Photographs by P. Ellis & S Sunley

Map -1:25,000 Michelago

On Saturday 27th February 2016 I joined up with nine other bushwalkers, led by Sean Sunley for one of Sean's famous Sub 24 hour bushwalks, this one again in Namadgi National Park south of Canberra and again, the target destination being one of the many high country huts found in Namadgi and Kosciuszko National Parks, namely Brandy Flat Hut this trip.

I picked up Craig Rayner at his place in Southern Canberra and we drove to Tharwa on Canberra's southernmost outskirts for a 2.00pm meeting with the rest of the group. Sean was already there as we arrived right on time and got us to sign the walk register. It is a very warm and humid sunny day, it's going to be a hot one carrying loaded rucksacks. The original plans and starting time for the walk had been changed due to the oppressive heat forecasted. There were a few familiar walkers in the group today and the ages ranged from 12 to late 70's. Michael and his son Isaac were present, as was Jacqui (a veteran of Sean's Sub 24's) all the others were new faces and they ranged from beginners trying out their first full pack walk to experienced and seasoned walkers who were looking for a weekend escape. We drove out south along the Naas Road passing the intersections of Apollo Road and Orroral Valley Roads before we turned off left, just before Glendale Crossing, onto a secondary unsealed road and arrived at a small car park next to a locked gate. This was our starting point. We are just north of the Glendale depot.

At 2.30pm we shouldered our rucksacks, crossed the road and stepped onto a clearly marked walking trail. A few set off in front with everyone else in hot pursuit while Sean, Craig and myself plodded along leisurely at the back. The track was reasonably well defined in most places, though a healthy early summer of wet weather had allowed the grasslands to grow very well and cover some sections. There were plenty of grass tufts making this prime snake country, though we saw no snakes the whole trip. We did however, keep a wary lookout just in case. There were plenty of forested sections of eucalypt trees to keep us cool in the shade as we walked, though there were vast open sections that were once farmland and these allowed us grand views of the surrounding hills. The bush track allowed us to walk in a large arc, avoiding private property before we rejoined the four wheel drive trail next to another gate. We passed many mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos who hopped away at our approach, they seemed to be everywhere.

The track descended a short way to a very dry Reedy Creek before facing us with a long drawn out ascent of 120 metres in height over the next half kilometre. Craig and I decided to plod along well back from the others. Craig settling on his very slow but familiar steady pace. I wasn't going to leave him to battle on his own, heaven knows I've been the slowest in the past and know what it's like to be left behind by the faster walkers. We would steadily ascend each hill and find the others patiently waiting for us to catch up before setting off again.

At 3.35pm we stepped off the road and followed a faint track up a grassy forested hill to 'Spot Height' 1085, a rock covered hill where we had afternoon tea and enjoyed some of Sean's deliciously tasty chocolate nut brownies. If Sean keeps doing these tasty treats on his walks I'll definitely be leaving the muesli bars behind at home. We continued on about 10 minutes later, the trail now descending steeply several times. This was great today, in the late afternoon heat, but I was quick to remember that we would be coming back this way tomorrow morning, so we would have quite a few tiring ascents to deal with early on. I counted four during the rest of the walk in.

Eventually, at 4.40pm we arrived at Brandy Flat Hut and gladly dropped our packs. The hut is surrounded on three sides by forest woodland but from the front verandah of the hut you can look straight down the grassy valley of the Gudgenby Creek Valley. The hut has a fresh water tank and on the slope behind there is a small drop toilet. There is just enough tent sites surrounding the hut to accommodate our group with maybe room for 4 more. A nearby track continued on into the forest in a southerly direction. This was the longer walk that would take you to Brandy Flat South Car Park on the Boboyan Road, not far from Hospital Hill Lookout. This trail is very steep in places and certainly not for consideration at this time of year. History on the hut, found on the cover of the hut's logbook reveals that it was built by Tom and Barbara Gregory in the 1890's though there may have been a hut on this site before this. The Gregory's place was replaced by a slab hut in the 1940's by Kevin Foster which had become unusable and had collapsed by 1978. The present hut, situated about 100 metres from the original site was built in the 1980's by the ACT Parks and Conservation Service for the use by bushwalkers and cyclists.

We all wasted little time in pitching tents. Craig and I chose a couple of spots behind the hut, though we noticed that some tried different locations before settling on their preferred pitch. I carried in my Macpac Nautilus which allows me extra space without the extra weight while Craig went with his Microlite. Once tents were up and bedding arranged we set up the stove in the hut for a late afternoon cuppa. The heat was starting to dissipate with the late afternoon hours now upon us. No one seemed interested in heading off to look for the original hut ruins, and I can't blame them, not in this weather. We sat on the porch or the grassy in front of the hut and boiled billies and chatted about the walk and the merits of different types of hiking equipment and foods. This was of much interest to our newer walkers who were looking for information on the best equipment and brand names, value for money and weights. There were quite a few experienced walkers in attendance able to provide adequate information and I must admit I was one of these. We chatted away while Eastern Grey Kangaroos hopped by. We found that the hut seemed to be a popular attraction for the local wildlife, but they weren't getting any hand-outs from us.

By 6.30pm most of us had settled down to cook dinner. Despite the hot day it soon cooled down considerably as the sun set. It wasn't long before Sean had the hut fireplace lit and we all sat inside continuing the conversation on hiking equipment while chocolate Tim Tams and copious amounts of chocolate were passed around. Sean even brought along the obligatory fairy lights to put up in Doug's absence. By 9.00pm most of us were ready to hit our tents for some well earned sleep. The beams of our head torches revealed many kangaroos in the surrounding scrub and we heard the sound of a nearby possum which meant a quick rethink on the placement of our remaining food in the hut. Most of us preferring to take the food into our tents for extra safety.

I slept pretty well, and awoke at 7.00am on the Sunday morning to the sound of blowflies outside my tent and the chatter of a couple of our group. What amazed me about this weekend was the absence of flies during the entire walk. This time of year I would expect to be covered in flies and attempting to swat them away. I'd even brought along my insect proof head mesh to wear in case they got too irritating - I never felt the need to wear it. I exited the tent to an amazing sight, every single tent but mine and Craig's had been taken down and packed away. Everyone was sitting around their stoves preparing breakfast so I grabbed mine and quickly had a coffee on the boil. After breakfast I wasted little time in taking down my tent and packing my rucksack. I must have beat my own record as I was ready to go not 10 minutes after finishing my cereal. Today was again very hot and humid and the sky was a clear blue. It was going to be a very warm walk back.

After the usual group photograph outside the hut we set off back to the cars at exactly 8.30am. We would be following the same route back and immediately we hit the first but not the worst of the ascents on the route out. Again I stuck back with Craig, letting Sean know I would be 'Tail-End Charlie'. The rest of the group shot off up the first hill and out of sight almost immediately. Craig and I plodded along, questioning our own sanity for heading out on a full pack hike at this time of year, but we made ground and one by one the steep hills were counted off. We kept our thoughts off the ascent by discussing future hiking trips we could do and have planned, it helped pass the time. As we came around the bend at the top of the last hill we saw Sean and the others off to the left on a small ridge having morning tea. We joined them, it was only 9.05am, we had done pretty well to get this far so quickly.

The break was short, I didnt even bother to remove my rucksack. Sean handed the brownies around again and I took several sips of water from my hydration bag. Within a few minutes we were off again and Craig and I took our usual spot at the back as we followed the trail to the big ascent we had struggled up yesterday, only it was now a very steep and slippery underfoot descent. This is where the value of our trekking poles are shown as they eased our descent without mishap. After crossing the dry Reedy Creek we ascended a short section before reaching the locked gate where everyone else had gathered to wait.

All that was left was to follow the track through the forest back to the cars. By now Sean was walking with us at the back and chatting to Craig about his recent health problems and recovery, of which, doing these walks is part of - Sean discussed details of a few of his walks coming up in May and July that he thought might interest us. Just before 10.15am we stepped off the track and into the car park to finish another great Sub 24 walk. Perhaps better at a time when it isn't so hot, but despite this I felt I could have walked a bit longer, though not surprisingly Craig didn't share that thought. Rather than follow the others back to Canberra, Craig and I drove a little further south to take a look at the views I'd enjoyed last Sub 24 at the Hospital Hill Lookout before we too headed home.