MVB Event Report Hanel Spur March 8-11 2024
Event Description
Event Photos
Day 1
A full day was required for those involved in the car shuffle to drive from Albury/Wodonga to Geehi, then take 2 cars up to Dead Horse Gap, collect Phil from Tumut who had driven via Adaminaby, and return to Geehi, leaving 2 cars at Dead Horse Gap. Departed Geehi at 4.30pm, arrived at Dr Forbes to set up tents at 5pm. Sharon and Juls arrived on dark with head torches. The route taken was to follow the eastern side of the Swampy Plains River, crossing the Geehi River just before arriving at the hut. Water shoes were needed. A much easier crossing than the Swampy Plains directly across from the hut, as this can often be very deep, though it wasn't this trip as it has been dry. 1.3km
Day 2
Left Dr Forbes Hut at 7am, took nearly 9 hours to reach Byatt's Camp, 8.7km for the day, extremely hot and hard going, filtered water from a tiny trickle at Moira's flat, only one person at a time could refill, then carried between 4-5 litres per person up to camp. Arrived at Byatt's just after 3pm, just enough room for 7 tents, but had to be careful not to pitch over small black ant nests as they were savage. Magnificent sunset.
Day 3
Left Byatt's at 8am, arrived at camp amongst some interesting rocks at 4.30pm after summiting Kosciusko and emptying human waste (minus the plastic bags) at Rawsons Pass toilets. 13.2km
Day 4
Left the rocks at 8.15am, and used compass bearings and GPS tracks to navigate down to Dead Horse Gap through some interesting country that was a team effort to find a walkable path in a few places with low scrub, grass and gullies making it a challenging walk mostly downhill. Arrived at Dead Horse Gap just after midday, 4 hours to cover 6.4km without any side trips.
Summary
Extremely hot weather for this time of year and location made for lots of sweating, drinking and electrolytes needed, but rewarded with many magnificent views due to clear skies with just enough cloud mornings and evenings for spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
Great team of hikers for being flexible and making group decisions where needed. Liz, Phil, Alison, Juls, Sharon O, Tania
Sharon Roberts March 12 2024