Thredbo Village to Mount Kosciuszko Summit
I have been wanting to do this walk for a long time. Although this is not a very high mountain/peak, but this is the highest peak in Australia, standing at 2228m above sea level.
We drove to Thredbo Village the night before and stayed overnight. Starting the walk from the village, 1365m above sea level, we decided to take the shorter but tougher route, Merritts Nature track, to the top of the chairlift. The hill was steep with many steps to climb. We saw only a few people at the beginning of the walk, one jogger running up the hill, but generally it was a pretty quiet track.
Once we got up to the chairlift station, there were a lot more people. Being school holiday and Easter long weekend, there were a lot of young kids around. Most people took the easy way up with the chairlift. Most of the chairlift were occupied with people.
From the chairlift, it was a slow climb uphill. Most of the walkway was made out of concrete, elevated metal grids, or gravels, which made it quite easy to walk on. The wind chill was cold but the sunlight compensated that.
.
We walked past Lake Cootapatamba and stopped to have lunch on the rocks. Once we stopped walking, we began to feel cold again.
The walk continued to an intersection with public toilets. You can turn right into Rawson Pass or continue up to the Summit. The track became a bit more steeper up to the top the summit. The clouds started to creep in, blocking our view of the surroundings.
We got to the peak around midday and there were a lot of people around already. We even had to line up to take a picture at the peak. We didn't stay long at the summit as the sun has gone and it became really cold. I managed to took few photos between breaks of clouds.
We headed down to the intersection again and detoured into Rawson Pass. About half a hour walk down that track, we visited a small hut, Seaman's Hut.
Seaman's Hut is an alpine emergency hut built in memory of Laurie Seaman after him, and another skier, Evan Hayes, died from cold temperature exposure while stuck on the mountain. Seaman's parents built this hut for the public to use to prevent the same incident from happening again.
It started to rain heavily as we headed back to the chairlift station. It was cold, wet, and we could not see very far ahead due to the clouds. I can now understand why the skiers couldn't find their way back as weather can change so quickly and suddenly.
We walked past Lake Cootapatamba again, but this time, the clouds fully covered the lake and we could not see a thing.
We saw a broad toothed rat on the way. Probably would have missed it if there were not 10 people standing around it. Lucky it wasn't scared of people and I got my opportunity to take a photo of this cute thing.
The metal walkway was very slippery due the the rain. I saw a few people's feet sliding which made me very nervous. They should really do something about that.
Before we reached the chairlift station, we turned right into Dead Horse Track. So tempted to go to the cafeteria for a nice and warm hot chocolate, but we needed to get back in a hurry before the most pricey grocery store closes. Other than the price, the range of products were very limited, which was expected. Here is an advice for those planning a trip here, buy your groceries before you come. I would have done that if I didn't forget we were driving up on Good Friday and supermarkets were closed.
Dead Horse Track was a much longer route back to Thredbo Village and a very quiet track. The track winded down the ridge through snow gums.
I would probably name it "Dead Tree Track" instead.
I was expecting this to be a longer but easier track, but I was wrong. The track was long, rough, and tricky. A lot of ups and downs on the track which made me even more nervous that I might miss the closing time for the grocery store.
Once we got to the bottom of Dead Horse Gap on the Alpine Way, the track goes parallel to Thredbo River, which was quite peaceful and scenic. There was a little waterfall which I wasn't expecting. I love these little surprises.
We followed the Thredbo River Track, passing the golf course, before getting back to the village. And yes.... we did make it in time for the grocery store.
It was a long and exhausting day, but also a very rewarding day. If you prefer an easier walk, you could choose to catch the chairlift up and down from Thredbo Village and walk the rest of the way. But I do recommended this longer route as you get to explore very different scenery and atmospheres.
Total distance: 30.5km
Climb: 1230m
Go to the link below for information and map for this walk.
http://beyondtracks.com/walks/kosciuszko-national-park/threadbo-village-to-mount-kosciuszko-loop-walk/
We drove to Thredbo Village the night before and stayed overnight. Starting the walk from the village, 1365m above sea level, we decided to take the shorter but tougher route, Merritts Nature track, to the top of the chairlift. The hill was steep with many steps to climb. We saw only a few people at the beginning of the walk, one jogger running up the hill, but generally it was a pretty quiet track.
Once we got up to the chairlift station, there were a lot more people. Being school holiday and Easter long weekend, there were a lot of young kids around. Most people took the easy way up with the chairlift. Most of the chairlift were occupied with people.
From the chairlift, it was a slow climb uphill. Most of the walkway was made out of concrete, elevated metal grids, or gravels, which made it quite easy to walk on. The wind chill was cold but the sunlight compensated that.
We got to the peak around midday and there were a lot of people around already. We even had to line up to take a picture at the peak. We didn't stay long at the summit as the sun has gone and it became really cold. I managed to took few photos between breaks of clouds.
We headed down to the intersection again and detoured into Rawson Pass. About half a hour walk down that track, we visited a small hut, Seaman's Hut.
Seaman's Hut is an alpine emergency hut built in memory of Laurie Seaman after him, and another skier, Evan Hayes, died from cold temperature exposure while stuck on the mountain. Seaman's parents built this hut for the public to use to prevent the same incident from happening again.
It started to rain heavily as we headed back to the chairlift station. It was cold, wet, and we could not see very far ahead due to the clouds. I can now understand why the skiers couldn't find their way back as weather can change so quickly and suddenly.
We walked past Lake Cootapatamba again, but this time, the clouds fully covered the lake and we could not see a thing.
We saw a broad toothed rat on the way. Probably would have missed it if there were not 10 people standing around it. Lucky it wasn't scared of people and I got my opportunity to take a photo of this cute thing.
The metal walkway was very slippery due the the rain. I saw a few people's feet sliding which made me very nervous. They should really do something about that.
Before we reached the chairlift station, we turned right into Dead Horse Track. So tempted to go to the cafeteria for a nice and warm hot chocolate, but we needed to get back in a hurry before the most pricey grocery store closes. Other than the price, the range of products were very limited, which was expected. Here is an advice for those planning a trip here, buy your groceries before you come. I would have done that if I didn't forget we were driving up on Good Friday and supermarkets were closed.
Dead Horse Track was a much longer route back to Thredbo Village and a very quiet track. The track winded down the ridge through snow gums.
I would probably name it "Dead Tree Track" instead.
I was expecting this to be a longer but easier track, but I was wrong. The track was long, rough, and tricky. A lot of ups and downs on the track which made me even more nervous that I might miss the closing time for the grocery store.
Once we got to the bottom of Dead Horse Gap on the Alpine Way, the track goes parallel to Thredbo River, which was quite peaceful and scenic. There was a little waterfall which I wasn't expecting. I love these little surprises.
We followed the Thredbo River Track, passing the golf course, before getting back to the village. And yes.... we did make it in time for the grocery store.
It was a long and exhausting day, but also a very rewarding day. If you prefer an easier walk, you could choose to catch the chairlift up and down from Thredbo Village and walk the rest of the way. But I do recommended this longer route as you get to explore very different scenery and atmospheres.
Total distance: 30.5km
Climb: 1230m
Difficulty: Hard
Go to the link below for information and map for this walk.
http://beyondtracks.com/walks/kosciuszko-national-park/threadbo-village-to-mount-kosciuszko-loop-walk/
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