Johnny Boy's Walkabout Blog

Monday 27 May: Reconciliation Day visiting both Indigenous and Pastoral Sites – L/E. Leaving from Yankee Hat car park we will follow the walking track, crossing Bogong Creek, to the Yankee Hat art site. From here we will follow fire trails to the causeway over Bogong Creek, visit Frank and Jacks Hut then down to join Old Boboyan Road which we will follow south to Hospital Creek Hut. We will then return north via the Gudgenby Bush Regeneration Track to Foresters Hut and the cars. Maps: Yaouk and Rendezvous Creek. Leader: Phillip S. Transport: $10 – $13 pp.

Further Information

A thoughtful walk put together by Phillip for Reconciliation Day in the ACT. He prepared some background material which he again, thoughtfully, emailed to us rather than presenting it in the cold at the car park:

Preamble to CBC 2019 Reconciliation Day walk

 Our walk starts at Yankee Hat car park. We will be walking in the Gudgenby area of the Namadgi National Park. ‘Namadgi’ is believed to be the Aboriginal word for the Brindabella and Tidbinbilla ranges.

There is evidence that Aboriginal people were living in the Canberra area during the last ice age 21000 years ago

Carbon dating of the campsite deposits in the Yankee Hat rock shelter show that Aboriginal people began using the shelter 800 years ago. Evidence from nearby sites suggest that people were camping in this area as long as 3,700 years ago.

The Ngunnawal people are recognised as traditional custodians of the Canberra region.

After many thousands of years the original inhabitants experienced a massive change as pastoralists began settling in this area from the 1830s

The earliest pastoralists’ buildings are long gone through fire or demolition. The buildings we will visit were built in the 1950s and 1960s

Following European settlement this area was mainly used for cattle grazing and much later some sheep grazing. In 1965 some grazing land was resumed for a pine plantation. In 1970s further land was resumed for the Gudgenby Nature Reserve. This whole area became part of Namadgi National Park in 1984.

So after a mere 150 years the European settlers lost access to their land as did those before them albeit in different circumstances.

Understandably the pastoralists were devastated by the loss of their land after 150 years of settlement so try to imagine the devastation felt by the aboriginals upon losing their connection to the land stretching back many thousands of years.

The pine plantation was never a success and was removed in the late 1990s and since then the voluntary Gudgenby Regeneration Group have been working to restore the natural bushland. The first half of our walk will be through this regeneration area.

Published Sources

Matthew Higgins, Rugged Beyond Imagination
National Parks Association of the ACT Inc. Namadgi A National Park for the National Capital
ACT Parks and Conservation Service, Yankee Hat Map and Guide.

Summary

Distance: 15.5km | Climb: 450m | Time: 9.20am – 1.55pm (4hrs 35mins), including 40 mins of breaks | Grading: M/E-M; M(9)

Photographs

Photographs are available, where you can start a large sized slideshow.

Waypoint and Track Files

Download the gpx file for this trip (if your browser does not automatically download the file, it will open the gpx file in a new window and you can then save it). To use in Google Earth, do File, Open… and select Gps or All files as the File Type.

Track Notes

Woke up, met and drove through showers, although patches of blue sky appeared as we drove south.

3°C in the Yankee Hat car park and snow on the nearby hills. It looked very pretty, both full patches on the tops and in the trees lower down the slopes.

Phillip wisely reversed his intended route, both to get us a little protection from the wind in the trees and a hut for morning tea. Good thinking!

Away at 9.20am with a brief look in the Foresters Hut.

Then on around the pad which parallels the Old Boboyan Road, another great choice to keep us off the fire trail for as long as possible.

Views up to my smiley/baby face on the side of Hospital Hill.

We eventually had to walk the Old Boboyan Road, then in the old vehicle track to Hospital Creek Hut.

Right on queue the snow showers began and lasted most of the day. Morning tea in the hut.

Back out and back the OBR. Another nice little touch from the leader to go off the FT and down the old signposted track which comes in opposite the FT to Frank and Jacks Hut.

Into the hut for a look about, then across to the sheep dip.

From there a little more FT, then cross country with views opening up to the snow capped Mt Gudgenby and Yankee Hats.

A unique step across Bogong Creek a couple of tens of metres upstream from the 1st edn map-marked old bridge. Onto FT above Bogong Creek and headed downstream.

Hello to a Ranger as he stopped briefly, him in his warm truck.

On to the Yankee Hat rock art to view it and consider what we owe to indigenous Australians.

Lunch, in coats and fleeting patches of sun. Other walkers about, including a family with 3 young children. So I just had to spruik up CBC’s up-coming come-and-try-it bushwalk on Saturday 15 June.

Finally, back along the track to the cars, passing more families with young children out walking.

Never seen so many cars at Yankee Hat.

Great walk, very well devised and executed, thank you Phillip. Excellent company.

Track Maps

Track overview

Track 1

Track 2

Party

11 walkers.