AAWT between Walhalla, Howitt and Hotham

[paidal_chalne_vala]

28/2/21
Water was flowing near the Talbot hut ruins and there were a couple of logs down on the AAWT near the Talbot peak trig point area on the AAWT. The Lower section of the track between the Mt. Erica car park and Mushroom rocks needs a hair cut . The Friends of Baw Baw and BTAC have this on their track clearing list of activities to be completed.

[badd0g]

Jamieson-Licola Rd under about 20cm of snow this weekend above about 1400m. Lots of 4wds around and the last 3kms up to Mt Skene pretty chewed up. Was iced over this morning after a -4 night. Good chance Mansfield shire will close it early again if temps stay low and any more snow falls I reckon.

[ianhopkins]

Currently a good amount of water in the creek/gully at Viking Saddle as described by Chapman in the guidebook, I imagine it will be flowing a bit longer after this deluge. There is a distinct pad that you follow for about 200m that leads right to it. Not sure how long into summer it will last but is there for now

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Water was flowing well at Mac. Springs, Camp creek and near the Mt. Whitelaw Hut ruins. This was during bushwalking the AAWT in small sections during December 2021.
There was no water on Mt. Howitt. There is a sign near the Mt. Howitt summit that says " water 200 M. ". We scouted it out following a foot pad marked with small cairns. No water was found. It is a soak that is now dry. Maybe in November it was flowing.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I just walked the Twins Track (AAWT ) Between Mt. Murray South Track and Selwyn Creek road. Water could be found about 1 km from the top of of The Mt. Murray North Track , down past the seasonal closure gate heading North towards the Buckland River valley .
Water could also
be found about 2 kms down the Selwyn Creek road descending North from the Intersection with the Twins track towards the Buckland River Valley. The water there was flowing into a deep cool pool which then flows under the AWD standard Selwyn Creek road. It seems to be a feeder spring of Coghill creek.
It rained on Saturday night in the Buckland/ Ovens River catchment areas 15/1/22 so that seemed to get all the streams flowing well.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Water was flowing from the spring on the Mt. Clear track some 400 M. away from King Billy saddle.I was there during the week before Xmas 2022.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

There was a trickle of water in the stream near the Mt. Whitelaw Hut ruins camp site yesterday, 10/3/23.

There was Enough water to pump up with a water filter and fill containers for camping there. The AAWT is quite overgrown near Mt. Whitelaw. Mosquitoes and March flies were in abundance.
The Thomson Valley road near Stronach's camp is in good condition.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I will be walking the AAWT over the Baw Baws this weekend and I shall report back.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Water was flowing well at the Whitelaw hut ruins camp site water supply/ creek.

The track is quite over grown in places near Mt. Whitelaw. In fact I had to pull out the GPS to locate the track because even the foot pad seemed to thin out a bit
in the NW section of the track near Mt. Whitelaw , heading for Stronach's camp.
Friends of Baw Baw have now affixed new AAWT track markers to many trees out there between Phillack Saddle and the Whitelaw Hut ruins site.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Water at Camp Creek near Mt. Speculation was flowing well in early Dec. 2023.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

A working bee to clear the walking track near the Mt. Whitelaw hut ruins area
in the Baw Baw N.P. on the AAWT is coming up in early April 2024.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

The AAWT from Low saddle to the top of Mt. McDonald has been cleared as of May 2024 and is ready for keen walkers to test it out.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Have Parks Vic. installed a water tank near the Nobs on the AAWT in the Mt. Clear area?
I am planning to walk from Low Saddle to Mt. Clear over the Cup day long weekend.
I know BTAC cleared the AAWT from High Cone to the start of the South side of Mt. Clear.

[Baeng72]

Have Parks Vic. installed a water tank near the Nobs on the AAWT in the Mt. Clear area?
I am planning to walk from Low Saddle to Mt. Clear over the Cup day long weekend.
I know BTAC cleared the AAWT from High Cone to the start of the South side of Mt. Clear.

Big Kev walked this section before Winter, and didn't mention any tank around the Nobs.
That's not definitive, but it's fairly recent intel on the track situation: https://youtu.be/gdruxcCw2zk?si=JTD1oVJwbrQZzB-V

[paidal_chalne_vala]

BTAC also cleared the AAWT from Low Saddle to Mt. McDonald and down to the Nobs track where it comes up from the Barkly River valley.
I have carried water ( 4 litres at least in Nov. one year to walk this area . It is dry and follows the ridge tops ). I know there is a water source
crossing the Nobs track about 1-2 kms down towards the Barkly River Valley.
My friend and I will be depending on that being good for a water restock.
It is rather wet this weekend which should top up the ground water supplies for the next two weeks.

[Lophophaps]

A water tank near The Nobs has been on the PV list for at least early 2019. This section is a long way to travel without a reliable water point. There was also talk of a tank at Viking Saddle. It's unfortunate that the longest and arguably best alpine walk in Australia is in such a poor state.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

My Friend and I will be walking from Low Saddle to Mt. Clear this Nov. long weekend.
We are counting on finding water at the
Barkly River side of the NOBS track,( some 1-2 kms down) once we descend from Mt. McDonald.

The Next water point for our route will be the Clear Creek headwaters
which are accessed by a very overgrown logging track near Mt. Clear.

I shall report back on the track conditions and water points.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Water is extremely scarce between Low Saddle and The Nobs track intersection with the AAWT. The 1st water point on the Barkly River side of the Nobs track was not flowing. The second water point on that track was flowing but is about 3 kms down hill one way.
That is a royal PITA if you have hiked all day up from Low Saddle but one has no other option.Water is vital for life.
The Low Saddle road is NOT 2 wd standard IMHO. An AWD RAV 4 with off road tyres and 4 x 4 shock absorbers was sufficient for the section of driving from Brocks road to the Low Saddle itself where it meets Mt. Sunday road.
There is parking space there and a camping spot too.
The AAWT from Mt. Sunday road to the summit of Mt. McDonald is in reasonably good order since it was cleared in May 2024. The next section that was cleared when descending to the Nobs track is growing back having been cleared a year or two ago.
Be very careful about dehydration when walking in this area.
My friend and I bailed out on day two and returned to Low Saddle via the Barkly River catchment fire trails rather than deal with
gale force winds and no water until Chester's Yard or the Clear Creek headwaters on the Mt Clear
spur MVO track..
Navigation should be feasible following the rock cairns and occasional Yellow AAWT marker arrow in clear weather when going over Mt. McDonald ,
but keep an eye on the compass and GPS/ Map. We overshot the turn off down towards
the Nobs track and had to back track 200 metres quite late in the day.
We were thirsty and fatigued and missed the cairns and the Timbertop bottle.

[Baeng72]

No epic multi-photo report PCV?
I saw the wind prediction and felt not so bad about not getting out last weekend.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Monday and Tuesday of the Cup day long weekend were good weather days but you need to hit the Eagles Peak or Ritchie's Hut walks early in the day before 12 noon. That sun is hot.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

There is a BTAC working bee in the pipeline for the Howitt Plains car park to Mt. Howitt route for track
clearing in late Jan. 2025.
The clearing of the Zeka Spur foot track may be on hold for now.
Anyone who can help should check
the BTAC web site and register with the Parks Victoria volunteer web site.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

A number of snow poles are still down on the AAWT /Bogong High Plains from Pole 333 to pole 267. I have sent an email to PV in Mt. Beauty about this.

[Lophophaps]

The downed poles between 267 and 333, mainly closer to 267, have been down for years. I suspect that PV lacks the resources to fix them. A new way to set up the poles is to drive a solid steel cylinder or box into the ground and drop the pole in. If the pole breaks then putting in a new one is easy. The picture below is from April 2018. Pole 290 was also down, and after that I stopped taking pictures.

Pole 286 down

Pole 286 S.jpg (243.46 KiB) Viewed 743 times

[paidal_chalne_vala]

In fine weather navigation is simple out there but people relying on poles to find their way in poor visibility
need to be sure they have other ways to stay on course and keep together
as a party.
A number of poles from Tawonga Huts to Pole 333 are also kaput.