Fire and Rain part 2
Our plan was to leave
camp set and do a return trip from
camp to the
Murray River, cross over to NSW have lunch and return via another track.
The scanning radio was not troubled again for the first part of the trip. Charlie
Creek camp site was also vacant and after a
toilet break there headed off to Kings Plan Track where if you are in the right spot phone service is available.
No
camp fire tonight and the smoke that we can see is from Hermit Mountain. This fire is just north of MT Pinnibar and we found out latter that the fire caused the evacuation of
Thredbo Village.
Davies Hut was the venue for morning tea, all alone again, until another convoy turned up. They had to change there trip because of road closures and told us that the MT Pinnibar track through
Tom Groggin Station was closed.
I had not planned to use that track until the next day and not knowing how long it would be closed for started making plans for and alternative trip.
The
Murray River was very low and crossing it in a wide ark on the down stream side hardly got the tyres wet. If a crossing was attempted going straight across it would have been a lot different with water splashing over the bonnet.
The only occupants of the
camp site on the NSW side of the Murray were the local kangaroos that tend to lie about under the trees and don’t bother the campers at all. A swim in the shallow water of the river was interrupted by the sound of a big helicopter sucking up water only to fly off and dump it on the burning mountain.
The track that I wanted to go back on which would take us up to The MT Hope road was also closed. This track runs parallel to the Pinnibar track but on the other side of
Tom Groggin Station. Having to back track the way we came down gave me the opportunity to ring Vic at work to find out the latest road closures and then make new plans.
The next day we packed up
camp and made our way up to Mt Gibbo, but could not go any further than the MT Anderson turn off. This meant that the trip for the day would have been short, so we decided to a track that does not get used that much and make our way to
Native Dog Flat camping ground. Little used tracks are guaranteed to have a fallen tree or two and this track was no exception. By now the chain saw needs more fuel and a sharp chain. With the trees cleared off the track and just on 4:30 pm we arrived at the
camp for the night. Light rain stated to fall.
To be continued
Wayne