Our original plan for this weekend was Hannels Spur but the leader, Llew, injured his knee whilst walking in Tassie. An alternative plan (without Llew) was hatched for a day walk – a circuit from Charlotte Pass to Mt Twynam via Blue Lake, returning via Illawong Lodge. The weather forecast was one that hedged its bets – sunny with showers.
We set out from Charlotte Pass in rather low cloud, along the Main Range Walk. Snowy River crossing was easy – water level was quite low. Visibility remained low, with no glimpses of Blue Lake as we passed the lookout. When we got to the top of Mt Twynam we were lucky to have our guide book to tell us what a superb view we couldn’t see. (Sample photo attached from a previous walk.) Move on, nothing to see here. Having said that, it is actually very beautiful in such weather – sunny, cloudless days are a bit over-rated.
We continued to the saddle between Twynam and Little Twynam for lunch, and were treated with breaks in the cloud. As we descended, and into the afternoon, visibility got much better although the very top of Twynam didn’t clear all day. We followed the ridge NE of Little Twynam, meeting a well-used footpad where the route heads east. This was a good footpad all the way to the Illawong Bridge. In fact, in places it is a bit worrying that it is overused, and some bits really need some attention to prevent erosion.
After the Illawong bridge we followed the new Snowies Alpine Walk back to Charlotte Pass. This has been very well built, with extensive sections of rock paving and raised metal mesh. It is proving a very popular walk.
All-in-all, a wonderful walk. Only had about 30secs of showers, lovely ‘atmospheric’ ambience, glimpses of sun, some flowers still around (daisies, eyebrights, some billy buttons, mountain gentians are some I remember), all enjoyed with great company.