Wednesday 23/02/2022 Perisher Valley – Porcupine Rocks
Kosciuszko National Park, NSW
Ngarigo Country
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies
On our last trip this way we arrived at the Porcupine Rocks Track trailhead to find it closed for the day. National Parks had a helicopter ferrying in bags of gravel along the track for planned track work. Today we ran into two work parties each working on new metal grating behind tapped of sections we detoured around.
Max elevation: 1919 m
Total climbing: 281 m
Total descent: -281 m
Average speed: 3.39 km/h
Total time: 02:45:36
Plenty of clouds towards the east were about today as we started off with the forecast suggesting a couple of millimetres were possible in the afternoon.
This walk starts off at the end of the road opposite the ski tube terminal. The Carpark is located next to Perishers water supply dam, the track crossing the dams earthen wall.
The first section of the track provides views back over the village and resort slopes. As you climb up higher you can also spy many of the main range peaks.
Part way towards Porcupine Rock there is a sign posted track which links back to the Perisher Nordic Ski Trails.
It was pleasantly cool for walking today and we were happy to take our time after yesterdays energetic 21km return walk to Cascade Hut. The coolness kept any March Flies and other insects away today, we saw far fewer butterflies than the last couple of days. Also not as many wildflowers but a few in their prime.
View south from Porcupine Rocks
Once up to Porcupine Rocks we spent a little time wandering amongst as the clouds banked up on the edge of the ridge they top. Whilst we still had views to the main range we could only see clouds on the Thredbo Valley side. We encountered a greyish coloured, 30cm snake amongst the rocks, it was so keen to get away from us I wasn’t fast enough to grab a photo.
On our return walk both work parties had ceased work, as it was now raining lightly, it did however, stop long enough before getting back to the car for us to be nearly dry again.
Any ideas we had of a second walk for the day were cancelled as it commenced raining as we had lunch. It rained all afternoon, at times very heavily.
A great short walk.
Information on NSW National Parks signage along the way
Porcupine Track – 5km return
This walk gradually climbs up through open snowgum woodland and herbfields to the granite boulders known as Porcupine Rocks. From there you can enjoy spectacular views over Thredbo River valley.
Snowgums are the dominant tree species here. Among the many shrubs are the fragrant alpine mint bushes, pepper bush and alpine grevillea in the drier areas and candle heath, sphagnum moss and swamp heath in the wetter sites.
The track steadily climbs to an altitude of about I 900 metres, the beginning of the alpine zone. As you go higher notice how it gets colder, trees disappear and other plants decrease in size.
The track crosses the old Kosciuszko Road, the route used by stockmen taking cattle and sheep to the alpine area.
The large dandelion-like flower is the yam daisy. Aboriginal people ate the nutritious bulk (meewan) of this plant.
Small native fish, galaxias, survive in streams such as Rock Creek. In other areas introduced trout now dominate.
The small holes among the snow-grass tussocks are probably wolf spider
Burrough, alpine funnel web also live here.
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