Dec 1. Driving to the start of the Australian Alps walking track, leaving stashes of food hidden in the mountains. Lovely weather for the first day of summer.

How good are old motels in small country towns?

December 2. The Victorian high country near Mt Hotham. About to head up there

Up high now. Dinner Plain, Victoria. Unofficial arm depth-o-meter says about 15cm of summer snow. It’s December 2

Some scenes from @_hotham today. Stashed some food. All going well, will be coming through here in two weeks

On the road again

Bleak

Ok found a spot

OK what’s the worst that can happen on a track currently half covered by snow and blocked by fires in two places. 680km to go #AAWT

A few pics from the first 11km. 3km now from night one camp. No humans. Yeah that was the first black snake. Bastard

Day two. A very wet and cold river crossing. Treefall everywhere making track an obstacle course. Drizzle. Can’t solar charge phone. Native cherry trees. Gotta climb 1200m vertical metres. That’s four Centrepoint (Sydney) Towers. Give me strength

My afternoon crossing the Baw Baw plateau is squelchier than yours. #AAWT. Enjoy the sound. The unseasonable snow is not easy to walk on, but melting pretty quickly now

Evening all from the Victorian Alps. Still 8m to camp but beautiful walking in the twilight. Thinking of everyone in NSW in fire danger. Mercifully and magnificently cool and clear here

Pick up a food drop on that distant peak tomorrow. A week’s worth of serious hiker food plus two treats: twisters and Sarsaparilla drink. They’re all I can think about #AAWT

Australia shaped puddle with forest reflection in evening light. This is my Mona Lisa #AAWT

Camped last night on the summit of Mt Skene (1580m) in dreamy still conditions. Woke up to a gale of course. Hot here today. Lost a hiking pole yesterday in a scary river crossing accident where my pack snagged on an overhead branch. No matter. Stick got a new job now #AAWT

Aiming for the distant peak Mt McDonald by about lunchtime tomorrow. Will camp anywhere with a trickle of water within 15km of it tonight. Enjoy your taps and running water

Another clear morning in the Victorian Alps. Thank god we are currently untouched by fire although the track ahead is still closed by a fire that was extinguished (by the blizzard!!!) last week. May hafta backtrack and hitch round to my next food drop at Hotham. Decisions. #AAWT

This is no ordinary puddle. Potholes on rough bush tracks are usually filled with muddy water. This one is crystal clear. That’s because it is fed by a trickle from a roadside moss soak. First water anywhere today. Fillin’ time! #AAWT

Someone lost cans of Coke in the snow on this unnamed summit and I just found them, two hours after I drank from a puddle. I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD #AAWT

Can’t believe the scenes out of my home town Sydney today. I hope everyone is breathing OK. Ironically the same weather system that brought snow and now beautiful weather to the VIC Alps was the one that fanned the flames in NSW. I wish everyone the best. Some more VIC pics #AAWT

Any journey has its learnings. I have learned that 4WDers & hikers have much in common. Real 4WDers I mean, not weekend hoons. We all just wanna enjoy the bush. Bumped into Daryl and Adrian yesterday on a track so remote they’d never seen a hiker. They gave me Tim Tams. Legends

More humans! This is Tom and Lisa. Like me they’re doing the #AAWT. They’re the third lot of hikers I’ve met in 8 days (the other two were solo like me). It was cool to be able to tell them where a sneaky water source is close to the trail, thereby saving them a 3km diversion

Terrific reception tonight. May be nothing next few days so worry not. Here’s tonight’s campsite and the view from behind the snowgums. Shrub is alpine mint just starting to flower. Like going to sleep in the Mentos factory! #AAWT

Mist rolled in overnight. Then it got cold. Then I woke up. Then this #AAWT. Amazing. Summits on the horizon are Mt Buller, Stirling and The Bluff I believe

Had to backtrack a coupla days due to fire closure area. TBH was exhausted anyway after extreme physical exertion and navigational challenges around day 7. Hitched outa mts, hitched back up. Now near Mt Hotham. Onwards!

Peaks are Mt Feathertop and The Twins #AAWT

Spectacular. Humbling.

Snowgum of the day #AAWT

I am absolutely in love with these green butterflies in the high alpine herbfield #AAWT

Oh let’s be honest, I just wanted to say “herbfield”

In the 1800s they named this range “the N-ggerheads”.

They have since been renamed by their indigenous name, the Jaithmathangs #AAWT

Late evening view from my tent and a shave by the fire beside Dibbins Hut (1917). Two weeks of growth was just too itchy. #AAWT

Morning!

I absolutely love these two. Peter and Melinda, organic yoghurt farmers from Echuca up on the Murray, who drive up to the high country to shoot deer – imported pests which are in plague proportions in the mountains. Check out the number plate! O DEER!!! #AAWT

This humble mound jutting out of the Bogong High Plains is Mt Jim (1818m). It is not one of the world’s great peaks but its summit is six times higher than Australia’s tallest manmade structure and Jims everywhere should be proud of it @JimWilsonTV

Say hello to my little friend, a speckled alpine grasshopper

Classic Aussie Alpine hut Wallace’s Hut, the stylish outhouse, the snow patch in the gully up the hill and the view far below #AAWT

Strangely extravagant bridge in middle of nowhere #AAWT

Can’t talk. Having coffee. #AAWT

A chilly but clear day on the #AAWT with some incredible 360 views I simply must share.

First up, Mt Fainter (left middle distance) and Mt Buffalo plateau in the far distance with its two main peaks, The Horn and The Hump. You decide which is which!

You can’t make much out but this is my first view of the very very distant Kosciuszko area, where I’m due around the 26th. This view excited me greatly but then I’m easily amused #AAWT

And my first up close view of Victoria’s highest peak Mt Bogong. Camping on it tonight. Onwards #AAWT

Absolutely incredible scenes from the eastern flank of Victoria’s highest peak Mt Bogong this morning. Got the whole mountain to myself. Will post more from the summit soon #AAWT

“Scoop of caramel and a scoop of vanilla, please!”

The brown patches beneath the summit of Mt Bogong are remnants of the winter snowpack, coated in dust from spring dust storms.

The white patches are leftovers from the Dec 1st summer blizzard.

Amazing! #AAWT

This is the 360 degree view from Mt Bogong (1986m).

I am officially the highest person in the state of Victoria, and given some of the people I’ve met in Melbourne, that’s really saying something! #AAWT

To approach a mountain and then climb it is like getting to know a person. Impressions change as you get to know the mountain, its nuances, its moods. It’s incredibly rewarding and so much richer than just “peak bagging”.

This view is Mt Feathertop, Vic’s 2nd highest peak #AAWT

Possibly not the smartest thing I’ve ever done two days, 25km and one deep river crossing from the nearest human, but I just couldn’t resist a bit of Mt Bogong summer boot skiing #AAWT

This is invaluable evidence of the disaster caused by horses and deer near alpine steams. Please share with anyone who advocates for brumbies for cultural reasons

1. A ruined pool beside a stream
2. A pristine healthy one

#AAWT

Spent the night in Ropers Hut, a wonderfully maintained High Country classic set among beautiful snowgums. Ropers was rebuilt after the 2009 fires. I named its resident bush rats George & Mildred.

Was a BRUTAL climb to get here after sketchy river crossing, but that’s the #AAWT

Running late. Gotta walk fast to meet an absolute legend DAVE FROM TAWONGA who has volunteered to drive me to my next food drop because the next two days of track are closed by fires. HOW GOOD ARE PEOPLE? Anyway here’s a quick view looking back at Mt Bogong this morn #AAWT

Two days of track bypassed due to fire closure. Thanks to a lift from Dave from Tawonga, I am now on the dry lowlands of the Mitta Mitta River valley near Benambra, sitting out the heatwave, eating chips and healing my blisters for a coupla days #AAWT