huts, huts & huts! - by michelle

'The Australian Alps has around two hundred historic huts. With some dating from the 1860s, the huts come from every era of European history in the Australian Alps. They were built for simple shelter by graziers, gold miners, foresters, government workers, skiers and bushwalkers.' – theaustralianalps.wordpress.com

Valentine Hut, Main Range Kosciuszko

My obsession with huts started back in 2013 when I first stayed at Federation hut next to Mt. Feathertop. Such an eye-opener when I realised that there were potential shelters other than a tent which came with a fireplace to keep warm/dry gear, (there’s always something damp) often a water tank and sometimes toilets. So much luxury.  

I then found out there are huts which are difficult to find. Even MORE exciting! Often these huts were built a long time ago for some ye-olde reason and have since become superfluous, so no one goes there anymore and the track overgrows as a result.  

Four Mile Hut, AKA Hughes Hut

Kosciuszko Huts Association (KHA) is a fantastic database, and one of my favourite sites, as you can puruse all the huts of the high country. My favourite part is when the description says ‘difficult to find’ followed by thrilling buzz words like ‘rock scramble’ or ‘dense scrub’. The next step is to look up blogs to see what people’s experiences are of finding the hut. There is nothing more exciting than seeing ‘3rd attempt to find the hut, still no luck’. 

I suppose at this point you might think that I have a problem? But hear me out; it’s really just one big Easter egg hunt, with the reward shelter and usually a nice place to camp. Sometimes there’re historical artefacts in there and a log book so you can see how few people have found it. 

Here's my list, I've ticked off a few:
Cairn Creek Hut
Teddy’s Hut
Opera House
Jan’s Hut
NBW Hut