Duke of Edinburgh Bushwalk Report

The view from Mt Jagungal summit

On Friday 23^rd October 2009, a group of nine Year 9 & 10 hikers and two teachers (Mr Edwards and Ms Turner) left the clock tower at 4 o'clock for another weekend away hiking. The destination this time was Mt Jagungal - Australia's eighth highest mountain, located in the Kosciusko National Park.

During a short stop in Corryong we stocked up on chocolate and lolly supplies before reaching the Round Mountain Trail-head (our starting point) at 7pm. After a short walk to Round Mountain hut, we set up camp, collected firewood and relaxed around a large fire with Mr E's marshmallows.

Scouts reported that the Tumut River was too deep and fierce to cross on the Saturday morning, so rather than hike down the steep hill we headed along the Round Mountain trail towards Jagungal.

Leaving at 9, we powered on for lunch at Derschkos Hut. Here we cooled off and Mr E's plastic snake (that didn't really look like a snake) failed in its attempt to scare the girls. In less than an hour's walk from the hut, we were at Jagungal 'Base Camp' finding suitable campsites beside the river in amongst boggy grasses and ants.

After our short 'siesta' we began the steep climb (minus the packs for everyone but Tony) to the summit, hundreds of metres above our campsite. There was still deep snow on the sheltered side of the mountain that made the already hard climb more difficult for all of us.

At the top we made the horrid discovery that Tony had forgotten to bring the promised Freddos! It was quite windy at the top, but we stayed a while, taking in the spectacular 360˚ view of alpine Australia. We took some happy snaps and bum-slid down the snow - some smart people had plastic garbage bags. In Mr E's case, face planting was the way to go (ouch!).

Team Hamo, Audrey and Anna won the race down the mountain, much to Grantley's disgust. We settled down again around another camp fire, enjoyed dinner and spent a little time stargazing before bed.

Taking a well earned break

Unfortunately, because the River was blocking our path, we could not complete the loop and had to retrace our steps along the trail.

We nursed our Saturday sunburn under the overcast Sunday sky, which saw fit to occasionally pelt us with mini hail stones and misty rain. The Sunday walk seemed longer, particularly for those who didn't remember walking down the mammoth hill at the beginning of the trail - "up" seemed to go on forever.

Thanks to Mr E, not only for taking us on the walk but also for shouting us all the hot chips in Corryong - it was a great way to end the walk. Thanks also to Ms Turner for accompanying us.

Well done to the hikers: Matthew Appleyard (Year 9), Grantley Ward (Year 9), Jack Wright (Year 9), Robert Saxton (Year 9), Audrey Quealy (Year 9), Michael Hamilton (Year 10), Anthony Spinelli (Year 10), Alexina Spinks (Year 10) and Anna Dye (Year 10).

By Anna Dye (Year 10) & Alexina Spinks (Year 10)