15 September 2012 Yankee Hat Ridge

View from Gudgenby grasslands thru SH1582 to the Fortress from Yankee Hat Ridge

Maps: Yaouk and Rendezvous Creek 1:25000

Getting There

This walk was organised and led by Brian S as a private walk:

Saturday 15 September - Yankee Hat Ridge - L/R,ptX. Yankee Hat - Yankee Ridge - Bogong Gap - Middle Creek. Circuit walk from Yankee Hat car park. Thick scrub and rough terrain on Yankee Ridge. Early start, possible late finish. Bring a torch, extra food. Maps: Yaouk, Rendezvous Creek. Leader: Brian S. Transport:~$15 per person.

2 of us drove to the Yankee Hat car park, arriving at 5.30am.

Further Information

This is an absolutely insane walk! Last had a go at it 29 Aug 06 and only got half way.

Brian's Plan A:

0600  Start walking from Yankee Hat car park
1000   Bogong Gap, GR 720454 near 1500m contour. Head WSW to GR 717448 (northernmost end of Yankee Hat Ridge), gain ridge line running SE to a series of knolls
1200   SH1582 (2.5km)
1300   SH1526  (1.5km)
1500    Yankee Hat 2 (1558m, 1.6 km)
1600    Yankee Hat 1 (1447m, 1.3 km)
1630     Grassy Flats

+ 40 mins breaks: say arrive Grassy Flats at 1700.

Breaks: 3x10 mins, at Bogong Gap, SH1526, YH2. Drink stops 1-2 min.

We have 1-1.5 hrs in reserve as we can complete descent of YH1 by as late as 6-6.30pm and walk the last bit back to the car in the dark with torches.

NOTES

Total length YHR (from GR717448 to YH1) is 6.1km. Allow 6 hrs to walk this, 1km/hr or 100m/6min. There will be sections where we should be able to go faster than this. Eg. I expect the section from GR 717448 to SH1526 to be better than the section from SH1526 to YH1. Going downhill from YH2 to the grassy flats will make it easier for us and save time as well.

Emergency Exit

If we are running 2 hrs late, say arrive at SH1526 at 1500hr then I think we should pull the pin.
At SH1526, head E/ESE and drop down to Middle Crk. We can also descend between SH1526 and YH2.  I will carry a rope for safe descent.

Walk - Track Notes

A fabulous, gruelling, very hard walk. But worth the ripped shorts, cut knees and lost sunglasses. On both our to-do lists; nice to complete it. Brian is a consummate walker and leader. The navigation was relatively easy, but the route choosing was hard and Brian's decisions made the walk a success. Get it wrong up there and you're in a bit of trouble. The ridge is full of regrowth, pick-up-sticks and huge granite knolls.

We got off to a good start, walking by 5.40am. Brian's first excellent decision was to reverse the originally advertised route, so we went in via Middle Creek (the recognised route to Bogong Gap via the spur to Mt Burbidge) and came out the Yankee Hat ridge. This gave us plenty of initial relatively easy kilometres, an idea of the hours ticking away and, probably most important of all, committed us to the full trip (although we had an exit at SH1526). I think if we'd come in via the Yankee Hats, the going would have demoralised us. It certainly did today, but we had to get back to the car!

I found it hard to accept Brian's time estimates of our inward leg, even making allowance for the fact that we were day-walking. On 7-8 Jul 12, with overnight bags and a larger party, it took 6hrs (including morning tea and lunch) to get to Bogong Gap. Our estimate was 4hrs (to around 600m shy of Bogong Gap) and we did it in 3hrs 30mins (including 1 break). Another great tactic was to have just one 10mins break on this leg and, of course, a party of 2 (this was a private walk, not a CBC walk which requires a minimum party size of 4) can move a lot quicker that a party of 7.

We got water from the arm of Middle Creek and did a U-turn onto the ridge at around the 1580m contour, near to the top of an arm of Bogong Creek. To around 300m NW of SH1582 we made reasonable time, covering 2.3km in 1hr 10mins. Enormous views, so I took a video and some photos.

Coming onto SH1582, the only decision of the day we had to reverse. Granite slabs, with bands of regrowth in between, led onto the boulders and tors of the top and we tried to go over. A little hairy scrambling and we had to reverse out, instead finding a way round the SW side of the knoll and its shoulders. I was pretty weary by here and not so politely refused Brian's kind invitation to take the front going, forcing the path through the regrowth. But I did make some amends later in the day. A second 10min break was called. Our spare time was starting to be eaten away by the slow going.

A very slow next leg from our break just after SH1582 to near SH1526 - 1.6km in 1hr 45mins. Thick regrowth, pick-up-sticks, boulders and tors to be battled. Excellent decisions by Brian as to whether to go left or right around impassable parts of the ridge line.

At around the saddle to the SE of SH1526 we were both pretty whacked, so the route was changed to sidle across the N of Yankee Hat S to the saddle between the 2 Yankee Hats. At last down to the open country near the Yankee Hat rock art and onto the track which took us to the car park.

Thanks Brian. A once in a lifetime walk ... and never to be repeated by me! Great to walk with such a like-minded person - early start, short breaks and just go for it.

Distance: 21.3km Climb: 700m. Time: 5.40am - 4.10pm (10hrs 30mins), with 20mins of breaks.
Grading: L/R,ptX; VH(15)