2004/02 New South Wales loop - Charlotte's Pass |
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Saturday February 21st
In the morning we drove up the road towards Charlotte’s Pass, past ski areas with names like Smiggin’s Hole and the Perisher. They were all closed up for summer, with few people around. Amazingly, in the winter there is a tube train that runs through the mountain from Thredbo to this area, apparently because the road is impassible when there’s been a good snowfall. I was really surprised that Australian ski resort would have enough business and a long enough season to warrant that kind of investment. I found out later from a ski enthusiast that it was a Japanese investment, back when they had more money than sense.
There was a crowd of cars at the end of the road, some for hikers taking an alternate route up Kosciusko, but mainly for people just up for the view. It was worth the trip. We could see where we’d been hiking the previous day, but Kosciusko was just one mountain (3rd from the left) in a view that 
included a dozen or more.
The valley below us included the streams that combine to begin the famous Snowy River. We could see that the sky was rapidly changing. The wind was just as strong, but getting much colder, and soon it was raining horizontally. I would not have wanted to be with that couple up there on the mountain.
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