- Lake Rhona
Day one saw us walk in to Lake Wugata, just below Bond’s Craig, following track the entire way. We started walking at about 9:30 in the morning. The forecast wasn’t exactly favourable, but the Gordon was low, and we didn’t encounter any rain until well along the Rasselas Track. We were making very good progress towards Lake Rhona, and we stopped up there for lunch at around 2pm. After a lengthy break, we were ready to tackle the steep ascent up Reed’s Peak from behind the Lake Rhona campsite. It wasn’t wet at this point, but it was misty, and the temperature was dropping fast. Upon reaching the final ascent of Reed’s, there was almost zero visibility. Minty somehow managed to lead us around a well-padded sidle to Great Dome, which I was unaware of its existence. We corrected ourselves and stumbled along the slippery rocks to the summit saddle of Bond’s Craig. It was near freezing by this point, and we didn’t dare attempt the summit in such conditions. We followed a rough pad down to Lake Wugata where we quickly set up camp and jumped into our sleeping bags to warm up. There was very little campsite conversation here, we were both exhausted.
Day 2 saw us head towards to Lake Curly. Again the weather wasn’t favourable. We started off in freezing conditions and no visibility. We spent 45 minutes wandering around on the wrong ridge, looking for the right way down. After we finally found it, we descended quickly through forest, where we encountered scrub. It took some serious bashing down through a mix of bauera, tea tree and button grass until we reached the bottom of the valley. North Star loomed above us, but neither of us had the energy to climb it, so we had lunch, and then sidled around to a subsidiary ridge of North Star, until we dropped down to Badger Flat. The flats are a wide button grass plain, dotted with tarns. After a quick crossing we found ourselves at the Gell River, which was surrounded by scrub. We decided to walk up the river to see if we made faster progress. The current proved to be quite fast, and progress was slow, despite Minty being fine with heading up this way. I decided that I would make better time through scrub ad hopped out of the river. I soon emerged on button grass, and the lake was looming near. The final kilometre seemed to take forever, as we stumbled through the waist high button grass. It was nearing 6pm, and it began to snow. We crossed the river twice more before we stumbled upon the lake. We found a small gravelly beach where we set up camp, too tired to look for better sites. Despite being on a slight angle, I had an amazing nights’ sleep. This was possible the toughest day of walking I had ever done.
- Lake Curly camp
- Mt Curly
On the third day it rained constantly. Minty was up early and wandered back to a camp on Great Dome, while I had a rest day from the exhaustion of the previous two days.
I woke on day 4 to overcast and misty conditions. The lake was dead calm; it had an eerie feel about it. Today I was hoping to make it to a camp up on Shining Mountain. I packed up my gear and quickly set off up the ridge to Conical Mountain. It was mostly button grass and easy enough to walk in, but there were a few stages that involved some light scrub. The final ascent was a little scary, and I am sure there must be a better way to get up. The mist had begun to lift, and the views of Lake Curly, Windy Lake, Pokana Ridge, and Shining Mountain were amazing. I got my first good look at The Spires up here too.
- Flame Peak!
I pressed on quickly and dropped down to the saddle and quickly up Shining Mountain. The weather just kept getting better. I decided that 2pm was far too early to stop and set up camp, and decided that I should have plenty of time to reach The Font. I crossed the beautiful alpine meadow on top of Shining Mountain and proceeded down the ridge where I would drop into Reverend Creek before starting the 300m ascent to The Font. By the time I had reached the creek, the heat was sweltering, being suffocated by the button grass. The main ridge looked rather thick and scrubby, so I looked for an alternative route up the moraine. I found a mostly grassy lead and followed it for as long as I could. After an hour and a half of climbing, I reached the registration logbook, which has been there since 2005. I noticed that I was only the second person for the year to reach The Font, and only about 9 parties had visited the area in the almost 8 years since it has been recorded. I proudly finished off the first page of the book! I set up camp and cooked myself a big meal, proud of what I was able to achieve in the day. I was very tired by the end, so a few cups of vodka put me straight to sleep.
- My camp at The Font
Well done sonny!!
