I'd been hearing about the Yankee Hat walk for a while so with the weather so conducive to bushwalking I suggested to Hubby we check it out. After an early lunch we headed south to Namadgi National Park. First we passed through farmland where various stands of poplars were looking magnificent. Then we turned onto the dirt at Old Boboyan Road. A couple of small creek crossings were no trouble but I wouldn't like to come this way after rain. Soon we arrived at the car park, and it was full! People were parking up along the road. Obviously lots of people had the same idea as us to take advantage of the gorgeous autumn weather.
The walk goes for 3km (1.8 miles) to the far side of a beautiful wide valley. About halfway a bridge crosses Bogong Creek, and a number of raised walkways traverse the swamplands. At the base of the mountain on the far side is a rock shelter with Aboriginal art, carbon dating has shown the shelter started being used over 800 years ago.
We only saw a few of the hundreds of kangaroos that are said to live in this valley, and they only started appearing late in the afternoon as we were on our way back, but that was more than made up for by the sighting of eagles! If only I had a better zoom on my camera. There were lots of holes, some right in the middle of the track, made by wombats and rabbits. The rabbits left other signs all over the track, and we saw their little white tails darting off into the grass. The 'scribbles' on the trunks of the Scribbly Gums indicated the presence of moth larvae feeding just under the surface. Surprisingly there were a few wildflowers in bloom, in autumn! I wonder what the valley is like in spring?
4 comments:
Stunning. And oddly like some mountains in the western US, just change the trees to junipers and oaks, and you would have it! This is amazing to me...
Looks great. Certainly much nicer than staying home writing essays. Can you tell if the road is suitable for non 4wd, if I ever finish the essay that is..
:-)
Hi. Thanks for your comments. Uploading pics for my latest post took ages and it's now 1am so I'll reply tomorrow.
David, I find the similarities and differences in landscapes so interesting. I enjoy watching nature and travel documentaries, and I was watching something about Scotland recently and I found myself thinking it could almost have been Tasmania.
Swan Pond, I had a look at your blogs, I love your bird photos. That Australasian Grebe might be the same one I photographed in Forde this week! Not that I knew what it was.
The road to Yankee Hat doesn't require a 4WD. We went in a medium size sedan and there were plenty of other regular cars in the car park. There were two very small creek crossings so it would probably be a good idea to check first at the Namadgi Visitors Centre if it has been raining. And there was one rough spot we eased over slowly but it wasn't a problem, not serious 4WD stuff.
Btw I should have mentioned, Yankee Hat is so called because the mountain is shaped like a Yankee hat, so they say anyway.
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