Long distance walking tracks often attract kind souls who assist the walkers with food, water, beers, lifts, accommodation and other assistance. The ‘Trail Angels’ of the Pacific Crest Trail in the USA are famous for their kindness to hikers. Mick Webster describes the Track Angels of the AAWT.

This was originally published in the 2024 print edition of Mountain Journal magazine (https://themountainjournal.com/mountain-journal-magazine/), which had a series of stories about human powered crossings of the Australian Alps.

For those who don’t know, the Australian Alps Walking Track is the longest marked track specifically for walkers in Australia. It stretches more or less along the Great Dividing Range between Walhalla, 120 kilometres from Melbourne, to Tharwa on the outskirts of Canberra. Most people who complete the whole track walk at least 655 kilometres without any side-tracks to mountains, waterfalls and other features off the side of the track.

It’s hard to estimate how many people walk the whole Track in one go – many thousands every year will complete sections, from one-day walks (sometimes without even realising they’re on the Track!) up to several hundred kilometres over a week or more. A ball-park figure might be about 200 walkers (individuals, couples or groups) a year who complete the whole Track – probably a 50/50 split between NOBO (North-bound, starting at Walhalla) and SOBO (starting at Canberra). There is no formal registration system to walk the Track.

AAWT mapAs the Track more or less follows the crest of the Australian Alps there are only two villages where people can restock their packs to any extent from a supermarket – the ski villages of Hotham at km 235 (from Walhalla), and Thredbo (km 450), so unless a walker is prepared to walk a marathon distance every day and basically live on fresh air and creek water, food either has to be restocked by a friend driving to meet the walker at road crossings, or food caches have to be hidden before- hand (and the empties collected after  the walk).

Over a lifetime of bushwalking I’ve completed maybe 80% of the Track, my first overnight walk being in 1968 on what became a section on the Baw Baw plateau. The idea of creating a group of ‘Track Angels’ came to me in 2020, one of the many bright ideas I think we all had during our hermit-like existence during Covid lock-down. As a long-time New Zealand tramper I’d read about the Te Araroa Trail which snakes through the mountains for 3,000 kilometres, the whole length of the country, and saw the advertisement for “Trail Angels, ‘ a Facebook group of non-walkers offering to let walkers camp in their back paddocks, drive them into town to buy supplies and help in other ways’. So, it was a light-bulb moment – we might grizzle about Facebook but the platform really has an amazing ability to create social groups and link people who would otherwise never be connected. In half an hour the group was created and I had some members – now we have over 870 (around 90% are ‘walkers’ of various levels of planning, or maybe dreamers, and almost 100 actual Angels).

Once you have a group you have to make some rules – this is a developing project as I keep thinking of new ones! Basically Angels take all care and responsibility – we do not take the place of search and rescue groups, but we can give people lifts when they decide to abandon their walk. Angels have to be able to hide food drops and describe the location accurately to walkers, preferably by GPS, but it’s up to walkers to pack their food securely, as it might be out in the open for up to several months.

Originally I imagined Angels main ‘work’ would be hiding food drops, but in my experience, and I think most others, the more common request we get is to either deliver walkers to the start or collect from the finish or a road-crossing somewhere along the Track. It’s hard to know how many Angels actually get jobs, as arrangements between walkers and Angels are private, as are any negotiations about recompense for fuel, and other expenses. Some Angels seem to get many requests especially if they live near one end of the Track, or in one of the ski villages. But I haven’t had any complaints from over-worked Angels! Many Angels are experienced walkers and most have walked parts, or even all of the Track and it’s fun to help out people walking such a picturesque and iconic track!

More information

AAWT Track Angels Facebook group (870 members) – https://www.facebook.com/groups/347274313038238

Australian Alps Walking Track group (17,000 members) – https://www.facebook.com/groups/931225987016688