Katomba to Mittagong - Day 2
Lake Birrell to Catholic Bushwalker's Hut
- 19.3 km
- 8 hours 2 mins
- Total ascent 684m
- Total descent 943m
This days walk was in 3 parts:
- Lake Birell to Cox’s River
- Along Cox’s River and up Mt Cookem
- Top of Mt Cookem to the Catholic Bushwalker’s Hut.
The walk from Lake Birell started along a fire trail that took us most of the way to the Cox’s river. Once you get near the Cox’s river you leave the fire trail and follow what used to be a track down to the Cox’s river, east of the junction with the Kowmung River. In 2008 there was a track from this point down to the Cox’s. This track is long gone, and we had a steep and slightly thick bush bash to the bottom of the hill. Once we were on the Cox’s River you get good views of the river and the surrounding mountains.
This is me at the point where you leave the fire trail and bush bash down the hill to Cox’s River.
We then walked along the Coxs River to the base of Mt Cookem. At 563 metres, Mt Cookem is a steep, energy-sapping climb. The day had turned warm by this stage, so I took my time making my way up the mountain.
As I climbed, I found myself reminiscing about the two previous occasions I had tackled Mt Cookem. Both times, I had been dragging a mountain bike and camping gear up the hill. In hindsight, that seems like a pretty remarkable achievement. There used to be a fairly well-defined track up the mountain. These days, I would describe it as little more than “a negotiable route”. There were occasional signs of a track, but you needed to keep your wits about you to stay on it. Like most mountain tracks, it became easier to follow near the summit.
We reached the top of Mt Cookem at about 1:30 pm and stopped for a quick, late lunch before setting off on the 9 km walk along a well-groomed fire trail to the Catholic Bushwalkers Hut.
I had stayed at the Catholic Bushwalkers Hut before, and they usually keep a hut open for passing bushwalkers. However, as it was Easter, we weren’t confident there would be space available. When we arrived, we were told the hut was already occupied, but we were invited to camp on the grounds and use the facilities, which was very generous.
As we were setting up our tents, a couple of campers wandered over to say hello. I immediately recognised one of them as a former PwC colleague.
The Hill profile tells the story. A long descent along a fire trail to get close to the Cox’s River then a short steep descent through the bush. A walk along the Cox’s (the low point) followed by the steep climb up Mt Cookem and then a long downward sloping fire trail walk to the Catholic Bushwalkers Hut.
