Let me start by saying: Fantastic weekend.
So last weekend on my hike through Royal National Park, I met a guy who invited me on a trip up Mt. Bogong the following week. It was kind of up in the air whether he would be going or not since his friend got pretty sick last time when they tried to make it up a few weeks ago. But as the week passed, he emailed me to say that they were in fact going. I debated not going because I just met him, I didn't have all the equipment, etc...Also Mt. Bogong is in Victoria - about a 7 hour drive from Sydney.
...We left on Thursday afternoon. I thought it was going to be just me, and three guys but it turned out that three more guys came- the president of the Outdoors Club, his friend, and another guy. Man was I happy to finally have some male friends! There's that tomboy side of me coming out again...
The drive was pretty long but enjoyable with my two new friends. Stopped for dinner along the way and got to the campsite at about midnight on Thursday. Two of the guys were already there and had started a fire for us. We set up camp and this really sweet guy let me stay in his tent with him. He even made me coffee in the morning! Again, I can't believe how nice everyone is here...lucky me!
Since I didn't come here with the intention of going hiking through snow, I was slightly unprepared equipment wise. But thanks to this guy I met the previous week, he supplied me with everything I needed - super warm sleeping bag, state-of-the-art sleeping pad (some of the guys actually tried to bribe me for the mat on the third night it was so nice), an expensive down jacket, a beanie, gloves, hiking poles, dinner for two nights, waterproof pants, snowshoes, ice axe, and crampons. Need I say again how nice people are!?!
We started our trek up to 20,000m early on Friday morning. After some coffee and delicious oatmeal I was ready to go! It actually took us about 6 or 7 hours to get to the top because a couple of the guys were cramping up. Surprisingly enough I was in much better shape than I thought, and I ended up leading for most of the way! (Pretty impressive, I must say...)
It was getting dark so we decided not to go all the way to the summit that day. We made camp at the treeline. It was a pretty gray day and so by the time we got to camp it was so foggy I couldn't see anything. There was however plenty of snow. I wasn't quite sure where we were sleeping, but everyone started shoveling snow on the side of this vertical slope so I quickly learned that I was gonna be very, very cold that night. My tentmate and I shoveled a flat platform for our tent and threw our stuff in. We picked the best spot of course - sheltered from the wind!
Here's our tent- a little small but good for cold weather, cozy! (That's my ice axe...I learned how to self arrest too in case of a glacier...)
Saturday morning I woke up to more snow and sleet. All of our stuff was covered in icicles. Needless to say that one glance out of the tent and it took me a long time to get out of my sleeping bag...
But my tentmate made coffee for me again so I was a happy camper. Some of the guys went ice climbing that day, but I opted to hike to the summit and then build an igloo instead. Thought the ice climbing might be a tad intense...but now I kinda wish I had tried! Oh well, next time.
Getting to the summit was crazy - so foggy I couldn't see 5m in front of me. We had our crampons on and were walking on a pretty vertical slope. In retrospect it was probably good it was so foggy because I couldn't see just how steep it was. Following the barely visible pole markers along the way, we finally made it to the summit.
Here are two images, one of what the summit would have looked like on a clear day, another what it kind of looked like - except add tons and tons of fog...
It truly was up there in the clouds...
After deciding that building an igloo up there with winds whipping by burning my cheeks wasn't such a good idea - we headed down following our tracks and built an igloo in a slightly less open area. My friend actually carried an igloo maker all the way up the mountain! After a few mishaps, and four hours later, the igloo was half built and we were wrecked... but it looked awesome!! No photos yet :( but 10x10 igloo was pretty impressive looking! Three of the guys slept there that night but I wasn't really feeling like bivvying it ... (mountaineering term for no tent, just a tarp-like thing that goes over you, hardcore). I slept in my nice tent again, very warm and dry. Played cards with some of the guys in our tent - whipped their butts of course (thanks mom for all those years of practice).
Smashed it down the mountain the next day in a mere 1 1/2 hrs, falling a few times. Here's a picture of me and Mike right before he caught me as I slipped down the path! (Did I mention he carried 2 packs up because one of the guys was having trouble??! Beast...)
Smelly, dirty, and a few chocolate bars later I was down the mountain and packing up the car. I was sad to leave my new found Aussie friends. But they invited me rockclimbing this Thursday actually!
All in all, great experience. Couldn't believe I was driving through the beautiful countryside with people I barely knew, about to have a completely refreshing experience. It's also remarkable how good food tastes in the wilderness...hello peanut butter and jelly in the same container! Took a risk and it paid off. That's what I came to do anyways, right?! No pain, no gain.
P.S. Shout out to Alice Wislocki- the guys think that your Arcteryx pack is awesome. Thanks a million <3
-"I was enchanted to meet you..."
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