From Canberra we drove through beautiful hill country up into the Australian "Alps". This is the high country of Australia where it snows enough to have ski resorts and mountains rise above the tree line. However, at this time of year (late summer), there are only small patches of snow around the highest summits and the primary attraction is bush walking the mountain trails. We set up camp in Jindabyne, a medium sized community alongside one of the many reservoirs in the area.
The objective on our first day in the mountains was to climb to the top of the highest peak in Australia, Mt. Kosciuszko, which is set high up in the Snowy Mountains. Now, before you visualize us donning crampons and oxygen masks, know that the peak of Kosciuszko is only 2,228 meters, or 7,241 feet, above sea level. Most mountain passes in the Sierras are higher than that!
We started from Thredbo, a ski resort at the base of the mountain, and rode the chair lift up to within 6 km of the summit. This was the first time on a chair lift for either of us, so it was quite exciting having the inexorably moving chair slip up behind us, hoist us up off of the safe platform and dangle us from a steel cable several meters above the rocky slope! Once we got used to the swinging motion of the chair and the funny noises it made when passing over the wheels on support towers along the way, it was kinda fun! The view from up there was great, and when we were convinced that the cable wasn’t going to break and send us crashing down onto the rocks, we were able to relax and enjoy it. Then came the time when we had to out run the chair as it deposited us on the top platform! Faster Ritch! Faster! Or you’ll be riding it back around again! Karen had the sense to step off to the side and let the chair go by. I thought I heard her snicker but when I regained my composure and looked around, she had her straight face on. It was time to start walking.
We had a total of 12 km to walk and a 288 meter (936 foot) climb. The change in elevation is misleading, however, because the trail climbs and drops again a couple of times before finally climbing to the top. The original path has been replaced by a raised metal track to avoid impact on the fragile alpine environment, so the footing was excellent. The scenery was breathtaking with the wild flowers in bloom everywhere we looked.
At about the halfway point, we stopped for a snack and to catch our breath for the push to the top.
All of the walk was above the tree line, and it was a fairly clear day, so the vista was immense.
There were quite a few people on the trail that day, as there usually are at this time of year, but that didn’t detract measurably from the experience. I’ve heard the significance of this climb down played because of the relatively low elevation of the peak compared to the rest of the world’s highest points. However, it is still a considerable effort to make the climb for oldies like us and I know many who could not do it at all. By the time we got to the top, we were quite happy to be there. After a congratulatory glass of wine (brought our own - I was a Boy Scout, you know) and toasts to each other, we pulled out our mobile phone (cell phone, for you Yanks), and set to calling friends from the top of Australia, just to gloat! We managed to get through to Heather LW and Fay/Peter’s answering machine to lay it on thick. Then it was photos at the top.
The little lady perched on top of the top is named Bridget. She walked up along with the rest of us and, perched there, stood higher than anyone else! The shoes on the ends of those short little legs passed each other at least three times as often as mine did that day - hats off to Bridget! From the top, the view of adjacent "hills" confirms that there are indeed real mountains in Australia!
The fading afternoon sun and building clouds reminded us that we still had a couple of hours walk ahead of us, so we started back down. Before we made it to the chair lift, it had started to rain, and we later learned that it didn’t stop for several days. Unusually good timing for us! We were prepared with our rain jackets, so we didn’t get wet.
By the time that we got back to the Troopy, my feets were sore as I’d opted to wear my old boots for this "easy" walk. Karen was smarter, wore her official Salomon hiking boots, and was on better terms with her toes than I was with mine. Never-the-less, we will always remember our hike to the top of Mt Koszi (we can use the diminutive it now that we’ve been there) as a genuine accomplishment not diminished by it’s elevation relative to other "highest" peaks. It’s a place that all Aussies can be proud to say they’ve been!
We waited out the rain in Jindabyne during the next day and then headed off to the northern part of the Kosciuszko National Park for more of the Snowy Mountains.