27 March 2012 Hospital Creek cascades and Hut
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| 'Snoopy Dog' rock S of Hospital Creek Hut |
Maps: Yaouk and Rendezvous Creek 1:25000
Getting There
This walk was organised and led by me as an irregular CBC Tuesday walk:
Tuesday 27 March - Hospital Creek cascades and Hut - L/E-M. Visit the Hospital Creek cascades, then follow the creek upstream to Hospital Creek Hut. Lunch on nearby tors and return via the Yankee HAt rock art. Around 18km and 450m climb. Maps: Yaouk and Rendezvous Creek. Leader: John Evans - jevans@pcug.org.au, 0417 436 877. Transport: ~$10 per person.
8 of us drove in 2 cars to the Yankee Hat car park.
Further Information
Unfortunately, because of the closure of the Mt Franklin Rd after continued heavy rain, Matthew Higgins' walk to Stockyard Gap sites had to be postponed for the second time. At Matthew's suggestion, plan B was a walk to the Hospital Creek cascades and Hut.
Photographs
You can access all photographs here.
Walk
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With only a little time to put the planned route together, I knew my navigation would be shaky. But I didn't plan to visit Hospital Creek cascades twice. Did so by executing a complete 360°! My face is still red. (Postscript: Heartened by a living legend navigator telling me he'd done the same "Hmmm. You’re not the first to do that. At least you didn't do two laps like I did on one trip; fortunately solo, so no witnesses.")
An overcast day, threatening showers. We wandered down the Old Boboyan Rd, past the turn off to Frank and Jacks Hut on the right, past the old signposted footpad called the Gudgenby Regeneration Walk (or something like that) and up the hill a bit to the fire trail on the left marked with the steel fire trail signs (I forget the name of the fire trail we took to the left). 230m along it, where it crossed a drainage line, we headed up the gentle open slope, then down to the Hospital Creek cascades. So far, so good. We had a poke about - don't think I've ever seen them with water before. Some nice granite boulders, a bit wet to scramble up inside. Magnificent blocks of granite on the opposite bank.
On the way again, I did well at the first creek junction, choosing to keep heading S rather than E. Simple. We crossed Hospital Creek to the left bank and followed its loop and it headed NW for a while. Now things went pear shaped. For some strange reason that even I don't know, I turned N then NE then E and arrived back at a very nice cascade. At some stage I began to suspect something was wrong when I saw the Hospital Hill ridge on the wrong side! See the track map which does not lie. Party members - assorted living legend navigators, current and past CBC committee members and good friends - bagged me without mercy. I fully deserved it. All I could do was call morning tea and try to regain composure.
Map, compass and party members all agreed that we should head S, so that I did - religiously - going up a little creek then overland, instead of up the Hospital Creek flats. We arrived at Hospital Creek Hut - on the far side of the swampy area in front of it. Mumblings about wet feet.
Lessons:
1 Navigate via macro features, as well as micro. By that I mean I need to be aware of the overall direction of travel, position of more distant known features, sun/shadow
2 Stop and reassess the situation when unease is felt
3 Use input from others and remember that they're only bagging me because they've done something similar!
After a poke around Hospital Creek Hut and the chance for some to wring out wet socks, I waved in the direction of the granite tors for lunch - across the swampy Breakfast Creek. More mumblings about wet feet after we splashed across.
A short climb to 'Snoopy Dog' rock, which Max and I discovered on 16 Jun 09. Hopefully the granite tors, the simulacra and views gained me some redemption. Lunch, with raincoats needed more for warmth than keeping rain off, but a couple of spots of showers.
We left via the NW and scrambled down under the impressive granite. Quite a view. Down to the swamp, with a dryer re-crossing a little upstream from our first. Back to the back of the Hut and picked up the track out. Whew - no more chances for navigational embarrassment, if only I turned right onto the Old Boboyan Rd. That I thankfully did and we wandered down to the Frank and Jacks Hut turn off.
It was now only 1.05pm and we'd covered 10km, even with our Exodus-style wanderings. So, with the option of a direct return to the cars rejected, we took a westerly loop. We wandered via Frank and Jacks Hut, the nearby sheep dip, over the causeway over Bogong Creek, along fire trails at the base of Yankee Hat to the Yankee Hat rock art. Then back along the Yankee Hat Walking Track, over the boardwalk and bridge and so back to the cars.
Thanks Jenny H, Mike B, Peter C and Linda G, Phillip S, Quentin M and Richard M for joining me on the most humiliating walk I've ever mis-led.
Distance: 18.1km Climb: 450m. Time: 9.25am - 3pm (5hrs 35mins), with 35mins of stops.
Grading: L/E-M; M(11)
KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Hospital Creek cascades and Hut
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This page last updated 29Aug22