Bounced off the trail a few days ago after 15 days of solo wandering East to West (Yass to Albury)... a fairly quiet journey, great sunny weather, not a single other hiker encountered.
I was typically 4 days or so between speaking to another human.
This somewhat derided long walk has some fantastic sections of single-track trail, most notably through Bago State Forest and also a fair amount of road bashing, even though that didn't really bother me- it was the long sections skirting the pine plantations around Blowering Dam that grinded the most.
I was inspired by the historical aspect of the journey and the hardships endured by Mr Hume & Mr Hovell but found the multitude of interpretive signage relating to the former mining history boring as bat@#$%, historical junk can't really compare with mountain vistas and clear running streams I reckon.
Still, along with the lush farm land encountered it is an accurate representation of modern day New South Wales and what the physical condition of the land is these days. I enjoyed it all immensely and especially the friendly trail towns of Tumut & Tumbarumba where I resupplied in the local supermarkets.
Resources: I utilised the John Daly guidebook notes. Slightly out of date but mostly solid info. The official maps were helpful too.
Signage: Very good. The trail was clear of obstructions for the most part, markers everywhere. Only one section South of Samuel Bollard campsite where a landowner has recently ripped up stiles and markers whilst installing new fencing caused a bit of excitement.
Water: Some shelters had water tanks attached, otherwise numerous creeks provided. I filtered with a Sawyer at all times. There is a heck of alot of blackberry in some parts of the valleys so accessing the water courses isn't always straight forward.
Camping: I plopped the tent up wherever I finished at the end of the day. Sometimes it was at a shelter. Other days it was on a flat bit of ground near the trail. No one was around to care what I did.
Footwear: I walked in a mixture of Bedrock sandals on the flat dry stuff and Topo MT2 trail runners on the bumpy terrain.
Fauna: A few snakes, loads of Brumbies, deer, fantastic birdlife, foxes, wild dogs (not a threat), hundreds of wombats and roos...
Logistics: The boat crossing at Burrinjuck Waters is likely to be the only potential roadblock if the weather is iffy, I advised my estimated arrival date then ended up rocking up a day early and Dean the boat man scooted me across straight away.
I called a taxi to scoop me up and get me into Tumut, a local dropped me back the next day.
In Tumbarumba I paid the operators of the caravan park where I stayed for a lift both ways to and from the Henry Angle Trackhead.
All up a varied and worthwhile fortnight of walking. Easy join-the-dots-navigation and much appreciated solitude.
Any questions, ask away. Blog post: http://www.safarihiker.com/