AAWT - Day 3 and 4

Last time we joined our intrepid adventurer he had wandered off into the afternoon sun.  With the wind at his back and a heavy heart he marched onwards only looking back for a brief moment to fairwell the landscape he had thus far conquered!  (Please read the above line with a deep tone and partially sarcastic American accent, like the narrator of the old Batman cartoons)

So let me take a moment to be honest, gain some perspective and bring everyone into the picture on how I'm feeling just about this point of the hike.

Firstly, I have never spent even 1 night alone camping or hiking before and I have never hiked or camped for more than 3 - 4 days at a time.   A lot of planning goes into these long distance treks, but how was I to know that my preparations were enough.  Do I have the ability to see this to it End.

I have not used a compass in 15 years and as far as being fluent in its use, I am not.  Yes setting a heading for South and walking there is self explanatory, but unfurling a map and understanding how to calculate the coordinates of where I am or want to go and being able to say in an emergency supply those to a third party.  No sir.  At this point, this is weighing on my mind.

Also, in general terms, you only have to ask me for a ride somewhere by car to know that my general orientation is poor.  The number of times I have driven the same route 5 or 6 times with the same friends only to continually make the wrong turns.  This is also weighing on my mind.

I am fairly immature.   True there are so many facets of my life which are mature and I deal with them with maturity but when you really look at me I am selfish and spoilt.  The result is that at times once the adrenalin has warn off my desire or ambition does too.  This was not the feeling I was having right about now however.  From the moment I got on the bus, till this moment in time and right up to my arrival at Walhalla, I knew I was going to finish my first End2End journey.

So I am now on a Solo mission.  About 2km after leaving Tim the trail leaves the road and heads off on a section of undefined track.  This was the first time on the AAWT that you are not on a clearly defined trail of some description and of course it so happens to be on the afternoon when I have wandered off on my own.

To be honest the sweeping valley was a really nice walk, soft under foot and regardless of the lack of track it was really easy to follow the old telegraph poles and then see that across the valley was a creek system where the trail ascends and then descends to the Murrumbidgee River.  So I just picked that reference point and went.  I also took the chance n the Murrumbidgee to have a quick splash bath to freshen up a little.  

I also came across some devoted campers/fisherman from Bendigo who drove out to this remote spot for a good old fish.  It was a remote valley and I was very surprised to see them set up.

Once again the trail continues along a four wheel drive track which is really road standard.  I follow this track until about 5:30pm when I arrive at Whitses hut.  I can see from a distance that Hayden and Dave are collecting fire wood for the cold night ahead but also to keep with god hut etiquette of leaving the place in a better condition ( with more firewood as well) then when you arrived.  I figured I'd warn them that I'm a little crazy so I yelled out " hope you guys have got the fire started."  I'm pretty sure they both went in side the hut at that stage!

Whitses Hut is a basic hut made of timber planks, which I assume at one time actually touch each other to create a wall which would stop the weather from entering.  These days those timbers have shrunk apparently so every breeze and every degree of cold is felt in its entirety.  Sleeping in a tent would definitely be warmer.

So just to clarify, these huts are part of the Australian Story, history and are preserved for emergency use only.  I considered companionship an emergency this night and all 3 of us stayed on the floor of the hut.  Again, that night and in the morning making sure that the hut was kept and cleaned to make sure our consciences were okay with this unique indulgence.

We talked till dark, comparing gear, food and our experiences so far and our plans for the balance of the journey.  Dave and Hayden were taking a slightly different route, they were leaving the AAWT at Mt Hotham in about 17 days time or so and going over Mt Feathertop then down to Bright, VIC.  Dave and I both at this stage had massive blisters on the bottom of our feet across the front foot tread and they had mentioned that they were getting concerned about where they had sufficient food.  I knew that from tomorrow morning I was going to have both Tim's food drop as well as my own plus the extra food I was already carrying.  I didn't dump the food as part of me kept saying this will get harder or I would hit a road block and need the extra food.  I was grateful for Hayden and Dave.  I knew they were half a day ahead of me, so Tim was able to tell my family at home that I was not alone but now walking with to hikers I met the night after his departure.  It would give peace to my wife, kids and parents.

I always knew I would keep on trekking solo but the story would be received as comfort back home.

Another honest truth is that I like to impress people.  I have a competitive nature.  So I knew Day 4 I was going to go out hard so that as the news got back to friends and family they would see that although my plans had changed into a solo trek, I was thriving on this new reality not dwelling on it.

Day 4 started about 6am with the sun rise.  A bitterly frosty morning which I had this overwhelming excitement about.  Having gone through what was starting to become a well organised morning routine of breakfast, pack, plan and go, I departed as soon as the tasks were complete.  Wasn't long when I came over a small crest and there to the West just beside the track was a mother brumby and her little baby.  I could tell they were warming in the morning sun, they let me get within about 20m before mum stood up and made a small sound and a nod of her head to her baby and they departed.  Up to this stage in the hike the closest a brumby had let me get was about 200m before running off.  All my photos were of these far off horses barely recognisable as such through my Garmin GPS' camera.

A Brumby is a free-roaming feral horse in Australia. Although found in many areas around the country, the best-known brumbies are found in the Australian Alps region in south-eastern Australia.                                                                                             I also came across another large brumby walking in the opposite direction on the trail.  We were both surprised to see each other as neither of us moved.  after about 20 seconds he realised I could take him down and moved off!

It was about 10am when I crossed the Eucumbene River and arrived in Kiandra.  This felt like I had achieved a milestone.  Reaching my first food drop, and at least a day and a half ahead of schedule.  I allowed myself some time to relax as I dug out our food drops, I still opened Tim's and grabbed his treats and the treats we were sharing.  Filled up with fresh water we had kept in the drop as well.  I was a little unsure on how the next stage was going to so I brought the full 6 days rations and barely left any of my unused rations from being ahead of schedule.  So I got heavy!  Probably about 22kg's now which is not heavy physically but as I wanted to be light it was heavy mentally.

New track installed - hard under foot

I left Tim's bucket out for Hayden and Dave as I knew they would be past later that morning and would no doubt enjoy a top up if they could.

I set off on the well defined fire trail towards Table top mountain.  The local DSE (Department of Sustainability & Environment) has done some track maintenance to no doubt stop erosion of some description but let me say - it was a pig to walk on.  Large rocks are not great under foot.  I spent most of the time walking on the grass along side the trail.

I could see Tabletop Mountain off in the distance and it felt like it was all afternoon to finally get to the base of the mountain.  The AAWT doesn't actually go over tableTop but since this was one of the first real summit style mountains I had come across I was pretty happy to climb up to check out the views.




Once on the summit of TableTop I took a couple selfies while sitting n the rock chair.  I can also see the Koscioszko Mountain area with a number of snowy peaks in the distance.

Table Top Mountain 1784m

Checking out the view from TableTop

Once I had descended from TableTop I continued on the well defined track for 5km or so and then decided to take the undefined short cut down to Happy's Hut.  The alternative was to stay on the trail and walk and extra 2 km's or so to the well defined entry to Happy's Valley.  Happy's Hut is located just below the tree line in a sweeping valley.  Its a typical old hut, fireplace and small food preparation bench.  There are 2 old wire based beds, but to honest I used them to organise my gear not to sleep on, I didn't want them to deteriorate under my weight.  I was also really excited to see a camping chair to sit on.  I spent the night reading, checking my maps/schedule and writing in my journal.  It felt civilised.

Happy's Hut viewed as I came out of the Bush Bashing shortcut