Round Mountain to Jagungal:
Farm Ridge to O'Keefe's Hut

We picked up Kristina and then shifted to Andrew's van, getting away from Roseberry around 11.15. There were only brief periods of congestion on the M5, and we stopped in Goulburn for lunch, then met the others in Cooma around 4.30 before driving on through Kiandra to the Round Mountain car park. We were walking by around 7pm.

There was one other tent next to Round Mountain Hut, where we pitched camp while being harassed simultaneously by March flies and mosquitoes. Vic and Val and I walked back to the carpark in the dark, trying to avoid using torches, to check that Vic had locked his car and to return some surplus gear. It was a clear night with great stars.

Saturday

I was up at the unnaturally (for me) early time of 5.45am, which was good for photography.

When we crossed the Tumut everyone else took off their shoes or at least their socks, but I left my volleys and socks on and just plunged in. It was pleasantly cool for the climb up onto Farm Ridge and along the fire trail into the forests of snowgums killed in the 2003 fires; it remained overcast pretty much all day, but only rained for an hour or so after morning tea.

We looked at the ruins of the old farm before continuing across Bogong Creek — more changing of socks and shoes — to O'Keefe's Hut.

O'Keefe's hut had burned down in 2003 and was being rebuilt. We borrowed a folding chair from the hut construction site, but camped just to the east, across Hut creek, and got water from Bogong Creek.

It was a New Moon, but overcast and so not so good for stars.

Next: Jagungal + Geehi headwaters