Autumn in the Snowy Mountains 2011......

With the five day Easter break fast approaching J and I decided to take a couple of days to drive through the Snowy Mountains during its autumn glory.

Most people visit the Snowy Mts for skiing, etc. during the winter and early spring months but for those who have visited the region during the summer and autumn period it has so much other beauty to see.

The only snow is found on the peaks up at Charlottes Pass but the remainder of the Snowy Mts. Northern area is lovely, a soft breeze and wildlife all about.

Autumn is a season when people think of the oncoming chill of winter. Instead, it is a time for the glory of color.

Firstly, I was fascinated by the drive south past Canberra because of the autumn trees.

I wrote a blog some time back about the beauty of the autumn leaves around Bunendore but this area further south is almost magical.

Their colors were so vast, rich and beautiful that one could almost imagine Mother Nature is telling us to get out our warm clothes in preparation for winter.

We stopped briefly at the Snowy Hydro Information Center, north of Cooma, and across the road I spied several trees that looked as though they were on fire with the richness of their autumn leaves.

Upon closer inspection their shared a variety of colors and against the green grassy ground, the fallen leaves looked magical in color. I shot some photos and collected some of the fallen leaves.

Not sure what I will do with them however, they may make some lovely bookmarks.

Further along the route the Poplars were vibrant and plentiful. In some towns for example, Berridale, they stood along the main street like tall soldiers ablaze in all of their glory.

At this time of year they are a lively gold in color.

Their autumn leaves are nearing the end as we passed quite a few that had foliage at the top.

The height and thickness of the foliage was beautiful and more than accentuated the color.

Before I knew it we had arrived at Jindabyne, our base. The weather was indeed beautiful and the lake was so clear that it mirrored the sky. Lake Jindabyne is a manmade lake created when the Snowy River was dammed.

J decided to make the most of the daylight so we continued on through to the national park.
The water runs down from the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mts to it; fortunately our motel over looked the entire lake.

The Snowy River, creeks and brooks can be found everywhere throughout the park and we saw a lot of people fishing for trout, fly fishing and angling along the way.

Just past the front gates we came upon the start of the alpine Ash Forrest, which is spectacular with the sun behind it.It was like nothing that we had ever seen before; a silver forrest devoid of greenery, vast areas of leafless trees that lookedd amazing.

Alpine Ash is a tall tree which grows in high altitudes and is sensitive to fire. It has a grey trunk and is very smooth on the higher branches.

I guess they stand at about 90 meters. Apparently it generates only from seed when fires burn through the area and take about 20 years to reach full growth.In the sun light the trunk and branches look like painted metallic silver limbs, I was absolutely mesmerized by this.

Now imagine a forest of silver trees, hundreds of thousands covering the slopes of open meadows, sloping hillsides and mountains; it is a spectacle.

Below is a close up picture of an Alpine Ash tree....now imagine millions of these all over the mountain side. They are absolutely spectacular when the sun shines on them.

We continued on through to Thredbo and stopped for a walk around the area. Thredbo is also lovely at this time of year, the chalets and lodges are all visible, the hillsides green, and the ski runs could be seen from a totally different perspective with no snow around.

The village of Thredbo, like all of the villages in the Snowy Mts., lines both sides of the Snowy River, although only a trickle in places at this time of year. The buildings are raised on both sides and the chairlifts pick visitors up at the bottom in the village and elevates them up to the top of the slopes.Below families were cycling, hiking and mountain biking. There appears to be so many activities to participate in during the non-snow seasons. I was amazed at the number of mountain biking enthusviasts about, they were there in their droves.

Apparently the tracks down at the snowy are considered to challenge one’s core strength, endurance, bike handling skills and self-reliance.

There is certainly no shortage of off-road terrain to do this. I thought it would be interesting to watch them during the snow season.

We woke to beautiful sunshine the next morning and made our way up to Perrisher and Charlottes Pass.

J was fascinated with the ski runs. The scenery was breath-taking and I truly felt like we were in “The Man From Snowy River” territory.

Next stop Perrisher, which is made up of the village of Perrisher, Smiggins Hole, Guthega and Blue Cow, elevation 1640, (our ears were beginning to pop lol). We had seen the skitube at the beginnings of our trip further down the mountain and here at Perrisher there was a Skitube stop.The skitube is an underground rail track. People were about, some dressed ready for hiking and others cycling. At all villages the chalets backed on to the mountainsides and the richness of Autumn adorned the rest of the region.A few restaurants were open but other than that most facilities were closed until the snow season became closer. I felt like I was at a “behind the scenes” view of the snow fields; workman were painting buildings, others were delivering snow mobiles and larger snow vehicles, and road works was busy finishing off. Rangers were about talking to visitors and checking park passes. It made me realize that there is so much work to do before the snow commences.We stopped for morning tea at Spencers Creek, which is between Perrisher and Charlottes Pass. The mountains surrounded us on all sides, green from the summer rains.
J took our billy down to the creek and filled it with crystal clear mountain water, to make a cuppa whilst I set out to shoot some photos.
Boulders which are no always visible during the snow season, stand proudly along the way and add to that image of the aussie mountainside. It was so peaceful there; the only sounds were that of the gentle breeze and the brook behind us.

Down along the water there was a chill in the air but it was more fresh than cold. When I sat in the sunshine out of the breeze, it was actually quite warm. We were at 1730 m above sea level so the cooler temperatures were expected.
J made us both a cuppa and we sat nibbling on Marilyn’s shortbread which she had given to me as a gift at Christmas (Hi Marilyn).I had the thought that here we were sitting amid massive mountains and babbling brooks all around us and that we probably appeared nothing more than dots.

Next stop was Charlottes Pass, the highest point of the Snowy Mountains 1837m.

The pass was named after Charlotte Adams who was the first European to climb Mount Kosciusko in 1881.
I was saddened to read that in the next decade and due to global warming, Charlottes Pass might be the only area in Australia with natural snow.

We took the Snow Gums boardwalk trail around to a viewing point which brought home to us the vastness of the region, it stretched as far as the eye could see with mountains, valleys, slopes and peaks in all directions.

The mountain peaks had snow on them, was very picturesque and we hope to return late in May to shoot photos of the early snows that will powder the mountain sides.

We took several dirt tracks on the way back down so as J could practice his four wheel drive skills and when ever we do this we always come across hikers. This fellow was carrying his tent and chattels on his back. He was also using hiking poles.

Whilst back at Thredbo I had stopped to talk to several hikers about their gear and they had told me that hiking poles provide rhythm to their walking pace and helps to reduce knee pain. I guess one would have to be a very serious hiker with equipment such as this.

The return trip took us out of the main gates past a brook andyet again people were waist deep fishing gently. The waterways were prinstine over rocks and through ravines. The surrounding scenery took my breath away; and I felt like I had been transported to a wilderness movie. In some areas the pine trees had grown all of the way down to the waterways and reminded me of one of those American movies where the hunters were out in the wilds.

I spoke to a man making his way down from the roadway to the stream who told me that he was fishing for brown, Rainbow and Brook Trout. Other fisherman were standing casting long gentle casts into the runs of water, their patience obvious as they cast time and time again.

I stood watching and realized that fly fishing is almost an art form and the obvious pleasure derived by the fisherman as they escape the daily rigors of everyday life.

Well before we knew it, the time to return to Jervis Bay had arrived. I cannot wait to return to a different season in the Snowy Mts. I hope that you enjoy my photos.