AAWT Part 1 Walhalla to Mt McKinty

Part 1 of my hike along the 680km Australian Alps Walking Track (AAWT) in spring 2023.
This part is from the start of the trail head at Walhalla through to my first food drop near Mc Kinty.
The AAWT is not the longest walking track in Australia but is considered one of the most iconic and difficult tracks. It's a logistically challenging track in that it passes through few towns with hikers most often choosing to cache food drops in the bush to collect along the way.
Unfortunately I had my GoPro set to 4:3 aspect ration instead of 16:9 hence the black bars on the edges of the screen. Lesson learned - check before leaving home.
www.mickbecker...

[@PaulBrookerJOURNi]

The log ‘bridge’ across Black River looks awesome! Great video Mick.

[@mickbeckers]

Bloody awesome work by the crew that did that. Very handy saw skills.

[@davidsanders6508]

Love Ep 1 mate - top stuff! Planning on going in April and loved this content - super helpful to check against my notes. Gives a great feel for it. PS great shout out to Ben with the signature beer & thumbs up too 😁

[@mickbeckers]

Thanks David. Its a tough but rewarding track. Have fun out there.

[@GemmaBrown-h1f]

the Ben Jones shot. Loved that! Good sense of humour despite that serious drenching early on. Good on you and thanks for making the time to fill it all for us looking into the track.

[@youmeandtheGSDs]

Really enjoyed this, heading to Ep 2 now :) I’m not fit enough for the AAWT but I’m loving watching your journey. Thanks for sharing!

[@mickbeckers]

Cheers. Hope you enjoy the series.

[@ecoruben]

Was looking forward to another good AAWT series and you are not disappointing Mick. Really nice coverage and narration. Turning 50 this year so the AAWT is on the cards this coming spring for me.

[@mickbeckers]

AAWT 50th birthday trip - love it.

[@millsa99]

Great work. Excellent video diary so far and very much looking forward to the coming episodes.

[@mickbeckers]

Thanks heaps. This series is a little bit longer than most of my content. Really hard to cull footage out and I took so much.

[@callumclairesadventures8793]

Nice video! My dad aka Doug finished the AAWT last week. He doesn’t film much so looking forward to watching your journey! ✌️

[@mickbeckers]

We've been in contact right through the trail and I was passing info back to him on upcoming sections and water. As usual he was super fast.

[@callumclairesadventures8793]

@@mickbeckers thanks for helping him out! Love the hiking community.

[@anothertravelflog]

Good one Mick, there is just one thing left to do haha! Pretty ordinary weather early. Those 4wd track climbs are ridiculously steep, car destroying tracks.

[@frozenragu]

Yeh they're rough tracks, big lift and tyre country and an acceptance of damage to your rig

[@martyfelber6102]

Ha! a bit shorter than Te Araroa Trail hey Mick! Looks just as wet as what you copped in the north Island!!!

[@Earlofmar1]

what a difference a few weeks makes. I started in the last week of October and the weather was fantastic start to finish. Of course, there were a couple of thunderstorms at night and I had to wear the waterproof jacket a few times. However, I think I only had the waterproof pants on once.

[@mickbeckers]

Great to hear the weather was much kinder. I would have preferred to start later but work committments wouldn't allow. It's all good. What's a long trail without a few rainy days.

[@timchilman]

Hey mate, what's the water bottle holder you are using?

[@mickbeckers]

zpacks.com/products/water-bottle-sleeve There are bound to be cheaper options out there.

[@frozenragu]

Your relentless positive attitude in moist depressing conditions makes me sick 😂😂😂 that camp at stronachs was horrendous, you certainly chose the most boggy spot 😂 good old Victorian mountains, so moist at times. I've been off work with a cold (aged care), been binge watching all the AAWT vlogs I can find. My only complaint with yours is you haven't uploaded the entire series yet! I greatly approve of your choice of beer, their summer ale is my favourite. Would have been nice and cold in your stash. Can't believe you camped at black River, leech infested, not flat and not a good vibe, I kept walking up to the top of champion spur (was going opposite direction). The log bridge has had work done to it thankfully, I crossed the river as it was very low, not a fan of log crossings and potential disastrous injury. Mckinty has some beautiful forest and views, I can think of another name I gave it though starting with McC 😂. I did nobs to rumpff saddle in a day, before any track works had been done on that section and on a seriously hot day. The sound of the water on middle Ridge road at 10pm is something I will never forget. Mate and i weren't far off dangerous dehydration, I'd almost wiped that section over Sunday and mckinty from my memory

[@mickbeckers]

😂😂 thanks heaps. I reckon the AWWT knocks everyone around in some way. Patience... there are more on the way.