On Thursday 26th April 2012 we drove from Laurel Hill to the town of Tumbarumba then followed the road south west out of town until we arrived at the unsealed Mundaroo Road. When we reached the intersection of Mundaroo Road and Blue Hills Road, we parked our vehicles on a vacant stretch of ground away from the road at 9.55am. The 23 of us donned our packs and followed the Hume & Hovell Walking Track south, following the now familiar tin tag markers that notify us we are on this trail. Every kilometre features another marker with the distance in kilometres back to Henry Angel Trackhead near Tumbarumba. The latest shows us we are 38km from this trackhead. It is a cool day, though sunny with high cloud. A nice change from the wet weather the area has experienced over the past couple of weeks.
We followed a bush track through forest and along a fence line, the track was quite waterlogged in places and we were forced to walk on the grassy edge for a short distance. The track quickly became an open dirt road as it passed through pine forest. Ahead of us we spied a mob of Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos nestled atop a small pine calling out a warning as to our appearance in their territory, further ahead Rupert spied a brief glimpse of a fox as it bolted across the trail and into the forest. As we made our way further south we spied a very large mob of kangaroos across a cleared area. We watched transfixed as the kangaroos continually hopped through the forest and across an open paddock and into another forested section. The line of kangaroos just didnít seem to stop, until finally the last of the stragglers hopped into sight and then vanished into the forest.
Shoalhaven Bushwalkers making their way through pine forest not long after commencing the walk
A little further on the pine forest opened up to green pasture and we came to a small body of water known as Pascoes Dam. It was 10.30am and time for a morning tea spot. sitting on an embankment at one end of the dam the bushwalkers gave off some excellent reflections in the water and I took the opportunity to take a few photographs. After morning tea we followed the signs and entered a small forest track. This was different, we were passing through eucalyptus forest, but up to our right on the beginnings of a small ridge was the unmistakable pine forest disappearing into infinity. This was obviously just a small eucalypt corridor. We crossed a small stream and the track took us along the side of a ridge just above what we agreed was the fast flowing Horse Creek. The creek carved its course narrowly through a tiny gully and was quite picturesque with its many cascades bordered by ferneries.
Reflections Of Our Lives - Morning tea at Pascoes Dam
Our track meandered through the forest and on one occasion we startled a black tailed rock wallaby that had obviously used the undergrowth close to the track to rest. It bounded over the creek and over the next rise. The forest was still quite damp underfoot and occasionally boggy in places. The storm must have been quite bad as several trees had become uprooted and fallen, one, right on the edge of the track had become so badly uprooted that it took a huge chunk out of the track and we were forced to scramble around the crater. We soon came out of the forest onto a forest road and started to follow this.
From below, on the banks of Horse Creek I looked up and snapped four Shoalhaven Bushwalkers following the track through the forest
The road started to ascend through the pine forest. Lauri was keen to locate a lookout next to where a track logbook was kept, but by now the entire group was well spread out. As we topped a rise several of our group chose to drop packs in a sunny open spot of forest and wait for the rest of us to return. Lauri promised that the lookout should not be too far away, but upon rounding a bend we were faced with a steep uphill climb on the road. It took some doing but we reached the top only to find another uphill section awaiting us. Many more turned around at this point, but the big surprise was that the Hume & Hovell Track left the road after just 100 metres and a narrow track led us through more forest. We had gone only about 300 metres when Lauri stopped and checked the map. It was now 12.30pm and the map revealed we still had about 3km to the logbook on the western boundary of Mundaroo State Forest. It was decided we would turn around and return to the others to have lunch.
A climb up a steep hill through more pine forest - very picturesque
So a nice downhill section was enjoyed and we all located a nice spot to have lunch. I found the base of the trunk of a big pine tree perfect for my needs. It was a short lunch break and we were soon off again, retracing our steps back to the cars and following the same route we had walked in on. Lauri had allowed me to lead off and put on the pace so long as we waited at track intersections. Most of the walk was now downhill and the only person who had kept up with me was Jan. We talked about our previous walks, Jan having joined me in Kosciuszko National Park last November and what each of us had planned for the near future. Before we knew it we were back at Pascoes Dam. All that was left was a 30 minute and 2km walk back to the cars.
Crossing Horse Creek on the return journey
We arrived back at the cars at 2.45pm, but noticed everyone
else cheated and took to the forest road, thus avoiding the wet sections
of track. All in all a good day of walking and for me, one to blow away
the bushwalking cobwebs.