I fell in love with the alpine region after walking the Australian Alps Track. Spending time on the trail made me realise my love for the alpine region and that it was somewhere I wanted to call home.
Published December 2025, words and photos Elise Marcianti
Falling in Love with the Alpine Region
Back in 2023, I had maps sprawled all over the bedroom floor and the hum of the dehydrator coming from the corner of the kitchen. Preparing for a 250km hike along the Australian Alps track, I spent my nights looking into different satellite phones and researching water availability and food drop spots. Mapping out my days on Chapman’s guidebook, I’m finding it hard to picture it as I looked at the little grids and numbers tallying the distance. Slowly, I accumulated the gear I needed, then reduced it down to as little as I could and set off.
Into the Quiet of the High Country
The first night I met two people doing the track by bike, they left me a little note and fruit at the following hut then I didn’t see anyone for the 10 days that followed. With no reception and no one around I melted into a timeless rhythm using the sun’s movements to map mine.
Every few days, I was rewarded with a stashed food drop filled with fresh socks, chocolate and my next few days of food supplies. I grew used to waking up near flowing creeks and walking until sundown as if it had always been the way, I had become surprisingly comfortable being out there solo.
Approaching Familiar Peaks
As I neared Bright the landscapes became more familiar, brumbies were no longer sighted and the familiar outline of Mount Bogong and Mount Feathertop came into view- the first places I went to when I discovered the alpine region. Friends joined for the last night on trail and together we watched the sunset and marvelled at the landscape. My Uncle, who inspired me to get into hiking in the first place, dusted off his boots to share the last steps together along the Razorback. 16 days later, I had made it back, and I had a new appreciation for the landscape that I now call my backyard.
What the Trail Taught Me
The trails can shape you, make you find a new sense of connection to a place before you didn’t even know existed and can show you what community brings to a place. This track challenged me as I heaved up hills through hailstorms and the heat and found my way through overgrown shrub, but it allowed me to return to a home within out here and stay in awe of these endless layered mountains.
The alpine region and all of its huts makes for a hike like no other- it’s the unique blue layered mountains in the distance and the colourful snowgums make it a truly immersive hike. There is no reception for most of the hike and overgrown in sections so it is a hike to come prepared for but is worth the reward of these challenges.
Elise Marcianti is a 26- year old adventurer and artist residing in Mount Beauty. She did this hike as part of a journey called “Moving for the Mind” where she ran an ultramarathon in Mount Kosciuszko, then hiked back to Bright to raise awareness for eating disorders. She is now a mural artist and paints murals inspired by the native plants and landscapes and is looking forward to returning to the track to complete the bottom section.
