And today was a doozy! A pretty hard (and at times unpleasant!) walk with absolutely spectacular views from the top. Ladies and gentleman, I give you: Tuggeranong Hill.
I’ve lived in Tuggeranong for 40 years, so I am accustomed to seeing the big hill at the back of Theodore with its TV transmitter perched on top. And as I noticed this afternoon, a trig marker right next to it. I’ve walked the trail along the bottom a couple of times and enjoyed the view even from there, so today when I got out of work a bit early I thought I’d go for the trig. Armed with a snake bandage (just in case; I abandoned a walk through Kama Nature Reserve last week because of long grass and the glimpse of a snake), but stupidly not a water bottle, I parked near the substation and headed on up.
Right from the start it’s a tough climb. There is about 750m of uphill-ness (they call it elevation in “the biz”😬) in the first 500m. It’s a hard uphill slog right off the bat. It was also about 24° and the sun was in my face the whole way up, so by the top of the first hill I was already hot and bothered!
I met a few nice little friends along the way,
And there were some lovely views even a short way up the slope,
But the steep rocky path was a tough slog.
Also, there was a pretty awful smell pretty much all the way up. I think it may have been the Patterson’s Curse, which was absolutely EVERYWHERE! 😞
Once I got to the top of the first hill, I was seriously contemplating turning back, especially as the saddle was much lower than I thought when looking from below. I had though it was be a ridge-type walk. But I did have to go down a way and then back up again. And there was another really steep, rocky hill to go before I got to the top.
Still, I trudged on (have I mentioned I’m a little stubborn?), and got myself to the summit. The last few metres was an absolute gauntlet of Patterson’s, thistle and bees.
But, the view from the top was 360° spectacular, with the magnificent Brindabellas lined up in the west, and I could see Black Mountain Tower, lakes, rivers, houses and lots of lovely green scenery.
Really beautiful.
I enjoyed it for a while and then headed back down, with some lovely views once again on the way down.
I was very thankful for my hiking shoes, which saved me from slipping on the gravel and rocks quite a few times.
So, while the views were absolutely magnificent, the hard walk and the unkempt, weedy trail made it decidedly less enjoyable than some others. Still, I was very glad to make it to 20!
Tuggeranong Hill
Elevation - 852m
Time to trig - about 40 minutes
Difficulty - medium-hard
Best part - the views at the top. Wow!
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