After driving along a bumpy windy hilly dirt road for what seemed forever, through fog and then snow, we arrived at the carpark on Friday night, at about 12.30. Consensus was to hike in then, so we didn’t have to pack up camp in the morning. Half an hour later we were in warm hiking clothes, packs at the ready. Ten minutes later half of the clothes had been removed, and shoes were getting damp from slogging through snow. The full moon was so bright you could nearly manage without a headlamp… except for those occasional rocks lurking in the snow, or frozen over puddles lying in wait to trap you… I turned my headlamp back on. Five kilometres later we reached the Vallejo Gantner Hut. Ran up to look at Crosscut Saw, covered in snow, under the light of the full moon. After setting up the tent, I ran around taking photos until I remembered it was getting close to 3am and I should really be in bed.
Sleep in, then a lazy wander out to Mt Howitt on Saturday.
We napped in the sun on the summit for a couple of hours – beautiful clear day, no wind at all, before moving on to the West Peak of Howitt, and napping there (and building a snow alien).
Finally we wandered back to the hut, to cook dinner on the steps as the sun set, and clouds rolled over Crosscut Saw and started filling up Terrible Hollow. Then moved inside where the fire was warm, and there was Tokay to drink.
Waking up Sunday, we were in cloud, so walked out to the cars instead of spending a day hiking along Crosscut Saw with views of whiteness. Loaded the cars up and drove a few kilometres down the road, to hike into Bryce’s Gorge, and waterfalls that probably don’t flow so much in the Summer… these are Conglomerate Falls.
Back around the loop, past Guy’s Hut – a basic drover style one, rather than the luxury of the Vallejo Gantner – and back out to the cars, and home again home again, along the windy windy roads through the dark and rain.
