Johnny Boy's Walkabout Blog

Sunday 30 July 2023: Cooleman Ridge – S/E. Time poor? You can expect to be home for lunch to get on with the rest of your day after this morning walk. A mix of fire trail and single track, some of it the Centenary Trail, with great views across Weston Creek and west towards the Brindabellas and Namadgi. Includes climbs to the top of Cooleman Hill and Mt Arawang.

Summary

From Garmin Connect (MAP66i) – Distance: 9.35km | Climb: 250vm | Time: 2:20 moving + 0:50 of stops = 3:10 | Grading: S/E; E(5).

Photographs Photographs are available here.

gpx File The gpx file is available here.

Track Notes

I last walked on Cooleman Ridge on 4 Sep 22. This was my second real outing since my recent tumble in the bush.

This was our walk leader’s first CBC led trip. She did a truly excellent job. Everyone in the large party, both members and guests, enjoyed the walk.

There are several advantages in walking with the Canberra Bushwalking Club. There is a heavy emphasis on walk planning and safety, a wealth of shared knowledge on great places to visit and excellent support provided to walk leaders in areas such as navigation and bushcraft. As a member or guest, you may be asked by the leader to provide a short rundown on your walking experiences and capability, if you are not known to them. This is to your advantage, as you’ll rarely find yourself struggling on a walk (but you may well be appropriately challenged). It also keeps the party cohesive (walking together as a group with no unplanned long waits). 

For all but ‘no bookings required’ trips, the walk leader has the opportunity to vet bookings. So they know the number and capability of walkers in the group. Thus, there are few surprises to be managed.

All those factors were in play today, as well as a perfect blue-sky Canberra winter’s day.

We met at the end of Kathner St in Chapman and, after a pre-trip briefing, were walking at 8.30am. The route had been recce-d by our leader and a ‘tail end Charlie’ was appointed.

The chosen route took us up towards the crest of the ridge and along its western side. We popped up to Cooleman Hill, down its eastern side, south to the saddle and along the side of the Chapman roofed swiming pool (reservoir). At the southernmost point of the walk, I was able to take the first of only a few one-handed photos. Great views to the west.

We then headed N and E up to Arawang trig.

Descending to the NE we walked the flank fire trail for a bit, then climbed up to find a nice spot in the sun for morning tea.

The return took us generally NW. Some nice colour about.

Easy walking on the wide fire trail beside the cut-off drain allowed us to continue our chatting.

A lovely morning stroll, manageable for me with one arm. So well done by our leader Andrea. Here’s to many more!

Track Map

Here’s where we went.

Party

14 walkers – Andrea C (leader).

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