I did this walk solo to check it out to take a group of friends.  The verdict - a bit too long.  Drive from Weston Creek via the southern suburbs through Tharwa, past the Glendale Crossing area.  Turn right into Old Boboyan Road just before the end of the made road.  It's signposted to Yankee Hat Car Park.  The last 3.5km are unsealed.  A total of 57.5km, about 1 hour's drive.

This walk is number 18 in Graham Barrow's Namadgi and Tidbinbilla Classics: Tough Bushwalks in Canberra's High Country and includes part of walk number 20 on the Namadgi National Park map, Walks on fire trails.  It was a beautiful spring day, 18degC, not a cloud in the blue sky.  I started walking at 7:10am (with a touch of frost still in the shadows) and returned at 1:20pm with no stops.  The view from the car park set the scene and, although the old pine plantation area is a bit drab, the western hills continued to inspire.  I was to return through the area to the left of Mt Gudgenby that afternoon.

The first detour, 2km down the Old Boboyan Road, was a short 1.4km side trip to Frank and Jack's Hut.  It was a pleasure to find it clean and graffiti free.  There was an excellent photo advertisement stuck on one of the walls - a mid 1960s Holden (my first car!).

Walking the 10.6km of the Old Boboyan Road down to the Boboyan Valley took 2 hours and 10 minutes.  It was easy walking, perhaps a bit boring.  But the views opening up in the Valley (which felt like home after a couple of previous walks in the area) were worth it.

The walk crosses the Naas Creek and then the Old Boboyan Road, which continues on to an access point at Old Boboyan Road (South) meets Sam's Creek Fire Trail.  I headed right at this junction and soon passed the Grassy Creek Fire Trail (which first parallels Sheep Station Creek) going off to the left.

1.4km along Sam's Creek Fire Trail I visited Luton's Crutching Shed.  I'd camped in this area before.

The next stage of the walk continued up the beautiful Boboyan Valley (Naas Creek valley).  The track kept to higher ground to the SW of the creek, with lovely views of the creek swamp and surrounding hills.  The latter part moved through dry forest and the rock faces of Mt Gudgenby and Gudgenby Saddle began to appear.

At 4.5km along the Boboyan Valley, the fire trail took a hard left up a hill.  A fainter track continued up the valley which was closing in by now.  A further 1.7km, at GR722379 (AGD66, 1st edn Yaouk 86262N), I left the footpad and crossed the Naas Creek to head up to the Gudgenby Saddle.  The bush was fairly open and the 1.1km, 80m climb took 20 minutes.

Coming down from the Saddle, on the southern side of the gully, I picked up a foot pad/track, fairly indistinct in places.  But it certainly made the going easier.  The track kept well up the side, away from the gully bottom which was quite steep in places.  There were excellent views of the back of Yankee Hat.

Once down in the open - quite park-like in places and well mowed by the kangaroos - I decided to divert from my original plan to rejoin the Old Boboyan Road.  Instead I headed along fire trails on the NW bank of Bogong Creek and joined the Yankee Hat marked trail near the boardwalk.  A lovely stroll to complete a long day.

Back at the car, I did have a bite more to eat and made a couple of cups of coffee.  Tired feet!  I then took a drive back to the Boboyan Road and turned south, going 4km on the dirt to the new lookout.  It's on the ridge overlooking the Boboyan Pines area, with magnificent views (see pics 4 and 5) across to the western mountains.

Distance: 27.2km  Time: 7.10am-1.20pm, with no stops.