Water on the AAWT

[Mr Bean]

Nick and Carolyn - hope you're going well if you're still out there! Or had a great time if you've already made it to Hotham.

Hi Sarah,
We had to bail out at Mac Springs and head down Howitt Spur, where my brother picked us up. We mis-calculated a day of hiking and we were traveling slower than we had anticipated (10-12km per day, rather than 14-16km). It would have worked out that we had the last day without food. Considering the calories we were going through, and the unpredictability of the situation, we took the safe option. We will be back around Easter to complete it (King Billy to Hotham).

A great learning experience as it was.
Cheers,
Nick

[Mutley]

Hi team,


Looking for an up to date water report for the AAWT from Thredbo to Kiandra. Specifically:

Anton Anderson Saddle - Camp Creek
Whites River Hut - Munyang River
Valentines Hut - Valentine Creek
O’Keefes Hut - Hut Creek
Happys Hut - Happy Jacks Creek
Nine Mike Creek, South of Four Mile Hut Jcn.

We are leaving in the next 3 weeks.

Thanks in advance.

[Lophophaps]

Anton Anderson Saddle - Camp Creek: There should be water in the gully to the east. I've found Main Range water in green season by going downhill from ridges a short way. This is exposed, so look for tent sites on the east side.

Whites River Hut - Munyang River: There are two creeks closer to the hut than the river. The best spot to get over the one coming from the GPS road is to the right facing the hut. If coming from the Rolling Ground you have to cross this creek near the hut. Consider staying high to Dicky Cooper Bogong and descending to Schlink Pass. This route has less descending, less climbing and much better views. There's reliable water and exposed camp sites near Dicky Cooper Bogong. From DCB go eastish then when the plateau falls away go SE, east and then NE, more or less. If you head east then you will hit rocks, not that nice.

Valentine Hut - Valentine Creek: Always running.

O’Keefes Hut - Hut Creek: Always running, and like Valentines take a wine cask or similar as the water is a a little distant. This comment probably applies to most places.

Happys Hut - Happy Jacks Creek. Always running, a minute from the hut.

Nine Mike Creek, South of Four Mile Hut Jcn.: Always running, tent spots close to the creek.This could be a frost hollow. Four Mile Hut valley is very cold as well. Consider camping higher, even if you have to cart water a short way up the next hill.

[Lophophaps]

Anton Anderson Saddle - Camp Creek: There should be water in the gully to the east. I've found Main Range water in green season by going downhill from ridges a short way. This is exposed, so look for tent sites on the east side.

Whites River Hut - Munyang River: There are two creeks closer to the hut than the river. The best spot to get over the one coming from the GPS road is to the right of the 4WD track facing the hut. If coming from the Rolling Ground you have to cross this creek near the hut. Consider staying high to Dicky Cooper Bogong and descending to Schlink Pass. This route has less descending, less climbing and much better views. There's reliable water and exposed camp sites near Dicky Cooper Bogong. From DCB go eastish then when the plateau falls away go SE, east and then NE, more or less. If you head east then you will hit rocks, not that nice.

Valentine Hut - Valentine Creek: Always running.

O’Keefes Hut - Hut Creek: Always running, and like Valentines take a wine cask or similar as the water is a a little distant. This comment probably applies to most places.

Happys Hut - Happy Jacks Creek: Always running, a minute from the hut.

Nine Mike Creek, South of Four Mile Hut Jcn.: Always running, tent spots close to the creek.This could be a frost hollow. Four Mile Hut valley is very cold as well. Consider camping higher, even if you have to cart water a short way up the next hill.

[Mutley]

Awesome, thanks Lopophaps

[Mutley]

Anton Anderson Saddle - Camp Creek: There should be water in the gully to the east. I've found Main Range water in green season by going downhill from ridges a short way. This is exposed, so look for tent sites on the east side.

Whites River Hut - Munyang River: There are two creeks closer to the hut than the river. The best spot to get over the one coming from the GPS road is to the right of the 4WD track facing the hut. If coming from the Rolling Ground you have to cross this creek near the hut. Consider staying high to Dicky Cooper Bogong and descending to Schlink Pass. This route has less descending, less climbing and much better views. There's reliable water and exposed camp sites near Dicky Cooper Bogong. From DCB go eastish then when the plateau falls away go SE, east and then NE, more or less. If you head east then you will hit rocks, not that nice.

Valentine Hut - Valentine Creek: Always running.

O’Keefes Hut - Hut Creek: Always running, and like Valentines take a wine cask or similar as the water is a a little distant. This comment probably applies to most places.

Happys Hut - Happy Jacks Creek: Always running, a minute from the hut.

Nine Mike Creek, South of Four Mile Hut Jcn.: Always running, tent spots close to the creek.This could be a frost hollow. Four Mile Hut valley is very cold as well. Consider camping higher, even if you have to cart water a short way up the next hill.

Water at Anton Anderson Saddle is my only concern. JC book shows water from the valley draining into Pound Ck East of the saddle, but is Albina lake an option ? Or does Pound Creek flow all year ?

[Zapruda]

Lop is bang on.

Water inbetween Tate and Anton was sparse 3 weeks ago. Dropping down low I was able to find a trickle. Pounds creek runs all year and is cold and delicious. There is reliable water down toward the Sentinel and off either side of Twynam and Lil Twynam saddle (east is Pounds creek).

Was at Happys hut this weekend and there was plenty of water in the creek.

[Mutley]

Thanks guys

[IDP]

I'd be looking at dropping some water in at Fiddlers Green or over towards Mt Victor. It will be a big climb up from the Black River and there won't be any reliable water till you get down to the bottom of Victor Spur (Red Jacket).

There is a cabin on Short Spur Track just near Fiddlers Green with an outside water tank.

How reliable is this cabin's water supply? Is it a private cabin?

I remember reading somewhere (can't remember where exactly) of an AAWT walker who bunked in the night in this hut. They seemed to infer that it was a private structure.

I'm in planning phase for S-N AAWT trip for spring 2020 and was considering whether I should put in a water/food drop on Walhalla Rd, so this information would be helpful in this regard.

[sunshine]

Hi IDP,

I can't specifically answer your questions about hut ownership or water supply reliability but I can confirm that in November 2017, on our S-N walk, we picked up water from the tank and it was full. From memory, the area around the hut would have been fine for camping but we carried water the last km or so to Fiddler's Green.

[IDP]

Many thanks for that info

[north-north-west]

The hut near Fiddler's Green was built by a bunch of hunters and is technically private, but they built it with the premise of allowing respectful access to facilities such as water by those in need. The original intent was that half the hut would be open to members of the public, and the other half locked and restricted to shooters with keys. I don't know if that practice has been maintained.

[phil robinson]

Heading out on the 13th of November with 3 others to attempt a fastest known time for the AAWT ,was hoping for up to date info on water availability. Specifically does anyone have the coordinates for the seep off Mt clear and is it likely to be running. Also hoping viking saddle might have some water within easy reach. Concerned also about Barry saddle tank and East Riley tank as the gutter was damaged when we went through last December. Should be fine from Sth Selwyn to Tharwa.

[Zapruda]

Heading out on the 13th of November with 3 others to attempt a fastest known time for the AAWT ,was hoping for up to date info on water availability. Specifically does anyone have the coordinates for the seep off Mt clear and is it likely to be running. Also hoping viking saddle might have some water within easy reach. Concerned also about Barry saddle tank and East Riley tank as the gutter was damaged when we went through last December. Should be fine from Sth Selwyn to Tharwa.

Water is and will be abundant throughout NSW and ACT.
Everything is flowing as expected at the moment.

Good luck with the FKT. Will we be able to track you guys?

[phil robinson]

I will set up a link on a facebook page with the spot data when I work out how to do it. I'm not too worried about NSW and ACT as the good rivers aren't too far apart. We will do a water drop at low saddle and hope for a cool day so we can make Chesters yards on 4 litres otherwise we may have to drop down the jeep track before High cone, but I had to go a long way down there on a previous trip and lost a lot of time.

[Mr Bean]

Heading out on the 13th of November with 3 others to attempt a fastest known time for the AAWT ,was hoping for up to date info on water availability. Specifically does anyone have the coordinates for the seep off Mt clear and is it likely to be running. Also hoping viking saddle might have some water within easy reach. Concerned also about Barry saddle tank and East Riley tank as the gutter was damaged when we went through last December. Should be fine from Sth Selwyn to Tharwa.

>>Concerned also about Barry saddle tank....
When we came through in April, the old tank was there, but speaking to a ranger, they were planning to replace it real soon. Not sure if that has happened.

>>East Riley tank
The tank a few kms from there (on top of the ridge, before heading down) was in an un-usable state. However, the new tank down near the road was great.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Water at the Clear Creek head waters will be flowing. The access is via an overgrown bench cut track that faces south from the usual Mt. Clear MVO track campsite. It would be 45 min.s one way from the AAWT track junction on the North side of Mt.Clear after you descend from Mt. Clear and hit the old jeep track that leads to Chester's Yard /water point. Rather than descending down the nearly vertical Nobs track to fetch water from Clear Creek , the water option I am describing is less torturous. The water point on the Nobs track on the Barkly river side of the ridge about 1 km down the track should also be flowing. If you come off the Nobs or from Mt. McDonald then it is almost half way between these points.
The new 2018 SV Buller Howitt map does not show all of these water points the way the older edition used to do.

[phil robinson]

thanks for the information much appreciated

[paidal_chalne_vala]

There was plenty of water about from melting snow on the AAWT between Dead Horse Gap and Bob's Ridge when I was there towards the end of Sept. 2019.

[Lukec]

The old tank at Barry saddle was full and working a few days ago. There’s no screen filter at the top so the water is brown and funky tasting, but it did the job once filtered.