The weather forecast left a bit to be desired, but 9 of us set off towards Kiandra. There were clouds/mist over the hills on the horizon, but not raining and even patchy sunshine.
First stop was Delaneys Hut, just to check it out (it was rebuilt after the 2020 bushfires) and to get ourselves organised.
Then on to Sawyers Hill and the hut there (Sawyers Hill Rest House, also rebuilt after the 2019-2020 fires). While the drivers headed off to Kiandra to leave cars ready to pick us up, the rest of us wandered around the hut and had a bit of a prelude for our walk, with lots of wildflowers blooming.
We crossed the main road and after a little bit of uneven ground connected with the Rocky Plains fire trail. which we followed until we reached the track to Tantangara Mountain.
We than had a long uphill walk (they call it aerobic exercise) on a narrow and fairly eroded track, pausing along the way to admire the views and the vegetation. When we reached the top there was the usual trig point plus a very old sighting contraption, which we could not investigate fully because by now the hills were shrouded with mist. At this point we dropped down from the ridge so that we were sheltered from the wind, and had morning tea, somewhat curtailed through the many small pestiferous ants that were there.
We then walked northwest out from under the cloud, down to the first saddle and then headed west down Chance Creek, finally reaching our lunch stop, Harveys Hut. It was a bit hard to miss, as it is bright yellow. It was fairly well equipped, including having an old sledge, impractical for snow sports but good as a seat.
After lunch we continued on. Got rained upon, heavy enough to warrant wet-weather gear, but it didn’t last long. Some swampy areas to navigate, and then we were at the start of Black Walters Creek. Then it was just a question of following the creek, in various ways and at various speeds, until we reached the highway and our cars.
This report may sound fairly bare-bones, but with the scenery, the wild-flowers and the pauses while we debated ‘what species of plant was that’ and other weighty matters, it was a very enjoyable walk.
