A new Guidebook for bushwalks in Kosciuszko National Park

[RVG]

Recently, I read a comment about the lack of bushwalking guides for Kosciuszko National Park. That is about to change.

The 2003 fires in Kosciuszko National Park, destroyed 23 huts and did enormous environmental damage. But they had some beneficial side effects. By clearing the undergrowth they revealed things which had been hidden or forgotten, including lost huts, old dray tracks and bridle trails.

After the fires, a number of bushwalkers separately began to record the old tracks and other information which were revealed when the fires cleared the undergrowth. Over several years we bumped into each other and also met up with Graham Scully from the Huts and Heritage group of Kosciuszko Huts Association. Graham was recording oral and other histories of the families which owned land in the Park.

A loose group was formed and we (bushwalkers) began to work with Graham to locate and record old huts, graves, tracks, etc. Again, separately, David Scott a conservation architect had amassed several thousand old records relating to the Kosciuszko region, including old maps showing routes used by miners and stockmen, Snow Leases, parish records, land grants, army maps, Snowy Mountains Authority records, and so on.

From this information, together with NPWS, KHA and other records, a database was compiled of all the known European sites in the Park. Many of the positions were “groundtruthed” by GPS to locate precisely where places were located. Six huts, not previously located, were found, as well as graves, diggings and other features.

In the years after the fires, we found, Charlie Carters hut at Diggers Creek, Campbells Hut at Campbells Creek, a miner's hut at Collins Creek, another miner's hut in the Back Gully running down to the Burrungubuggee River, Macgregors Hut at Macgregors Diggings and Crooks Hut at Crooks Racecourse (the latter of which is on private property). Mines, water races, diggings, graves and other features were also discovered.

But the real revelation was that the bridle trails and dray tracks, which had been used by graziers and miners for over 100 years, were very sensible routes. Moreover, they are just as useful for bushwalkers today as they were to the old-timers then. Many of those tracks were found and recorded by GPS.

Those tracks are now fading away, but to some extent it does not matter because we now know where they went. That makes it a lot easier for us to traverse the same country.
Some of that work has resulted in a book about to be published within days on Amazon and Apple as an eBook and soon to be published as a physical book. The physical book will be distributed by Klaus Hueneke's Tabletop Press, sometime near Xmas. Suggestions for other bookshops are welcomed.

The book is called "Exploring the Jagungal Wilderness" and it records many of the routes in the Jagungal area and especially towards the eastern side of the Jagungal Wilderness. It should open up much of the Jagungal Wilderness to bushwalkers.

Klaus Hueneke reviewed the book and said,

“The most detailed coverage of track and hut sites in the Jagungal Wilderness ever compiled. Chapter after chapter, map after map, reveal numerous routes and sites between Snowy Plain in the east and the Grey Mare Range to the west, and between Island Bend in the south and Happy Jacks Plain to the north.”

[kanangra]

Now that sounds really interesting. Congratulations on your work. when can I get my hands on it.

K

[Lophophaps]

Interesting indeed. Some parts of KNP have faint remnants of cart and 4WD tracks visible above the treeline. Below the treeline many have heavy overgrowth, and some should have a light pad to avoid parties unduly damaging the bush when scrub bashing.

[RVG]

The book is now available on Amazon. The Foreword, Table of Contents, first chapter and some maps are on display, together with the cover, which is a picture of the upper Geehi river looking north to Mt Jagungal.

I'd be delighted to answer any questions.

[kanangra]

It says only a kindle edition. Is there a hard copy?

K

[RVG]

It was fastest to publish electronically so that is what I did. The hard copy will be out in about two months. I will be seeing the printers next week.

I don't know about you but I'm finding most bushwalkers these days are taking a Kindle or some electronic reader on trips rather than a book, because they are lighter. On that basis it makes a certain amount of sense to keep a hard copy at home for route planning and take the Kindle version when doing the walk.



It make rdnWhen thinking about this, It will be off

[Travis22]

Ive never used an ebook, but if you can get it up on the Apple app store then im in. (Tried searching for it there but couldnt find anything).

(Any chance you'll have a discount on the hard copy for people who buy both electronic now and a hard copy when available?)

Travis.

[Travis22]

Ok, i found it on amazon and discovered there is a kindle app for the iphone which ive now installed and signed up with an amazon account i dont even remember creating

So ive downloaded the free sample and i will investigate this whole kindle on iphone situation and try to decide what is the best option.

Buy a kindle.
Use the kindle app on the iphone.
Wait for an ebook on itunes/ app store??

Travis.

[RVG]

It has been converted to an EPUB and will go up on the iTunes store at the end of the week.

[DarrenM]

Looks very interesting, thanks for the heads up.

[kanangra]

Just a question. You mention that you found 6 huts. What sort of condition were they in? Ruins?

K.

[RVG]

K

They were ruins, but some were better than others.

Crooks Hut at Crooks Racecourse was obviously a solid hut in its day with lower walls of stone and a decent stone chimney.

Macgregors Hut was built of timber on a solid foundation with deep drainage ditches on its uphill sides and a good stone chimney, made of stones brought to the site from well away; the stone being of a different type to that occurring locally. It was in a good location, overlooking his diggings,facing northerly with a hill behind it to block the southerly and westerly winds. (That was a common factor for most of the old huts.) It had a horse yard nearby.

The next two huts were built by people who have a real history.

Charlie Carter was the hermit who eventually lived and died in a hut at the Tin Mines south of Thredbo. He was in the mounatins on and off for a long period. In the 1920's, having been in Qld, he returned and lived at Diggers Creek on Snowy Plains. He built a hut there and was well known. There are anecdotes about him and his "cures". We have a good photo of the hut taken about 1930. In the mid to late 30's he moved to Tin Mines, probably as a caretaker. His hut ruins were eventually found after several searches.

The Campbells built a hut near Diggers Creek and gave their name to a creek there. Mrs Campbell was famous for the "doughboys" she made.

Two miners huts were found. One was a pile of stones. Another has remnant logs in a corner and once had a decent chimney.

Both Charlie Carter's hut and the miner's hut were log cabins. Some logs remain.

There are at least 4 huts still to be found.

Personally, I found the old maps and the old tracks interesting. The book includes three suggestions for further searches. Of these, an old road leading from Kidmans to Tin Hut is well worth investigating. The road is shown on the current Jagungal map (just south of the Burrungubuggee near Kidmans.) Old maps show the route from it to Tin Hut. It was this route along which building materials were taken to Tin Hut in 1926.

The route still looks viable. I have walked nearby but not exactly along it. If the route is viable, it opens up a very good circuit between Kidmans Hut and Tin Hut.

Incidentally, two treasures in the mountains, which scarcely get a mention are Kidmans Hut and Bluff Tarn. If one wanted a private, rarely visited, hut in the mountains, Kidmans would be the one. We now know the exact route to it and past it to Mawsons and Valentine.

[RVG]

"Exploring the Jagungal Wilderness - a bushwalker's guide to Kosciuszko National Park"" is now up on the Apple store. It is listed under Sports and Recreation.

[RVG]

One of the reasons for witing the book was a concern that current maps do not include existing (and fading) tracks. Nor do they include some physical features, such as Bluff Tarn.

Some people suggest that LPI has been pressured by NPWS to make the maps bland and unhelpful for bushwalkers.

Here is a photo of Bluff Tarn.

[NathanaelB]

That is really cool, will check it out now on Amazon!

[GPSGuided]

Nice!

Downloaded a sample copy in iBook and checking it out. Unfortunately the sample pages did not show how the GPS tracks are provided, or if they are provided. Also not quite sure of the level of detail provided in the book's maps. Good enough to navigate on?

[RVG]

Yes, Bluff Tarn is a great spot.

It is easily accessed from Kidmans Hut, which is itself a hidden secret and much underused.

The book contains copies of old maps and a full set of GPS positions/Waypoints. The oldest maps date back to the 1930's and have uncertail datums.

The best of the old maps are Snowy Mountains Authority maps from the 1960's, but their datums are also unclear. So the maps should be used to get an idea of where to go rather than to be used for navigation.

However all the positions given in the book are on the latest datum (GDA 94/WGS 84) which is the same datum as is used by the latest topographical maps. Those positions can be plotted directly onto your topo map or they can be entered into your GPS as waypoints.

If that's not clear please raise the point again.

[GPSGuided]

Thanks.

[RVG]

The print version of the book "Exploring the Jagungal Wilderness" will be out in a couple of weeks and I'd like to get it into shops which are actually used by bushwalkers.

Can anyone suggest which are the best stores in Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere for bushwalkers?

[peregrinator]

The print version of the book "Exploring the Jagungal Wilderness" will be out in a couple of weeks and I'd like to get it into shops which are actually used by bushwalkers.

Can anyone suggest which are the best stores in Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere for bushwalkers?

For Melbourne:

http://www.bogong.com.au/

http://www.melbmap.com.au/cgi-bin/site/wrapper.pl?c1=Home

[north-north-west]

For Hobart, start with The Map Shop in Elizabeth Street.

[MeanderingFlyFisher]

Being "old school",I am really looking forward to the print version of this book
Hopefully it will be available before Santa comes as I am heading up to the area Boxing Day.
Would you be able to let us know where we can mail order a copy from when it is available please although I am assuming it will be available through tabletop press.

[climberman]

The print version of the book "Exploring the Jagungal Wilderness" will be out in a couple of weeks and I'd like to get it into shops which are actually used by bushwalkers.

Can anyone suggest which are the best stores in Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere for bushwalkers?

For Wollongong, Bushcraft Equipment. Great book selection, lovely folks.

[RVG]

Thanks for the various suggested bookshops/bushwalking places. Does anyone have any idea about Sydney shops?

Regarding the hardcopy, the printers have just about got it ready for a final proof checking, so I expect that another 10 days will see the printed version available.

If anyone would like the book before Xmas it might be best to email me and I'll send a copy directly to you.

I can be contacted on rvhgreen@hotmail.com.

[MeanderingFlyFisher]

RVG
Just checking how the print version is going as I emailed you a couple of weeks back and haven't heard a reply.Don't stress if it doesn't make it by Christmas.

[RVG]

Hi MF

Just picked up the first copies from the printer yesterday. If you contact me on rvhgreen@outlook.com I'll get your address and details and will send a copy by Express Post.

[MeanderingFlyFisher]

Thanks very much RVG,I have just sent you an email.
You have 2 different emails outlook and hotmail mentioned in this topic.
Really keen to see this book.