Pardon my terrible writing skills but here goes:
My partner and I completed the Baw Baw to Howitt section in January 2015. Being relative newbies, it was a huge undertaking at the time considering our inexperience in multiday long distance walking and we knew we had a challenge ahead of us.
We had done a lot of bushwalking... several trips to the Grampians, Prom, etc but no real overnight stuff with packs so in 2014 we got our gear, packs tent etc and started getting some hours under our belt doing Feathertop circuit, Tali Karng via Wellington River twice, The Crinoline twice, a snow camp out the back of Donna Buang on the coldest Melbourne night of the year, Baw Baw Plateau and numerous other overnighters. It all helped sort out what we needed and what we didn't. Sure we made some mistakes along the way and probably still are, but our system works OK so I suppose that's what counts.
Then about November I had the idea to tackle a section of the track so we began our planning. I'd had a couple of Chapmans books for about a year and read them numerous times, got the relevent maps, sourced any resources I could off the internet including this site, looked at satellite images and studied the maps highlighting the route, water sources, camps etc so I thought we were pretty prepared, even though we had no idea what we were in for.
Because my partner was with me, most of the loose itinery was based around her capabilities. If I was doing it solo it would different. The plan was to cover the 160k over 16 days with 2 rest days along the way at our designated food/water drops. That's all the time we had off over the Christmas break and as much as seemed comfortably doable and I thought by then we might have had enough. I know that's a pretty slow pace but that allowed time to collect water, bad weather, catastrophe etc. and there was no rush, we could just enjoy it at our own pace and if we did it quicker it made no difference.
So 2 days before New Years we set off to place food/water drops...one at Fiddlers Green and one at Barkley Jeep Track/Jamieson-Licola rd. Only two days between the two but Walhalla rd to Jam/Licola rd via South rd was only 50 minutes so they were pretty easy to access and it reduced the carry weight for the last section..
- Preparing food drops
On New Years day my Dad drove us out to Baw Baw, we said our goodbyes, went through the routines of the Spot OK, not OK, Help messages once more and set off towards Howitt. This could be a long story if I keep this up. I'll write some more when I have time.
- Leaving Baw Baw
Day 1: Baw Baw Village to Whitelaw Hut Ruin(10k) We got going about midday for the gentle stroll through the snowgums to Whitelaw Hut Site which we had walked to from Mt Erica prior to this trip, arriving mid afternoon, set up camp, collected some water from the nearby stream and got the maps out to go over the next day to Stronachs. This is as far as we'd been across the plateau so it was into the unknown from here on. All good so far...except for those damn march flies.
- Camp at Whitelaw Hut Ruin
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 35bbb561deDay 2: Whitelaw Hut Ruin to Stronachs Camp (12k)Another easy day...and mostly downhill to Stronachs camp. The forecast had warned of high temperatures today, I think it was 40C in Melbourne but nowhere near that on the plateau. For the first time I carried a small AM/FM radio which was very useful for weather/fire updates and the like. We got an early start to avoid the heat, passing the Upper Yarra Track turnoff and stopping at Rocky Knob for a short break to admire the views north.
- Rocky Knob
Most of the track was wide and easy to follow with only short sections overgrown, a few trees down here and there, but finding your way was never a problem...it was along this section we saw our first of many snakes. As we descended the snowgums disappeared and were replaced with the more familiar tall eucalypt forest and we arrived at camp about midday.
- Forest near Stronachs Camp
It had warmed up considerably so we were happy to sit out the heat, collecting water from stream 200m up Thomson Valley road. The signposted campsite for AAWT walkers is set back in the forest 200m or so from the road. It was here we met eljimberino on his solo AAWT trek to Canberra. His 100% cuban fibre setup made me think about how to lighten things up, not that we were overloaded, but there's always room from improvement. I'm pretty sure all campsites from Baw Baw along this section through to Blue Jacket are fuel stove only but there is plenty of evidence that not everyone is obeying the rules.
- Stronachs Camp
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 160fefa3cdDon't fall asleep yet...there's 14 more days to go.
Day 3: Stronachs Camp to Thomson River (14k)Another warm humid day was on the cards so it was an early start again. eljimberino strolled into camp as we were having breakfast loaded up and ready to go. After a quick chat about our plans for the day he was off. The way out of Stronachs is different to what is marked on the map which indicates a route NE from the road then NW. I'd seen this on a GPS track sourced from the web (Karen Cody) so we headed north to a marker leading into the forest which cuts off a small section and eventually meets up with Upper Thomson Tk and the infamous Trig Point Tk. The route became a little less defined as we headed north which is more the way I expected most of the track to be until we reached Upper Thompson Tk. There are a couple of alternate routes through this section down to the river...Basalt Hill Tk being one, but I'm unsure there's much difference, they both look as bad as each other...so I chose to stick to the route in Chapmans book and follow Trig Pt Tk.
- Route to Upper Thomsom Tk
- Me...as happy as a pig in mud!
After a bit of a road bash for several km, passing a trig marker and water tank we reached the steep downhill section to Thomson Jordan Divide Rd.
- Trig Pt Track...it's steep!
All was going well as we crept our way down; it was loose underfoot and I told Bridge to take her time and watch her footing then, just as I turned to check her progress...disaster struck...left foot slid forward, right leg buckled underneath her and down she went. "HOLY #@!$%&" was my my initial reaction...I was sure she'd done a knee by the way she fell. After several minutes I removed her pack, assessed her condition and after a bit of a stroll around she seemed OK, a bit sore but good to go on. I carried her pack and mine down the remainder of the steep section to the road...30kg down that track was sure a challenge but we eventually made it to the bottom.
Whew...that was a close call and could have ended this adventure on day 3! I strapped her knee up with a compression bandage for some support and off we went, passing Easton Dam to the turnoff over Thomson River to the camp.
The turnoff from the road into the forest is easily missed so keep an eye out for it on you left. The river was cold, perfect for that sore knee and after setting up I made sure she gave it a good soaking in the cool water to help reduce any swelling. What an eventful day and I knew this would make the next couple of days a bit more difficult for her (and me). Not the nicest camp in the world, but there was no complaining as we cooled off in the river.
- Thomson River crossing
A bit of cloud had moved in by late afternoon and the temperatures dropped much to our relief, so we ate, read the maps and got an early night in preparation for the first day of ups.
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"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe"