Mt Gudgenby Summit Hike

I'm planning to go up to the summit of Mt. Gudgenby in May. Of the peaks that I've climbed in the ACT, this has been the most rewarding but the challenge of getting there is substantial. 

The undergrowth is very dense as a result of the 2020 bushfires. This will be a long hard day of bush bashing 20 km through pretty dense scrub. You'll need to be fit, experienced and tough to come along. I'm proposing that we drive out on Friday night and camp near Frank and Jack's Hut so that we can leave for the summit early in the morning. It will be a pretty cold camp out and a very early and cold start. For the ascent, we'll pack minimal to make the bush-bashing easier.

Here's a link describing the trail before bushfire regrowth made it very difficult:

https://www.thewalkact.com/mt-gudgenby 

Pre-trip details email:

Overview

I’m planning on departing ANU at 4pm for Yankee Hat Carpark in Namadgi National Park. Another group might leave later depending on people’s preferences. From the carpark, we'll hike with overnight packs along Old Bobeyan Road to Frank and Jack's Hut where we'll camp overnight. We can use the hut to sit around and cook but sleeping inside is for emergencies only so please bring a tent. On Saturday morning, we'll rise early, leaving our camping gear at the hut and taking only day packs for our ascent of Mount Gudgenby, aiming to reach the summit by lunchtime. The hike to the summit will be difficult bush-bashing the whole way. After eating lunch and soaking in the magnificent scenery, we'll descend back to the hut, collect our camping gear, and return to Yankee Hat Carpark, expecting to arrive back to Canberra on Saturday evening. The forecast is for ideal sunny days with highs of 19-20°C but cold conditions overnight.

·                     Friday afternoon: Full pack hike along Old Bobeyan Road to set up camp at Frank and Jack's Hut.

·                     Saturday: Light day-packs for a rough bush-bash to the summit. Return to Canberra via the hut in the evening.

·                     The hike from Frank and Jack’s hut to the summit is about 6.5km each way. It is off trail almost the whole way. A lot of it goes through thick scrub. There’s a GPX of Saturday’s route attached to this email.

Pre-trip Meeting

I’ve hiked with all of you before, so the pre-trip meeting is optional. I’m on gear store shift tomorrow (Wednesday) at 6pm – please drop in if you want to talk or rent some gear.  

Gear Checklist

For Overnight at Frank and Jack's Hut:

·                     Water (There is a water tank at the campsite but last time I went it was empty)

·                     Hiking pack

·                     Tent

·                     Sleeping bag rated to 0 degrees

·                     Sleeping mat

·                     Headtorch to set-up your tent in the dark

·                     Warm clothes for night (minimum temp of 3°C forecast)

·                     Cooking equipment

For Summit Day (Saturday):

·                     Day pack

·                     More than 2L water (the only creek is at the start of the hike)

·                     Lunch and energy snacks

·                     Sun protection (hat, sunscreen - UV index reaching 3)

·                     Rain jacket

·                     Phone fully charged

·                     Sturdy hiking boots or trail shoes

Food Requirements:

·                     Friday dinner (to cook at camp)

·                     Saturday breakfast (at camp)

·                     Saturday packed lunch and snacks for the summit hike

·                     Extra emergency snacks

Safety Info

This is a challenging hike with significant elevation gain (460m) and some sections requiring careful navigation. The group will stay together at all times. We'll have first aid kits, A PLB, a paper map, several mobile phones and a handheld GPS with us. If you can please download OsmAnd or a similar offline trail navigation app that would be good for redundancy.

Confirmation

Please reply to this email by lunchtime on Wednesday confirming:

1.                  That you're still able to join us

2.                  What time can you can leave on Friday and if you are happy to drive.

3.                  If you need to borrow any gear

4.                  Any medical conditions I should be aware of such as allergies or asthma

If you have any questions before Friday, please don't hesitate to get in touch or come see me at the gear store on Wednesday night.

All the best, 

2025-05-11 Bill McAlister Reflections:

• The trip was a success. 
• We were a group of 7 experienced bushwalkers. I knew everyone personally before the trip.
• Our group maintained good morale and a consistent tempo for the whole day.
• Some participants said that the view from the top "made it all worthwhile."
• People seemed to really enjoy the challenging slab and boulder climbing in the approach to the summit. FInding a way was quite fun near the top.
• People found pushing through undergrowth difficult and frustrating at times. You need to be confident in the tenacity of any participants that you bring for this reason.
• In the thick undergrowth it is difficult to keep the group together. Participants should be experienced so that they understand the importance of staying together but also don't panic when separated.. Participants need to be comfortable calling the group to a halt so that they can catch up. Otherwise, the leader needs to be extremely vigilant about keeping the group together. 
• Groups larger than 8 would be extremely hard to manage on this hike for the reasons in the previous point.
• The weather was sunny with a top of about 20 degrees but cold overnight.
• It was a cold night. Some participants didn't bring good enough sleeping gear. 
• We managed to complete the hike in daylight. We left Frank and Jack's at 7:40am and arrived back at 5:00pm.
• I drank 2 liters of water during the hike.
• I wouldn't attempt this hike on a rainy day: Wet undergrowth would saturate you in the bush-bashing sections and the slab climbing near the summit would be dangerous.
• The track to the saddle is starting to re-emerge out of the post-2020 bushfire regrowth. Pathfinding and bush-bashing from the creek to the saddle seemed substantially easier than my previous ascent in 2023.
• I should've recommended gaiters, long pants, long sleeve shirts and sunglasses for the bush-bashing.  
• There was Telstra reception at F&J's Hut and also on the summit of Gudgenby. There wasn't any on most of the trail.

• We departed Frank and Jack's at 7:40am. My navigational mistake meant that we didn't cross the unnamed tributary of Bogong Creek, and start the ascent to the saddle, until about 8:30am.
• We made it to the saddle at 10:30am. The walk from the creek to the saddle took about 2 hours.
• On the advice of Peter Jones, I took a route that was higher up the ridge than the historic track. We mostly ran parallel to the historic track but about 1-200m higher up the ridge. There were a few sections of difficult bush bashing.
• We arrived at the summit of Gudgenby at 12:15pm. It took us 1 hour 45 minutes to ascend from the saddle to the summit.
• We ate lunch on the summit and explored the rock formations.
• We started to descend to the saddle at 1:25pm. We got back to the saddle at 3:00pm. It took 1 hour 35 minutes to descend to the saddle.
• We took a different route to descend to the saddle. Both routes were difficult but they were different. On reflection, I think this made the trip a bit more fun because it added some variety and increased the amount of time that we were contending with the challenge of finding a good path. However, it would have been quicker if we'd followed the exact same path as some time was spent in problem-solving and route finding.
• We took a short rest at the saddle.
• We arrived back to the clearing near the unnamed tributary of Bogong creek at 4:20pm. It took 1 hour and 20 minutes to descend from the saddle to the creek.
• We arrived back at F&J's hut at 5:00pm. It took 40 minutes to walk from the clearing to F&J's hut.