Planning for the AAWT top to bottom this Christmas

[Mutley]

Hi all,

Im doing the full AAWT this Christmas walking North South. I hope to use the immense knowledge base of the many wise and experienced bushwalkers on this great forum (hoping flattery = free advice ) ) I have just started planning the itinerary. I have planned 5 food drops at Kiandra, Thredbo, Taylors crossing, Falls Ck and Rumph Saddle. I am planning on 38 days with a rest day at each ski resort. The leg from Falls to Rumph is a concern. I have planned 10 days, which, for me, is a huge food weight. Does anyone know of an accessible food drop location between these points ? Most of the intersecting roads seem to be 4wd only - probably not suitable for a soft roader Ford Kuga. I am doing the food drop run Cup weekend, so any location needs to be open and driveable by this time.

Thanks for the help.

[jjoz58]

What dates are you going? I'm heading north Mt Hotham to Tharwa in Nov/Dec. I'm putting a drop in every 4 days because I can't be bothered carrying a heap of food. Nth - Sth drops at Mt Wills, Mitta Mitta river, Limestone Cr/Tr juct, Thredbo, Tolbar Rd and Blue Waterholes. I do have a 4x4 though.

I've been told the Long Plains Rd to the Blue Waterholes is standard car, it turns off the Snowy Mountains Hwy. You can also reach the junction of the Port Phillip Firetrail and AAWT from this road buts it about 2.4km on foot if you can't get the car in.

[silicon]

Congratulations on your undertaking, it's a great walk. I'm getting itchy feet to do it once more.

Your itinerary of 38 days is approximately equal to John Chapman's 35 day plan (http://www.john.chapman.name/vic-alpt.html) as it has no rest days included.

The location of your food drops is fine. The 10 day schedule from Falls Creek to Rumpff seems excessive though. I would expect 7 to 8. Obviously you can access the AAWT at Mt Hotham as this is 1.5-2 days from Hotham. You could get to around Mt Skene in a 2WD as well if you felt it necessary. John's schedule is pretty well on the money for days per section listed.

[Mark F]

I agree with Mutley - more drops = less weight but it really depends on how much time you have to do the drops. For the section from to Mt Hotham to Rumpf Saddle I planned drops at the turn off from the Mt Hotham road to Mt St Bernard (easy to hide just off the road) and McAlister Springs (short walk in).

Being based in Canberra I put in drops at:
Orroral River - I only carried lunch and dinner for the 1st day.
Ghost Gully camp - very quick drive in from the Long Plain Road rather than Blue Waterholes - I drive a standard 2wd.
Kiandra - next time I would walk the drop in from the Mt Selwyn ski resort to the AAWT (about 2km)
Thredbo
Cowombat Flat track (just above Limestone Creek which appeared to be serious 4wd access)
As commented in another thread the Taylors Crossing gets a lot of visitation including people with dogs so I would suggest a drops at the crossing of the Benambra-Corryong Road and another at the Omeo Highway after climbing out of Gill Ck on the way to Mt Wills.

[GPPJ]

Very interesting all this talk of drops. What containers or packaging do you use - any comments on pros and negatives?
I was fantasing that I could do a long walk and using the Yellow Brick tracker and SMS messages, a designated family member could bring food (and anything else needed) up to a meeting point.

[Mark F]

You will find that it takes a few days to do the drops but this may be more efficient than organising family members to do several face to face resupplies. For you, based in Canberra, each resupply south of Thredbo will take a very long day or more if you do them on demand. The road system is not conducive to easy flitting from one drop site to the next with a lot of dirt and right corners. An option that might work well would be to:
- Two day trip - Barry Way - Limestone Ck - Benambra - Omeo etc to cover the middle third of the walk.
- Day trip to Namadgi and Kiandra area just before you set off.
- A face to face resupply at Falls Creek or Hotham. You take 1 or 2 rest days to put in the drops for the last leg through to Walhalla with your family member. Family member picks up remains of used drops on way home. This is a 3 day trip for the family member but also limits the cleanup if you decide to abandon at Hotham.
- Post a resupply to Thredbo if not done on the day trip to Kiandra.

Generally it is best to use 10 - 20 litre steel drums with clip or press on lids (old paint tins etc) - nothing other than humans can get in. You need about 2 liters of capacity per person per day. Stick the drum in a green garbage bag for a bit of camouflage and hide well away from roads and paths in a shady location. Make sure you know where it is (gps location - maybe a photo or 2)

[GPPJ]

Now that NP facilities will be vastly modernised with the advent of the camping fee revenue, what about some lockable bins to dump rubbish aswellas a locker to stash your food for the next leg?
[ pops another prozac ]

[north-north-west]

Mt Selwyn (or the crossing of Selwyn Creek Rd) or the track crossing on the Rileys Creek Rd would both be accessible in your Kuga that time of year (baring disasters). Anything else practical between Hotham and Rumpff is 4WD or walk-in.

[Mutley]

What dates are you going? I'm heading north Mt Hotham to Tharwa in Nov/Dec

Planning on leaving mid November.

[Mutley]

Very interesting all this talk of drops. What containers or packaging do you use - any comments on pros and negatives?

I am planning to use 20 litre paint cans, the ones with the lock ring. I bought them new for $7.00 each. Plastic may be easier but I'm concerned about rodents chewing into my stash. I have such a tin buried in the vegie garden right now. It has been there for 4 weeks and contains some salami, flat bread and dehy meals. We are exhuming the contents tomorrow morning, to make sure this method works. Might feed the salami to the dog first. If she is sick, theres no way I will touch it

[jjoz58]

Very interesting all this talk of drops. What containers or packaging do you use - any comments on pros and negatives?

I'm using 20lt metal drums as well. Taking three days to place out caches and then back to Canberra. I have a mate who will then drive me to Mt Hotham and pick me up at Tharwa at the end. Then a couple of days to pick up caches and rubbish and back to Brisbane.

Leaving Mt Hotham on the 16th Nov so may run into you along the way.

[madmacca]

Using Mt Hotham as your supply drop rather than Falls will trim a couple of days off your load out to Rumpff.

I also agree with the suggestion of Benambra-Corryong Rd over Taylors Crossing as a drop point. TC is a very popular campsite in summer, and there is not all that much space to conceal the drop as it is sandwiched in between farmland, with a much greater likelihood of your drop being disturbed.

Kiandra, Thredbo, BC Rd, Hotham, Rumpff Saddle will give you pretty much 110 km between each drop.

[wildlight]

Hey Mutley
One option I'd be considering, is putting a drop at or near Macalister Springs. It's an easy walk (flat- less than 90 mins) from a 2wd road which will be open for the time you plan on doing the drop. If you don't want to walk in and bury the cache, perhaps bury it much close to the road (Howitt Rd) at Macalister Springs Carpark- and just walk out from Macalister Springs when you are there- and collect! That's also a good spot for face-to-face meets. You'd likely get your Ford to Low Saddle- but the other options are easier drives.

With sufficient notice, I could meet you in the area with anything you needed. We just came back from upper Howqua now, snow was sitting at 900 meters after the massive weather event a few days ago.

Cheers

WildLight

[Mutley]

Thanks everyone for the great input. The reason I considered a food drop at Falls, is I am planning a rest day there. But I can still place a food drop at Hotham, or maybe just south. This will give me a good split between Hotham/Rumph and Walhalla of approx 5-7 days for each leg.

I have heard Falls is much better than Hotham for a rest day, as Hotham is virtually a ghost town over summer. Any other opinions ?

I am thinking of a bush food drop near the intersection of the Great Alpine Road and Twins Track, near Mt St Bernard. This means I can walk straight through Hotham, without wasting time diverting to the post office or general store.

I do appreciate the offer Wildlight and your suggestion. However, I think I'II stick to Rumph for a food drop, which seems to be easily accessible.

[CoolBreeze]

You might consider Murrays Hut site as a food drop option, it’s accessible down the Twins Track off the Great Alpine Rd, takes ~40min to drive and makes it a 105.7km section from Murrays -to- Rumpff Saddle. While the first bit of dirt toward Mt St Bernard appears steep-ish the Kuga would be fine, past that the rest is an easy drive.

As for tubs, I've used those 20lt plastic tubs for the last few AAWT trips and have not had any problems with rodents getting to the food.

For a summer time trip you might want to consider water drops for this section too, it’s a difficult section for finding reliable water. While the water tanks help a lot through the Dry Barry's, there are a number of soaks and springs through this section which can dry up as they're reliant on recent/prior seasonal rain fall.

[Mutley]

I have heard Falls is much better than Hotham for a rest day, as Hotham is virtually a ghost town over summer. Any other opinions ?

I am thinking of a bush food drop near the intersection of the Great Alpine Road and Twins Track, near Mt St Bernard. This means I can walk straight through Hotham, without wasting time diverting to the post office or general store.

Any comments on Summer Hotham Accommodation or alternatively a food drop in the bush near Mt Saint Bernard ?

[north-north-west]

St Bernard would be a good area. Easier to find a hidden spot where you can stash everything without being seen.

[jjoz58]

I'm booked into the Dinner Plains Hotel, but I'm starting in Mt Hotham and heading north. It was just about the only reasonable place I could find that had dinner and breakfast.

[Mark F]

There are usually a few lodges open for accommodation in Hotham over summer and restaurants. My partner organised a stay when I finished at Hotham. Do a bit of ringing around before you leave.

As for a drop where the track to Mt St Bernard leaves the main road. On the eastern side of the main road uphill from the turnoff there are a couple of hundred metres of steep drop off with low gums and shrubs with a lip formed by the road makers when they built a long gravelled pull off area. I just hid my drop just over edge of the lip well camouflaged and shaded under one of the gums.

[Mutley]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm having seconds thoughts about staying at Falls. There may be more facilities open, but it adds 14 Kays to the trip and I still need a food drop in or near Hotham. At the end of the day, all I want is a bed, someone to wash my clothes, cooked meals and a few ales. I'm really not worried if there's no one around. Jjoz thanks for the tip. I will call them today.

[jjoz58]

Check and see if you can leave a cache at the Dinner Plains Hotel if your going to book there. I know the Alpine lodge at Thredbo will.

[CoolBreeze]

If you're thinking of stopping in Hotham then I can recommend The General. I've stayed on previous AAWT trips and while it's not the cheapest there it's great accommodation, they've a washing machine and dryer in the room, do a good steak and have beer, they've a mini-supermarket and they'll store your food-drop too.

[Mutley]

Ok. I've made a decision. Stay at Falls, but food drop south of Hotham, at mt St. Bernard. The only decision now is QT Apartments or Falls Creek Country Club. The latter is a bit cheaper but seems older. But after 2 weeks on a thermarest anything with solid walls is a bonus. I checked out the general, at Hotham but it's a bit small. As I'm not booking a fixed night, I'm worried they may not have a room for the nights I want when I turn up.

[jjoz58]

How's your pack wt going. I have got mine down to 13.82 kg with my Osprey Xenith (heavy pack), with 5 days rations and 1.5lt of water. Thinking seriously about getting the Arc Blast which would get me down to under 12.1kg. I like the Xenith because it is so comfortable, but hard to justify the addition wt. Looking ahead to the AT next year so I want to get that wt down.

[Mutley]

How's your pack wt going. I have got mine down to 13.82 kg with my Osprey Xenith (heavy pack), with 5 days rations and 1.5lt of water. Thinking seriously about getting the Arc Blast which would get me down to under 12.1kg. I like the Xenith because it is so comfortable, but hard to justify the addition wt. Looking ahead to the AT next year so I want to get that wt down.

Wow, that's fairly light with food and water. My target pack weight without food or water is at 10 kgs, using an Osprey Atmos 65. This will decrease slightly if I go for the Osprey Exos, or increase if I choose a one Planet WBA. I currently own a OP Macmillan, which is a supremely comfortable pack but at 3 kgs, is too heavy. I also plan to upgrade to a OP Coocoon bag, at 800 g. I currently own an Exped comfort 600, at 1250 g. A link to my pack list is below.

https://www.icloud.com/iw/#numbers/BAIs ... list_rev_1

Feel free to pm me to discuss preparation etc,

Cheers,

[Eljimberino]

Hi. I am planning on this walk S-N starting just after new years. Will check this thread from time to time. Cheers

[Eljimberino]

Is everyone using walking poles on the AAWT?

[anne3]

For future reference for other walkers.
We stayed at Hotham at Trapdoor lodge, I contacted them via their web site and arranged to stay there.
We also posted our food drop to The General (Pub/shop) and they were happy for us to do that.
We had meals at The General and found it a great place.

[Mutley]

Yes, walking poles are a must imho, but others will disagree.

[Travis22]

Going out on a limb but I think using hiking poles to a degree would have a strong relationship to the age of the walker(s).

I've hit 30 and I'm out shopping for hiking sticks

I wouldn't consider doing it now without them, 5 years ago I'd never consider buying them.

Travis.