Anyone planning for the AAWT this year?

[AWTtrekker]

Hi all, looking forward to the AAWT this year, planning a mid-October departure. Just wondering if anyone else out there is also planning to be out and about around then.

I am in the midst of filling a couple of storage containers with food and about to start sorting it in to daily ration packs, sourcing some drums and readying them for drops in early spring.

[anne3]

I am planning AAWT from north to south, leaving in late October. It will be my second attempt, having walked from Canberra to Mt Howitt in 2010. As I live close to Walhalla, I will be doing food drops on the way up to Canberra. Getting excited already!!

[bigkev]

Hi Guys,

I'm planning on leaving mid October heading north for around 6 to 7 weeks. I might tweak my leaving date a little when I see what winter brings in the way of snow.

Hopefully I'll see you guys out there somewhere:)

[AWTtrekker]

Hey Bigkev we will probably be tracking around the same time. At this stage I go on leave from work around the 14th October so looking to leave within that following week. We are also heading North. It will be myself, my father and a couple of hiking friends from way back. I wonder if it would be worth linking up in some way to get food drops in since it sounds like we have an almost identical timeframe(we are also looking at around 7 weeks)? We have a pretty comprehensive plan in place including an idea of where we plan to put food drops if you are interested.

[bigkev]

Hi AWTrekker,
My partner is going to meet me at Hotham and Thredbo and I'm going to do the food drops for the next sections from there. I'm happy to help for the first section, at this stage I'm thinking of Fiddlers Green and somewhere near the fire track below Mt Speculation. Mt Spec will be a little work as the fire track generally doesn't open until the Friday before Melb Cup Day so I'll have to ride in on my mountain bike to place the food drop. If there's anything I can help with feel free to get in contact.
Cheers Kevin

[Xplora]

As Kev has mentioned, there are a number of tracks which cannot be accessed until after the seasonal closure period. You cannot rely on these gates opening before cup weekend either. Last year many were closed for extended periods and Speculation Road was closed a few years back for months longer due to fallen trees. It is not a very nice road to ride a mountain bike on either. I met someone who had just done it with a pack and spent more time walking. If possible, I would advise dropping food off before the closures in June or avoid seasonally closed tracks altogether. For most people without a 4WD this is the only option anyway apart from a mountain bike. If you stay at the Glen Wills retreat for a night then you can post your food drop there and get a lift up the hill to start the track again.

[AWTtrekker]

Thanks we have looked pretty carefully at our drop locations. At this stage I think we have tweaked it out to 5 drops, most of which are at or close to junctions with very accessible roads(such as the Omeo Hwy).

[Maxwell Brae]

I am planning on walking Southbound from Camberra starting in Early november, should cross paths with you guys near the end of your walks!
How many food drops are you all planning? I am hoping to do as few as possible and am think one every 100-150km roughly

[AWTtrekker]

We have settled on five. All but one are close to all weather roads and the last we are currently in discussions to arrange access.

Rumpff Saddle
Hotham Heights
Omeo Hwy
Spur Campsite(Alpine Hwy)
Kiandra

These are recommended in additional track notes put out by Chapman.

Our plan at this stage is to get the drops in during the week of the 15-22nd October and then to depart the following week from Walhalla

[oyster_07]

I have uploaded a post-activity report & review for my south-to-north AAWT of November 2016. It is available at http://www.facebook.com/AAWT2016.


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[anne3]

Great work and thanks for sharing.

[AWTtrekker]

Wow Oyster, you really smashed through the kilometres! We are taking a more leisurely pace, allowing for a lot of side trips and time to just explore.

[bigkev]

Thanks for sharing oyster_07. Looks like you had a great trip. I think I'll probably be out there for twice the time you were

[oyster_07]

Thanks for sharing oyster_07. Looks like you had a great trip. I think I'll probably be out there for twice the time you were

Thanks Kev,
It's the experience and not the speed that count.


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