Yak and Back
Map, source: https://www.ridehighcountry.com.au/rail-trails/murray-to-mountains/
Two of us set out from Canberra on Friday evening and met up with the third in Albury city where we ate 3 pizzas and two HSPs. From here we drove out to Yakandandah and stayed at a nice campground just out of town. I spent my first night in a bivy and was surprisingly warm. The other two nearly froze to death in an $1200 Hubba Hubba.
Useless.
We went back into town and parked the car, got out of the car, got the bikes out of the car, got the bags out of the car, got the stuff into the bags, and got the bags on the bike. We then ate two pies each and set off!
The trail is beautifully paved the whole way, and takes you through some stunning scenery. It’s quite apparrent in some spots that you’re following the exact line of the old railway line.
This is living.
After Beechworth, we went down a long descent, concerningly long given the fact we would have to ascend it at some point on the way back to the car. We passed through several towns, stopping for lunch in Myrtleford where we had some excellent sandwiches. It was here we decided to push at least to Bright, and some of the way back.
We got to the railway museum in Bright, which was shut. As a consolation, we did get this photo.
Victorian high country or Japanese orchard?
We had another meal in Myrtleford, stopping to eat burgers and witness some of the worst public restrooms I have ever attended. Surprising myself, we pushed further and made it all the way back to Everton. This made this my longest single day of cycling at just over 100 miles.
Um, technically this was the first time we went to Everton.
The next day we woke up, had the world famous Everton milkshake, and grinded our way back up the climb into Beechworth. We finished our trip back where we started, eating pumpkin pies from the pie shop in Yak.
This whole trip felt very much like what cycling in Europe was like. Would highly recommend this to others and I think I’ll definitely be back.