Johnny Boy's Walkabout Blog

Monday morning 31 January: Drystone Walls above Glendale ! – S/R. From the N Brandy Flat car park, climb the side of the Billy Range to the drystone walls. Around 5km and 330vm. I have not been down that way for over 2 years, so I’d be interested in seeing the Naas bridge over the Gudgenby, the state of Rocky Crossing at the start of Orroral Road, and whether the Gudgenby can be forded at Glendale picnic area.

Summary

Distance: 5.4km | Climb: 350m | Time: Starting 8.15am 3hrs 50mins moving time, plus 45mins of pauses, geocache searching and breaks | Grading: S/R; M(8+).

Photographs

Photographs are available here.

gpx File

Download the gpx file recorded via AllTrails here (in AllTrails, activate …, Download Route, Select a file format, OK). This gpx file does not start until around 935m above sea level on the spur.
Download the gpx file for this trip recorded on a GPSr here.

Track Notes

AllTrails trip report.

This is the first off-track trip I’ve done in the Namadgi since 7 Oct 19, a trip to Thunder Bluff. It might be the last and I’m certainly not going to come back here until soon after the next fire.

I was last here on 5 Sep 15. General information (like there is none) on the Drystone Walls above Glendale is here.

Nice to be pick up from my old folks home and driven (all sealed road except for the last good gravel into the car park). The Murrumbidgee was flowing strongly as we crossed the Tharwa bridge. The new bridge over the Gudgenby River at Top Naas was partially open.

We parked in the Brandy Flat Walking Track north car park, just in off the Boboyan Road. A few metres on the Walking Track, then we headed up the spur. Pretty much immediately into burnt trees and rampant regrowth – we’ve had the perfect growing conditions in the wet 2021-2022 Spring and Summer.

Remembered to start the downloaded (only available in the Pro version, I think) AllTrails navigation. It was walk some, pause, walk some. We are ageing gentlemen, so the trip could be done quicker by young things and with no geocaching.

Views to the East to the Billy Range.

The spur at last began to level off a bit at 1030m and we wiggled our way via animal pads through the regrowth, fallen timber, burnt standing timber and weeds to geocache GC8ZAWG Glendale Glimpses.

Eric kindly climbed the tor and handed down the cache for me to log.

It was then more climbing through weeds, regrowth and burnt shrubs (with numerous pauses for me) to the main walls. We came upon them quickly in the regrowth.

We continued to the NE for around  300m to a location I knew for a smaller section of wall. A surprise on the way as, hidden in the regrowth, was a new (to me) piece of wall.

Nearby was the small section I’d previously visited.

From here, there was a geocache to the west and another to the ESE up towards SH1288. It was 10.30am. It was a 90vm climb to the latter cache, so I left it for another cacher. We headed west. It was a 450m leg with only a small climb, but very scrubby, weedy and plenty of regrowth. It took me 33 minutes! To cap it off, spent some time searching “Atop one of the rocks, under a smaller rock.” for geocache GC8Z469 Tangled Tor (Namagi). No joy.

It was time to head back to the car. The inward leg was primarily spur, our outward leg was to be primarily drainage line, once we got down from the cache site to the clearer area SW of the main walls.

Gaiters, top and shorts very wet and seedy – may have to dispose of clothes.

A fair bit of squelching as we followed the line down. Towards the bottom a shower came over. True to form, I suggested we put our coats on, so it stopped. Picked up the Brandy Flat Walking Trail (alignment different here from my old maps) and so to the car.

I was too wet and tired to look at the Gudgenby River at Glendale Picnic Area, and the Orroral Road is blocked right at the Boboyan Road intersection, so no view of Rocky Crossing.

Significant thunder storms and rain in the afternoon in Canberra, so probably best we were out of there.

Track Map

The best track map (except for the missed start) is available via AllTrails, where you can pan and zoom. Here’s the track and waypoints from the GPSr gpx file laid out in OziExplorer on my TopoView 2006 map.

Party

Eric G, me.