Champion Spur to Black River, AAWT, Goulburn State Forest - October 2017.

Black River near my nights camp.

With very little distance to walk today it was a nice relaxed start to the day, just the way I like it. Lying in the tent this morning, listening to ABC local radio was a very pleasant way to wake up. The only downer was that I’d heard that a legend of Australian music Harry Vanda had died in the last couple of days, it’ll probably be the last time I hear AC/DC on ABC radio I remember thinking, hmmm. So anyway eventually I climbed out of the tent, making breakfast under a clear blue sky while at the same time slowly starting to sort out what gear and food I needed to take with me and what I needed to leave behind. With my next food drop almost 7 days walk away I needed to get things right, back in the day I might of been able to carry 10 or 12 days food and supplies but those days are long ago in the past.

Champion Spur Track.

It was close to 10am when I finally set off along Champion Spur Track this morning. The track marking along the next section was a little on the vague side but basically I just stayed as close to the crest of Champion Spur as possible avoiding any tracks that started to contour the spur. The open walking along the top of the spur giving me some nice views through the trees of some of the mountains ahead of me, a few of them still with the odd snow drifts visible. Eventually I arrived at an old overgrown track complete with an AAWT marker (the first one I’d seen since way back on Mt Selma Road), this was the start of my descent down to Black River.

Stay high on Champion Spur if in doubt.

There are some nice views through the trees from Champion Spur Track.

Hey, hey, my first AAWT marker in around 6 kilometres.

I’d been thinking that with all the fire regrowth around this section might be a little scrubby but initially at least all was pretty good. My old track heading down through what was almost a tunnel of regrowth to meet Champion Spur Track again, at four way intersection of tracks. Passing a sign warning me that my navigation skills had better be up to scratch I pushed on anyway, now following Black River Track. Black River Track starts off fairly innocently, slowly descending towards the river which was hidden in the depths of the valley and not really seen until I arrived on its bank. After starting off fairly easy tunnelling through more fire regrowth Black River Track gets pretty serious about descending. Dropping steeply towards the bottom of the spur through drier Eucalyptus forest. When Black River Track left the crest of the spur dropping slightly off the west side, it was important to watch what I was doing as along here the AAWT leaves Black River Track to head down to Black River on a very old and overgrown track, it is marked but you need to be watching.

Following the old link track down through a tunnel of regrowth.

Meeting Black River Track it looked like things were getting serious.

The top section of Black River Track was pretty good walking in spots.

At other times Black River Track tunnelled through a wall of regrowth, at least there was a clear track though.

Getting down a bit closer to Black River the forest dried out and opened up a bit.

Black River Track leaves the crest of the spur towards the bottom.

Black River has a bit of a reputation amongst AAWT walkers, it’s renowned for very tough, overgrown walking with complicated navigation, so much so that guide books publish an alternative way around the river. So with all that in the back of my mind it was a slightly apprehensive Feral Walker who pushed his way through the high scrub to emerge on the bank of the river. The AAWT actually arrives at the bottom of the Black River Valley at a small tributary creek, which I crossed on a mossy log. The route from here to camp required fairly constant attention but to be honest it was relatively straight forward as far as navigation and scrub went, it was just slow, tough and rough.

Leaving Black River Track the AAWT follows this old over grown fire track down to the river.

Things get a little scrubby close to Black River.

My first look at Black River.

On finally reaching the floor of the valley I had to cross this small tributary before I actually reached Black River.

After crossing the smaller tributary creek I was now on the bank of Black River at last, another log provided my with a slightly sketchy way across Black River for the first time. I now headed up the almost gorge like valley, this is the bit that people have trouble with I think. The rough and sometimes soft pad rose and fell frequently as I made my way north, sometimes very, very steeply but thankfully it wasn’t overly scrubby, there was some scrub encroaching on the pad but no worse than a lot of the AAWT. It was a slow slog though, one minute I’d be down at river level the next I’d be traversing a sketchy grassy terrace 20 metres up the almost vertical slope. Still forward progress was still happening and less than an hour after meeting the river the AAWT emerged out of the bush onto N15 Track.

My first log crossing, this one is over the small side creek.

The first crossing of Black River, what could possibly go wrong?

Black River. It's a pretty spot down here.

This section of the AAWT between the first Black River crossing and meeting N 15 Track is hard, rough walking.

Not only is the track steep but it can also be pretty soft and slippery too.

There is a rough camp just slightly down hill along N15 Track from where the AAWT emerges onto it. The camp is on rough terrace above the river but with two more crossings of the Black River in front of me before I’d start my climb up to Mt Shillinglaw tomorrow I was keen to push on and camp after the last crossing. The theory being that I could start tomorrow with dry feet. So I was now faced with a decent wade as there were no handy logs across Black River and the banks of the river were infested with blackberries here. Pulling off my boots I decided on the old mans footwear of choice, socks and sandals. The wade of Black River on the N 15 Track is actually fairly serious, the track actually heads down stream in the river for around fifty metres before exiting on the far bank. Wading into the freezing knee deep water I was concentrating furiously not to go arse over on the slippery rocks on the river bed, but being your dedicated Feral blogger I still stopped to take couple of photos, hey it’s these moments that make a walk memorable I reckon, it’s not when I’m ambling along a good track in the sun.

The second crossing of Black River, this time I'm on N 15 Track. The best option is to wade this one, the exit is in the shadows about twenty metres downstream.

Socks and Sandals, I should be heading to the RSL.

Hey, hey, the exit is in sight.

Emerging dripping out of Black River the AAWT climbs steeply up N 15 Track for around 100 metres before leaving N 15 Track and heading just as steeply back down to the Black River again. The last turn off from N 15 Track was marked with some flagging tape when I went through but once passing through another camping spot the pad is fairly obvious. So once again I found myself on the banks of Black River, about 10 metres up stream I could see my next crossing, yep another moss covered log, only thing is this one was about three metres above water level. Arriving at my bridge I checked out the scene, the log was indeed fairly high up above the river but at least the top of it didn’t look too slippery. Luckily I’d decided to keep my old mans footwear on, what could be better on your feet when crossing a slippery log than wet sandals and socks? The trick with crossing these narrow spots is to look at where you want to go not at where you’ll end up if you fall I think, so climbing onto the log I carefully shuffled my way across staring at the exit on the other side, stopping only to take a couple of photos of the water rushing below me…oh wait hang on.

Dropping off N 15 Track back down to the river for the third crossing.

One last log crossing and I'm at camp.

Remember, look where you want to go not where you'll end up if you fall, hang on...?

Looking up stream from the last log crossing.

Despite everything I made it safely across Black River for the last time, heading down stream around twenty metres I found a small clear spot for my tent, it was basically on the track but I didn’t think that I’d be over run with walkers seeing that I was yet to meet one on the whole AAWT. What did concern me a little was the number of huge trees down, unfortunately there were plenty more above me and there was no real way to avoid camping underneath them. With such a short day I was actually at camp just after 4pm today so I spent the rest of the afternoon poking around the immediate area a bit checking out the river. I hindsight this was one of my favourite camps on the whole AAWT, Black River is a remote and wild old spot and and the deep gorge like valley only enhanced the sense of being in the wild. After dinner the leaches and mozzies forced me into the tent before dark, with perfect timing rain arrived just as I was climbing in.

The view above my tent.

Looking at my little toe it appears that the leaches have already had a feed.

The Dirt.
I walked only 9 kilometres today and climbed 100 metres but I’d still rate this as a hard days walking. The Black River section is tough walking, lots of slippery and steep climbs and descents, if anyone has walked the Penguin Cradle Trail in Leven Canyon in Tasmania it’s a bit like a short version of that. The stats for the AAWT so far are 102 kilometres along with 4090 metres of climbing. There was no surface water today until I reached the Black River. There are quite a few rough camp sites today but the only ones with access to water are down on Black River, I chose the last spot heading north so that I wouldn’t have to cross the river first thing tomorrow. The sites on N 15 Track are a little more roomier if you have more than one tent. I didn’t get a mobile signal today. Navigation wise the go is to stay high while your walking along Champion Spur Track until you meet the old track that will basically take you all the way down to Black River. Once on the river you need to keep a close eye on things, the route is pretty convoluted and tough but it is followable with care. As is usual I used Chapman’s notes and maps, I also carried Rooftop’s Jamieson - Licola Adventure Map incase I needed an overview.

Relevant Posts.
AAWT, Day 1, October 2017.

AAWT, Previous Day, October 2017.

My Black River Camp was basically in the middle of the AAWT, I wasn't in any danger of being over run with other walkers though.