Plenty of Indigofera about
Monday morning 9 October 2023: Lunar Laser Dome off track. From the Orroral space station carpark we ascend the escarpment directly, through recovering bush and some tall unburnt trees, to join the popular track that winds through boulders to the Lunar Laser dome. We return to the carpark through bush to the south of our ascent.
Summary
From Garmin Connect (Epix Gen 2) – Distance: 5.58km | Climb: 405vm (Elev Corrections Enabled) | Time: 1:33 moving + 2:54 of stops = 4:27 | Grading: S/R; M(9).
Photographs
View photographs here. There are more photos in the album.
gpx file
Download the gpx file here.
Track Map
Here’s where we went.
Track Geodetic Observatory off-track
Trip Report
I last came down from the dome through the scrub on 12 Jun 23. But never up.
For those who know Rob and Jenny H, this is typical S/R trip of theirs. “Quality scrub!”
We were away at 9am in a direction I’d never taken. Interesting to watch Rob – instead of pulling out a digital device, he susses out the ridge and route via binoculars and map and picks a handy tall tor as an aiming point.
Our destination just visible on the top of the ridge
We stepped over the first of 2 lizards for the morning.
Blotched Blue-tongue lizard (Tiliqua nigrolutea)
A deceptive start which you’ll see if you check the map segment contours. It was almost flat. But the crest of the ridge reared above us. And the relatively open going didn’t last for long.
A tight patch just before the open area
An open patch at 1110m contour gave us some respite.
Open area
A brief stop was called at 10.17am, at 1190m. From here it was only 370 crow-metres (direct line) across the ground and 140vm of climbing, but it still took 40 minutes to do the actual 700m across the ground.
We reached our destination.
The things you see in the bush
The final few tens of metres through delightful flowering shrubs.
Pea flowers
A good long smoko in the shade.
A shady morning tea
Time to visit inside the observatory and take in the view.
Orroral Valley views
We left at 11.40am and headed NW along the Granite Tors Walking Track for a few hundred metres. It’s a lovely bit of track, winding through the boulders on the crest. It was then a 250vm drop down to meet the Track again, as time was slipping by.
The scrubby descent got worse than this
It was a relief to hit the Track and an easy exit from there.
The scrubby timings were:
- ascent from Tracking Station to Dome 2.7km, 400vm climb, 2hrs 5mins
- descent from drop off point to join GTWT 900m, 250vm drop, 1hr 20mins.
Classic Horsfield trip. Much fun!
Party
5 walkers – Michael C, Jen H, Rob H (leader), Yanping Y, me.
AllTrails
The AllTrails map is here, where you can pan and zoom.
Johnny Boy’s Walkabout Blog FaceBook Page
I’ve started up a FaceBook page. Each trip report posts to it. It’s another way to get some info to get out and breathe a bit of fresh air. Why not pop over and Follow the page, or give a post a Like.