Trig #17 - Isaacs Ridge

It was a cold and windy Saturday afternoon, but I felt like walk (who even am I?!), so I popped over to Isaacs Ridge, which is only about 7 minutes drive from my house.

I parked on Long Gully Road, where there were a few other cars, but despite that it is obviously very popular with mountain bikers, walkers and horse riders, it was the last time I saw anyone else for the whole time I was there. It’s so nice when I have the trail to myself. 

I had a rough idea of which direction I was headed but wasn’t too fussed on the right trail,

so I wandered along until I found “The Spine”, which is a marked mountain bike (and walking) trail. It looked nice so I decided to go that way.

It was a pretty, well defined trail with a gradual climb that ran parallel to the fire trail below. It took me through the pine (and a few gums) forest, past a big crop of granite rocks,

and eventually up towards a different fire trail towards the top, where I rejoined and made my way towards the trig. By this stage I was at the top of the ridge, so I could enjoy some really lovely views.



It was still a bit of a walk to the trig, with a couple of uphill parts, but nothing really steep.

Despite the icy and strong winds (perhaps why no one else was out!),


the view from the trig was (as always) lovely. In the east I could see right across Queanbeyan and the airport to the Great Dividing Range, west across Woden to the Brindabellas and then the quarry, city and Black Mountain Tower in the north.

There is lots of Patterson’s Curse up there too. It adds a lovely purple to my photos but it’s sad that it’s gotten that far out of control.

I thought it might be good to go a different way back to the car, so I headed south along the ridge towards the big radio antennae that are a feature on Isaacs Ridge.

There was some steeper climbing there; not too horrible but it did get my heart rate up!

Then, it was a pretty steep walk down along a rocky fire trail, which made me very glad that I hadn’t picked that way to go up. 

There were some nice sights to keep my mind of my knees though! There wasn’t much wildlife at all. A few birds, and one rabbit but I didn’t see much else.

I came off the trail on Long Gully Road and walked the last 200m along the road back to my car. There is a fair bit of litter along there, but I interestingly it was the only hint of the nearby Mugga Lane Tip, which I could see from the ridge but definitely couldn’t smell.
I got back to my car just as it started raining. Good timing!

Isaacs Ridge
Elevation gain - 835m
Time to trig - about 50 minutes (via “The Spine”)
Difficulty - medium
Best part - the views at the top right along the ridge. Especially the eastern view.

Not a trig: great walk #1 - The Sanctuary

We had a fair bit of rain overnight and this morning so I wasn’t keen for a mountain trail, so I thought I’d head down to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. 

I haven’t been for a very long time. It must be at least 8 years, and I have no idea why. It is spectacular, beautiful, serene and interesting all at once! 

I headed straight to “The Sanctuary”; the gated woodland that is rich with birdlife and good old Australian bush. I knew I was on a winner when a kookaburra greeted me on the way in.

There are heaps of nicely maintained pathways and boardwalks,

so many different types of birds (I saw fairy wrens, wagtails, rosellas, geese, ducks, cormorants, swans and some pretty little yellow-breasted birds that I think were warblers or something). I also spotted at least one platypus and lots of kangaroos.

There is lots of lovely art interpretive signage, which is done really well and blends nicely into the environment.

It was a really lovely walk (about 3km) and there was hardly anyone around. I must remember to go there late in the day after everyone has already been through!

On my way home I stopped in at The Lookout, which was pretty darn spectacular,

and Gibraltar Falls, which was flowing really well after all the rain. 

It was just starting to get dark as I headed home, 

grateful for this amazing scenery less than 30 minutes away from my front door. We are very lucky in Canberra.

Trig #16 - Mount Majura

Holy Moley!

After doing this for 5 months, it’s not often that I think seriously about giving up on a walk, but today I came close. Perhaps it was a combination of 2 really big and busy weeks at work, the closeness to the end of term and the fact that I’d done a workout in the morning that involved lots of holding in a squat position (and bloody burpees!)...but I found Mount Majura HARD! 

I set off after work once again, which of course meant that some of the walk was completed in semi-darkness (when will I learn?!).

I parked on Mackenzie Street in Hackett and right from the start I liked the walk. Right from the start it was on a well maintained track with a true bush feel. 

In terms of things to catch your eye and scenery I think it was one of the most enjoyable walks I’ve done (outside the Newcastle one of course!), as the walk was just as lovely as the view from the top. The Summit Walk trail winds its way through a beautiful grassy woodland, full of big old red and yellow box gums and tiny little wildflowers (they could very well have been weeds, but hey, they were pretty!). 

There is also plenty of wildlife. I saw kangaroos, lots of rosellas and plenty of other birds. So pretty!

There is a gradual incline right from the start. You know it’s getting serious when you take a zig-zag path up and up and up. But it’s ok, because the zig-zag cuts back on a bit of the steepness.

There are some very lovely views along the way: to the west across the airport and to the ranges, and then to the east across Belconnen and Gungahlin.

My legs were sore from the start but stubborn old me kept plodding along, eventually getting into a rhythm where I thought: this isn’t too bad.

Then, I got to a bit of a crossroads where a wider fire trail took over, and it got steep. And it kept going. For almost a kilometre it was up-up-up, including a pretty steep section where I just about gave it away.

But, eventually I got there. It took me much longer than I thought it would, but the view was nice, and it was another to cross off the list. 

Unfortunately I couldn’t linger as it was nearly sunset, so I turned around and went back down. By the time I got to the bottom it was pretty dark,  it not as much as last week!

This is definitely one I’ll put on the list to try again, even just for some nice walking around the bottom. 😁

Mount Majura
Elevation gain - 890m
Time to trig - about 50 minutes
Difficulty - medium-hard. It’s steep! Especially the last bit.
Best part - the beautiful bush along the way.

Trig #15 - One Tree Hill

In my first post, I mentioned that One Tree Hill was the one that started it all. So I’ve been keen to do it again and reach the summit. I’d heard that it takes 2 hours, so I’d planned to leave work nice and early and get it done before it got too dark.

Well...the best laid plans and all that. But I’ll get to that later.

I started out with lots of energy and excited about getting out into the lovely afternoon. The trail really is very nice, with amazing views over north Canberra all the way along. 

It’s a (mostly) smooth, well maintained trail on a steady but gradual incline, and there are lots of different types of vegetation along the way.

The wattle were flowering,

 there were plenty of birds and a couple of kangaroos, 

and I saw 3 other people the whole time I was there. It was lovely and quiet and peaceful. 

For some reason, I had it in my head that it was 3km to the lookout, but I’d got it wrong, it’s actually 4. I started to think it was going to be too late and too dark, but my good old stubbornness kicked in and I ploughed on, wishing I’d left work earlier but determined to make the trig before sunset.

The summit path is about 150m of stairs up a pretty steep hill. And the steps are quite high, so it was a bit tough on my old knees. You could stop at the bottom of these steps and still see some magnificent views, but I was that close I had to make the climb.

I got to the summit before sunset...but only just. The sun was just on the horizon. A little voice inside my head told me it was going to be a dark walk back, but I ignored it for a moment, taking in the amazing views across Gungahlin and other the beautiful (and at the moment green) rural land on the other side. 

Needless to say, it got dark pretty quickly! The last half hour was in almost complete darkness, but with the help of my iPhone torch I made it back in one piece, with the frogs singing me along the way.

Next time (and there will most definitely be a next time), I’ll go during the day and stop for a little longer at the top. What lovely walk.

One Tree Hill

Elevation gain - 876m

Time to trig - about 65 minutes

Difficulty - medium. The steps to the summit are the hardest/steepest but.

Best part - the views all along the trail, and having it pretty much to myself!