Exposure

Australian Alps Walking Track

A 2018 winter traverse

Story by Mark Oates

In the middle of winter 2018 my brother Andy, a Paramedic from East Gippsland, and I, an Outdoor Education Teacher from Hobart, set out to complete a 660 kilometre, south to north, winter traverse of the Australian Alps Walking Track (AAWT).

Although we had completed the trip twice previously (including a prior winter traverse) this would be our hardest journey. Conditions for the first two weeks were tough with heavy snowfalls and a huge amount of timber on the track which made for tedious progress.

It was in the winter of 2005 that Andy and I spent 43 days traversing the AAWT. On that trip we left mid June, starting near Canberra and finishing at Walhalla in early August. For us this was the completion of a life-long dream that has started when we first walked it fifteen years earlier (then called the Alpine Walking Track) in the summer of 1990-1991. For our summer trip my twin brother and I were 18 at the time and only one week out of school.

Now thirteen years after achieving our initial winter dream we headed back to the 'Alpine Track' to see if we could again complete another winter traverse. This time though we headed north, at the start of August. With Andy's limited leave off work, time soon become our enemy and for awhile it was a race to see if we could beat our cut-off date.

Older but perhaps wiser, the question was, could we do it again?

I have edited our video footage to produce a short movie of each of our day's adventures. My aim was to post an episode daily from the 3rd August, 2019 - exactly one year after we started our journey. This is a super quick trailer of some of the footage you can expect from the series. If you prefer 60 second edits to 3-4 minute videos then you can see the condensed versions at my Instagram account: @mark.oates

preparation

For us it has always been an 18-24 month commitment to undertaking an AAWT traverse. Time off work and away from family needs to be arranged. New gear needs to be researched, purchased, tested and modified. Lists, lists and more lists need to be prepared and worked through. Discussions and decisions on what not to take, become just as important as what to take. Time for physical fitness and mental preparation needs to somehow be made. Meals needs to be purchased and potentially dehydrated. Older gear requires checking and sometimes refurbishment. Maps and potentially GPS data need to be sourced and sorted. Food and gear caches need to be planned, prepared and pre-dropped.

Prior to starting Andy and I spent five days together on final preparations and in driving 1200km to drop off our various food caches. Our thanks as always is to our families for helping us in all of these processes and in supporting as throughout such a long, and at times arduous, commitment.

Day 1

Finally the day had arrived! You always feel as though you need more time to prepare but in the end you have to commit and simply GO.

So, two days later than hoped, we made our way to the historic gold-mining town of Walhalla, nestled in the foothills of the Baw Baw Plateau. We were thankful to our parents for the lift! After playing too much with getting camera footage we finally started on the AAWT. We left the beautiful historic town of Walhalla around midday and headed along the old logging tramway to the Thomson River.

From there it was a thousand metres of climbing up scrubby tracks to our campsite at Mushroom Rocks, Mt Erica. The weather started great but we had rain from 4pm on. Given our late start and that it was 23km, we didn’t get into camp until very late (8:30pm). Walking in the dark is something that we are well accustomed to. However once again it appears to be the norm for this trip with this day involving almost 3.5 hours of it. Despite the long day and the sore muscles it was worth it as Mushroom Rocks is a beautiful place to camp, particularly when the weather clears and the stars come out.

Day 2

After a small climb up to Mt Erica we spent the day skiing almost the length of the Baw Baw Plateau. We saw a few other skiers and enjoyed the great snow cover. Somehow we forgot to take any photos of skiing because we were having too much fun skiing and videoing. Our alpine touring (AT) ski setup worked remarkably well. 

We had chosen AT gear over XC/telemark gear despite having spent 30 years on the latter and very few days on the former.

The reason for this was because AT gear is now so much lighter and more efficient than telemark/touring gear. For our prior winter traverse we had used XC/telemark touring gear and it had worked great but these days there are lighter options! With little time to get on the snow prior to this trip, each of us had only had a few days on our new lightweight AT setups. The days I had though I absolutely loved my new setup but Andy wasn't yet fully convinced. Fortunately Day 2 reinforced our decision to go for the newer lighter setup but time would tell if we had actually made the right decision for such a long journey.

We ended up camped 600m north of the Mt Whitelaw turnoff after travelling 18.3km (with at least 15 km of these on skis). The snow line was at 1350m however some areas in southern Baw Baw were minimal requiring a 1km walk between skiable sections. Fortunately there was an excellent cover north of the Rock Shelter where we stopped for lunch. We saw a couple of families out and spoke to one couple. Firm conditions initially made for good travel. We found a feint set of ski tracks heading north of St Phillacks (which ended up being two people’s tracks with one walking occasionally but the other on skis the whole way). We thought that they must have also been doing the AAWT as its rare to see tracks so far north. There were no tracks at all beyond Stronarch’s Camp so that obviously wasn't the case.

Day 3

After skiing a few more kilometres at lower elevations and on marginal cover we soon transitioned from ski boots into hiking boots. The day involved a short overgrown section with lots of clambering up and over (or under) fallen trees. Then it was lots of road walking in warm conditions until we waded across the chilly and waist deep Thomson River. After the crossing we climbed a long way up before descending steeply into the Jordan River Valley. All up a 28km day. We almost managed to get to camp before dark but didn't quite make it. So once again we were forced to pull out our headtorches.

It is a funny name, the 'Australian Alps Walking Track'. Although it is the official name of the track, few Australians refer to our low, flat rolling hills (maximum height of 2228m) as 'alps'. They certainly don't compare to the European Alps. Rather the NSW section is referred as the Snowy Mountains or the 'Snowies' by locals whilst the Victorian mountains are often simply called the Victorian High Country. Originally when we walked it in 1990 the track was called the 'Alpine Walking Track' but the name was changed to its more grand title a number of years later. Andy and I still personally refer to it as simply the 'Alpine Track' but for clarity I will stick to using the acronym of 'AAWT' throughout this article.

day 4

Another big day saw us cover 32km. This involved 10.5 hours of walking, with us only removing our packs for one ten-minute break.

Our intention was to move quickly through the low lying areas in order that we could spend more time on skis and above the snow ❄️ line. We woke to rain and apart from a few brief moments we either had rain, hail or snow. It was very cold and windy with lots of reasonably exposed walking along the crest of the Great Dividing Range. We chose to take the longer road bashes rather than the direct and very wet scrubby 'walking tracks' so added 5 km to the standard distance. Again the day involved a large climb and finished with another steep descent, this time into the Black River. Somehow though we managed to get the tent up before requiring headtorches. 

day 5

A tough day at the office, thanks to a 25 centimetre dump of fresh snow.

After crossing Black River on the slipperiest log ever, we started our 700m ascent in high spirits. 6 hours later and less than 6km covered our enthusiasm had waned! The dump of snow created havoc for us by collapsing most of the trees over the ‘track’. We crawled, bulldozed, whacked and reversed our way through the fallen timber where we could. Ultimately we had to resort to some off-track navigation to avoid the heavy re-growth areas which were the worst affected. We love snow though so it was all worth it.

After a late lunch at the Jamieson-Licola Road we donned skis and set off along it towards Mt Skene. It eventually got dark and we still had a couple of kilometres to go. So we didn’t quite make our food drop but at least we were snug in our tent as the wind whistled over us and the snow started to fall. Despite being one of our shortest distances at 13 km, it was actually one of our toughest so far.

day 6

What a day! We thought the day before was hard, and the day before and the day before that, etc, etc. Well this one was even harder.

The snow kept dumping all night so Andy kindly got up to dig out our tent in the middle of the night. Fortunately my Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid easily handled the heavy dump of snow. Despite others querying our tent choice the Ultamid was proving it could handle everything thrown at it and still provide us with a luxurious amount of space.

We packed our gear and set off on skis hoping and expecting to soon get hold of our first food cache. Meanwhile the snow kept falling for much of the day. The huge amount of snow created a major stress for us, as we could not find our absolutely vital food drop. The amount of snow we moved looking for it was insane as we were digging under almost every tree in a 30 metre radius - which made for a lot of trees. With close to 1.5 metres of snow on top of our metal food box, the location looked extremely different to how it was a few months prior when Andy and his kids dropped off the food cache in the dark. It took a miracle and 2 hours and 45 minutes of searching, probing, stressing(!) and digging to finally obtain it! We were VERY fortunate that we found it as the alternative was not good at all.

If we could not find it we were looking at potentially having to abandon the AAWT.

This would have involved following the road towards Jamieson where we could hopefully have met a willing friend or family member with an additional unplanned resupply. We didn't have enough time available to us though to allow for such issues. Fortunately Andy had put a piece of cord 1.8 metres above the ground to aid in our searching for the cache. But with the huge amount of snow it was only 30cm above the surface, not at waist height as we were expecting. Combined with an inaccurate GPS location based off a phone and not off a dedicated GPS unit, in the end, we were super lucky to find it.

With suddenly almost too much food we made the most of it and quickly chomped down lots of sugary snacks. After spending much of the morning focused on our food cache we eventually continued on skiing through deep unconsolidated conditions and awkwardly descended to Rumpf Saddle. Although it was still snowing up high, with the large drop in altitude, we were soon experiencing rain. As a result we got soaked by the rain and from pushing through more 😒! wet bushes but we kept on skiing as time was precious. The result was that we spent the night sleeping in our wet clothes to dry them out. Although not ideal it worked fine given our sleeping system of an inner down quilt covered by a synthetic over-quilt.

The forecast was for lots more wind and snow to come our way. 

With suddenly almost too much food we made the most of it and quickly chomped down lots of sugary snacks. After spending much of the morning focused on our food cache we eventually continued on skiing through deep unconsolidated conditions and awkwardly descended to Rumpf Saddle. Although it was still snowing up high, with the large drop in altitude, we were soon experiencing rain. As a result we got soaked by the rain and from pushing through more 😒! wet bushes but we kept on skiing as time was precious. The result was that we spent the night sleeping in our wet clothes to dry them out. Although not ideal it worked fine given our sleeping system of an inner down quilt covered by a synthetic over-quilt.

The forecast was for lots more wind and snow to come our way. 

day 7

Unbelievable! We were getting towards the end of another long day and I saw what I thought was rubbish on the ground. Then I saw ‘Attn: Mark Oates’ written on the rubbish. 

A packrafting friend of mine, @ryan_jaffe from Packraft Australia had left on the track a full large jar of peanut butter in a bag for us. How great was that! He had come along the 4WD tracks only a week prior, though of us and left the delicious prize on the track awaiting our arrival. We certainly enjoyed it thoroughly when we finally get to the Vallejo Gantner Hut at Macalister Springs, Mt Howitt.

We had hoped to get to Vallejo Gantner before the night of Day 8 to beat the forecast blizzard conditions that were expected the day after. Unfortunately this seemed unlikely as it was still another 32km away and we only made 17.5km this day, despite moving for 12 hours. Day 7 was another onerous one with lots of bushes over the track to hinder our skiing towards Mt Sunday and the 500m vertical descent off the back of it. We spent half the day on skis and the other half walking in ski boots. I managed to catch my kicker skins on a hidden rock, tearing them in the process. A few wraps of DCF/cuben fibre tape temporarily fixed them though (& continued to hold them together all the way to Tharwa). We walked into the dark and called it about 1.5km from the summit of Mt MacDonald. With the forecast for 80km/h winds we battened down our Ultamid tent and enjoyed listening to the wind around us and psyching up for a big day the next day. The forecast was for sunny 😎 conditions but very windy. 

day 8

#windy #verywindy Despite the blue skies don’t be deceived. What you cannot hear or see in these images is the intense constant roar of the strong winds that we had experienced for the past 24 hours. It sounded like unrelenting massive surf! Lucky Andy and I both love wind, snow, ski-touring and snow camping. Sometimes though we have to remind ourselves of this. Although the snow looks very user friendly in the images, it was rarely so. Most of the morning involved a breakable icy-crust whilst on the lee side it was often heavy unconsolidated snow that was then covered in ice chunks that had fallen off the trees. Luckily our specialty is not fancy ski turns but is instead ‘adventure skiing with fully loaded packs’ because this day involved plenty of that.

Despite getting up earlier and initially pushing hard we soon realised we were never going to make it to the Vallejo Gantner Hut at Howitt before the next day's predicted snowstorm hits. We ended up only making 15km and again finished in the dark. Given our lack of distance my thoughts are that maybe we are getting too old for this but I have to keep telling myself that the conditions are simply challenging. After realising we had no chance (once again) of making our objective we ended up significantly changing our attitude. Our focus shifted to trying to enjoy the journey rather than trying to travel lighter and quicker than last time. We ultimately found a surprisingly sheltered spot for our tent and and enjoyed listening to the background symphony of high winds and trees swaying, creaking and groaning. Although the trees around us were battling and struggling against the strong winds, our tent hardly moved and we felt safe knowing that the spot we had chosen was well positioned away from larger trees that could have potentially fallen on us. As we went to sleep my thoughts turned to what the following day would bring. 

day 9

Good start, epic finish. After another very windy and sometimes starlit night we woke to the wind easing, some views and reasonable weather. By the time we departed on our intended 20km ski journey at 7:15am that all changed. The weather really came in making for an adventurous but enjoyable crossing of Mt Clear. It was disappointing to not be able to get the first glimpse of Mt Bogong that this viewpoint potentially offers. However we were making really good time and having fun with some turns on the ski descent.

We were really looking forward to getting down onto an old 4WD track and quickly covering the 10km that it offered. Soft snow and constant balling up issues of our skis and bindings soon turned this distance into a frustrating trudge. We completed the 4WD track by lunchtime but it was too cold to stand still for more than 2 minutes, so a couple of protein and muesli bars plus some dried fruit was scoffed. With still a long way to go we quickly started descending through some nice snow towards the base of Mt Magdala. We were having fun and we thought we were on time for a record pre-dark finish. I even dreamed that we could collect our food drop that afternoon. How wrong we were!

We could (should) have taken the easy easy traverse on the western side of Magdala but opted to go over it instead. As such we ended up near Hell’s Window on some dodgy hard-pack above some small cliffs. With some ungainly kick turns we got ourselves out of trouble and a slightly scary situation. Big Hill posed some challenges for us but we were getting close to the summit of Mt Howitt and I was still confident that we were going to get there by dark (just).

Unfortunately this was not to be and we ended up having a full MOE (Mark Oates Epic). In failing light and pretty much blizzard conditions we made the summit. However it was full 100% whiteout conditions by now and trying to ski even 30 metres downhill proved impossible for us and indeed dangerous. We efficiently attached our skis to our packs (something we are well practiced in) and set off walking on bearings from our GPS. Andy walked out front, 5 metres ahead of me so we didn’t lose each other, whilst I navigated off the GPS and map. It was here that I was thankful for inputting GPS data into our GPS prior to starting the trip. Visibility was extremely limited and the conditions were atrocious, with steep slopes and even cliffs only just off our intended route.

It felt like forever but eventually we made safety in the form of snowgums and a somewhat defined spur. Unfortunately we were sinking up to our waists in the snow and we were getting exhausted. Then it got fully dark. This was actually a good thing though as were able to finally switch to head torches and actually improve our vision rather than stumble around in the half-light. The trees surrounding us gave us a perspective of depth and slope angle and we were able to get back on our skis.

Finally we were able to move quickly towards the very welcome refuge of Vallejo Gantner Hut which we got to about 7:15pm. The snow was 1.5m high at the entrance but it is a well designed hut with a snow access door up higher so we were able to climb in through that. Andy got the fire going and we then had a very pleasant evening reflecting on our latest epic. Unfortunately one not captured on film as we were too busy dealing with it and surviving it to actually capture any footage. 

It’s ironic that on this trip we were actually getting the conditions we had asked for. All along we said we wanted a season that would allow us to do as much as possible of the AAWT on skis. Both of us wanted a massive snow year and the present conditions were certainly offering that!

Day 10

Sunday = Fun Day

With our new improved attitude of enjoying what this winter was throwing at us and focusing on the journey more than the destination, this day involved good times around Macalister Springs at the beautiful Vallejo Gantner Hut.

The amount of snow at 'Mac' Springs was definitely the most and the best snow I have ever seen in the seven times I have been there in winter. No doubt those who visited in the 80s & 90s regularly saw such snow. Unfortunately global warming means that such conditions are becoming less and less likely and much less reliable.

The day saw a mix of snow showers and brief interludes of calmness combined with the sun poking through. The snow was amazingly light and dry underfoot making for some fun turns in amongst the open fire-scarred snowgums. 

We collected our food cache (well Andy did and I just took lots of photos and video), ate lots of food (we even had a hot lunch) and got an awesome fire going to dry the last of our wet gear. Having access to a warm, dry toilet with a view - now that was a luxury! We were hoping that the weather would clear a little the following day so that we could get some views whilst traversing the Crosscut Saw. It’s definitely a shame, given the immense effort to get there in winter, to not see such views as it’s one of the most impressive parts of the AAWT. 

The day was a good chance for my feet to have a break as my new ski boots were causing me a lot of pain and discomfort. I had them heat moulded just before I started the trip but they seemed to have gradually gone back to their original shape. It was incredibly annoying as it was significantly hindering by ability to fully embrace the amazing snow conditions that we were having, and in many ways lucky enough to have. 

That night we had burritos for dinner and steamed sticky-date and chocolate puddings for dessert. It felt like we were staying at a five star ski lodge. Perhaps though the resident mice and large rat that regularly visited us (& nibbled on Andy’s hair whilst he was asleep) and the fact that the temperature was not much above zero if you were more than 1.5 metres from the fireplace, might bring it down to 4 and a half stars. Still one of my favourite places on the AAWT in winter though!


Day 11

 In my experience the traverse across the Crosscut Saw is one of the most technical sections of the AAWT in winter. Or it is at least the one with the most consequences. Whilst the Main Range in NSW can be icy and battered by 100+km/h winds you are never forced to ski above cliffs as there is always an option (however long) around the tricky sections. For the Crosscut there is no real option but to cross it and to traverse its narrow ridgeline that is at times only a few metres wide.

To make matters worse there were a number of avalanche warnings out for both the Victorian Alps and the Main Range at the exact time we intended to cross it!

The Crosscut Saw extends from Mt Howitt out to Mt Speculation. It is a very narrow ridge with cliffs and bluffs on one side and steep slopes the other. With the predominant wind hitting the ridge from the west the eastern side can have large overhanging snow cornices and there is some potential for avalanches. It can also often be incredibly icy in sections along the ridge top. We were really hoping for good weather for this section! Andy and I were happy to wait out a number of days at VG Hut to wait for such a period even though we couldn't really afford the time. However the forecast showed no clear days within the next week. From the forecast the following day (Day 12) looked like the best time to cross but there was no guarantee it was going to be better than this day. We hung around at the hut most of the morning hoping that the sun might eventually manage to burn off the thick cloud. Unfortunately most of the cloud remained so we decided to depart regardless.

We headed off at 11:40am after making the call to head up and start the traverse but return if we felt unsafe. Conditions weren’t ideal at the start with very limited visibility, wet conditions and 45km/h winds but luckily it wasn’t icy. We were also fortunate in that just as we were finishing the final critical section the weather (mostly) cleared around us. As such we were able to get a few reasonable photos. It would have been great to have had views all the way along. Unfortunately Mt Howitt and the southern end never showed itself at all (from past experience the winter views of these are amazing) but at least we got across safely. Thus we happily ended up in the comfort of our tent a few hundred metres from the summit of Mt Speculation. It was definitely a relief to have this section out of the way as from our perspective we have always considered this the most difficult section of the trip to ski. Our thoughts turned to tackling the lower lying Razor and Viking section the following day. We were hoping for some good views for the following morning ...

Day 12

We hoped to wake to fine weather and magnificent views but it was not to be.

We were only 400m from the summit of Mt Speculation or ‘Spec’ as it is affectionately know. On a clear day this summit commands a view of the cliffs and snow-covered steep slopes as well as good views of the Crosscut and Mt Howitt plus distant views of Hotham, Feathertop and Bogong.

Occasionally the sun managed to somehow get through but the views were always fleeting and promised more than they delivered. It was a fun ski down from the summit to the treeline and it was great to throw some turns down for a change. We skied all the way to Catherine Saddle, carefully stepping over rocks, dirt and fallen trees awkwardly on our skis and then continued up onto Mt Despair on them.

Our assumption was that the track would be poorly marked and poorly defined. So we made our own way straight up. Our mistake, as when we got to the top we found a well marked track that we should have followed from the start as it might have saved us considerable pain. The skiing across Mt Despair was great but on the descent towards the Razor it was time to start carrying the skis again. We were impressed with the track and only struggled to find it occasionally and this was simply due to the 30cm or so of snow on top of the track. With some reasonable weather we were enjoying ourselves. That is up until the descent into Viking Saddle. It started well and we even put skis back on although only very briefly. By this time it was getting dark and we only had 1.2km to go so we were in a happy place. The state of the track however soon changed our demeanour. With trees down every few metres it took us almost 2 hours in the dark to travel little more than a kilometre to get to the Viking Saddle. It was a relief to finally get there! 

Day 13

Day 13 was a decidedly unpleasant experience! Forget the first photo you see below here. It is a lie.

We woke to a wonderful sunrise and the amazing view of the Viking above us. Looking into the forested section ahead it didn’t even look that bad, certainly nothing like the horror of the 1.2km we completed in the dark the previous night. 

The beautiful start to the day evaporated at 7:45am when we got hit with essentially blizzard conditions. Suddenly the sky darkened and the wind picked up and started plastering everything in large wet flakes. The annoying part was that we were almost packed up but not quite. 

With heads down we set off for the Viking and although steep it was not too bad. The weather was wild and seemed to increase in intensity the higher we got. Eventually we made it to the Viking Chimney and although there are better routes that avoid it all, the rock was caked in snow, making route finding and scrambling very awkward. We briefly sheltered inside the cavern at the base of the chimney then struggled up it. Unfortunately I took the least ideal route from there making for some awkward climbing moves.

Once on the Viking, we were initially in waist deep snow. We could have skied across it however it was too difficult to transition into ski boots in the blizzard conditions and we knew we would have to descend pretty soon anyway. We managed to find the descent track and were impressed with the amount of markers and work completed by Parks track-crews. By 2:30pm we staggered into Barry Saddle although we knew we were at least a day behind our intended schedule so we quickly continued on. Whilst the tracks were initially good they soon deteriorated and combined with the steady rain, that only briefly left us, we were soon soaked from pushing through all the wet bushes.

With the high winds and fresh trees down everywhere we were really worried about trees falling on our camp so for once we started looking for suitable sites early, approximately 5km from Barrys Saddle. Over the past two weeks we had heard numerous trees falls, perhaps more than we have ever experienced. We initially went past a pretty safe spot hoping to cover greater distance but soon the track deteriorated so we back-tracked the few hundred metres and made camp. With the AAWT route being along a ridge we had no easy access to water but we were able to leave some containers at the base of a large mountain ash and they soon filled from the rainwater running down its trunk.

It was a relief to get into the tent and get dry and warm as we were exhausted.

Day 14

This day marked one third of the way along the AAWT as we were now two-weeks into our trip and had travelled over 200km. Not quite as fast or as cruisey as we hoped but still an achievement. We thought (& hoped) that we had done the hardest third of the trip and that it was surely going to get easier from there. In theory it should have but time would eventually prove if we were right in our assumption!

The weather started to improve and we even had decent sunshine for a couple of hours. We started slightly late after partially drying some of our soaked gear. Initially there was a lot of fallen timber to deal with but then the route got better as we made our way onto well established 4WD tracks and roads. The couple of water tanks along the route were well appreciated as was the sun.

After a late lunch we were back into snow and even onto skis again. From the summit of Mt Selwyn we were rewarded with some tantalising but distant views of the Great Alpine Road and the snow-covered Hotham area. It ended up still being a late finish with the last half hour in the dark and then rain as we set up the tent at Selwyn Creek Road. Although short of our intended destination we were steadily getting closer to where the real snow started.

day 15

With a bit of walking but mostly skiing we finally made it through to the Great Alpine Road and our next food drop. We were on fire trails initially and the weather was generally good although the wind got strong and cold and visibility came and went.

The climb up onto the Twins involved some icy slopes and ultimately we needed to get off our skis and kick steps in the soft ice. Fortunately we didn’t need to pull out our instep crampons on or use our iceaxes although this did mean that we had carried them since Mt Howitt without any use at all. The plan was to then leave them behind at Hotham as for the remainder of our trip we believed we could get away without them in the terrain that we would be on or opt for safe alternative routes.

It was great to make it to the main road but also slightly sad in that, unlike last time, we wouldn’t be meeting up with any family or friends for our food drops. I think this was one of the biggest differences of this trip in that we didn't have that incentive of catching up with family and friends at any of our food drops. Last time my wife Jen kindly drove to and met us at Kiandra, Thredbo and Omeo whilst Andy’s wife Cecile plus my mum drove to Bright to meet us. Cecile and my sister Kiran, brother-in-law Rohan and nephew Jack also met us at Thredbo and Omeo. Friends of ours Margie, Em and Dean had also come to Omeo last time, making for a fun food and gear changeover on that trip.

The conditions along the Great Alpine Road were atrocious and dangerous (it was even closed to traffic for 1.5 hours due to an accident) so we ended up hitching into Hotham, before skiing through the village at night and camping just outside the village. It was definitely a surreal experience skiing through the resort at night. 

day 16

Highs & Lows! It was surreal to be in a place with so much going on and around so many people.

We woke to another large dump of super light snow. Thanks to Hamish, a friend of ours, we were able to collect our food and gear cache that was kindly being stored at one of the lodges at Hotham. The lodge manager was great and let us wash and dry all our clothes plus we were able to recharge our electronic gear and spare batteries. This took some time but by early afternoon we were ready to head off and try and sort out some of the painful boot issues that each of us has been experiencing.

Along the way we stopped in for a late lunch at the General Tavern and enjoyed our burgers immensely. In catching a shuttle bus within the resort we unexpectedly met up with an old friend and work colleague, Mike Wasley (note he is not old but it’s been a long time since we once worked together). It was awesome to see him and his wife and was a nice reminder of those who are following our journey online via Instagram and Facebook. Previously we had never really posted photos or updates during a major trip so we were really surprised at the level of support that we received on this trip via social media. I have to say that it was truly inspiring and actually helped to motivate us along.

We got lucky with our ski boots as Julian from One Tree Sports did a great job at tweaking our plastic shells to fit our sore feet (apologies to him for our freshly washed but still very smelly feet). 

It was 5:30pm and not very pleasant conditions by the time we departed for Derrick Hut. Thus much of our journey ended up being in the dark, not that we minded. So far on this trip, skiing out to this hut under torchlight was one of my favourite memories. It was a great adventure with some wild weather thrown in plus a cool surprise for us at the hut.

We arrived at the hut well into the night to find six other like minded backcountry folk (3 AT, 1 Tele & 2 Snowboarders) already in residence. We stayed up until late really enjoying chatting to Craig, Matt, Brett, Colin, Fraser and Frazier. 

Craig was actually the legendary Craig Doubleday who completed a full traverse of the AAWT (south to north) last winter! And he did it SOLO!

Such an achievement to do this trip solo as I don’t think I could do it!

The massive low for the day was that we received terrible and tragic news from our family.

This meant that at some stage we would need to leave the track for a few days to attend a funeral and to see family. Andy & I fully intended though to return to the track immediate afterwards and complete our trip. The problem was that we were not sure if we had sufficient time to make it all the way... 

day 17

Deep 'powder' (well Australian powder so not real powder) and finally some views.

After a slow and social start to the day we popped over to say goodbye to Craig Doubleday and check out the snowcave that he had built and slept in. It was very serendipitous to finally meet him (& particularly whilst we were actually doing the AAWT) as we had only previously had email contact with him. Craig had also previously walked the track in summer (in fact just prior to our 2005 winter trip). After his solo winter traverse of the AAWT last year he kindly wrote to us and shared some of the valuable lessons he had learned.

Andy and I could not get over how much snow there was this year! It was phenomenal. Checkout the shot of the Olympus snow tent well and truly buried behind Derrick Hut. A lot of the pole line poles, that normally stand a good 2.5m above the ground, were only just visible above the snow and some are actually completely buried.

We managed to ski all the way down to Cobrunga Gap which separates the Hotham and Mt Loch area from the Bogong High Plains - although admittedly it wasn’t an easy ski as it was definitely not 'hero' snow. Dibbins Hut looked incredible with a good 0.75m of snow all around it. It was a very welcome spot for lunch. The climb up onto the Bogong High Plains was hard work as the cold dry snow provided little traction. Kicker skins helped but certainly didn’t completely solve the situation. 

Remarkably the weather cleared as we approached the tree line and we were rewarded with some amazing views of Feathertop, Victoria’s second highest peak as well as Mt Loch, the Jaimathangs, Mt McKay and the High Plains. The wind picked up though making for a very cold afternoon and evening. The forecast was for minus 8 degrees that night but out there it already felt like this temperature. The plan the next day was to detour to Falls Creek to pick up a postal package and to hopefully buy a replacement telescopic ski pole. This was because I dropped off an unseen drift late in the day, in fading light, and sadly managed to break one of mine. 

Day 18

We woke to a beautiful day and soon had sunshine warming and drying the tent. The latter as an amazing feeling and one we haven’t yet had on this trip.

For this section from Hotham to Falls Creek we were trialling Andy's new mountaineering tent for 2 nights. I absolutely love my Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid tent - in fact it is probably my favourite bit of kit alongside my packraft and a decent pair of skis - however, as good as it is at handling snow, Andy kept reminding me before the trip that pyramid tent's are not really designed for 100 km/h winds. So the plan was if Andy's new tent went okay we would take it on the extremely exposed sections through the Main Range and northern Kosciusko. Theoretically its low profile should handle the ridiculously strong winds that the NSW alpine environment is notorious for. It was interesting too on the AAWT to see Andy's reaction to my Hyperlite Ultamid as he had rarely used one prior to this trip. By the end of the trip he was completely convinced at just how good they are.

We skied up Pretty Valley and got a spectacular view of Mt Bogong (where we hope to be tomorrow night) from the main ridge of the Falls Creek ski resort. It was a hoot to get on the groomed runs and head down into the village to find a new telescopic pole for me and to collect packages from my awesome wife Jen and sister Kiran. It would have been nice to be on patternless skis but our Voile Objective pattern-based touring skis handled it really well. For such a light ski they handle descents and challenging terrain with ease.

After a compulsory stop at a cafe next door to where Jen and I got married we started searching for suitable replacement ski poles. But, we got distracted by a sea of yellow coated school students and staff. And amongst them was one of my great friends, Bernie ‘Rope Up’ Mills. We couldn’t believe it as we thought we had missed him by a day. We had a great time with him, chatting, eating and drinking more coffee. He kindly offered to take some of our excess gear back to Melbourne including Andy’s mountaineering tent.

It was 3:20pm by the time we left the very busy Windy Corner but we were able to move along the groomed cross-country ski trail at probably the quickest overall pace we had ever had on this trip (5+ km/h). Thus we actually arrived at Edmonson’s Hut and setup the Ultamid before it got dark. Amazing! Then I discovered that a ski party at the hut were from Tassie so had a great chat with them.

We didn’t ended up covering our intended distance yet it was still a great day. 

Pretty cool too to think that this was the exact same spot we both first snow-camped in 30 years ago, when we were 16 years old.

day 19

We left Edmonsons and headed up Mt Nelse, an exposed windy section completely above the tree-line. The sun was trying to poke through which did create some beautiful effects however it wasn’t having any real success. The snow was very firm, with windpack and some ice. This was actually great for us as it made for fast ski travel. We soon left the main Hotham-Bogong pole line and instead headed out to Timms Spur so that we could descent to cross the head of Big River and then ascend Mt Bogong via Quartz Ridge. In my opinion this is a much better way for those on skis than to descend T-Spur and Duane Spur. Quartz Ridge, although a lot more exposed than the alternative, offers amazing scenery and an incredible 'alpine' atmosphere unlike Ropers and T-Spur which involves dealing with a lot of scrub and wet bushes.

Visibility was pretty poor, however, we did see a huge cornice out at Timms Lookout which was pretty cool. We had morning tea near there, thoroughly enjoying muffins that our friend, Bernie, bought for us in Falls Creek. 

The 600m descent was tedious as the snow was quite slow below the tree-line. By the time we got down to Big River it was sleeting rather than snowing making for a chilly lunch and a cold river crossing. It needs to be said that Big River turns into the Mitta Mitta River further downstream and it is this river that Jen’s and my border collie, Mitta, is named after. :)

There were absolutely no views this day which was a real shame as the views towards Bogong can be amazing and you can also get a great view of the Main Range in NSW on a clear day. We were really hoping for some views the next for our traverse across Mt Bogong, Victoria’s highest peak. 

Fortunately the snow was much better on the 600m vertical ascent up Quartz Ridge and we managed to get to our intended camp spot at the edge of the tree-line in enough time to dig a large shelf into the slope and get the 'mid' up (just) before dark.

Day 20

Finally we got lucky with the weather, views and timing matching up!

We had light snowfalls throughout the night so I wasn’t expecting to wake to fine weather although I had been really hoping for it. I felt as though we had missed out on showcasing much of Victoria’s amazing alpine environments because of the poor weather we had experienced for much of the first two weeks. So to wake to mostly clear skies, with clouds in the valleys below us, was awesome. I took hundreds of photos which meant that we didn’t leave camp till much later than normal. We also spent considerable time filming the final climb up Quartz Ridge further contributing to our delay.

There were quite a few smallish cornices on the ascent and I did manage to get too close to one whilst trying to get the right angle for a shot. Suddenly there was a ‘woomph’ and the snow dropped out from under me. Fortunately I just dropped two metres whilst the main cornice section (about 5m wide) rolled another 10 metres down the hill. No harm done but a good reminder for me about being too complacent in this environment. 

We ascended to the summit of Mt Bogong, Victoria’s highest peak at 1986m, and took the obligatory photos of us and the summit cairn then started our traverse and fun descent out to Cleve Cole Hut. Conditions were firm but not as icy as yesterday so we made good time there and got some fun turns in just before the hut. This hut is probably the best public hut in Victoria, so we spent way too much time enjoying its comforts. It was after 2pm by the time we departed and we were still keen on achieving another 16km to try to get to Mt Wills. 

We skied down Long Spur but eventually it got dark and an hour later, after walking off and on snow for the last 2km, we made Big River Saddle. Although several kilometres short of our ambitious goal of Mt Wills we were happy to make the saddle and to actually camp off snow for a change. 

Day 21

We left Big River Saddle early and immediately started climbing. It wasn't long before the grass disappeared and the snow returned underfoot. About halfway up the climb we clipped into our skis and continued our ascent towards the top of Mt Wills.

Three-quarters of the way up we hit a 4WD track and spotted some ski tracks from the day prior. When we arrived at the summit hut we met a telemarker who was staying up there for a couple of days. It was funny thinking of him on telemark gear as being different to us as for the past 30 years this is who we were - telemarkers. Despite being on alpine touring gear we still think of ourselves as telemarkers and indeed we almost never lock our heels down on our AT setup despite having that option. For us it was a weird experience to lock down our heels and it felt very alien.

He had the pot belly stove going nicely making it very pleasant and too easy to sit inside the hut for awhile. Eventually we managed to drag ourselves away from the beautiful flickering flames and warmth leaving the comfortable hut in order to start traversing and descending towards Mt Wills South.

The snow was treacherous with a breakable crust that made any form of turns extremely difficult. We got to the edge of the ridge and opted to mostly walk from there as it was quite steep and heavily vegetated. There were lots of trees down so it was a very late lunch for us by the time we reached the Omeo Highway. From there we still had 6km or so to go with the first bit on bitumen followed by an overgrown (but not too bad) very old 4WD track and walking route. We made it to our intended campsite at Gill Creek with half an hour of daylight to spare (which was highly unusual for us). Andy opted for a splash in the creek. I was not so brave and opted to remain with smelly feet until the next day.

Day 22

It was great to have another night camped off the snow although it was still cold enough for the tent to be covered in a layer of ice in the morning. So straight up it was a chilly and painful crossing of Gill Creek (for me anyway as Andy managed to jump fully across it). This was followed by a steep 500m ascent. After a short break we set off at a fast pace along open 4WD tracks to make the Mitta Mitta River at Taylor’s Crossing for a late lunch. We made the most of the sun and spent a considerable amount of time drying all our wet gear which was handy.

We reached the Mitta which is the lowest point on the track since the Thomson River on day 1. At 3:30pm we still had almost 9km to go to get to our next, and fourth, food cache. Again we started off at a fast pace along some country roads. Unfortunately in our way was a large 350m ascent and then a 300m steep descent into a narrow valley with a large creek. Despite the strong moonlight our head torches were still required about 20 minutes before we reached the bottom of the valley. On our arrival at Morass Creek we found it to be flowing fast with lots of potential to get seriously wet or even injured. Frustratingly our food drop was only 1.5km away however we decided to wait for the next morning to make the river crossing and the steep ascent on the other side a safer proposition.

We were spending lots of time thinking and discussing our timeline for the remainder of the trip. At this stage we knew we would need to come off the track for a couple of days to attend a funeral and so we were not 100% sure that we could actually make the full distance in the time we had available.

Thus we were getting quite worried! Somehow we needed to make up time and even get ahead of our original ambitious schedule. This was tough ask given that our feet were really starting to get very weary and sore.

day 23

We made an early start but crossing Morass Creek took more time than we hoped. We attempted to build a log bridge but decided not to risk a nasty fall into waist deep water and ultimately chose to wade across instead. This area is rife with deer and we spooked one enroute to our food cache. It’s amazing how loud a honking noise they can make when disturbed. 

By this time we knew when the funeral was, so it was decision time when we reached our fourth food drop. We needed to decide whether we were going to try and somehow shave 2 days off our already tight 6-day schedule to Thredbo. Or, whether we were going to get picked up by a friend in the Cobberas area. The problem with the latter option was that this would mean we might not have sufficient time to reach Canberra before Andy had to return to work.

So, we made the decision to really push ourselves and work hard to try and cut two days off our schedule, by completing the next 120km in 4 days.

We grabbed four days food and rushed off to climb Johnnies Top. Initially the track was great but we soon hit an old overgrown 4WD track which was frustratingly slow. Once on the main ridge we were essentially on a well maintained dirt road although we soon needed to switch to ski boots and skis due to the snow depth.

After 16 kilometres and an 1100 metre ascent we had a late lunch on top and we even managed to briefly chat to family via phones. It was 4:30pm by the time we departed the summit and we still wanted to achieve another 12 km. Luckily the skiing was initially good, as was the walking track once the snow ran out. It was time for headtorches when we started the steep descent down the ridge. Fortunately the bright moonlight really helped. After a 800m descent we reached the valley floor around 7:30pm. The day was not yet over though!

Although we only had 5km to go across the river flats to get to the Buenba Creek Hut Site it took us 2 hours as the numerous brumby pads made it really tricky in the dark to follow the actual AAWT.

Needless to say we were exhausted when we finally reached our destination around 9:30pm, after 13.5 hours of travel. 

Unfortunately the photos don't capture how exhausting the day was but hopefully some of our video footage may (when we get around to eventually editing it).

Day 24

Our goal for the day was to cover 33km! So, to get over the Davies Plain Ridge as quickly as possible, we were up at 5:30am and walking by 7am. Early on we met two deer hunters and had quick chats with each of them. Parks have done quite a lot of work on the route through this area and have re-routed the track in parts so we were able to move reasonably quickly which was helpful. 

Once we hit the top of the ridge we were on skis again and sporting the 'not-so-cool' skis and shorts look. :) We were able to ski the upper part of the descent before switching to hiking boots for the steep descent into Dead Horse Creek. 

The area through Limestone Creek and Stony Creek was beautiful however it was totally overrun with wild brumbies. It was great to cover another big distance but our bodies were starting to really feel it. Recovery was definitely happening much slower than it had 13 years ago when we last did this trip. 

It was once again a big evening of navigating under torchlight for a couple of hours, making for a 9:00 pm finish, 31 km and a 14-hour day.

day 25

We made it across the border to NSW!!

Our objective of Tin Mine Huts involved our largest daily distance yet so we set our alarm for 5am with the hope to be moving as quickly as possible. It was a cold start to the day with super light snow falling for the first hour or two. It was a bit after 6:30 by the time we got away but we moved well and soon climbed out of the Stony Creek valley we were in and up onto the main Cowombat 4WD fire track.

It was amazing how much easier it was to follow the foot pad in daylight than in the dark as we had the night prior. It is actually funny to now think about how much travelling we did under torchlight on this trip. Some of it was super fun whilst other times felt like they dragged on forever.

We actually reached the Vic/NSW border by 12pm having covered some 18km that morning and passing the 400km mark a few kilometres back. It felt great to have made it that far!

With the sun out we made the most of the opportunity and decided it was time to reward ourselves for reaching another state. So we set about relaxing and drying some of our gear in the sun for 2hrs. Bliss!

We saw a number of mobs of brumbies and quite a few wallabies throughout the day. The brumbies we saw were magnificent looking animals however being a feral animal they are causing a huge amount of destruction of the alpine environment. With their tracks and manure evident almost everywhere it feels like there are thousands of them out there. It is almost impossible to put a tent up somewhere on grass that is not covered in large amounts of horse manure.

Stepping across the one-metre wide Indi River (which later changes its name to the Murray River) is always a mind bender although last time we crossed it we were on skis. In fact last time we came through this area we skied all the way from Dead Horse Gap down into the Stony and Limestone Creeks, thanks to a 60cm dump of snow. This time we had patches of snow and even the occasional skiable section but not enough to justify transitioning from hiking boots into ski boots and onto skis. 

From the state border we still had 14km to go with one major climb so the last 1.5 hours of travel was again under torchlight and intense moonlight. Our feet were, not surprisingly, getting very weary by this time (a common theme on this trip) and it was great to finally make it to the very welcoming Tin Mine Huts. Due to walking on good 4WD/fire tracks we actually managed 34.5 km on this day!

Andy quickly got a decent fire going in one of the hut’s fireplaces enabling us to sleep inside relatively comfortably. It was probably minus 8 degrees celsius or even colder outside by this time. I tried to get some night/early morning shots of the hut however it was too cold to stay outside for long with exposed fingertips so I soon gave up. 

It was now only one day from there to the Alpine Way near Thredbo, and to the end of our second major section of the trip! 

day 26

We woke in the hut at 5am and it was cold outside (it really was). There was some sun in the sky throughout the day which at least gave the illusion of warmth. The frost needles were amazing with small bits of soil being lifted up to 10cm above the ground by the power of the frost.  

We had 25km to go to get to the Alpine Way where we had arranged to meet my brother-in-law Nick. He had very kindly offered to take time away from his extremely busy work-site and work-schedule to drive four hours each way to collect us. This was because we needed to get to Melbourne for a family funeral. We would be returning to the track a few days later but at that moment our priority was to be with and support our family.

Trips like this, and tragedies also, are a great reminder of how important family and friends are in our life.

In fact over the course of the past four weeks Andy and I spent hours and hours reminiscing about our shared childhood friends, past trips and family holidays.

It was awesome to have good weather and to actually be able to see the southern end of the Main Range as it’s often shrouded in cloud. It looked amazing and we couldn't wait to get up there. We were really hoping that we would get some views so that we could film and capture how good it actually was. 

Lunch was at Cascade Hut and it was here that we finally started to see some cross-country ski tracks from others who had been out there recently. We were also able to watch around 25 brumbies grazing whilst we were eating our lunch. 

The final descent was extremely icy but it was cool to meet up with Nick who had walked up the track for 20 minutes or so to meet us. Having finally reached Dead Horse Gap, 3km from Thredbo Ski Resort we were able to collect our fifth, and second last, food cache. We had buried it under snow a few hundred metres from the carpark and were relieved to find that no one had tampered with it.

Andy and I piled into Nick's 4WD to head to Fran’s, my mother-in-law’s place, near Wangaratta. There she looked after us before dropping us at the railway station the next morning at 6:45am. The plan was to then head to Melbourne for the funeral before returning a few days later to the track, back at Dead Horse Gap. 

Day 27

After a few necessary days away, we were back on track!

Although the death of a family member is a terrible tragedy it was really good to see the family support each other. And it was also great to briefly catch up at the funeral with those I have unfortunately not seen for several years. Hopefully I’ll catch up with them all again sooner rather than later. Our thoughts were still with those family members who were particularly suffering but our focus was now back on achieving our goal of making it all the way to Canberra before our time ran out. 

We arrived in Thredbo by coach the day prior and from there we walked in the rain up towards Dead Horse Gap - to the same location we exited from a few days ago. 

After camping the night just below the Gap we began our ascent up onto the Rams Head Range and the start of what is commonly referred to as the ‘Main Range’. In good conditions this is the most spectacular part of the Australian ‘Alps’. 

As Andy had to actually be back at work in another 11 days our schedule for this section and final third of the AAWT was still incredibly tight. With 200+ km still to go we were really hoping that conditions would allow us to tour decent distances each day. If not we would not have time to complete the full traverse from Walhalla to Canberra. 

Whilst off the track I discovered that in the past 26 days I had lost 8-9 kilograms. I figured I must have been either overweight or else it actually had been a very physical trip. No doubt it was a combination of both. :) I have to admit that consuming food was high on my 'want' list when I was off the track. I was hoping I could curve the desire to eat too much after concluding the trip and maybe even keep some of that weight off, at least for a while. 

We woke to partial blue skies and the weather just got better from there. Snow conditions were initially breakable to semi-breakable crust then got really nice through the trees on the ascent. Then above the tree line conditions deteriorated and became quite icy. 

We skinned up onto the Rams Head Range then dropped down into the valley below Lake Cootapatamba for lunch. From there we climbed up onto Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest ‘peak’ at a measly 2228m above sea level. Despite it not being an impressive mountain the views were fantastic, particularly looking north towards Watson’s Crags and Jagungal. The wind however was absolutely freezing.

We ended up camping relatively early in a highly picturesque location with some amazing views of Watson’s Crags and the Sentinel. Having nachos for dinner 😛 was a bonus. We could not believe how lucky we got with the weather on this day as we have previously had some terrible weather in this area!

Day 28

Another incredible day on the Main Range! We woke up to a beautiful sunrise with cloud from the east spilling over the range and dropping from a saddle down below the base of the Sentinel and Watson’s Crags. We couldn’t wander too far from our tent to view it peroperly due to the icy conditions. If we moved more than ten metres either side of our tent platform it would have involved a very long but quick slide to oblivion. 

We packed up carefully and proceeded on towards Mt Twynham before descending towards Mt Anton and Consett Stephens Pass. The views were amazing and many of the descents were great fun although we would have struggled on the ascents without the aid of our kicker skins. 

Lunch was had on top of Mt Tate with great views over the Rolling Ground to Mt Jagungal to the north. The skiing down to Whites Hut was a hoot and we were impressed with the state of the hut. A couple more hours saw us arrive at Valentine Hut just on sunset. It was a great place to finish off the day with with its cosy pot belly stove. 

Day 29

We reached the 500 kilometre mark and were rewarded with amazing views south from Mt Jagungal! 

It was a great day as we started off from Valentines Hut which is definitely an awesome hut to visit and stay in. Crossing Valentine Creek did nearly cost Andy a ski but luckily they float pretty well and his self-arrest grip came in useful for its retrieval. We were not expecting it but the Geehi River was fully snow covered, making crossing a complete non-issue. 

Although initially very cloudy the sun soon burned off the clouds making for a beautiful day and awesome views of Mt Jagungal rising above the ridge in front of us. With snow conditions being incredibly firm and indeed icy, we used our kicker skins all the way from Valentine’s to the summit.

The wind was extremely cold on top of the most northerly 2000+ metre mountain in Australia but we were still able to find shelter in a sunny spot out of the wind. It was pretty cool to see Mt Bogong in the distance as it looked a long way away, yet we had been there on day 20. 

The ski down the NE side of Jagungal was fantastic with Andy going for the massive radius big mountain turns whist I went for the maximum turn count. We also had some fun adventure skiing down through the trees before the sun dipped and the snow became icy and crusty. It was a battle to make it to Mackay’s Hut before dark but we (just) made it. 

day 30

The snow was starting to get thin! All of a sudden we went from almost complete coverage of snow, to only the higher ridges and south or eastern slopes having snow.

We had dropped in altitude since Jagungal and were now consistently travelling below 1550m for much of the day. As such we probably walked almost a quarter of the day’s distance. Creativity was the order of the day as we looked for lines of snow that we could link with minimal off-snow patches. Needless to say Andy and I quite happily engaged in lots of grass skiing in order to avoid taking off, and putting our skis on, too many times.

Fortunately in the afternoon we climbed up onto a higher ridge with a good cover suitable for skiing and this lead all the way to Tabletop Mountain. We were intending to go a few kilometres beyond it however the opportunity to camp on top and get a beautiful sunset (& perhaps sunrise) was too tempting. It was pretty windy and hence very cold up there but the views were worth it. 

day 31

Final food drop day!

Strong winds made for a noisy night in the tent and a fraction less sleep than ideal. When we woke, just before sunrise, we had awesome views but as soon as the sun broke the horizon the clouds rolled in super-thick. We patched Andy’s blisters and then with the track more downhill than up for the next 7 km, we had great fun skiing the 4WD track.

That was until the rain set in. We headed for Four Mile Hut, one of the only original old gold mining shacks still standing. This is an awesome hut with great history and lots of character. We hid there from the rain for almost an hour, sorting our gear and left-over food in preparation for our changeover at our cache just past Kiandra. 

With the rain falling we came up with a cunning plan to detour to Selwyn Ski Resort to check it out and to try and get a decent coffee. With low visibility and rain continuing we deviated a couple of kilometres from the AAWT to get to the ski village. Neither of us had ever been there before so we were unsure what to expect. Although it cost us in the end a couple of hours we had a fun ski and now we know for the future what the area and facilities are like.

The snow was certainly running out as we descended into historic Kiandra although with further creativity we managed to ski to within a few hundred metres of the centre of the abandoned gold mining town. The rain kicked back in as we contemplated and then completed a river crossing of the Eucumbene River. From there we walked over a couple of ridges to camp beside Chance Creek on Wild Horse Plain.

By this stage we only had 100 kilometres to go and we were hoping to do this over the next 3.5 days. 



day 32

Rain, hail, sun & flooded rivers! 

It rained heavily all night.

We discovered whilst going to the toilet in the middle of the night that the creek next to us, that was originally ten metres away, was actually now only five metres away. It went from a tiny bubbling steam to a fast flowing torrent that had broken its banks. This was a major sign of things to come.

Our ambitious goal was to walk 27km but first we had to cross Tantangara Creek. On our previous winter traverse trip we were unable to cross this due to major flooding. Instead we had to do a 7km major detour which cost us significant time and energy. We had since heard that there might now be a bridge at the crossing point. We laughed when we got to it as there was indeed a bridge however the Tantangara had flooded the next 70 metres beyond the bridge. In fact the area was one massive swamp. Fortunately the sun was out by then and it was only knee deep at most. Soon after we briefly stopped to admire Witzes Hut. By now we were getting nervous about the remainder of the day as we needed to again cross the Tantangara much lower down where it is much larger. Plus the AAWT on the other side of this crossed the Murrumbidgee River which is THE major river in the area.

There used to be some old bridge pylons that you could use to dangerously cross the Tantangara (like we did last time) but we discovered that these have now been removed. Thus we set about crossing the waist deep and quite fast flowing ‘creek’ which in actual fact was a decent paddleable river. This went without incident but every river crossing was costing us valuable time. It was getting late and just after 4pm when we finally arrived at the Murrumbidgee River. We just needed to cross it quickly so we could complete another 7km section, of mostly off-track wallking. This was not to be though.

The Murrumbidgee River was extremely fast flowing and looked perfect for a whitewater kayak or packrafting trip. But it was not so good for wading across!

Andy twice attempted to cross the Murrumbidgee River, both times without a pack. But each time he found chest deep water and strong currents so we moved on. This meant we spent ages looking for alternative places to cross and eventually to no avail. After wasting more than an hour we headed a long way upstream to a small gorge and considered crossing the rocks that formed a major rapid across the 35 metre wide river. It looked doable but dangerous. Ultimately we decided that without our standard whitewater safety paddling gear, this was not a sensible choice.

Our only alternative was a 12 km detour out to main roads and then eventually to a bridge that crossed a long way upstream. We set off trying to complete the off-track section to the highway before it got dark. We made it just but still had 10 km of road walking to go in the dark. So it was headtorches on and focus on getting into a walking rhythm. The stars were beautiful but it was freezing cold.

When we got to the bridge we were surprised at how powerful the river was such a long way upstream. It reinforced our thinking that we had actually made the right call by not attempting to cross earlier lower downstream with our packs. In the end it was 9:15pm by the time we got to Ghost Gully after about 32km of walking. 

day 33

We got away early and set ourselves an ambitious goal of getting to and climbing the Australian Capital Territory’s highest peak. Initially there were lots of brumbies out and the walking was straightforward and relatively easy. By 12:15pm we stopped for our earliest lunch yet having already walked 20km. We then set off for beautiful Oldfields Hut and then onto Murray’s Gap, about 8 km away, where we planned to camp. We met a group of 3 young guys who were doing a similarly ambitious day as they were doing a day trip to Blue Waterholes from the other side of Murray’s Gap and then back again. 

It was almost 4:30pm by the time we had set up our tent and departed for an evening ascent of Bimberi Peak. The guidebook suggested 3 hours for the 6km return trip and 400 metre ascent but we only had 2 hours at most of light remaining. So we were expecting a slight challenge and we weren’t disappointed.

After only 750m of walking it was time to put skis on with out kicker skins. The arduous climb involved tough conditions with only 30-40cm of snow and lots of trees and scrub to get around. We really wanted to make it the summit by sunset. We almost did but just missed it by 5-10 minutes.

The ski back down under torchlight was hairy and definitely a challenge but also great fun. We surprisingly managed to ski down through all the trees and scrub and almost back to the very edge of the snowline. In the end the guidebook was spot on for the time it took us. If we hadn’t carried our skis from Kiandra though we suspect it would have taken us twice this time. So from our perspective it was worth carrying our skis on our packs for the additional 105km 😁

day 34

Our last full day on the AAWT! 

This day was about cruising and savouring our final full day of walking through Namadgi National Park.

Early on we bumped into a young couple camped beside the track and it was nice to be able to have a great chat given we hadn’t met too many people out there. They actually soon worked out that we had seen each other in the distance when they were ski touring on Mt Tate only a week earlier. We had missed meeting up with them on the summit by only a few minutes. As with many of the people we met it sounds like there are lots of others out there who are also passionate about doing either a winter or summer traverse of the AAWT. It’s such a small world and this was really made obvious to us on this trip.

People keep seeing us walking with our skis and saying “You’re a long way from the snow” etc. Yet we have never been more than a day or two's actual walk away from the snow. Places like Thredbo and Jagungal are actually quite close (2.5 days skiing or walking) when you travel directly from one to the other and don’t use vehicles that have to go the long way around. Linking all the main alpine environments of mainland Australia was once again super interesting as there were definitely differences in vegetation, topography and land management between the different areas.

We enjoyed watching the mobs of Eastern Grey kangaroos in the Cotter and Orroral River valleys on this day. Noticeable to us was that we had not seen a single sign of any brumbies in the A.C.T. Once we crossed into Namadgi NP the horse manure that literally covers all of the bare ground in Kosciuszko NSW as well as parts of the Alpine National Park in Victoria, simply vanished. Additionally the number of kangaroos and wallabies went from only a handful over the previous 4 weeks to literally hundreds on this day.

Lunch was a late but relaxed affair. We even lay on the ground and soaked up some sun trying to muster some energy for our last major hill climb of 400m over 5km. It was thus just on dusk as we rolled into the former Honeysuckle Creek Space Tracking Station site, now a campground and picnic area. Dinner was minimal however we were already planning our menu and cafe stops for our finish the next day.

day 35

What a journey it had been! And sadly (in someways) it came to an end.

We were excited to be reunited with our family, friends and pups but it had been such an incredible ride. It was indeed a fun adventure to share with my twin brother. 

Anticipation for the final day meant we both woke early and had our bags packed by 7am. Before we departed Honeysuckle Creek we spent 15 minutes learning about the fascinating history of the space tracking station and its association with the Apollo lunar missions of the late 60’s and early 70’s.

The final 16km of walking was mostly downhill but the track planners must have thought it would be fun to throw a final 200m ascent into the mix 😛. This was fine except we were starting to struggle with the warm temps of the ‘lowlands’. It must have been at least 18 or 19 degrees celsius which for us was ridiculously warm!

Along the way we met a couple of locals & Parks crew. It was always great to chat to those we met along our journey. Likewise we have really appreciated and enjoyed the positive feedback and online comments of support that we had been fortunate enough to receive. THANKS to all of you who have taken the time to connect with us along this journey!! 

We had planned a tight schedule for the day as a 1.5 hour detour to Canberra to visit one of Andy’s favourite cafes was on the cards. This was to be followed by another 8 hours of driving to get to his home. Our planned short stay at the excellent Namadgi National Park Visitor Centre in Tharwa (and the official conclusion of the AAWT) turned into a long stop. It was great though to meet the generous rangers there and to learn more about the area.

We dismissed our great intentions to stay lean and fit and headed for iced chocolates, coffee and chocolate in Canberra. Then it was a drive to Cooma and a detour to Kiandra to collect our northern most food/gear cache. This of course involved not one but four crossings of thigh deep fast flowing water and was done in the dark under torchlight. It was 1am before we finally rocked up at Andy’s home in East Gippsland. I flew home the following day to my wife Jen (& pup Mitta) in Hobart!

Sincere massive thanks to our wives & families for giving us the opportunity to attempt and succeed on this journey!

Who knows what the next adventure will be! 

I hope that you have enjoyed this article and if you have perhaps you might like to simply press the ENJOY button below, at the bottom of this article.

Thanks and all the best for your own adventures!

If you have enjoyed watching our 2018 videos then I am pretty sure you will enjoy this classic video of our 2005 winter traverse. It has a few cool old-school soundtracks to it :) It's not short but I think it captures the story well. I hope you enjoy it.

If you have shared our journey by making it all the way to the end of this story then CONGRATULATIONS! Reading it in its entirety is definitely an epic in itself :)

I look forward to sharing more adventures with you in the future. Some of these have already been completed whilst others are simply dreams in my head.


If you would like to learn a whole lot more about the equipment that we used on this trip, the stories behind our preparation and our reflections on what we would do differently next time, then click on the image below.

More Stories by Mark Oates
Location: Australian Alps Walking Track
Footnotes: Thanks for taking the time to view and read our story!
© 2024 Mark Oates