We protect what we love

FRIDAY . 28 . 01 . 22 .

Back in November 2021, Giles Penfold and Matt Gore set off from from Walhalla on their journey to traverse the Australian Alpine Walking Track (AAWT) headed north on Gunaikurnai and Wurundjeri country.

They had two main goals:

Goal #1: To raise awareness of the beauty of Australia's wilderness and the need to protect it, and to inspire a greater care for our planet.

Goal #2: To raise funds for the @bobbrownfoundation, a non-profit critically fighting to protect takayna/Tarkine - a Tasmanian rainforest in extreme danger of total destruction through logging and mining.

The duo 'fastpacked' their way north, aiming to do 40km a day, carrying 3-4 days of food at a time, with packs that weighed approximately 12kg.

We promised you a retrospective newsletter, dedicated to their adventure. Below is an epic Q&A with the pair. From relief and excitement on day 1, nerves whilst doing gear checks to sheer happiness at being able to suffer - their story will have you reaching for your own trail shoes.

PLANNING & LOGISTICS

Why the Australian Alps Walking Track? Had the idea been marinating for a while, or was it a spur of the moment thing?

The AAWT is a track we have both wanted to run for years; ever since we first heard of it. It’s one of Australia’s longest tracks, and undoubtedly its hardest – 650km+ in length, with over 30,000 m ascent and descent. It also showcases some of Australia’s most majestic wilderness – the alpine high country. We never thought we’d actually get to run it though, until a chance catch-up conversation in February last year. The rest, they say, is history.

What drew you to raise money for takayna, and the Bob Brown Foundation?

In taking on such a monumental challenge, we wanted to use our platform to help raise awareness of and funds for the protection of the Australian wilderness. Having travelled through Tasmania, we both appreciate what an incredibly special place the takayna rainforest is – both ecologically and culturally. We also knew that it was in extreme danger due to pervasive mining and logging activities. There are many other incredible places in Australia which are controversially being destroyed, but there is no discussion around the destruction of takayna; a wilderness that should be an Australian icon. We wanted to drag this issue into popular conversation, and help support the Bob Brown Foundation who are the real activists on the front-lines acting as the final defence for that old-growth forest.

Walking through fields of violet flowers,

just past Falls Creek.

How long did it take you to prepare for this adventure - both physically and logistically -crew, food drops etc?

Our preparation really began after that fateful conversation in February. Realistically, it was a few months of extensive logistical planning (the route, equipment, clothes, nutrition/hydration, supplies etc.), including a final week of placing drop boxes every 100-120km along the course. Physically, we’d like to think we’d been preparing for this journey for the last few years. Certainly the last 3 months before we set off saw us both spending a lot of time on feet with heavy heavy packs – getting our bodies used to the load.

How were you both feeling when Day 1 finally came? Excited, nervous, prepared, under prepared? 

Relieved. Relieved and excited. We were both pretty nervous doing our final gear checks and bag pack in the fading light of sunset the day before, but once it was all done and out of our hands… we were beaming like little kids on Christmas morning. We were so pumped to finally be at the start line we’d been dreaming about for the better part of a year now, and the only thing left to do was run.

Walking through an old fire regrowth area on the

Buckwong Track, approaching the Vic/NSW border.

Individually, what was your biggest concern going in? What were you most worried about?

Matt: I was pretty confident in our preparation logistically, and I knew I was in good shape and mentally ready for the challenge ahead. I was most worried about Giles’ knee issue which had developed in the month or two before the run, and whether he’d be able to make it all the way through. He’s a tough guy, but sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to continue. I didn’t want us to let anyone down.

Giles: The tricky navigation on the AAWT was definitely sitting in the back of my mind pre-run, occasionally internally yabbering away lines of doubt and ineptitude. Matt’s navigational experience and knowledge was invaluable on the route - learning from him, as well as making mistakes with him, taught me so much about how to confidently navigate areas that to the naked eye, really don’t look traversable. Leading up to the AAWT, I unfortunately picked up a knee injury during the completion of a 115km training run which served as a major obstacle, perhaps more mental than anything else. Plenty of physio, strength work and running with stupidly heavy loads meant I was as prepared as I could be whilst having a lingering injury. Fortunately, my knee gave me trouble on only a handful of occasions.

Giles and our friend, Ben, climb the second of the

Twins on our approach to Mt. Hotham.

THE RUN

Were the landscapes you encountered what you imagined? What took you by surprise?

Giles hadn’t experienced even a smidge of the 650km+ route previously, so he was going into it with a pair of fresh eyes, eager to take in & understand the distinctive landscapes. Matt had been lucky enough to do some running in the NSW parts of the track, and in races around Falls Creek. The Victorian sections left the two of us absolutely gobsmacked in terms of the difficulty of terrain - the vertical gain being unparalleled to what we’ve done in the past as well as getting lost left, right and centre! The unforgiving nature of the flora and fauna (excuse the pun) was felt considerably in these first days and when you throw in some miserable weather to the mix, it makes for a seriously hard and fun time. Coming off the Main Range and into the Rolling Grounds in Kosciuszko National Park was a highlight for us both, characterised by sizeable snow patches (in summer!), artistically shaped round boulders littered everywhere, and gentle rolling hills with incredible views over the surrounding peaks.

Were there any stand out moments, major learning curves?

The stand out moments for us both were, more often than not, shared with each other - less due to the fact that we were bound by the hip the whole time, and more to do with both of us experiencing parallel sentiments. So many great moments come to mind; being struck with awe on top of Mt McDonald (our first true Victorian mountain above the tree line), getting to see and spend time with Giles’ dad mid-route, unexpectedly waking up above the cloud line near Mt Howitt, camping with our support crew on Matt’s birthday, eating an ice-cream around the campfire after a gruelling day, the list goes on and on. By the same token, some of our toughest moments were also the most memorable. Giles falling quite ill due to gear malfunction - namely a leaky rain jacket - was most certainly a low point of the trip, only made worse by having to traverse the most technical section of the AAWT in terrible weather conditions. As Giles puts it – "95% of me hated every step I took that day, but the remaining 5% was so bloody happy that I was able to suffer and still have a say in how I was to react".

Did you witness / experience any environmental issues along the trail?

Absolutely. We were fortunate enough to only have to pass through a handful of logging areas, but they were certainly distinct and confronting when we considered the dramatic change in vegetation over 10 minutes of jogging, when we knew it should all have been part of the same ecosystem. We also ran through numerous areas that had been destroyed by the 2019/20 (or earlier) fires. They were quite sobering, and made navigation extremely difficult! On the flip side, seeing all the flowers and seedlings of the regrowth in these areas was nice. The other issue was feral animals, particularly in NSW. Once we crossed the border we saw all manner of feral animals including deer (which Matt had never seen before in Kosciuszko NP), wild dogs and countless countless brumbies.

What food were you most looking forward to, and what will you never want to eat again?!

The food in our drop boxes was an eclectic mix – from veggie chips to pickles to sardines to chocolate to dolmades. And in our last few days, we fantasised about all kinds of different restaurant food we’d have when we finished. Without a doubt, the thing we never want to see again is our bags of trail mix! They were delicious, but when you’re relying on them for >2000 calories a day for 17 days straight? Matt couldn’t even eat his by the end – preferring to go hungry.

Waking up to a sunrise above the clouds on High Cone, in Victorian High Country.

REFLECTIONS

What did you learn from your experience, when it comes to tackling big, challenging projects like this one?

Planning is key. We spent days and day and days planning it all, and yet it probably wasn’t enough. Having said that, at a certain stage you just have to be brave and get out there and do it! Finding that balance can certainly be tough. We also learned to be ambitious in our goals and believe in ourselves; everyone else did, so why shouldn’t we. Finally, it was remarkable how generous others were in the support of our project – willing to give us a lot of time and resources to turn our dreams into a reality. The trail-running / outdoors community is full of fantastic and selfless people, and most are more than happy to go out of their way to help you achieve your goals and pull off projects such as this one.

What would you do differently?

In all honesty, we wouldn’t change all that much. If we wanted to really nitpick, going into such a massive endeavour injury free would’ve definitely chiselled off a decent amount of time, not to mention eliminate a lot of worry. We also should have made sure we had redundancy in our navigation tools, as we were stuck up ‘ship creek’ on days 5 and 6 when, whilst traversing the unmarked Viking-Razor wilderness, our navigational devices got wet in the storm and died. Getting out of there was very difficult, and we should have planned for such a scenario.

Are you hooked on fast-packing now? Any key tips for people getting into the sport?

Absolutely! Neither of us are fully recovered yet, but it hasn’t stopped Matt from packing the gear again and heading back out into the mountains – this time to explore the newly opened 165km Grampians Peaks Trail. For people looking to get into fast-packing; it truly is a brilliant way to explore the wilderness at your own pace, and over a longer time frame. Start with overnight expeditions, and work your way up from there. Don’t jump into the deep end with a 5 day fast-pack! Although great light-weight fast-packing gear can be a bit cost-prohibitive, at the end of the day all you really need is a sleeping bag, a tent or equivalent, food/water, and a pack to fit it in. All of our first fast-packs were pretty bare bones, don’t let that stop you!

Looking out over the Main Range from the top of Mount Kosciuszko - the highest point in Australia at 2,228 m.

CALL TO ACTION

Where can people donate? How can people be involved?

To support our mission and the Bob Brown Foundation, you can donate at: https://chuffed.org/project/655fortakayna. We have currently raised over $7000, which is incredible, and we aim to hit $20,000 with the release of the feature film.

Other ways to support the cause is to share our website and Instagram amongst your friends and family, and begin to start a conversation about the need to protect our wilderness areas – particularly takayna. For those who are super impassioned by the cause, the BBF as we write is also currently blockading in takayna to prevent MMG from clearing the old-growth rainforest, and are in need of volunteers to continue the effort. Anyone who is interested in experiencing this beautiful wilderness area, and able to join the blockade, should email Courtney (Volunteer Coordinator, BBF) at courtney@bobbrown.org.au. 

Anything else people can do? Where can people watch the movie, when it comes out?

The feature film of our journey will be released later this year. There will be an in-person premiere and it will then be made available online, with all further money raised going to the BBF. We hope that you enjoy the film, and if you do, again share it with your friends and family! More information regarding where to see the film specifically will be provided to For Wild Places later in the year.

People and/or sponsors to thank?

There are too many to thank individually! Whilst we were the ones running the AAWT, there was a whole team of people behind us. Most importantly, we’d like to thank our film crew and support team (Ji Yoon, Steve, Mitch and Sean) and our sponsors – Salomon, K2 Base Camp, Sea to Summit, and Radix.

Matt, Giles & the For Wild Places team

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We acknowledge the the First Nations people who have been custodians of land, waters and culture for tens of thousands of years. We pay respects to First Nations Elders past, present and emerging.

This newsletter was compiled on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. To these people, we pay our respects.

Always was, always will be.

By For Wild Places

We're a group of adventurers who love to

protect wild places we run on