinity rating, but I thought if I waved it down totally nude except for boots I would still have a fairly high level of manliness going on. It was still problematic though as I wouldn't be able to get my pants off with boots on. Pants stuck around the ankles is a recipe for disaster. I was always told if one ends up nude then take the socks off first. It's a silly look to be starkers with only socks on. These are all good tips by the way.

Well, the car was nowhere to be seen for the time being, so we would have to actually walk for the rest of the day. Outrageous. The Snowy River was reached as the light was dimming and we had an easy crossing as the water was quite low. It's a rock hopping exercise which would be slightly dodgy if the water was even slightly high.

Moon above the Snowy River...

Rock hopping across the Snowy River...

We were now over the river, but I was feeling a little bit depressed looking at a reasonably steep climb back up to Charlotte Pass so we could join the road back to Seaman's Hut. My legs were feeling pretty heavy as I began the trudge up the path. What's interesting is the path had a number of large lumps in it as if it had been built with speed humps. Every time I reached above snail pace I struck the hump and came to a stop. Even MK wasn't impressed which was a shock, but she had come up with an ingenious method to make it all a little less painful, although I was a bit suspicious when she started walking backwards. Yeah, okay, I decided to give it a go and actually it wasn't too bad.

At least it was nice to see where we had walked, which was more interesting than looking up the hill and it seemed to be marginally easier on the legs. It was all going well until MK decided to reverse up past a snake on the path and hadn't seen it at all until she had passed it. I reached 'crapping my pants status' at this point and reverted to the traditional head on approach. It was a slow slog as the hill was at least 600 metres long and really the last thing I wanted at that stage.

A quick pit stop at the Charlotte Pass toilet and the last section of the walk was to come. The trouble is there's six kilometres on a gradual incline all the way back to Seaman's Hut. The previous hill had blasted my legs and feet and I was aware of starting to shuffle and my shoulders were hurting. I think shoving an extra four kilograms of water into the pack with little care to where it was sitting in the compartment was coming back to bite me.

Darkness set in, but with some moonlight I didn't need the headlamp. It was quiet and it again appeared as if we had the whole area to ourselves. A six kilometre walk shouldn't pose too many problems, but having walked twenty for the day already I was looking out for the rogue four wheel drive that had headed our way a few hours earlier. I began seeing lights flashing in the hills miles ahead which I thought might be headlights, but as it continued for some time we worked out it was lightning on the horizon.

The lights for the night hadn't finished though. Whilst struggling along we noticed a bright light down the hill next to us near the Snowy River. It appeared to be a stationary strobe light which took us both by surprise. Having seen no one for some hours, it seemed strange someone would be down in a spot that wasn't really level and just a little rocky. There was no noise from the direction of the light either and I was feeling intrigued enough to walk down and have a look. The main problem is I had a feeling it was a yowie relaxing with a pot of Dilmah so I was a little too scared to investigate. I've come to the conclusion that the last hour and a half of walking absolutely sucked. In the dark I started to see the silhouette of Seaman's Hut at quite some distance, but it didn't seem to be getting closer. I couldn't believe the pain in my feet and as I crawled to the hut I was beginning to blubber.

I.was.absolutely.rooted. I'm not a fan of the full stop after each word trick showing how dramatic it all is, but it works when I think about how I felt. I.was.close.to.death. The GPS details are as follows...



The distance for the day ended up being 25.17 kms and total elevation climbed was 992 metres. Whilst I was unable to speak, MK went chorizo sausage crazy and cooked a super sized pasta. Whilst doing that she also managed to pump up my Exped air mattress complete with built in Hindenburg. Following this confession I might have to agree my masculinity rating just plummeted a little...

I liked this feather so much let's have another look at it...