I knocked off work early on Friday, and walked as far as Shadow Lake where I camped half way along the eastern shore. I was a bit unsure how long it would take me to do the trackless section from Little Hugel to the Hugel/Rufus saddle, so I wanted to make sure I got an early start from a couple of hours along the track on Saturday (turned out to be unnecessary). There are reasonable camp sites near the turn off to Shadow Lake, and near the other end, but I found a spot about half way in between, just as it was getting dark, that was well sheltered amongst the trees, and with just enough room to fit my tent in.
- Shadow Lake Camp Site
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I got up as soon as it got light on Saturday morning, and after a leisurely breakfast, and packing up, I started walking at 8:30am. There had been a few patches of snow alongside the road on the way in, and this continued along the track, here and there all day (being all that remained of the heavy snowfall of the previous weekend).
- Snow at Shadow Lake
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Part way up Little Hugel, I came across a single Gunnii with a lot of leaves still on it. Quite unusual for this time of May, and later I noticed a bunch of others with no leaves at all, so this one must have been in a very sheltered spot, I guess.
- The Last of the Nothofagus Gunnii Leaves for 2009
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The views from the top of any of the peaks in this area a fantastic. Even with the clouds obscuring most of Mt Olympus. It was a cloudy day, but with patches of blue and sunshine occasionally all day.
- Forgotten and Shadow Lakes & Lake St Clair from Little Hugel
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The walk from Little Hugel to the base of Mt Hugel was not too difficult, with only a little scrub and rocks to negotiate. It was very pleasant walking indeed, with fantastic views all the way. My only pointer for anyone else on this section would be that if you see a cliff/buttress about half way along, go around behind (above) it. I went in front (a more direct line) and had to negotiate several mini valleys and sinkholes with large rocks. Not terribly difficult, but behind the buttress looked pretty flat and much easier all the way.
- On the plateau between Little Hugel and Mt Hugel
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At this point I found myself following a line of what appeared like about half a dozen oversized natural cairns.
- Natural Cairns
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As I got closer to Mt Hugel, I was trying to figure out the easiest way up to the summit. I figured that just to the right of the boulder field looked about the best line, and was pleasantly surprised to find the occasional (actual) cairn up this way, which is always reassuring. Once on top, the views again were spectacular, with Mt Olympus being almost clear of cloud now.
- View back to Little Hugel from Mt Hugel
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It was then time to survey a route to the saddle between here and Mt Rufus. The obstacle here, as I'd been warned was the boulder field.
- Boulder Field Ridge, South of Mt Hugel Summit
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I'd never had to negotiate a boulder field quite like this one, and when walking alone it is a bit daunting. I certainly took a lot more care than I would have if I was in a group. There were occasionally holes between the boulders that went down into the darkness such that you could only see the bottom if you waited for your eyes to adjust to the darkness for a minute or so. The boulders were huge, and this stretch would have been very dangerous if they were wet (a few were still damp and slippery). A few times, I had to give up on my current position, back-track, and find another way through. There is one spot in particular where there ridge becomes a knife edge dropping off on both sides, and no real choice about which way to go. I wouldn't recommend this route to anyone with a fear of heights, nor anyone who's not confident at navigation, boulders, using your hands and arms as much as your legs, etc.
Once at the end of the ridge top, the walk down to the saddle was a little easier, with the rocks and scrub being more like what I was used to. I then reached my proposed camp site at a tarn in the saddle between Mt Hugel and Mt Rufus at 1:50pm.
- Tarn Between Mts Hugel and Rufus
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What to do? It was quite cold, and I had two choices to keep warm: Spend the afternoon in my sleeping bag being very bored (I didn't get around to packing a book), or go for a walk until dinner time (and get really knackered). Well, dinner time was a good 4 hours away, and with darkness still being a good 3 hours away, I figured that if I was going for a walk, I could probably get out to the car in about 3 hours, even if I went via Mt Rufus' summit. So I had some lunch, and pushed on walking (I figured that if I didn't make it out, I know there's places to camp along the way before it would get dark).
I met up with the Mt Rufus track at last, and was able to pick up the pace again a bit. But not for long, however, as the wind was getting very strong indeed. The wind was geting so strong that it was hard to stand still on the odd rock formations 1/3rd up Mt Rufus. I was counting on the pot holes on these rocks for a big drink of water, and they didn't let me down. A bit stale but refreshing, nontheless.
- Rock Formations, Mt Rufus
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The wind got stronger the higher up Rufus I walked, and after the rock formations, I put the camera away, as it was too difficult to hold it still.
- View Back to Little Hugel and Mt Olympus from part way up Mt Rufus
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I met two other groups of two each, as they came down Mt Rufus the other way. On the top, it was so windy, and I was starting to get a bit cold, that I didn't stop at all. I'd been up there before, and seen the views. I just turned left down the other track, and kept on going. The wind was so strong, and now it was right in my face, that I felt like I was leaning forwards at 45 degrees (although I'm sure it was a lot less than that in reality). I do know that when I came across a long steep sloping rock that I would not normally think about walking down, I just walked right down it without hesitating at all, because the lean I was on, and the pushing back of the wind, meant that I was not going to slip just because of how steep the rock was.
Finally, I got out of the wind after walking along the ridge of Rufus, and a couple of hours later made it out the car just as it was getting dark at 5:15pm. Sheesh... I usually try to avoid walking more than about 6 or 7 hours in a day, and this was nearly 9 hours with very little in the way of rest stops.
I think this is the first time I've done more than one mountain in single day too, and it was three in one day. I was very exhausted, and my feet ached a LOT when I got home, but it really was a great day (and a bit) out in the mountains, and I had a great time.
I might post some panoramas from the tops of Little Hugel and Hugel later, if I get around to stitching them together.
and yes how did the new tent perform.
