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 Blue Lake 2019
22 Aug - 25 Aug. 2019 |
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Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem. |
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 This year’s Blue Lake trip was special in many ways: it was a reunion of sorts – for some old friends, but also as a revisitation to a place that it is quite unique and undoubtedly holds a very special place in our hearts. We have been coming here for a very long time encompassing a generation of climbers who honed themselves on one of the most mesmerizing, albeit sometimes also fiercest alpine environments in an otherwise sundrenched land. The xeric summer environment surrounding the lake transforms into a magic alpine landscape in winter, rimmed with plateaus of snow gums glistening in the snow. Once you climb above the tree zone, the barren landscape quickly gives way to a winter wonderland that has its own sense of elegance and beauty. Windswept isolated and remote that beauty is not for everyone though.
This trip was also the brainchild of Jason, who started the conversation and that often turns out to be the most operose part. Those of us who have been caught out in this formidable place before, will know that committing to a trip there can be a mixed blessing: Bryan, Dave, Mark, Leo, Patrick and many more former visitors will know what I am talking about. The shared sense of suffering created by this place when a trip goes awry – think blizzard, high winds, snowstorms, artic conditions, whiteouts, avalanches, snow caves and the list goes on – creates a special kind of bond that is well captured by the Australian vernacular as mateship. Anyway I digress back to the topic at hand. |
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Jason Upper Icefall |
Insert you favorite descirption here |
Twin Falls |
The team |
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JasonWill multipitch ice climbing |
Across the lake |
Technical Gully to the top |
Warm-up icefall |
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Ready for action |
Ice Yoga |
Camplife |
Will on lead |
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul. |
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Blue Lake in geographical terms is one of only four cirque lakes formed by glacial erosion in mainland Australia. Blue Lake's valley contains the best-developed glacial features in the Kosciuszko National Park alpine area of New South Wales. It was recognised as a wetland of international importance in 1996. The lake lies within the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves and as such camping near the catchment area of the lake is now forbidden. This is something we heard quite a bit on our recent trip from the guides that visited with their clients while we were there. Make sure that your camp is well out of sight and out of the catchment area. We are used to camping at the mouth of the lake below the lake itself, but this is now the main thoroughfare for guided groups coming on day trips from Charlottes Pass so you will be noticed to say the least.
This year we only managed to attract three veterans: Jason, Will and Roman probably because we all now suffer from short-term memory loss, which is a real blessing in disguise and we forgot the terrible conditions we encountered last time we went there in 2014. Many of us have traded Blue Lake for the antipodean shores of New Zealand were Wye Creek ice and major ski fields vied for our attention. So in short, it had been some years, I hesitate to say, since we had mustered the courage required to visit Blue Lake in Winter. Had it changed? Well this is the story of our recent trip to rekindle the passion and relieve some of the ice-climbing adventures to be found at arguably Australia’s premier ice-climbing crag. |
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today. |
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Should use axe NOT hand |
What happens at Blue Lake ..... |
The steep icefall |
Jason leading the ice curtain |
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Will setting up toprope |
Belay ledge |
Will and Jason |
Ready for departure with heavy packs |
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Will leading the ramp |
Ampitheatre with falls left and right |
Roman on the nose |
Jason on the approach |
| Our happy threesome: Will, Jason and Roman left for the river bivvy at Nuggets Crossing on Wednesday night, where we spent the evening near the river for an early start to Guthega. The forecast as is customary was bad with winds up to 50k/h but otherwise manageable with clouds but no snowfall or rain. We decided to go anyway and hope that the weather would improve. As we passed the sign near the turn off to Guthega Jason read: “Extreme Weather Condition,” and we just ignored him and moved silently along. By 10 o’clock we were ready and hit the trail in Guthega with Will missing out on his morning coffee and very little in terms of breakfast. The amount of snow at Guthega and beyond had caught us by surprise, the snowfall from the week before was unusually heavy and there was plenty of it all around us. This meant we were able to ski straight away down the short hill to the first river crossing. The packs were heavy as is customary and the first couple of turns on the skies downhill turned out pretty badly: once you are on your back with the alpine touring bindings, getting up was near impossible. Jason did a little better with his snowshoes, while Will and Roman learned the hard way to get used to our alpine touring bindings with heavy packs. After about one hour we arrived at the snowy river bridge for a quick break and then the climbing began. The wind had picked up a bit and we were heading straight into it, but the tree line provided some welcome protection. We climbed steadily to 1800 meters and the GPS as well as Will’s new map-app showed us the way via contour lines. We hit the route pretty spot on and arrived at the lake after four hours of skiing. There was enough sun to check out the lake, find a campsite and build the camp before dinner and an early night took care of sore limbs. It was nice to get the heavy packs off and rest the legs from the icy approach slope, which wreaked havoc on our calves. Day one had ended successfully with the lake waiting for us patiently. |
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| Day two broke early with the first light rising at six. It was completely wind still, which created a foreboding almost ominous sense of silence as we awoke. We were too scared to look outside, but the morning ablution forced our hands. Outside was one of those rare sights: blue skies not a breeze in sight and the moon still high in the ski, we had scored big time. The sun was still a little off and we warmed ourselves with a cup of coffee until 7am when the sun’s rays finally reached our tents. It had been cold through the night, but now the temperature climbed quickly. It was time for our first icefall today. The walk across the frozen lake is an amazing experience, one becomes temporarily the center point of the universe surrounded by snow-filled gullies, rock buttresses and most remarkably in the center: complete wind still silence. We were spoiled by our playground with perfect icefalls all around us. This was a great year with lots of deep snow and thick blue ice. The two-tiered buttress at the West end of the lake was a familiar sight to us and forms part of what is known as the Amphitheater. Its center piece is a large broad snow-filled slope that runs all the way to the summit of Twynam, Australia’s third highest mountain at 2195meters. Our first day was spent on the right hand side of the Amphitheatre were multiple tiers of ice provide easy warmups for placing ice-screws, a gully to access the upper tiers and a steep “nose” section to test our forearms. |
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave. |
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Trip Elevation plot |
Geoplot file mapping of route |
When the sun eventually hits the icefall at about 3pm, the superb thick blue ice shines like a jewel surrounded by granite and glistening snow. The time passed quickly and there were two more guided parties at the lake, who were training people at the gully and at the easier icefalls with top ropes. Once the shade of the setting sun caught us in the act, the temperatures plummeted quickly and we headed back to basecamp for a hot cup of noodle-soup and to start the evening festivities: snacks, food, more food, dessert, more chocolate and finally the coup de gras, Scottish honey whiskey - courtesy of Master Jason. Without a cloud in sight the cold long night enveloped us completely and it was time for Will and Roman to snuggle up.
Day three was full of anticipation, would the weather hold? We had too many awful trips to know that things can change quickly around the lake but the morning was equally stunning. Picture perfect sunrise against cloudless vistas – we were in luck this year. There was no wind either, which was quite rare and the air was cold, very cold, to produce the perfect ice. After a lavish morning meal with coffee, muesli powered by milk powder and the preparation of our daily ration of salami, cheese, lavash bread and sundried tomatoes with frozen green salad, we went back to the Amphitheatre across the frozen lake – careful to avoid the fissures in the ice that had formed overnight. Will had spotted an icy pool, which we managed to hack open with our axes to fill our water bottles for the day. Melting snow was time-consuming, but had to be done since all water around the lake was solid. |
Garmin GPX file of Guthega - Blue Lake Loop
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife! |
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| This time we headed to the left side of the Amphitheatre were the shadows were deeper and it was colder. The falls we found there were steep with two access ramps left and right. It was topped by a snow bridge that took three deep snow stakes as anchors. The perfect set up to tackle the steep slightly overhanging nose in the middle of the icefall. Once again we started the daily routine, lead the icefall establish the belay and then go for the steep stuff. Jason was keen and got the first send of the steepest part of the icefall: Jason’s Nose. Will followed quickly and Roman bashed his hand to a pulp somehow – with a big egg in the middle of his hand - so I had to easy off a little. Below us in the distance once again we watched the tour guides perform their work while the clouds whizzed past our heads high above. The winds were picking up again and the forecast for the next day was deteriorating. But, we were in our elements and the axes were taken their toll on the thick ice today. Once we punctured a huge water bubble above a beautiful horizontal sheet of ice andthe ensuing cascading waterfall pushes us back towards a different line. It was getting late in the day again and there was still a bit of skiing to do, so we headed back to camp – via an ice-yoga routine on the lake (ask Jason) - before the sun set completely. A quick coffee fix and we were off again to scale the Southern slopes surrounding Blue Lake leading up to the ridgeline for Carruthers Peak. From up here the last light of the day delivered with fierce gusts of wind beckoned us behind a rock with perfect reception. A few calls to the family and we had one single long downhill before us, delivered with the last rays of a glorious days. Waiting for us below were the tents and the freeze dry dinner. |
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time; |
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The fourth day dawned early with storm clouds on the horizon behind the lake, our streak of luck was about to run out so we decided to call the bluff and leave the magic behind to be reclaimed again in a different year. We shall be back was on our minds as we packed the tents and headed out of the wind tunnel that was the lake entrance. Alas as soon as we left the lake into the lee side of the mountain the sun hit us hard and temperatures began to soar. All of a sudden we were back amongst the snow gums glistening in silence amidst endless snowy alpine expanses. The silence was deafening and the skies and snow shoes did their job so elegantly. The return is always faster and before we knew it the snowy bridge came into view. Jason pushed on fast and we glanced back at a giant hill directly behind us shaped like a perfect wave. We donned our heavy packs in the deep snow and started to climb up this hill one last time, freed at last from the heavy packs for a brief moment in time. On top, the world seemed perfect, and there was just this one run uncarved below us - with the perfect powder. We dissolved on the way down with our spirit set free before the shackles of the pack and the weight of civilization was hoisted on our shoulders again. Really.
Jason made it back to Guthega in 3 hours and we followed one hour later. On the way through the final forest hill the track was littered with corpses sweating, laughing, exhausted in the heat as we passed them by ever so gently. We crossed the last bridge, climbed the last slope, and took the last selfie promising to return one fine day………………..soon. |
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again. |
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Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait. |
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Fuel Stove feedback and cooking utensils:
We were using the MSR XGK as our primary stove for this trip and instead of Shellite (WhiteGas) we used common Unleaded fuel for the first time straight from the petrol bowser. The result was not too bad: we had a lower flame that was less intense but still did the job. But one important lesson we learned was that the SeaToSummit collapsible X-Pot, took way too long for melting snow. As soon as we switched to the customary aluminum cooking pot the snow-melting took considerable less time. |
Roman 3 September 2019
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