Monday 15 – Friday 19 March 2021
Photos courtesy of Rachael, Donna, Glenn, Helen, Mary and Gay
Seven keen Batemans Bay Bushwalkers headed off in to the Snowy Mountains last week to undertake a recce of the Jagungal Wilderness Walk. It’s a 44 km circuit starting from the carpark at the beginning of the Round Mountain trail and we did it over three and a bit days!
It was my very first backpack walk over a few days carrying what felt like everything bar the kitchen sink in my pack! I haven’t been sure if I was really into this type of overnight multi day hiking but have to say, I am now hooked! We were very fortunate with the weather – light misty rain overnights but good walking weather during the day – or as Donna, would say, Perfect!
This was an opportunity for those of us inexperienced hikers to ‘have a go’ with some like minded hikers with no pressure and lots of discussions on equipment and general hiking tips and advice.
It was about a 6 hour drive from Moruya to the carpark with a lovely stop in Nimmitabel Bakery for morning coffee and lunch at the Adaminaby Bakery. On Monday afternoon we walked 1.5kms to the Round Mountain Hut campsite arriving about 4.30p.m.
On day 2, we walked from Round Mountain hut to O’Keefe’s Hut campsite – approximately 13.8kms including a river crossing! Mary tried the garbage bags over her boots but alas it was not very successful. The rest of us had croc type shoes which did work well and were light to carry.
On Day three, we walked 5kms to the Mt Jagungal trackhead at Tumut River. Three of us were keen to walk to the top and left our packs at the trackhead while the others walked on the 2.3kms to Derschkos Hut and had an afternoon of rest and relaxation. The walk to the top of Mt Jagungal was 5.7kms return in a very diverse environment – head high heath, some rocky scree to negotiate, a lovely ridge but in gale force freezing winds, and then the clouds over Mt Jagungal. Well worth the effort and once the clouds cleared, the views were amazing. We eventually joined up with the others at Derschkos Hut around 4p.m.
Day four and our final 14.5 kms to complete back to our cars and given it was all on good tracks (except for a few surprise hills!) we were back at the cars by 1p.m.
Our final night was spent at Three Mile Dam and then after a very quick pack up in the morning due to the inclement weather, we headed to Adaminaby Bakery for brekky and Cobargo for lunch arriving back in Moruya around 2p.m.
Everyone was really happy with their achievements and I, for one, can say that I am ready to do more multi day hikes!
Thank you Karen for organising, Mary for inspiring us, Donna, Glenn, Rachael and Helen for being part of this awesome team. And if you are like me and are interested in multi day hikes but not sure whether its right for you, don’t hesitate to talk to us. We would love to regale you with our experiences!
Gay