My neighbour on Carruthers Peak
Day 1:
I miscalculated the time to get to Kosciuszko national park and started later than I should have. Arriving at Kosciuszko national park past midday, I was worried that we would not make it to our campsite before daylight ended. However, I was still very excited since this was my first time in Kosciuszko national park.
We chose the more difficult way to complete the main range walk, started at Charlotte Pass going towards Seamans hut first, and camping at Wilkinsons creek.
The scenery was vastly different from all of the other national parks that I have been to in Australia. Being Australia's true alpine region, the vegetation mostly consists of snow gums and smaller plants. It was very open and lucky for us, the sky was very clear when we started walking so I was able to enjoy the majestic alpine scenery.
Taking a little break
The snowy river, its name was actually "snowy river"
There were also mountain bikers who shared the path with us, as the track was wide and had a lot of gravel.
Epic!
We arrived at Seamans hut, a historical attraction after a short walk from Charlotte Pass. It was a cute little hut but only emergency stays were allowed. Though, as soon as we sat down, we were attacked by the infamous horsefly, giant insects from the Kosciuszko national park, and they sting! We quickly recharged ourselves and headed towards the summit.
More and more clouds were coming at us as we walked towards the summit. To my surprise, there were even toilets along the way, how convenient! From here, mountain bikes were no longer allowed on tracks so we had to say goodbye to the mountain bikers. We dropped our bags at the turn to Wilkinson creek and walked the other way up towards the summit! As I was climbing up, I could feel the clouds actually touched me!
Standing at 2228m, Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain in Australia, and I finally summited it! Standing on top of the mountain was the best feeling that I have ever had! Even better, since it was quite cloudy, there was no one up there! I got to enjoy all the scenery for myself without the selfie people! Standing up there had brought to me a sensation that is hard to describe but I would definitely want to feel that again.
The summit!
By the time we arrived at Wilkinsons creek the sun had started to set, with the clouds around us, it felt magical.
Wilkinson Creek
However, this was also when we realized that we made some huge mistakes. I forgot to bring my camping stove as well as enough food for 3 people. Luckily, some friendly bushwalkers near us lend us their stove as well as gave us some food. That was so kind of them. We enjoyed the night with some good chatting in our tent as there was no star due to the clouds.
Day 2:
The day started a little bit later than usual since we felt a bit cold in the morning. Joining us walking in the morning was another group of overnight walkers!
We walked along a ridge with a nice view overlooking Albina Cirque and Lake Albina.
Albina Cirque and Lake Albina
The water looked so blue, as blue as the clear sky. We then arrived at a board path, a reason for doing this is for the protection of the vegetation that is trying to regrowth after the bushfire. At this time, we also see more day walk people. A person from my group envied their empty or lightweight bags on their back! We enjoyed the scenery of the various mountain ranges before reaching Club Lake. An interesting lake that had the shape of a club.
By this time, my group was getting quite exhausted, but we still need to climb up Carruthers Peak. After advising that they should have a rest, I decide to climb up first to take a look at the view. Since most of the people were going the other way, I got a lot of curious eyes. However, after a quick climb, I got to the top of Carruthers Peak, and it felt awesome!
My neighbour joined me soon after it
The others soon joined me and we walked along the path to the Snowy River.
The path was lovely
I had some water on one of the creeks leading to it and the taste was so delicious.
Crossing the river was very fun, we hopped on some rocks.
After that came a long walk to a very steep climb up to Charlotte Pass car park. Along the way, we had a small break and realised we had been sitting very near an ant nest! The climb was the steepest on the trip, although it was a very nice path that was very easy to walk on. The climb was very steep, luckily, it was very short as well. We reached Charlotte Pass car park shortly. Another fun trip has to come to an end, but I'm not leaving Kosciuszko National Park yet!
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