Johnny Boy's Walkabout Blog

Friday 14 June: Cotter Caching – L/E-M. Geocaching around the Cotter and Lees Creek in the old Uriarra Pine Forest. Some drive-bys thrown in.

Further Information

Roger and I have got in the groove for a day of caching each week. He usually chooses what we’ll do (because he has so many more finds than I do) and I throw in a few that I’ve not logged but Roger has.

Summary

Distance: 15.8km | Climb: 800m | Time: 8.10am – 2.50pm (6hrs 40mins), including 25 mins of breaks, plenty of driving and cache finding time | Grading: L/E-M; M(11)

Photographs

Photographs are available, where you can start a large sized slideshow. Photos taken on my Garmin Oregon 650 GPSr.

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

Met at 7.30am in Weston Creek and drove out the Cotter Road. Drive-by caches of GC7X30T Cotter Road #6, GC7X30W Cotter Road #7, GC6MM8D Still Camp Cottermouth and GC6ZQP2 Cuboree – Kangaroo Flat Campground found and logged.

Drove down to Casuarina Sands for GC2G62T Casuarina Cache (which I couldn’t find 5 years ago).

Walk 1

A short walk through the long grass to the bank of the Murrumbidgee River for a DNF (Did Not Find) of GC6PF9P Casuarina Chair. I wonder if the dangling string up in the tree was all that was left of it. (PS On checking, the cache is currently off line.)

Drove over the bridge and onto Brindabella Road. Parked where you get a good view of the Cotter Dam.

Walk 2

A locked off service track winds up the hill to trig CE1 and the reservoir. We took the direct approach up to the big Kurrajong tree to log GC5P2KR Mount Moore.

Drove up the hill to the car park in from where all the boys drop their rubber on the wide corner.

Walk 3

Another short walk down a fire trail, then off-track. Near the objective we struck an old walking track engulfed in chest-high Grevillea. Signage said it was the Stony Creek Skyline Track. Who would have expected a bridge up here – we did as we found and logged GC3NPB7 Bridge Banter XIIb.

Another drive-by cache, GC6H14D The Bolt on Brindabella Rd NW of Mt McDonald.

It was then let at the T-intersection and a drive to the Warks Rd turnoff. The road sign is currently missing. Drove generally south and picked a turning off fire trail that was gated off after a few tens of metres.

Walk 4

The fire trail deteriorated, crossed by moguls and sprouting blackberries, but it got us to GC88JC5 Road less traveled. Backed out to the car.

Drove to the Warks Rd-Yellow Rabbit Rd intersection and parked 100m down YR Rd.

Walk 5

This was the major trip of the day, into an area not often walked. A lot of fire trail, some off-track, but also some great views. The first off-track was just for me, as I thought I was taking a short cut. By the time I rejoined the fire trail, Roger had signed us on GC8847R Cotter Containment. A long haul up a hill followed, the FT rising 200vm in 1.2km. Roger must have eaten his greens, as he didn’t stop once on the climb – nor at the top of the knoll.

Not marked on my Topoview 2006 digital maps, but is marked on my OZ raster Cotter Dam digital map. Just over the crest we logged GC8847M Brindabella Bluff II and sat down for a quick morning tea.

We were following the edge of Namadgi National Park. The next cache was GC88BNH Brindabella Hill. Descending to the west, we picked up a north going fire trail which took us to the next cache.

It was at the Old Lees Creek Nursery site and we were thinking we’d spend quire some time here. Geocache GC8846Z Lees Loo has a 5/5 difficulty for finding the cache. But Roger had it within a few minutes.

We followed Warks Rd for a couple of hundred metres, then descended into the damp Lees Creek to log GC88DJM Lees Leftovers. Clambering up out of the creek, an old FT took us NE to near a previously found cache, then off-track up to join a fire trail which climbed up behind the next cache. We logged GC88DHY Lees Lookout then I sat down on the covering rock for lunch.

Roger had his eye on an unplanned cache nearby and we followed a FT towards it. Another ft not marked on our GPSr maps gave us a steep climb directly to it. Logged GC88JBC Distant Cotter Views.

That was it. We returned to the car via fire trail and off-track sections joining them. A few blackberries about.

Drove out Warks Rd, left onto Brindabella Rd for the drive-bys GC88GHK Poetry Series #8 – IN THE FOREST, GC88GHW Poetry Series #10 – A Bird Came Down The Walk and GC88GHN Poetry Series #9 – The Roman Road.

Drove back to the Uriarra Rd intersection and back Brindabella Rd a little bit.

Walk 6

With time aplenty, we did GC7FHKG Uriarra Wetlands for me. A pretty little dam in a public access area marked Murrumbidgee River Corridor!

We drove home via Uriarra Rd for me to pick up GC7X309 Drive to Uriarra Road #39, GC7X308 Drive to Uriarra Road #38, GC7X306 Drive to Uriarra Road #37, GC7X303 Drive to Uriarra Road #36, GC7X301 Drive to Uriarra Road #35, GC7X2ZZ Drive to Uriarra Road #34, GC7X2ZW Drive to Uriarra Road #33, GC7X2ZT Drive to Uriarra Road #32, GC7X2ZG Drive to Uriarra Road #29 and GC7X2ZF Drive to Uriarra Road #28. Roger sped the process by driving my car, but he still had to get out on occasion to help. Frustratingly, DNF GC7X2ZP Drive to Uriarra Road #31 and GC7X2ZJ Drive to Uriarra Road #30.

A good day. 30 caches for me, including 8 Tankengine caches, which earns me his 300 path tag for finding 300 caches hidden by him. Woot, woot – or should I say toot, toot.

Thanks Roger, must do it again net week.

Track Maps

Track W1, W2, W3

Track W5, W6

Party

2 walkers – Roger E (Marmaduke Rothschild) (leader), me (JohnnyBoyACT).