_Harry_ wrote:Can it be done without food drops? (Im assuming food drops are dropping food along your hike before u start)
Food can be obtained at Thredbo and Mt Hotham (Mt Hotham is a bit more limited). Also, both stores are also Licenced Post Agencies, so you can post specialty items to yourself for pickup there - although as MarkF noted, you can't post stove fuel. Falls Creek has a wider selection than Mt Hotham, but is somewhat off the track, so not much of an advantage.
This gives a distance of about 220 km for each of Wahalla-Hotham, Hotham-Thredbo, and Thredbo-Tharwa. If you are managing 20 km/day, this means about carrying about 10-11 days of food. For those kind of distances on an extended basis, I'd go with a planning figure of 700-800 grams per day. MarkF's figure would be appropriate for shorter days, or a shorter trip. This means 8-9 kg of food starting out each leg although your pack weight will drop after 2-3 days in.
This is doable, but it requires:
* fitness and discipline to keep the daily distances up. This means only limited side trips, and no rest days (although I guess you could take a rest day in each of the resorts).
* good nutritional knowledge to get in a balanced diet with sufficient calories, within those weight limits.
* careful gear selection to keep your overall pack weight reasonable while carrying that much food.
This is doable (I have done the AAWT on this basis), but honestly, I would recommend a 3 drop strategy (Kiandra, Benambra/Corryong Rd, Rumpff Saddle?) as a more enjoyable means of doing the AAWT - a lighter pack and more time for side trips.
The right choice of resupply container would allow you to carry out your own container to Thredbo & Hotham, rather than the hassle of driving back to pick up your containers.