A THIN blanket of snow has been captured in the Hunter's highest country.
Keen explorers from the Barrington Tops Snow Chasers group made the trip into Barrington Tops in the hope a drop in temperatures could yield results.
Despite many believing the cold weather would fall short due to a lack of moisture, those willing to make the trip were vindicated.
Hallidays Point’s Ben Atkinson jumped in the car with wife Melinda and daughters Grace, 11, and Hannah, 8, for the “couple of hours” to the high country.
The result was Hannah’s first snow sighting, deep enough for her to make a few snowballs.
“When we first got there it was just a bit of ice on the ground but by the time we left there was a good non-uniform sort of coverage,” Mr Atkinson said.
“That’s the first time we’ve actually come across [snow up there].”
“Even if there's no snow it's still not a bad place to go and barbecue a sausage.”
Mr Atkinson said there were numerous other snow chasers around during his trip, including several who appeared less than prepared for the cold.
“One guy was wearing shorts and thongs,” Mr Atkinson said.
Dale Risky, a snow chaser who shared dozens of photos on Saturday night, made the trip a bit later than the Atkinsons.
Mr Risky said he caught his shots between 1pm and 3pm and predicted even more snow could arrive with overnight lows.
Most of his images show the area between the main road and Junction Pool.
“I didn't expect as much snow cover at that time of day, but as we got closer to the top the snow coverage was better,” he said.
“By the end of out trip it was probably up to three inches thick all over the ground in the high parts.
“The wind chill factor left me with the impression that it might continue to snow overnight.
“We left Polblue at 4:15pm, it was still zero degrees and felt like about minus eight [with] wind chill.”
Some snow remained on the ground close to midnight on Saturday, some snow chasers reported, but the falls were expected to dwindle from dawn on Sunday.
Newcastle Herald
