General Information
Distance: 9.5 kilometers
Total climb: 510 meters
Time taken: 6 hours 20 minutes
Maps: Yaouk 8626-2N 1:25 000
Guide: n/a
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO: 67 kilometers
Start point map grid reference: 55H FA 78464 41158
Destination map grid reference: 55H FA 75628 42419
End point: same as start
Distance: 9.5 kilometers
Route
http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/
Description
We arrived at the Yankee Hat Carpark just after 8am with the external thermometer in my car reading -7 degrees. The sun was shining and there was no wind, however, so it did not feel all that cold even with the heavy frost. We started walking at 8:18am and followed the Yankee Hat Walking Trail to its end at the Yankee Hat rock art site. From here we headed bush to climb Yankee Hat which loomed 380 meters above us.
We initially headed southwest through fairly light scrub and gradually veered to the northwest in order to reach the spur running up to the summit from the southeast. Before long we started to encounter a dusting of fresh snow (probably from two days before) which became thicker and a tiny bit slippery as we continued to climb.
The going was quite easy all the way up with relatively light scrub, few fallen trees and rocks which were easy to get around or climb over. There were occasional views to the north and south as we passed through the scrub, becoming more open as we neared the summit.
Having reached 1400 meters elevation the terrain flattened out and we continued heading northwest through a tangle of scrub and rocks, making for the summit of Yankee Hat.
The summit is a large rock outcrop that was relatively easy to climb up from the southwest. Here we paused for lunch taking in the views to the east and west.
Not wishing to backtrack, we had planned to get down the mountain via the spur on the northwestern side. We found the scrub and terrain a bit more challenging on this side of the mountain, however, so our route down became northeasterly as we tried to avoid patches dense scrub, large rock outcrops and very steep descents. Eventually we reached the Middle Creek Fire Trail and followed it east to just before the ford over Middle Creek. From there we headed overland to the bridge over Bogong Creek and thence back to the carpark.
We arrived at the Yankee Hat Carpark just after 8am with the external thermometer in my car reading -7 degrees. The sun was shining and there was no wind, however, so it did not feel all that cold even with the heavy frost. We started walking at 8:18am and followed the Yankee Hat Walking Trail to its end at the Yankee Hat rock art site. From here we headed bush to climb Yankee Hat which loomed 380 meters above us.
We initially headed southwest through fairly light scrub and gradually veered to the northwest in order to reach the spur running up to the summit from the southeast. Before long we started to encounter a dusting of fresh snow (probably from two days before) which became thicker and a tiny bit slippery as we continued to climb.
The going was quite easy all the way up with relatively light scrub, few fallen trees and rocks which were easy to get around or climb over. There were occasional views to the north and south as we passed through the scrub, becoming more open as we neared the summit.
Having reached 1400 meters elevation the terrain flattened out and we continued heading northwest through a tangle of scrub and rocks, making for the summit of Yankee Hat.
The summit is a large rock outcrop that was relatively easy to climb up from the southwest. Here we paused for lunch taking in the views to the east and west.
Not wishing to backtrack, we had planned to get down the mountain via the spur on the northwestern side. We found the scrub and terrain a bit more challenging on this side of the mountain, however, so our route down became northeasterly as we tried to avoid patches dense scrub, large rock outcrops and very steep descents. Eventually we reached the Middle Creek Fire Trail and followed it east to just before the ford over Middle Creek. From there we headed overland to the bridge over Bogong Creek and thence back to the carpark.
