Date/Time
Date(s) - 7 May 2022 until 8 May 2022
Category(ies)
- Grade 3 Medium
- Leader: David G
- Phone: see information below
- Participant numbers:
- Final booking date:
- Key risks and hazards: exposure (cold/wet/thunderstorms) given time of year and exposed walking tracks
Walk is cancelled due to predicted weather conditions. The weather forecast is showing a top of 1-degree on Saturday, with a low of -5 and moderate winds, so is potentially too adverse to be safe and/or enjoyable.
I’d like to try to fit ‘just one more’ overnighter in before we get ‘snowed out’ of the high country.
The walk will start from Pretty Valley Pondage but head uphill a little to then take the Pretty Valley track to Cope Saddle, then curve back west to pole 333 and on to Youngs hut. This will be about 13km.
The return will be the ‘normal’ route back to pole 333, but follow the track back to Pretty Valley rather than go ‘offtrack’ via the ‘green tree’. This will give us the opportunity to make a quick detour via Tawonga huts for likely the last time of the season. This will be around 10km or so?
The walk is all on track/footpads. There are some gradual ups and downs, with the worst being heading in/out of Young’s hut valley, and walking back up the big hill from Tawonga huts turnoff to Pretty Valley when returning to the cars.
Early May is on the ‘late’ side of the season so it will likely be getting pretty cold overnight – you will need adequately warm walking and sleeping gear.
If anyone has a DSLR or mirrorless camera (and a tripod if possible – otherwise backpacks are managable), feel free to bring them along. If it’s not cloudy I’ll try for some star photos (the Milky Way should be lined up with the Youngs hut valley) and am happy to share as much as I know.
I will cancel the walk if the weather forecast is for any real amount of rain, or for thunderstorms, given how exposed nearly all of the track is. Similarly, if it looks ‘probably ok’, but we might get a bit of rain (but unlikely for storms), we’ll go to Tawonga huts instead as it’s only 5km each way.
Finally, I’ve seen pictures of some pretty rock pools and waterfall just below the Pretty valley dam overflow – I would like to look at these quickly on the way home. I’m assuming it’ll only take an extra five minutes or so each way. It’s optional for everyone else, but for anyone that gets a lift in my car…