When I left, it was rainin’ so nobody saw me cry.
Johnny Cash.
Big river, why she doin’ me this way?
Day 15 began with a 7km road bash up to Hotham Heights. I visited the trig at Mt Hotham and the visitors centre for a chat, then continued on the AAWT.
I took a pleasant side trip to Mt Loch and visited another trig. The mountain landscape was laid out all around me.
The AAWT proceeds gently downhill for 2.5km, passing Derrick Hut. This hut was erected by the Wangaratta Ski Club following the tragic death of legendary skiier Charles Derrick in a snowstorm on a solo race from Mt Bogong to Mt Hotham.
There are numbered poles lining the route from Mt Hotham to Mt Bogong. I followed them down the steep 350m descent to the rustic Dibbins Hut, where I camped for the night. I shared dinner with a lovely brother and sister who left their family farms for an annual bushwalk (something I have started doing with my siblings).
Day 16 was a beauty! The track climbs 350m up on to the Bogong High Plains. The mostly barren plateau provides excellent walking. I had lunch with some young Parks Victoria staff at Cope Hut – they even gave me an easter egg.
The track continues, for a time following an aqueduct where I chatted to a group of horse riders.
I finished the day at Edmonsons Hut. After the weeks of solo walking I craved company. Sharing a campfire with the Traralgan College Year 12 Outdoor Education class and teachers was enormous fun.
Day 17 was another cracker! Beautiful cloudless sky. Wonderful walking. Wouldn’t be dead for quids.
I wanted to include the Mt Bogong summit on my walk so I left the AAWT and took Timms Spur down to Big River. It’s a 600m drop over 6.5km on a very well graded fire trail.
What goes down must come up. In this case, a 850m climb up Quartz Ridge. It’s a well defined walking track with great views.
At the top of Quartz Ridge you traverse across the Hooker Plateau before the final ascent of Mt Bogong, an elevation of 1986m. Here are spectacular 360° views. I put down my pack and rotated…
From Mt Bogong there is a 4.0km downhill stroll to Cleve Cole Hut. This is a solid stone hut with all mod cons, including running water (although there was mosquito larvae squirming in it). I camped here for the night with no other visitors.
Day 18 I returned to the official AAWT route which follows the Long Spur eastwards. The track is reasonably easy to follow before crossing a fire trail at Big River Saddle. Then a climb up to Mt Wills track on a foot pad that is vague at times, and a final climb to Mt Wills.
I camped near Mt Wills hut. Another AAWT jogger, heading south, was sleeping in the hut. He said the weather forecast was bad so he would rest the next day. Perhaps I should have done the same.
Leaving Mt Wills on Day 19 I followed the AAWT over Mt Wills South as it descended to the Omeo Highway. The heavens opened and I was soaked to the skin. Worse was to come, and I found myself in the middle of a violent electrical storm as I followed the AAWT along a ridge to the east.
The track descended steeply to a creek crossing, the water high and fast as a result of the storm. I made the crossing but lost the track, and it was some time later that I found it again, having bashed through some thick scrub.
The rain eased and I was soon back on fire trails. The descent towards Taylors Crossing was hazardous at times as the rain had made the clay based track wickedly slippery.
At Taylors Crossing I dried out and had dinner with other AAWT hikers who were heading south.
Day 20 was a short day, following the Mitta Mitta River at a leisurely pace before the track climbs. I found my food drop about 500m from the Benambra-Corryong Road and camped for the night.
Day 21 was spent climbing over 900m to Johnnies Top. It’s not a steep climb, and by this stage of the walk I was quite fit. I had been told the next part of the walk, a descent to Buenba Flat, was littered with fallen trees and very slow going. Lucky me, a dozer had gone through the day before and cleared it. I still had a long day and didn’t get to camp until 7.30pm.
Some progress totals:
Steps: 660,000
Snakes sighted: 18
Leaches sighted: 1
Other AAWT walkers sighted: 3
Flies sighted: Plenty.
