Summiting Australia's Three Highest Peaks ｜ Main Range Loop Hike to Kosciuszko, Townsend & Twynam

My father-in-law John had been staying with us over Christmas and when the weather finally gave us a window we loaded up our packs and headed for the main range. John and I have walked up here before, a few day trips over the years but this time felt different. This time we had lightweight gear, time on our side and the chance to do it properly. The goal was simple, the main range loop plus the three highest mountains in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko, Mount Tanzand and Mount Twynum. Sure if you're super fit you can smash it out in a day but we weren't interested in that. We wanted to take our time to absorb the mountains because this place is special, it's unique to Australia and strangely familiar to John. John lives in the Lake District in the UK, glacial valleys, lakes, open ridgelines and up here the shapes are similar. The vegetation is different, our native flowers, our grasses but the feeling is the same, that wide treeless terrain. Even in mid-January after weeks of heat there were still sizable patches of snow. It's always surprising to see how deep the winter was and how much it hangs on right through the summer. The forecast promised sun but as we climbed onto the range the wind came in hard dragging clouds across the tops. It wasn't freezing, maybe 10 degrees but with wind chill it was enough to remind you how quickly things change up here and that's why you carry the right gear. Not because it's my job, because the mountains don't care how experienced you are. Our first summit was Mount Twynum, Australia's third highest peak. The views were half hidden in the clag but still felt good to tick it off. From there the ridgeline opens up around Watson's Crags and the Sentinel and drops away into country that looks almost unreal. The backside, rugged broken terrain, beautiful and dangerous. There are stories of people disappearing down there never found again and others who somehow stumbled out after days. It's a place that demands respect. The Sentinel down behind me it's a pretty impressive little peak. I've been out there but I think that's a story for another time. With the wind building we pushed on towards Corrubbis and towards Camp. So National Parks have put a huge amount of work into keeping this track sustainable. Granite steps, long sections of boardwalk, all designed to keep the feet off the alpine environment. John hated the boardwalk. I suggested they install some in the Lake District. He said it would never happen. We left the main loop and climbed Mount Northcote. It's a small diversion but gives you this incredible view where we've come from and where we're headed next. On the way the alpine flowers were out everywhere. I'm not a botanist so I'm not even going to pretend I know what half of them are but up here they don't need names to be appreciated. By late afternoon we dropped into Wilkinson's Creek for the night. It's a great spot to camp tucked among the boulders and most importantly it has reliable water. Setting up camp. We're down here at Wilkinson's Creek. Really nice spot tucked in amongst the boulders. Pretty much out of the wind. Some good reliable water just over the side there. We're going to go down use a pump and water a bit later and yeah great spot. It's also the kind of place you want to look after. Good campsites don't stay good unless people treat them properly. I've got a bowl of porridge and some hot chocolate. I think Dylan's got a cup of tea and some porridge. It's all gritty. No powdered milk. We broke camp early, filled up at the creek and headed back onto the range. The goal was Mount Townsend, Australia's second highest peak. We've got Wilkinson's Valley down there. Really nice campsite not far from Kosciuszko. It's just up there and good reliable supply of water as well. It tends to hold the water in the valley here. We're January, we've had a little bit of rain but the creek is still flowing really nicely. For years people argued whether Townsend might actually be higher than Kosciuszko. There are even stories of hikers carrying rocks to the summit, stacking them up in the hope that one day they might steal the title. That's the Gee High Valley directly below us. See the dam down there? So that's Cankoven Pondage. We're looking towards Cankoven, Staldra, Corryong and the Murray River is in the next valley over from that ridge where Cankoven is. Townsend's a little different from the others. There's a scramble near the top, nothing extreme, but not somewhere you'd want to slip. Because of that it gets a fraction of the traffic Kosciuszko does. At the summit the views are incredible. You can see down towards the valleys, the high flats, the river systems, the way the landscape folds and drains away from the range. That morning the air was smoky, we could still see the haze drifting from a fire further off. Up there the granite boulders look like they've been dropped from the sky, balanced, stacked, scattered across the ridge. And standing among them with John, it's hard not to wonder how long this place has been shaping itself, how much time it took and how lucky we are to walk through such a special place. The infrastructure up here has changed a lot in the last few years. There's more armoring, more boardwalk and a lot more people. This is the popular route coming in from Threadboat and from Charlotte's Pass and you feel the difference straight away. But even with the it was still something special. Standing on the summit of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia. So we've just topped out on the top of Mount Kosciuszko. Spent the night last night at Wilkinson's Creek and got up and headed over to Townsend. Spectacular view over there and we've just walked up to the top here. We can see the fires in the distance. It's a beautiful day. It's probably 10, 15 degrees up on top up here. Cool wind. We'll plan for getting out of here and see how we go. We might spend a night up here or we might get back to the car and head down to Gee High Flats and spend the night down there instead. Spectacular spot. In the distance, smoke drifted across the horizon, back burning somewhere out beyond the range. And when we finally left the summit, we followed the boardwalk back down to Rawson's Pass. Rawson's Pass has its own little claim to fame, the highest toilet block in Australia. It sounds funny, but it's also part of the story up here. National Parks doing everything they can to manage the impact of thousands of people walking through a very fragile alpine environment. From there, we headed down towards Charlotte's Pass, following the old road. We passed Seaman's Hut, a beautiful stone shelter sitting at just over 2000 metres. It was built after tragedy as a safety refuge for the range. A quiet reminder that this place can be welcoming and unforgiving. We crossed the Snowy River, the largest snowmelt river in Australia, flowing from the eastern slopes of Kosciuszko to Bass Strait, 352km away. On the way down, John absolutely motored along now that the finish line was in sight. We eventually reached Charlotte's Pass and the car, a perfect way to cap it off. But we weren't ready to go straight home. Instead, we decided on one more night out. We drove down to Jindabyne, fresh food for a change after a couple of days of freeze-dried meals, and then we headed out to Gee High Flats. I've been coming to Gee High since I was five years old. It's one of those places that never really leaves you. From the flats, you look straight up at the main range and you get a real sense of where you've been walking. You can't see Kosciuszko from here because it's tucked up over the back. You don't quite see the valley. Pretty special place to camp down here on Gee High Flats. It's really nice. That afternoon, we soaked up the cold water and sat back with the tent pitched for one last night. We swapped stories and at some point it hit me. It was my 15th wedding anniversary and instead of spending it with my wife, I was out here in a tent with my father-in-law. All up, it was a great trip. A few nights in the mountains and three days well spent and I don't think either of us will forget it.