18 June 2013 Hardy Hill and other trigs
 Hardy Hill and other trigs - (clockwise from left) CE1, McDonald Ecce, Cotter, Condor, (centre) Hardy Map: Cotter Dam and Tidbinbilla 1:25000 Walk Description This walk was organised and led by Roger E as a CBC Tueday walk: Tuesday 18 June: Hardy Hill and other trigs - M/E-M. The aim is to visit a number of trig points near the Cotter Dam; Hardy Hill, Condor Hill, Mt McDonald, and CE1 with a side trip to Mt Moore. (Mt Moore does not qualify for ‘stretch your legs’ event trig bagging.) Mainly on forestry roads but a kilometre of thick scrub up to Hardy Hill. 450 metres of ascent. May do as 2 or 3 walks i.e. we will drive and start at several spots. Map Cotter Dam 1:25,000. Leader Roger E. Transport estimated $16.00 per car. Limit 8. 8 of us drove from Canberra to various start points. Further Information Cotter trig was included. Photographs Click here to access all walk photographs.Track Maps Track maps: thumbnails are active - click for a larger picture
Google Earth Track Notes A bit foggy as we left town. A little warm up drive along Vanitys Crossing Rd and walk down to the Crossing, but we decided not to wade it at around knee deep at 7.45am on a Winter's morning. Returned N over Padovans Crossing and back along Bullock Paddock Rd and (after a bit of faffing around along Bracks Hole Rd, which was my fault as the navigator) drove in a fire trail to the NW of Condor Hill. A 1.3km return trip with 110m climb through burnt fallen pine debris, low shrubs and a few blackberries to Condor trig. A blackberry covered cairn from which Eric the engineer extracted a few pieces of tin. But we were above the fog and there were nice views to Coree. Back out to the tar of Brindabella Rd and, at an appropriate spot N of Mt McDonald, cars were parked. We enjoyed a 1.6km return trip with 150m climb through open going containing many tree-planting holes to McDonald Ecce trig and the disused fire tower. Views over the fog to Black Mountain tower. The Bullen Range was emerging from the fog and there were views to the Tidbinbilla Range. We drove back down towards the Cotter Dam, parked at a generous lay-by off the road and walked a 0.5km and 35m climb to CE1. Surrounded by a fence containing the quadruped trig, a water reservoir and other bits and pieces. Fog precluded a view to the new Cotter Dam. You've gotta go there to bag it, but never again. Quote of the day from our leader was that it wasn't 10am (it was 9.57am), we hadn't walked 10km yet, so we didn't deserve morning tea. A further drive to the E side of the Cotter River, via Paddys River Rd, Laurel Camp Rd, East-West Rd and Pipeline Rd (including more faffing around due to my poor navigation) to the locked gate on Pipeline Rd below Hardy Hill. From here we began the serious work for the day. Although Hardy was nearby, our next objective was Cotter, a long walk down Pipeline Rd. We set of at 10.30am and Roger made us walk for 15mins before calling morning tea. Substantial culvert work at several places along Pipeline Rd - the water must really belt down from the Hardy Range. The road passes through rugged country with glimpses down into the wild Cotter River. The culvert N of Cotter Hill is a massive work. 6.7km down Pipeline Rd we reached the bottom of a spur heading up to Cotter trig which was a little less daunting than the frontal approach. Only 600m across the ground to the top, but a 220m climb through moderate scrub, taking 40mins. An occasional shower drifted over us from the Brindabellas. The trig was just a cairn of large rocks - no metal work - but commanded some spectacular views. A great spot for lunch. Back down on Pipeline Rd, we tromped the 6.7km back to the cars in 1hr 30mins. We ran into the Bendora Ranger on his rounds (the third time in a couple of weeks). He said I'd triggered the camera near some pig bait on the Mt Franklin Rd last Saturday. Hardy, the last trig for the day, towered above us. We tackled it head on, again through moderate scrub, hitting an old fire trail clearing near the top. A 700m effort across the ground, 180m climb taking 25mins. Roger had one last surprise for us. We left the trig heading S along the old fire trail. In a few hundred metres it met the Hardy Range crest fire trail where we U-turned and enjoyed a scrub-free return to the cars. A note on the fire trails around Hardy Hill: 1 The Cotter Dam 8627-2N Second Edition 1:25000 topographic map shows no fire trails directly South of Hardy Hill. The left map segment below shows the track for 2013 06 18 Hardy trig section (blue) and part of the track for 2009 05 12 Hardy Range to Camels Hump 2 The Cotter Dam 8627-2N First Edition 1:25000 topographic map in the centre shows only the beginning of the Hardy Range crest old fire trail (marked 'Four Wheel Drive') 3 The OZraster digital map (prepared from NSW LPI date in 2011) segment on the right shows the full extent of the Hardy Range crest old fire trail. It also shows a trail from near the locked gate to Hardy trig. We may have been just East of this on 18 Jun 13, touching on it near the trig
A final delight seeing two free-ranging emus on East-West Rd on the drive out. Thanks Roger - an excellent day. I can now rest easy after finally visiting the two trigs on my bucket list - Bendora on 18 May 13 and Cotter today. Summary Distance: 20.8km Climb: 1050m. Time: 7.35am - 3.55pm (8hrs 20mins), with 40mins of breaks, plus driving from walk start to walk start. Walk Participants 8 walkers - Roger E (leader), Chris F, Eric G, Nathan H, John T, Ian W, Edwina Y, me. Back to Walks Index This page last updated 2Sep22 |
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