Clearing of Black river to Mt Shillinglaw AAWT

[ricknsue]

Hi,
I know this has been done to death, that is the condition of this section of the AAWT.
Does anyone know if there is a schedule to clear this section and, if so, we would like to assist.
The plan for us is to walk form Walhalla to Hotham, then Thredbo to Canberra in March/April next year. We did the middle section in Oct/Nov 2010 just when the drought broke.
Thanks

[Tofu_Imprint]

While I doubt there is a schedule to clear this section of the track any time soon, I too would be willing to help out.
So if you find out anything (or I do), then post it up here.
Cheers.

[ricknsue]

I have sent a request for information to the relevant authority, the name escapes me at the moment. Oh yeah the Australian alps National Parks web site.
They are trying to get info for me, when/if I find out I will post it.
I think if this government organisation promotes the AAWT, they should make some effort in either clearing it or providing track conditions.
And yes I appreciate this is a remote walk with few resources, it's just that to plan times etc requires information.

[ricknsue]

To all those interested I have had some success with the DSE and it looks as though this section will be cleared shortly.
Below is the communication from DSE.


Hi Ricky,

I have had an enquiry from yourself passed through to me by Anthony Evans regarding the Australian Alps Walking Track.

I am responsible for the section of the track that you were asking about. Up until recently much of the track through our district was overgrown with fire re-growth and incredibly difficult to follow.

We currently have a contractor working on clearing and re-opening the track between the Champion Spur Track and the Licola-Jamieson Road and then north through the Mt Skene Scenic Reserve all the way up to Mt McDonald. These works are about half way completed and due to be finished in 2-3 weeks. The track should be relatively clear and well-signed by the time you walk it.

If you would like some more detailed information closer to the time please feel free to give me a call on the number below.

Good luck!

Cheers, Jessica
_____________________________________
Jessica Cleaver
Forest Manager, Heyfield
Department of Sustainability and Environment

[north-north-west]

Well, whooppeeee. I was just about to post the same thing, as I've also been in touch with the authorities.

Not that the run from Low Saddle to MacDonald needs work apart from the very start of it. The ridge itself is easy walking.

[Tofu_Imprint]

Nice work guys thanks for sharing the information!

[avalon]

This is great news . I have Travelled over to the East from West Aust to walk on the AAWT three times since 2008 , I have manged to do an end to end from Canberra down to Walhalla and on that occasion when we got to the Jamieson Licola Rd we had to get a lift down to Licola and then another lift around to Fiddlers green and walk on from there .
On another walk from Walhalla we got to the Black River and had to walk up the N15 track to the Jamieson Licola Rd and then get a lift out
Bairnsdale and then up to Mt Hotham .
Our last walk was in Oct 2011 when we set out from the East Buffalo Rd heading for Walhalla ,it all went well until we tried to walk down
from Mt Shillinglaw to Black River , we got down a bit past where the the clearing contractor had stopped , and had to give up afer having my G P S ripped off its strap and being lost in the undergrowth my mate lost his camera and phone the same way and our arms were covered in blood from all of the scratches that we received from the bushes .
We walked back to the Jamieson Licola Rd and thumbed it down to Licola and then around to Traralagon ,on to the train and down to Melboune and flew back to W A .
I am a track maintenance volunteer for the Bibbulmun Track in W A ,and I see the great economic advantage to the State in the numbers of people that come from all over the World to walk the Track ,and the money that they spend while here . But to do it the track has to be useable , and is good that it is being upgraded .
Keep on walking.
Don

[north-north-west]

I wouldn't advise anyone to get too excited just yet.

I went up to Champion Spur Saturday night and checked out the track on Sunday. And I'm really not sure what the *&%$#! blue blazes is going on up there.
To begin with, the old route up the ancient ridgeline track that almost parallels the hillside road has not been - and does not seem likely to be - cleared or marked. It's followable although there are a couple of section made a bit awkward by treeflls. Also, Champion Spur Rd has been re-routed along part of the old track - possibly temporarily - as the hillside road has had a lot of storm damage and parts of the shoulder are collapsing, mainly right next to the largest treefalls. Plus, they've cut a short section of track from the old road up to the new one, and then back down again at a slightly different angle. Given that the current official route would appear to be along the old road, this is utterly illogical as it merely substitutes a 600m rough up and down for an almost level 500m road section.
CS1 is easy to follow however, and the stretch from there along the river to the old ford that joins CS2 and N15 has been cut and re-routed. It's a rough track, about a metre wide, all up and down and uneven, with a fair bit of loose ground, and it involves only one crossing until you hit N15. The marker there points at the river, but the old log dam crossing is unusable due to the massive growth of blackberries, and the rest of the riverside route has not yet been cut.
It looks like the track will continue along the river from CS2, crossing again about half a km downstream, but that's just a guess.
I had intended driving out to Shillinglaw that afternoon to check out that end but got sidetracked up Useful.

If anyone thinks about using what Chapman calls Champion Spur Link Track (ie CS2) instead, it's easier to stick on the ridgeline section of road until you get to the fork, follow the right hand line until it drops you down on the old hillside road, turn left (ie north) and follow it through a tunnel of scrub until you reach another fork with a rough campsite, which is marked CS2/CS3. Take the righthand track (CS2) and it's a lovely steep run down to the river. Better views from here than CS1.

Will be interesting to see how long it takes them to sort out the rest of the track. The Shillinglaw side of the river is hellishly thick.

[avalon]

Well ,
I do hope that they get it done by this coming October 2012 ,when we might give it another go , because at 67 years of age my time on the AAWT is running out real fast .
Keep on walking ,
Don

[ricknsue]

Thanks to everyone who has helped out with this topic, especially Jess from Parks. It does seem that this is just about the worst section to bash through, although that is not from personal experience. We have only done the Hotham to Thredbo section.
I have just heard from Parks that this section from Black river to the Licola road has been cleared and will be relatively easy to follow. That is follow, not walk.
If anyone is in the area in the next few weeks, could they pass the track condition on to this site? Thanks.
After we finish up by the end of April I will fill you in.
Cheers
Rick

[avalon]

Unfortunately the section from Catherine saddle to the Viking is nearly as bad .
Keep on walking
Don

[north-north-west]

Well, it's true. They really have fixed Shillinglaw. In fact, they've done a very, very good job of it, particularly considering the state that section was in this summer.

It's 4wd standard down to the saddle west of Shillinglaw itself (steep, rough and slippery but driveable if you aren't worried about the possibility of punctures or scratched paintwork), and then a 1m or more wide track over Lyrebird Hill (my new name for that lump to the west), down to and a short way along the river. Then over a log crossing and a little further along to CS2. The log itself is high - a good 2m at least above the river - and slippery if at all damp, so care needs to be taken with that crossing, but the only other issue is the probability that access to the log (or the riverbank below it) will soon be blocked by blackberry.
I still don't understand the routing on the Champion Spur side, but the contractors have managed to follow the old line down from Shillinglaw, which can't have been easy given the number of fallen trees.

If you're descending CS2 rather than taking the official route, keep an eye out on the left-hand side of the 4WD track when it flattens out a bit just above the river. There's a long tree trunk parallel to the track with a cairn on it, and markers on the tree behind that. Not massively obvious from that side but clear enough if you're coming up from the river.

Now, if they could just sort out the Sunday to Low Saddle section . . .

[anne3]

Thanks for the report, sounds great and i can't wait to check it out!!

[ricknsue]

[quote="north-north-west"]I wouldn't advise anyone to get too excited just yet.

It appears as though it is time to get excited.
Thanks for the clearing confirmation NNW.

[avalon]

Hi There,
We walked up from Low Saddle to Mt Sunday this last October 2011, and the track had been cleared then . We had no problems getting up .
Keep on walking
Don