More often than not, the Hunt 1000 route passes by Selwyn Snow Resort along the Selwyn Trail. Why? Because it’s one of the gateways to the bikepacking Mecca of the Jagungal Wilderness.
Most winters this area of Kosciuszko National Park is too snowy-covered to ride through, which leads bikepackers to seek out the lower region of the national park, Long Plain. This year, however, that area is closed for pest management (aka Brumby Culling) which had me thinking that I wouldn’t be able to achieve a Kosciuszko winter campout this year.
After a few postponed campouts, I finally locked down two days to head into the mountains. I wasn’t sure what the snow conditions would be, so I packed my bike hoping for rideable trails, with a backup plan of car camping if the Selwyn Trail was impassable. As I approached Kiandra and the road to Selwyn Snow Resort, things were looking good; aside from a few snowy peaks, much of the area was dry and clear and I pulled into the car park confident that I would be pedalling.
Selwyn Snow Resort was heavily fire damaged in the 2020 bushfires and has only recently reopened. Low levels of early-season snowfall meant that there was only a thin strip of snow at the resort with a small spattering of skiers enjoying the slope. It might be small, but the new building is pretty nice and I can see us bringing the kids here for some easy skiing once more snow has fallen.
My intended route was one I had ridden during the Hunt 1000 a few years ago and follows Selwyn Trail east of the car park, turning into Tabletop Mountain Trail after a few kilometres. As I’m still recovering from knee surgery, I’d planned to just ride the 5 or 6km to Four Mile Hut, with a potential side trip to Broken Dam Hut.
Like Selwyn Snow Resort, Four Mile Hut was also fire damaged and has only recently been rebuilt. With two new buildings bookending the route and one main trail to follow, navigation was easy and you can see why it’s a popular hiking route. Within minutes of pedalling away from the ski resort, you descend a small tree-lined descent and emerge into an open plain that showcases the magic of the area. Blessed with clear skies, I had an unrivalled view across to the snow-capped figure of Mount Jagungal. My ride had barely begun, but already I was satisfied.
All too soon I had turned off the main trail towards Four Mile Hut and another smile spread across my face as I came out of the trees upon the hut and its valley. Four Mile Hut is a cute, wooden structure and the burnt remains are of the old hut are located just nearby. There’s plenty of flat ground to pitch a tent or two and Four Mile Creek was running cleanly (and icily) through the valley.
I set up camp, had a quiet evening and called it an early night. During the early hours I heard the sounds of snowfall outside and I eagerly awaited sunrise to see how the landscape had changed. Opening my tent door, I was treated to a full on dusting of snow, transforming the whole valley and presenting a crisp clean view.
The ride back to the car was very cold, but the light was beautiful. Being so cold, the snowfall was dry and powdery, rather than the wet snow I’ve experienced in the past. Halfway back, I stumbled upon a mob of brumbies grazing the frozen ground, their fluffy winter coats were dusted white and rather than bolting, they curiously approached me. After stopping to enjoy their company, I continued on, returning to the car incredibly satisfied from my short, snowy and hugely enjoyable bikepacking overnighter in the snow.
