2022 Round Mountain - Derschkos - Valentines - O'Keefes (Kosciuszko National Park)
Summary: 4 day hike from Round Mountain Car Park to Derschkos Hut, Jagungal, Grey Mare Hut, Valentines Hut, O'Keefe's Hut and return to Round Mountain Car Park
Date: 8-11 January 2022
Region: Kosciuszko National Park
Introduction
This 4 day hike was a bit an an explore through Jagungal and we mainly stuck to the fire trails except for a bit of off track to the base of Valentine's Falls and cut straight up the side of the falls to Valentine's Hut.
There were many wildflowers out at this time of the year but some of it was spoilt with many weeds.
Day 1
We drove from Canberra to the Round Mountain car park. We arrived around 1030. From the Round Mountain car park we walked along the Round Mountain Fire Trail to Derschkos Hut. After a short stop at the hut we left grabbed our day packs and decided to head up to Jagungal for sunset. The plan was to stay for sunset and walk back in the dark if we were confident in finding the track on the way back. After leaving the Grey Mare Trail and navigating our way up the footpad to Jagungal the track was not that hard to follow but was surrounded by chest high undergrowth. We made a decision to leave the summit prior to sunset so we could find our way back down.
We left the summit just after 1900 and returned to the hut around 2130
Day 2
We left Derschkos Hut around 0900 and headed down the Grey Mare Trail to Grey Mare Hut. We arrived at Grey Mare Hut at 1300 where we had lunch and a short break. We left Grey Mare Hut at around 1430 and walked down the Valentine Fire Trail to Back Flat Creek. The map shows a track from Valentine Fire Trail along Back Flat Creek to Valentine Falls but we did not find any track, we walked through sometimes shoulder high undergrowth until we got to Valentine Falls. The falls were spectacular and flowing very nicely. Talking to others afterwards it seems that there has been no track for some time.
Given that there was no track to the falls, we did not even attempt trying to find the track up the right hand side of the falls. We made a decision to head straight from the base of the falls directly up the mountain to Valentine's Hut. This started off with some nice boulder hoping but soon developed into some serious bush bashing, scaling large fallen gums and climbing over large boulders. On reaching the top of the mountain there was a short drop to Valentine Creek made easier by hanging on to the undergrowth on the way down. Once reaching the creek we spotted a cairn just on the other side and after crossing the creek we found a footpad that lead to Valentines Hut. We reached the hut close to 2100 and totally exhausted.
Day 3
The third day we walked from Valentine's Hut to O'Keefe's Hut along Valentine Fire Trail and Grey Mare Trail. The temperature was only mid twenties but it felt hot and we wet our hats and shirts in every stream we crossed. O'Keefe's Hut is interesting in that it has old newspapers covering the interior walls. The snow grass just outside the hut was very comfortable to set up the tents on.
Day 4
This was our last day and we were heading back to the Round Mountain car park. We left around 0830 and soon after it started to rain and did not stop until we go to Tumut River valley. A problem is trying to use an iPhone for navigation and taking photos is that the touch screens do not work well in the rain. We nearly missed the turn off from the Grey Mare trail we only made a further 10m before we realised though, the sign at the turn off is fairly obscured by bush when heading north.
The Tumut River valley was very picturesque surrounded in mist. We walked down into the valley and met another group just starting their trip. They were taking off their boots to cross the river. They were surprised that we did not bother taking off our boots but I told them that they could not get any wetter than they already were.
After crossing the river we walked up to the remains of Round Mountain Hut where we had lunch and then walked to the Round Mountain car park. Near the car park we were talking to someone who was doing a road trip through the mountains on his own. We walked back to the car park with him and he very kindly offer me a very welcome ice cold beer.
