Australian Alps Walking Track - Stronachs Camp to Red Jacket

Day: 03
Date: Friday, 19 April 2019
Start:  Stronachs Camp
Finish:  Red Jacket
Daily Kilometres:  24.0
Total AAWT Kilometres:  70.3
Weather:  Cool early then mild and sunny
Accommodation:  Tent
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli
  Lunch:  Trail Mix
  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals
Aches:  Both very tired
Highlight:  Finding a new log bridge had been erected across the Thomson River when we were expecting, as per the guide book, to have to wade across.
Lowlight:  The climb up Mt Easton along a new firetrail that seemed so steep our noses were in danger of getting gravel rash, and it went on forever.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:

We woke at 6am and were walking by 7:15, glad that the forestry vehicle that drove by our illegal campsite 15 minutes earlier, didn't seem to notice us.  Again, it was a beautiful morning for walking, though the trail soon left the forestry road and progress slowed as we followed a barely distinct trail through a dark and damp forest of tree ferns.  Emerging from the valley, we then descended through a forest on another indistinct trail that seemed to have a log across it every ten metres.  When we finally reached a firetrail, the 2km had taken us an hour and a half of exhausting work and the day had barely started.

Fortunately, we then a some kilometres of lovely firetrail wending its way through tall and shady eucalypt forest on a glorious sunny morning.  All good things have to come to an end, and the firetrail plunged steeply down into the Thomson River valley with very loose footing that had me taking great care with every step while the mountain goat, Julie, descended at twice my pace.

Down in the valley we had some easy hiking through a recently burnt section of forest.  All ground cover had been burnt and the tree trunks were black, but the crowns of the towering eucalypts were still green and apparently healthy.  The fire yielded a benefit to us, because forestry workers had set up a burnt log bridge across the river where we had expected to wade across.  They had also carved a new firetrail down to the river, which was now the AAWT instead of what was another indistinct trail.  However, the new firetrail was steep, and we were both totally spent by the time we reached the summit of Mt Easton on what had become a warm afternoon.

A few kilometres of pleasant undulating firetrail was followed by another long hair-raising descent that had me sweating while Julie raced to the bottom and waited for me.  The last 45 minutes was lovely walking in a setting sun along the Jordan River valley that still had remnants from the gold rush of the 1860s.  We again illegally camped, this time at the site of the now-disappeared mining hamlet of Red Jacket, at about 5pm and enjoyed a nice evening that was balmy by comparison with the last few nights.