Namadgi National Park: Corin Dam to Pryors Hut

General Information

Distance:  16.3 kilometers
Total climb:  1,053 meters
Time taken:  4 hours 23 minutes
Map:  Corin Dam 8626-1N 1:25 000
Guide:  none available
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  60 kilometers
Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 66343 66173
Destination map grid reference:  55H FA 61153 63140
End point:  same as start

Route

http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/

Description

The first two kilometers of the track is a series of very steep climbs taking you from an elevation of 950 meters to a little over 1400 meters. This is not a track for the unfit. There are many stairs on this section of the track which make walking safer, but seem to put a lot of pressure on the legs. There are limited vantage points along the track, which is well forested. The walk begins at the carpark at Corin Dam. Follow the signs at the end of the carpark to the start of the well-defined walking track. At the end of this first section is Stockyard Spur, where the terrain flattens and I saw the first scatterings of snow.

The snow became progressively thicker as I continued the climb until the ground was covered by crisp snow to a depth of around 15 centimeters. Luckily the track was still easy to distinguish thanks to the wheel ruts, and pesky GPS/map navigation was not necessary.

Along this section of track there were occasional views towards Mount Ginini to the northwest and Mount Gingera to the southwest. At the 1532 meter peak at map reference FA641654, about 3.5 kilometers into the walk, there were some spectacular views to the southeast.

The track climbs steadily until it meets the Mount Franklin Road, by which time about 7 kilometers has been travelled and an elevation of 1635 meters has been attained. Originally I was intending to leave the road at this point and ascend Little Ginini Mountain, but given the thick snow cover obscuring anything nasty that might lie underneath it I decided that it was probably not a safe choice. Instead I followed the Mount Franklin Road, which had been cleared of snow, south for 1 kilometer to Pryors Hut.

After all of this walking I was rather disappointed to find that the dunny behind the Hut had been closed until further notice, and I had to find a tree instead. Nevertheless, I took advantage of the Hut itself to have a reasonably comfortable lunch break before heading back the way that I had come. The return hike was highly enjoyable up to the two-kilometer descent back to Corin Dam where the steep slope and relentless steps caused some niggling joint pain in the legs until I got back to level ground.

This is a very demanding track, but with lots of rewards, even if it's just the achievement of getting up to Stockyard Spur. The snow at the higher parts of the trail added considerably to the beauty of the area and did not impede the hike in any way. This may be different when the snow is deeper and the track obscured. At the top of the track, where it meets the Mount Franklin Road, there are options to climb Mount Ginini to the north or Mount Gingera to the south. Two hikers I met on the return journey were in fact climbing up to Mount Gingera to spend the night there camping in the snow.