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| Poa spp. at Tantangara Creek |
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| Many plains filled with wildflowers |
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| Candle Richea Richea continentis- First time seeing this plant on the trail |
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| Alpine Rusty Pods Hovea montana |
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| Dragonfly just hatched and drying its wings |
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| Witzes Hut |
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| Found this old blob-top bottle piece in the dug-up roadworks near Witzes Hut. Have left it in the Hut. The absolute largest number of brumbies ever seen in one spot near here at Blanket Plain- I counted 100 individuals at once. |
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| Eucalyptus Leaf Beetle Paropsis porosa |
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| Some thick patches of yellow Kunzea Kunzea muelleri |
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| Woodruff |
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| Hamiltons Orb weaver Araneus hamiltonii - is my best guess, but the patterning is not as angular/wavy as most photos indicate |
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| Camp Night 1 |
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| Stellaria |
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| Snowy Mountains Highway |
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| Ruins of Kiandra |
This burnt-out ghost town marks my completion of section 8 in Chapmans' AAWT guidebook. I have now done a whole section! I planned and enjoyed this section over many months-years in fact- because over time, so many things came in between me and a weekend in the bush. Parenting, Covid lockdowns, depression, illness, work, life, weather.
No super-special equipment, no food drops, no through-hiking with extended leave from work, etc. Mostly just me and sometimes a friend, and the occasional golden weekend of free time.
Section 8 Fun Facts!!
My favourite place:
I love Murrays Gap
My favourite Hut:
Probably Oldfield's
My favourite wildlife encounter:
Lyrebird tracks and wild dogs howling in the snow at Murrays Gap
My favourite plant:
Fairy Aprons at Murrays Gap
Most scariest episode:
Driving back out on Bullocks Hill Trail, by myself, getting stuck, sliding backwards, getting stuck, sliding backwards, etc etc, then grinding my way up and out with every nerve jangling- on Xmas day with absolutely no-one around.
Oh and also- walking in to Murrays gap in the snow covered track, and having wild dogs very close, and having some kind of low temperature asthma episode-bit freaky.
And, walking past cranky wild horses is usually a bit freaky as well. They also don't like it when you are camped somewhere near anywhere they consider to be theirs.
And feeling like I was going to die of heat exhaustion was also a tad scary.
Many people ask me if I get scared out there. Yes.
The hardest part:
Walking and walking with a big heavy pack.
Continuing to get myself out there and make it happen when I felt lonely and could not get a buddy to hike with.
The easiest part:
Ditching packs and doing day-pack walking. SO easy.
You can imagine how keen I am to walk across that big Highway and up that track towards Tabletop Mountain, and begin my journey into the Next Section of Jagungal and Kosciusko. But, there will be delays. Currently I am unable to drive as I have had a seizure and a shadowy lesion has shown itself on a scan of my precious brain. The brain that I need to help me do this stuff.
The day I put up my next AAWT post, I will be a very happy girl. See you then.
