Karen Schmidt, a descendant of early explorer William Hovell, was able to visit the commemorative cairn on the summit of Table Top Mountain with Rotary member Rob Simmons during the 200-year celebrations held in Albury on 16 and 17 November. Photo: Supplied.
The threat of ferocious weather forced organisers of the Hume and Hovell Table Top Mountain Charity Walk to reschedule the fundraising event to Sunday 1 December.
Originally planned for Sunday 17 November, organisers had to make the call to postpone the commemorative trek when foul weather was predicted.
Organiser Phil Rouvray said the safety of walkers was their main concern.
“We want people to enjoy the walk, but it was beyond that, it was a real safety issue to go ahead.
“On Friday morning we had forecasts of 40 ml of rain starting at 6 am and we had to make a decision early so we could get the message out.
“As it turned out there wasn’t a lot of rain but there was enough to make it unsafe up there, particularly coming back down on slippery tracks.
“The wind was pretty terrible and it would have been just ferocious up on top of the summit.”
Members of the Rotary Club of Albury North were on hand to greet people who hadn’t received the message via social media and other channels and only had to turn four vehicles around on the morning.
“I don’t think they were too disappointed to hear that it had been postponed because it really wasn’t much of a morning!” said Phil.
Organisers hope the new date will still attract walkers wanting to join the charity hike and also commemorate the 200th anniversary of the expedition of early explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hovell.
“It’s a shame we will have lost the momentum of the Hume and Hovell bicentennial and the immediacy of that but it’s not a deal breaker.
“The memorial plaque on the cairn will also remain the same; a year or two down the track people probably won’t remember the exact date the walk ended up taking place.”
Walkers who take part in the walk on 1 December will be able to place a rock in the cairn which commemorates Hamilton Hume and William Hovell’s trek to the top 200 years ago. Photo: Supplied.
The six-kilometre round trip can be accessed from the Olympic Highway (look for the Peregrines Reception Centre sign) and is expected to take walkers around three hours. It is suitable for moderately fit people with no mobility issues and children over six years old.
Phil said he hoped there was a good response to the new date.
“It’s hard to say if we have lost people or we’ll gain others.
“I think a lot of people make the decision on the day and on the 17th they probably looked at the weather that morning and just said ‘nup!’
“The new date will count some people out because they might have other things organised but there’ll also be others that can now come.
“It’s hard to know; it will just be a surprise, hopefully a good one, on the day.”
Phil admitted he didn’t look at the long-range forecast to see what Mother Nature had in store for 1 December.
“I only look a week ahead. What the forecast says two weeks ahead can be quite different when you get to the day, so I only really look at it closer to the time.
“Everything about the walk will remain the same.
“It might be a bit warmer being December so everyone should bring water but the fact that we are going early enough means they’ll get to the top before it really gets hot and then coming down is not a problem.”
The walk will raise money for the Albury Wodonga Cancer Centre Trust Inc which was chosen by the property owner Roger Paterson who lost his wife Elizabeth to breast cancer in 2021. Entry ranges from $25 per car to $50 per mini-bus or $100 for a coach.
For more information visit the Table Top Mountain Charity Walk on Facebook.
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