Not a trig: Great walk #6 - Gordon Ridge

I thought I’d seen a trig up on Gordon Ridge, so I thought I’d go and have a look. There was a little sprinkling of rain; enough to give me the place to myself, but not enough to worry about.

I parked on one of the local streets and walked up some stairs and a well-worn path to the fire trail.

It was a little climb, but not too strenuous. But then you can walk all the way along  the ridge on a pretty level trail. The views are pretty amazing, and change all the way along, from views over the Lanyon Valley; to Tuggeranong/Black Mountain views; then around to look out over the Bullen Range.

I had thought I’d find a trig up top, but the top of the hill is fenced all the way along (that I could see), so I settled for a no-trig journey!

I headed most of the way along, then down some big steps back into Gordon. Each step was quite high, hard on the knees!

I decided to loop back through the Gordon streets, rather than doubling back on the fire trail. There was even a nice view from the suburban stairs! 

There were some ups and downs as I made my way back, which made for more of a challenging walk, but it was good getting back into some of that hill walking! It was still less than 3km, but I got my heart beating well! Hopefully I’ll get my groove back nice and quick. 

Not a trig: Great walk #5 - Eucalypt Forest

New Year’s morning was lovely. Cool, cloudy and quiet. I got up early (for New Year’s Day, lol), and drive out to beautiful Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. I wasn’t aiming to push myself hard yet, so I decided on a wildlife focus. I headed to the Eucalypt Forest, where the first thing you are greeted with is the koala breeding enclosure. They are very cute. Hi 

I started along the Eucalypt loop, then branched off onto the Peppermint Trail. Almost all the way around I was joined by beautiful monarch butterflies. They were everywhere! 

It was a lovely, shady walk through the bush, with lots of beautiful bird life, bubbling streams and pretty Australian bush. I was alone for the first half, then a family got close behind, spiking the set with a bit. But that’s the way it goes I guess. 😬

Once again, it wasn’t a huge walk (less than 2km this time), but it was nice. I’ll definitely head back there for more over the coming weeks.

Not a trig: Great walk #4 - National Botanic Gardens

As I mentioned in the last post, I haven’t walked for a while. Probably a good month since I’ve done much at all to be honest. I had terrible lung problems for a couple of week, then for the last couple of weeks of term (and the couple of weeks since) I was completely and utterly exhausted! 2020 in a school took it out of me.

So around Christmas I started doing some short walks around my local area, trying to build my fitness. On New Year’s Eve, I ventured further afield. 

The National Botanic Gardens is a beautiful natural wonder just to the west of Canberra’s CBD, on the slope of Black Mountain.

My favourite part is the rainforest gully, so I started there. 

The rainforest gully is an absolutely amazing space. They have spent the last 50 years turning dry Canberra scrubland into a lush, cool rainforest,

and it’s gorgeous. On a warm day, it’s a lovely place to walk around.

From there, I walked to the rock garden, where there were lots of gorgeous water dragons sunning themselves, and a lovely little duck family.

I wandered around the gardens for a while longer. There is so much to look at, and for a keen gardener like myself, there is lots of inspiration. 

All in all, I managed just over 2km. Not a huge walk, but a lovely one. And it got the heart pumping. Perhaps one day I’ll combine it with the Black Mountain Summit Walk. 

Still here!

 Just checking in, just in case I have any readers! 

I got sick a few weeks ago, something related to asthma, hayfever etc, and my lungs were pretty bad. So I couldn’t really do much walking. I’m ok now, but trying to manage the last couple of weeks of school! I will be back to walking from next week!

Not (quite) a trig: North Mulligans Circuit

I walked part way around this circuit not long before I started with all this business. At the time I wasn’t nearly as fit, so I only went halfway and then turned back. But I did manage to see some of the beautiful dusk-time views across NSW before I did.

This time, even though I was setting out at 5pm, I was committed to going all the way around. I decided to go in the opposite direction. 

The track starts at the Mulligans Flat Road carpark, 

and winds through a grassy area with a few resident kangaroos. 

It then starts to work its way up a good hill, which you don’t realise until you’re some of the way up it that it’s quite steep.

It then keeps going up,

and up,

and up! Talk about false summits! But I got there.

At the top, I spotted a nearby trig, 

but it was on the private property over the fence and another good climb, so I decided to keep going around the circuit.

It was a lovely walk, which went along a little saddle, then down into a forested section. It was a lovely shady walk after the hot, sunny walk up the hill.

Someone had been busy stacking rocks along the way!

Next I knew, I came out onto a spot that awarded me with the most stunning vista.

Probably the most amazing I’ve seen yet, with beautiful views right across to Lake George and its wind turbines around to Black Mountain Tower and beyond. Plus more rock stacking!

Absolutely breathtaking. So much so I even took a video!

A cyclist passed on his second lap of the circuit, and he seemed impressed that I had climbed the hill, so that was nice. 

I stayed and took in the view for quite a while before heading down the opposite side. Luckily, while there were a couple of steep sections, it was a more gradual descent, and the landscape changed again. 

Perhaps I’ll go the other way around this circuit next time! 

After a little while, I got to the path that runs parallel to the private driveway (and NSW). Before too long o picked up the trail that I had walked the last time. It was a nice walk down, with kangaroos, wildflowers and lovely rural views, and as always one of my favourite things, hardly any other people! 

The walk ended up at 4.75km, including a good 750m of  climb. The absolute highlight was the spectacular views from the top, and I will definitely be walking this one again.

Trig #20 - Tuggeranong Hill

Twenty trigs! Yay for me! When I started this thing I wasn’t sure how I’d go, but I’ve made it to 20 within 5 months which is pretty darn good!

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!