23/11/22 - Distance: 22km
I Left camp at 630am. Lots of kangaroos around today and lots of frogs croaking in the creeks. All the creeks are full and flowing well. It ended up raining a few times in the afternoon whilst I was around the fire. The Merambego Creek and Byadbo creeks all had lots of water in them, as well as O’hares Creek where I camped. Lots of various calls from a variety of birds in the whilst hiking up and over Mcguigan Gap in the morning, lovely views from a high point just off the main trail looking east back where I came. I found a few yam daisy beside the trail on the way down to Byadbo Gap beside the upper reaches of Merambego Creek, I am now in Mt kosciuszko National Park.
looking west from Byadbo Gap you can see why they take this route as it follows a relativley easily navigatable watercourse then spur upto a saddle which will take you through the ranges and into the harsh and ruggered (and usually dry) Byadbo Wilderness.
Once I hit the saddle I follow some pleasant bush surrounded by some very ruggered country. Sitting above Byadbo and Merambego creeks I follow the old traditional route through the wilds of the Byadbo wilderness constantly getting thrown off route by many misleading pig or horse trails. I follow along the Byadbo creek to a rather tricky to find spur that takes me up to a ridge called Stockyard Flat. They used to run cattle to market from the high country along this route (which followed the aboriginal pathways). The Byadbo creek changed dramatically, It has hard granite in some sections, large river pebbles in another, Sand in others and very small pebbles in others. A most beautifuly running creek with crassy river flats with tall open forest along the way. You could see many potential aboriginal camps and food fields along the way. I find many artifact and scar trees along the way as well, particularly up on the igneous rock mountain ridges where they would have sourced stone tools and I am sure there are many artifacts around. As I proceed upto Stockyard flat a 300m or so climb, the smell of Honey wafts throught the are, millions of tiny white flowers litter the surrounding slopes. I pass many animals, mostly feral horses, pigs, cats, foxes, rabbits and deer. As I walk I feel a blister developing on my right little toe, first one for the trip. I'll pop it and drain it later at camp. One really needs to pay close attention when navigating the ridges as there are so many horse trails leading every which way. Arrived O’Hares creek at 430pm. Yet another beautiful camp. No formal track for most of today. Spagbol for dinner.
Dog tracks
My first Murnong (yam daisy)
Comments