Day 2 – The Sentinel to Whites River Hut

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What do you call one eyed, three legged donkey playing jazz on the piano?

A plinky plonky honky tonky winky wonky donkey.

The campsite near The Sentinel is really nice and quite well sheltered. The temperature dropped to about 3° overnight and there was some wind, but I was snug in my cocoon. The others slept well too, or whatever.

We had a strong cold wind blowing all day long, and everyone walked in their warm layers. Once you leave the Main Range loop, the walking changes from the built track which sees a huge amount of traffic each year, to a distinct foot trail that usually follows an old vehicle track from back when cars were allowed up here and you could drive to the top of Kosciusko. We only saw two other people walking through here today.

There were still a number of significant snow drifts to cross, most of which we elected to walk around.

After Consett Stephen Pass you get onto the Rolling Grounds. There are no tracks through here, and the walking is exhausting. It would be better named The Rolling Ankle.

Chapman, or more likely Seisman who I think wrote the first edition of the guide book, describes the Rolling Grounds as bleak. Nobody I know agrees with him.

I get to cross another hut off my list. Literally. I have a list of Kosciusko huts in my pack and I’m lazily trying to visit all of them. Whites is quite a nice hut with a creek running to each side and a nice view of Mount Gungartin. We’re all feeling a bit tired so we’ve decided to skip walking up the side of that mountain first thing tomorrow and will instead shoot up to Schlink Hut then over to the Kerries. More off track walking will be murder on the calves. We spent some time around the hut’s scarred timber dining table, poring over the map and planning out the next few days.

Inga informed us that today is her birthday. If I’d known, I would have brought a cake! Instead she had to settle for some of Scott’s jelly frogs.

There’s a thunder storm brewing for a few days from now.