Last month the Geehi Bushwalking Club had their anniversary weekend.
In order to celebrate it we stayed in a ski lodge at Smiggins Holes and did some walks from there.
Our first walk was very well attended with 18 people and we tried out the new section of track from Charlottes Pass to Guthega Village. Clear weather and great views of the Snowy River valley were well appreciated. On the way we were treated to views of extensive snow drifts on Mt Twynam which was our originally planned route.
After a delightful lunch break at the junction of Spencers Creek and the Snowy River most of us made our way back to Charlottes Pass the way we came, while 5 of us took the shorter and downhill option of walking out to the trail head at Guthega Resort.
The weather held out in contrast to the cold and snowy conditions earlier in the month and also since. And arriving back at base mid afternoon was a treat, setting us up for an enjoyable evening.
On the Sunday morning we broke into two groups with both aiming for the Porcupine rocks. One group with 6 members traced the route of the new iconic walking trail from Charlottes Pass to Perisher Gap via the porcupine Rocks while the other group with 7 members took the shorter path from Perisher Gap to Porcupine Rocks and return.
On this occasion the weather turned windy and we had a mid-morning shower of rain. This highlighted one of the benefits of the new route from Charlottes Pass as it traversed along the escarpment above the Thredbo River Valley in the trees and was largely well sheltered at least till we neared the Porcupine Rocks.
The other benefit is that the views from this route are magnificent. They include south along the Rams Head Range all the way to the Pilot and Cobberas in Victoria and East out over the Monaro, and to the west we could see much of the main range with snow drifts galore.
One of the more spectacular spots just south of the Porcupine rocks was chosen for our lunch break, as it was out of the now quite ferocious wind. And then we finished off at the rocks admiring the views over towards Lake Crackenback, and made our way along Mt Wheatley to Perisher Gap.
So a good time was had by all, and we look forward to next 65 years of adventures