We enjoyed a 20km hike in the Pilot Wilderness area of Kosciuszko National Park to get to see this fabulous old hut. I love all its rustic corrugated iron & slab timbers.
We knew that maintenance was going to be carried out on the hut the day we had planned our hike, but hoped to get there before the work crew arrived to be able to grab a few shots without people all over the place.
It was freezing cold when we set off at around 7.30am, but the day warmed up & we were rewarded with having the place to ourselves when we finally reached the hut, but only for about 1/2 an hour, and then the volunteer work crews arrived. Their project for the day was to replace the chimney. After a chat we left them to their work & started the hike back, which of course was all uphill & quite steep in parts.
I love hiking to these old huts in the Snowy Mountains, so visiting Cascades ticked off another hut from my list 😁
There are many of these types of huts throughout the snowy mountains region. Most were originally built by graziers for when their cattle would graze up in the mountains during the summer month's, giving them somewhere to stay. Many of them have been destroyed by bushfires over the years, with most being rebuilt/restored...usually by volunteer groups who look after certain huts. They are a historical thing that they want to preserve. During the winter months they are served as emergency places to take shelter during bad weather & snow storms. They are very basic inside, but serve well to get out of a storm. They are not meant to be used in non-emergency situations, so you cant just turn up thinking you'll spend the night there (most dont have beds, or if they do, theyre very primitive). You can camp in the clearing around the huts, but you can only walk to them, (most are quite a hike) so would have to carry everything in there @yaorenliu@ludwigsdiana
Ian