Alpine walking trail - Stronachs to Erica Carpark day walk.

I have been tinkering with the idea of doing the Australian Alps Walking Track (AAWT). This spans from Walhalla in Victoria to Canberra for a distance of around 650km. The track is quite an undertaking so I thought that I'd do a day walk to get an idea of the type of terrain and track I'd be experiencing.

For your interest there is an official web site here: https://theaustralianalps.wordpress.com/ . Many blogs are interesting to read, in particular is one by Mark Oates and his brother Andy who did the journey in winter ! Some detailed planning notes are available from John Chapman's book and John Evans (with gpx files)

I convinced some of my buddies to go on a 'gut reduction campaign'. It worked, we all lost weight and gained a bit of fitness through regular evening walks and some diet constraint. In that process the conversation steered towards doing a 'real walk'.

Now here we are in the thick scrub near the Baw Baw - St Gwinear plateau. First the logistics. We had a couple of cars so the walk was from point A to point B, with a a car shuffle leaving one car at Erica carpark and the other at our starting point at Stronachs camp. The road was in great condition for a dirt road so our shuffle was reasonably quick.

The day was quite misty and cool, ideal for walking.

Right away we realised that to do the AAWT, some serious planning was required. The tracks are overgrown and markers on the trees difficult to locate.

How true is this note from the AAWT web site:

To tackle the track you should be an experienced bushwalker, used to travelling in remote areas, and skilled in the use of map and compass. In some heavily forested sections of track in Victoria where it is difficult to navigate, the yellow track markers will be placed on trees.

Fortunately I do have experience with maps and compass as well as the GPS. It certainly came in handy.

The walk itself is an adventure and a delight, The shrubbery though abundant was not so dense that it couldn't be penetrated and fortunately there wasn't too much in the way of thorny varieties.

Arriving at Mushroom rocks was a real pleasure with the bushes in full bloom.