31 July 2012 Border Markers South of Mt Coree from Two Sticks Rd
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| Tidbinbilla Range from Mt Coree |
Map: Cotter Dam 1:25000
Getting There
This walk was organised and led by me as an irregular CBC Tuesday walk:
Tuesday 31 July - Border Markers South of Mt Coree from Two Sticks Rd - L/E-M,ptX. From Piccadilly Circus, walk in Two Sticks Rd to pick up a few border markers missed on previous trips. Wander up Mt Coree (not necessarily the easiest way), picking up the first 4 or 5 markers on the straight line. Around 21km and 400m climb. Map: Cotter Dam. Leader: John Evans - jevans@pcug.org.au, 0417 436 877. Transport: ~$12 per person.
6 of us met and drove via Uriarra Crossing, Brindabella Rd and Curries Rd to Blundells Flat - just past the ford over Condor Creek.
Further Information
Entry from Blundells Flat if snow at Piccadilly Circus.
Check on Two Sticks Rd closure.
Possibly - Main aim is to cover a few border markers between Piccadilly Circus and Curries Rd on Two Sticks Rd, and some on the straight section of the border NE of Mt Coree. Suspecting that you don’t like fire trail, I could adjust things such that we walk up Curries Rd from Blundells Flat, S along Two Sticks Rd/the border break to pick up the BMs there, back N along Two Sticks Rd and Coree Summit Rd, off track to pick up BMs there, to Mt Coree, then SE off the hill through the bush. But that would still be 80% FT.
I’ll change things around a bit, if you don’t mind. We’ll drive to Blundells Flat (all sealed apart from ~1km and shorter than Piccadilly Circus), wander up Curries Rd, left along Two Sticks Rd to pick up the border markers (the new joy of the hunt for some of you!), about turn and along the W side of Mt Coree, up Coree Summit Rd with a little off-track to pick up a couple of border markers there. Then, from the summit, steeply down through the bush on the SE side to Blundells Flat. Still ~21km, but now closer to 1000m climb, so it’s not an insignificant walk.
Photographs
You can access all photographs here.
Walk
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| Track overview | Track 1 | Track 2 |
Perfect weather till after lunch - blue sky and no breeze. Pretty crisp, though, with plenty of frost in the shade. The clouds came over a bit and we got sago snow as we came off Mt Coree.
Up Curries Rd, 3.9km in 50mins, climbing 350m.
We turned South along the border beak, getting our eye in with J50 and 1 Mile Marker (which I'd visited before). We could not find M50. We found N50 and O50, then backtracked a few metres to an open area with fabulous views to the West over Flea Creek to Webbs Ridge and beyond.
Couldn't find the 2 Mile marker. But did find P50, Q50, R50 and S50. The location of T50 was covered with blackberries - I left it be as on previous occasions.
Popped along to U50, just to complete the border track. We then returned along Two Sticks Rd. I was able to make a Telstra 3G iPhone call. Around 500m S of the Curries Rd intersection, we came across the truck which had gone off the side of the road. An ACT Government web site provides the background:
"Two Sticks Road in Namadgi closed until further notice Released 27/06/2012 The ACT Government wishes to advise motorists and other road users that Two Sticks Road in Namadgi is closed until further notice. The closure is in effect from Piccadilly Circus to Curries Road. Vehicles can still travel from Mountain Creek Road to Curries Road however they cannot access Two Sticks Road from Piccadilly Circus. The closure follows an incident where a truck rolled over while carrying waste water emptied from a NSW campground. The driver sustained a broken arm in the incident. Environment Protection officers are in attendance and will be providing advice on the vehicle recovery phase of this incident. ActewAGL has been notified of the incident. Barriers as well as warning and diversion signs will be erected to alert people of the closure."
From the Curries Rd intersection, we wandered N up the W side of Mt Coree on Two Sticks Rd, right onto Coree Summit Rd past the Coree Campground and to the intersection with Pabral Rd. This leg 3km in 40mins.
On the third turn going up the NE spur of Mt Coree, we left the Coree Summit Rd and headed through some pretty wild scrub to the border marker 3996.5 (chainage in links from Mt Coree). Sheaffe and his team must have wondered what they were getting in to when they first started their border survey! On up the line of the border to 2812.4.
1.20pm by now, so we went on a bit to find some lunch rocks.
We found 2047.67 and 1400.7, but there was no sign of 1114.9, just down off the side of the road.
We summited Mt Coree and had a quick look around. Nice view towards the Tidbinbilla Range. The plaque commemorating the border survey is the permanent one (a temporary one was installed on 25 May 10, the last time I was on Mt Coree)
It was 2.30pm when we left the Coree trig, on 118°M. It was a slow trip down, very steep and quite thickly vegetated. Damp on the E-ish facing flank, very slippery underfoot. Certainly more overgrown than the last time I went up this way. Sago snow and, lower down, showers. 1.3km across the ground, dropping 320 vertical metres, taking 1hr 15mins.
A boo-boo by me at the knoll. I didn't see the steep old fire trail which runs down the NNP boundary between the eucalypt forest and burnt out pine forest. Instead, I picked up a moguled old fire trail which curves down and then parallels Curries Rd, joining it further down.
Anyway, we got down, got muddy boots and (only just) got one party member back in town in time for a 4th birthday party.
Thanks for border marker hunting, fire trail trudging and bush bashing Roger E, Neil H, Stewart J, David K and Ian W.
Distance: 21.2km Climb: 1050m. Time: 8.20am - 4.30pm (8hrs 10mins), with 40mins of breaks.
Grading: L/R,ptX; H(14)
KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Border Markers South of Mt Coree from Two Sticks Rd
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This page last updated 31Aug22