Day 33.5
From the resupply it was a river crossing, about knee deep through very cold water, and then onto a gravel road-base road. Looks fairly fresh. Bright and reflective in the midday sun made for a bit of an annoying glare. At least they had culverts across the creeks I guess.
8.3km later, with a rest in the middle, we arrived with sore feet to a junction. On the way we finally did see a few horses. Most far off across the meadows but a few close or on the road, startled and ran off as soon as they heard our trekking poles clacking along the gravel.
Left turn onto a seldom used 4wd track meant softer ground and often grass. Much more kind on the feet. Quite a few places torn up by the wild horses. We also saw a fairly large herd, about 25 all up, running across a field.
Collected some water about 2km before camp as apparently the small water source near the planned camp had been chewed up and made muddy by horses. Only a short distance, and little climb, but 4lt of water and a full food bag does make it seem longer...
Arrived to a single room Witez Hut, nice to have a table and chair. Still a bit of sun left, plenty of time to dry the tent and collect a little wood. The hut is made from vertical wooden slats, with decent gaps between each board (largest about 30mm) so I'm not sure it will keep the heat in too well...
Day 34
A bike packer arrived around 715 to catch us having breakfast. Left Four Mile Creek Hut (4km past where we were night before last. Started 5am apparently. Would have been cold! She brought with her an update about weather, apparently rain late tonight, continuing tomorrow...
Definitely a lot more clouds in the sky today. Blocking the sun, with the cold wind returning, it was a bit chilly on the go. After about a k we turned onto another Snowy Hydro road. Silver lining for the clouds it wasn't as glary. It only lasted just over 3k before we shot off on another 4wd track.
We stopped for smoko at Tantangara Creek, a creek so nice we cross it thrice. (Well 4 times actually, it's where we collected water yesterday arvo too.) Rather than following the creek in a nice open meadow though, we went up and over a hill each time...
Soon after it was wet feet again crossing the Murrumbidgee river, which had nice camping nearby. Over the other side of the river there was no track, rare glimpses of horse tracks raised hopes, then quickly dashed them as they turned off in the wrong direction. At one point we found a track marker on a GI post, in the middle of a field, no track around. (Can you see it?)
Open country for the most part though so aim for the saddle, or left of a knoll, and work your way there. Bit harder than rolling grounds as tussock grass is longer and much lumpier necessitating careful placement of ones feet. Lots of rabbit and wombat holes to fall down too.
We have seen quite a few more animals today; Roos, Rabbits, horses, an Eagle and even a fox dashing away for cover. When we reached some old decommissioned power lines the track became a footpad again and before too long we found ourselves on another gravel road.
Through Ghost Gum Flats camping area, looks like another nice 4wd accessible spot, saying hi to a couple with their horses using it as a base camp to do a few day rides out and back. Past the camping was a softer management trail and it wasn't much longer before we arrived at Hainsworth Hut.
In a meadow and all close firewood looks picked clean so a bit more walking further afield to dry out the wet shoes and both pairs of socks tonight. Saw a cool little Micro-Bat as I was brushing my teeth at sunset.
Day 35
Cut it a little close digging a cat hole in the morning, no loo at this hut for some reason. It's getting dark earlier so we're having dinner earlier, which is shifting all things forward it seems...
Quite a few heavy rain squalls passing over us at night but they thankfully eased off by morning.
Leaving Hainsworth hut at a fairly decent time we had 12km of fairly monotonous management trail to follow before the Blue Waterhole Trail, which was another 3km of fairly monotonous management trail... All the while dealing with on and off showers. Mostly just spitting, some light rain. Thankfully all the heavier rain seemed to bit hitting hills not too far away...
At Blue Waterholes it was getting heavier so we hid under the information sign roof to eat lunch. The occasional wind gust ensuring we weren't too comfortable or dry... In a break in the rain we rushed to setup our tents and stash gear before heading off to explore the area.
We started off down Clarke Gorge and down to Cooleman Falls. Spectacular. The 6 or so creek crossings didn't seem to matter as we were already wet from the rain... Probably made the falls better too.
We returned to camp for a snack and then set off upstream to visit Cooleman and Murray Caves. We took our head torches to explore inside a little and followed Murray cave back to the point it once again became an underground river. Couldn't get any further... without dive gear... next time...
On the way back we caught a brief glimpse of blue sky, quickly engulfed again by cloud... A couple setting up camp nearby saw our small hiking tents and warned us there was heavy rain forecast for tonight. Thankfully they also shared that it was meant to ease off again by morning. I don't mind the rain when I'm safe and dry in the tent :)
Showers on and off for the rest of the afternoon forced us into our tents for dinner. Small breaks were useful for brushing teeth etc but it was risky to leave the tent door open too long. Some heavier showers passed over while I was writing these notes and killing time until I could justify falling asleep. 6:05pm is a little too early for bedtime...
Day 36
Definitely got much heavier rain overnight, though most rain sounds a little heavy with the tent roof about 0.5m from your face. A few times water started to building on the grass before it let off a little and it was able to drain away. Glad we picked a spot on top of a little knoll. Shoes still wet from yesterdays creek crossing, and probably a bit of splashing in the heavy rain. Cold. Wet. Shoes. Always fun to put on first thing...
In the morning it was on and off drizzle, except when it was time to put down the tent when it became proper rain... So much for easing off. It switched between a light sprinkle, showers and rain for the rest of the morning. Still on management trails but the wet tyre tracks became slick mud.
We pushed a bit further than normal to make our first break Oldfield's hut. Nice deck area and we could hide out of the wind inside. I hung my tent up on the deck, but it didn't seem to get any drier. The rain also seemed to almost stop when we were eating... Only to start once more as we recommenced our hike...
Big climb up to Murray Gap, a surprisingly swampy saddle. It also marked the crossing of our next state border, we made it to the ACT! Up here is the side trail to Mt Bimberi (highest in ACT) but it was covered in clouds, still raining on us, Andrew had done it before and I was getting tunnel vision for the finish line, so we gave it a miss.
By 230 in the afternoon we were catching brief glimpses of blue sky and even managed to spot (very faint) shadows as the sun tried to break through the thinning grey clouds. By 3 we were actually seeing sunlight on the hills and quite a bit more blue.
One last climb up to Cotter Gap for camp, we passed about a dozen students and 2 teachers heading down to Cotter flats (above photo) to camp. They only started today but some gear on the outside of their packs looked pretty damp. Hopefully clear skies for everyone tomorrow. They seemed in good spirits anyway.
At the gap we had about 25min of pure sunlight bliss, not enough to dry shoes or socks but the tent got mostly dry at least. Looks like it will be cold wet shoes again tomorrow and this time I don't even have dry socks.
Day 37
It was a comparatively warm night, kicking off the sleep socks half way through and unzipping the sleeping bag a little. We even had hardly any condensation on the tents which was unexpected as we setup on wet grass. Didn't make putting on the wet socks and shoes any easier though.
Having wet shoes first thing in the morning does have its advantages though, when we hit a swampy section less than 100m from camp I didn't have to worry about keeping my feet dry...
As we camped up in the saddle we had a bit of down hill to complete first. A little steep in parts but not too bad overall. Nice large granite boulders to keep the track interesting. Near the bottom we popped out onto a management road and followed it down to Orroral Valley.
On the way we came across a dozer with a slasher on its back on the way out for some maintenance. The driver pulled over to the side to let us past and gave us a friendly hello as we did.
Eventually we made it to the valley, large open grass plain, manicured by hundreds of eastern grey kangaroos. Grass looks better than most lawns! Soon it was time to cross the Orroral River, but luckily ACT parks has a bridge installed here. Just have to work out how to get through the 20 or so meters of flooded road to reach it... Lucky the shoes were still a bit damp I guess...
Past the river was probably the biggest climb since leaving Mt Kosciuszko. Pretty steep in parts, but a few gentler sections where you could catch your breath. Over the top and then a long way down to Honeysuckle camp for lunch.
This was a planned camp spot. 19km from where we left this morning (which was a few k past where we had planned to be.) We had all but decided last night that assuming we made good time here, we would pish on to finish. A few different distances from multiple sources, but at least another 15km.
We had the chance to dry shoes in the sun for a bit and my socks were pretty much dry when I put them back on. With the finish line in site (and maybe a few extra handfuls of skittles) we set off on a pretty fast pace from lunch.
Soon the energy from lunch faded and we returned to a good 4.5kph pace, slightly slowed by steeper steps heading down past Booroomba rocks. Its a nice trail through here, reminds me very much of Girraween NP near home. So many extra side trips to come back and do one day. Past a mostly dry creek and dam.
Back onto another 4wd track for a short stint before pulling up for a rest before the very last climb of the AAWT. Feet were a little sore, having done about 28km by this point. Once in the up we encountered many rock stairs, but relative to other climbs this 10% grade 180m climb (with a mostly empty food bag) didn't feel too bad.
It wasn't until we were past the Mt Tennent summit turn off, and started the massive descent, that I started feeling sore again. So many rock steps. Solid and uneven heights and lengths, relying on the trekking poles to help save the impact on the knees and feet. The stairs seemed to go on forever.
We were at least rewarded with the occasional good view and a were able to take comfort in the fact we were almost done. By 4:07pm we had finally arrived at the end. The Namadgi Visitor Centre, just outside Tharwa. They close at 4pm...
Andrews wife kindly came out to pick us up. Can't imagine we smelled fantastic for the car ride after a ~34km day. A nice burger from Grill'd for dinner to top off a good day.
Day 38
Since we missed out yesterday arvo Andrew a I drove the ~25min back to the visitor centre to officially "finish" our AAWT hike. They give out a nice Certificate and, if they have one, a retired track marker that had been replaced. They only had one left and Andrew, the absolute champion, said I should have it.
After that it was just a quiet lunch and relaxing morning before he dropped me off at the airport and I enjoyed a beer before catching a flight home.
Overall the AAWT has been one of my more difficult thru hikes, logistically, terrain wise and (as far as an "established" trail) navigation. Nav wasn't hard, especially if you're someone with a bit of off trail experience, but there were certainly sections where I could understand why people struggle. Especially if they head into it expecting a similar groomed trail experience like the Bibbulmun, or the Pacific Crest Trail. It has some absolutely fantastic areas with spectacular views and truly scenic vistas... stitched together by long stretches on monotonous fire/management 4wd tracks.
Less social than other more popular hikes, I'm generally happy to hike alone but it was great to bump into the Andrews and enjoy some great company while on the trail. It's really nice when you sync with someone that has a similar hiking style/speed and can enjoy the experience together.
Wouldn't be in a rush to do it again, but I'm very glad I set off and completed the AAWT!
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