16 January 2016 Blatant Brindabella Geocaching

Saturday 16 January: Blatant Brindabella Geocaching, a road trip – M/E-M,ptX. Enjoy a drive up to the Brindabella Range and along to Mt Ginini car park, with short walks to find geocaches. Find GC5G6Y6 A Short Way to the Top, walk up to Mt Ginini for GC2ATPT As far as we got, then down to Ginini Flats for GC1622K VHF. GC4XZ1R Marking our territory 5 is near the side of the Mt Franklin Rd as we drive back. Just before the Mt Franklin car park we stop for GCMVPJ Wild Wild West (the western most point of the ACT), then walk up to Mt Franklin for GC14GM4 Franklin – the old & the new and GC22E2G Franklin Forty. A stop at Aggie Gap for GC2ATQ1 On the way back 2 and then a stroll up to Mt Aggie for GC22F70 Aggie’s View. Further towards home, we’ll stop at the Chalet Rd car park and walk up Bendora Hill for GC4XZ0Y Marking our territory 4. A bush bash down to the arboretum for GC168AH Pining for you. Near Bulls Head we will find GC3XWJK Norky’s 2000^th, then GC2K7TC Take the Bull by the Head. Back on the sealed Brindabella Rd, if time and energy allow, GC2J04P Biker does a Tank Slapper, GC2J55N Biker ….. O Oh!, GC49YFK Brindabella Beauty, target=”_blank”GC3TZBT Weird Weir IX – Marshalls, GC2J072 Biker has a High Side, GC5QAJP Condor Cabin and GC3V231 Weird Weir X – Bluerange. Not just for cachers, there are great views, interesting features, border markers and weirs. With 15 stops and little walks (longest 4km), you can sit out any you don’t want to do. Around 15km and 400m climb. Maps: Corin Dam, Tidbinbilla and Cotter Dam. Leader: John Evans 0417 436 877 john@johnevans.id.au . Transport: ∼$15 per person.

12 of us drove in 3 SUV+ vehicles via the Cotter, Brindabella Road to Picadilly Circus, then the Mt Franklin Road as far as we could go to the locked gate at the Mt Ginini car park. Heaps of roos on Brindabella Road.

Summary

Distance: 18.6km | Climb: 920m | Time: 8.30am-4.25pm (7hrs 55mins), including 35mins of breaks, driving time between walks and caching time | Grading: L/E,M,R,ptX; H(13-)

Photographs

Photographs are available, where you can start a large sized slide show.
I forgot my camera, so photos were taken on my GPSr – as you can see by the casing in the bottom right of many of the pics.

Waypoint and Track Files

Download the .gpx file. (Right click, Save Link As…, Save – if you want to use it.)
To use in Google Earth, do File, Open… and select Gps or All files as the File Type.

Track Notes

I admit to being a lousy geocache finder and having few caching scruples. That’s why I organise caching trips, hoping to attract many pairs of helping eyes. So I was pleased to attract friends Marmaduke Rothschild and ChifleyGrrrl and super pleased to welcome new caching friends TikvaNZ, ZQX and MJW1. I further prostituted myself when TikvaNZ said that he’d solved GC15JPB VHV, a puzzle cache that I’d got nowhere with, and could we extend one of the planned walks to include the Final GZ. My response was “Sure, if you give me the answer.” However, during the day it was demonstrated that I have no principles. I was highly impressed by ZQX who refused to visit and log some of the easy caches, as such would lessen his goal of maintaining a high difficulty index. Such dedication! As well, an additional 6 pairs of walkers’ eyes rounded out the group.

Walk 1

A lovely cool morning up in the Brindies. We jumped out of the cars and most of us went over to log GC5G6Y6 A Short Way to the Top. Then it was away up the old ski run up the hill to join the road. At the top we pondered the new concrete bunker behind the fence at the Air Navigation facility, then slipped round the fence to find and log GC2ATPT As far as we got. I found that if I timed my walk leading responsibilities slowly, I could arrive at a cache where the keen cachers had found it and just check that they’d logged my name (not always the case – I did find one myself during the day and did the logging details for all). We then wandered down the old Harrys Spur trail, calling in at border markers U56, V56 and W56, and visiting the old brumby yards. We continued down the Harrys Spur track and the cachers disappeared into the bush at some point to ind and log the final GZ for GC15JPB VHV. I can assure you that my published track in map segments and .gpx file has been doctored to omit a section of track that would give away the location. We wandered back up to the top of Mt Ginini. On our return to the cars we called in at the Duntroon ski lodge site. Back at the cars, we next went down the old ski run, curving along the gentle finger spur that runs down to Ginini Flats. A lovely area, soft grass and masses of wild flowers. We logged GC1622K VHF (a slightly more accurate location recorded). Back up to the cars where we enjoyed morning tea.

Walk 2

A short drive and road side stop for the mad cachers to nip into the bush to find (after a bit of effort the wire revealed itself) and log GC4XZ1R Marking our territory 5.

Walk 3

We drove back north along the Mt Franklin Road to another road side stop. Here we all alighted, as everyone wanted to visit the western most point of the ACT. GCMVPJ Wild Wild West was logged and border corner U55 inspected by some standing in NSW and others in the ACT.

Walk 4

We pulled into the Mt Franklin car park and wandered up the track. A glance at Bill Ginns Hut site, a poke around the Mt Franklin Shelter and its signage, some visited the facilities over in NSW and I kicked the new R55 border corner post (gently). On up to log GC14GM4 Franklin – the old & the new. On up the track, we paused for views south-east, then to the trig. Followed the path down to the Austin A40 tow, where GC22E2G Franklin Forty was logged. We returned to the cars.

Walk 5

A couple of kilometres further north along the Mt Franklin Road we parked at Aggie Gap. A foray to the east to find (after a bit of searching) and log GC2ATQ1 On the way back 2. Then back and up the Mt Aggie Walk, a find and log of GC22F70 Aggie’s View. Up and over to enjoy lunch with the magnificent views down into the Goodradigbee River valley. We pulled ourselves away and wandered back down to the cars.

Walk 6

We stopped just where Chalet Road joins the Mt Franklin Road. Here a carload departed, due to a bung knee, supportive FARCM friendships and their driver. The rest of us popped over to view the seven and a half mile blaze and the 11 Mile marker blaze, the latter placed by Harry Mouat during his border survey to mark 11 Miles from the start at Mt Coree.

Walk 7

Our last stop was at the Bendora Arboretum car park. Here we split up, 4 cachers heading up to Bendora Hill and ZQX and 3 muggles heading directly to the arboretum. ZQX gallantly accepted the challenge of finding all the clues for the multi down there. We struggled through the initial scrub, then picked up the old vehicle track alignment heading up to Bendora Hill. We popped out at border corner O53, headed for the location of the cache, but could find nothing. Bad preparation by me, as I initially wasn’t aware that the cache is some metres away from the designated location. A 4-cacher search revealed nothing and I’m sorry to cause my 3 companions to log DNFs. But we had to leave to meet up with the others. We headed down the spur towards Bendora Hut, I fell off the side and we popped out at Jim Andersons shower site. Along Chalet Road to the arboretum, we joined 3 lazing about muggles and 1 hard working cacher who had collected all the required clues, calculated the final GZ and checked the check sums. Well done ZQX! So a quick walk to the final GZ for a log of GC168AH Pining for you. Again, my published track has been doctored so that you’ll get no more help than for the hint for the final GZ of the cache. Returned to the cars.

It being 4.25pm a halt to proceedings was called. A crashed motor bike at the Condor Creek bridge on our return. With trepidation we hurried to the site, but there was no body and the bike engine was cold. Trust the rider is ok; the bike is not.

Huge thanks to new and old friends, geocachers and muggles. A 10 cache day for me (with a lot of help from my friends!).

Timings

Walk	Distance	Time
W1	6.0km	2hrs 5mins
W2	0.2km	10mins
W3	0.4km	15mins
W4	3.3km	1hr
W5	2.5km	1hr 10mins (including lunch)
W6	0.2km	9mins
W7	6.0km	1hr 50mins

Track Maps

Track overview

Track W1 and W2

Track W3 and W4

Track W5

Track W6 and W7

Party

12 walkers – Max C (ZQX), Melissa D, Roger E (Marmaduke Rothschild), Martin E (TikvaNZ), Jenny M-B, Lyndall M-B, Alison N (ChifleyGrrrl), Wayne P, Phillip S, Phil W, Matthew W (MJW1), me (JohnnyBoyACT)