This walk was organised by the CBC.  8 of us participated.  See below.

Cleverly positioned between two days of most welcome rain, Jenny unerringly led us on a beautiful spring day through regenerating bush to this feature with 360 degree views of many of Namadgi’s north-central features. 

We parked at the Smokers Trail car park just off Corin Road and were on the trail by 8.30am.  We followed it for around 1 km until it kicks away to the south-west, our party heading east to pick up the dog proof fence marked on the map, now lying collapsed, rusting and burnt on the ground.  The early morning cloud cover had dispersed and we enjoyed mild temperatures with cotton ball clouds in the vivid blue sky.  We continued south, then east, the fence line providing a fine navigational aid and, where not immediately visible, the tree line still seemed to be bending over the once proud fence.  Here the (unnamed!) party wag introduced us to the dog tree (“you can tell it by its bark”). 

We crossed Blue Gum Creek, its previous scrubby skirts now just twisted, blackened sticks, but flowing with plenty of crystal clear water.  As a ‘newbie’ to bushwalking, I can’t compare before and after fire, but there is plenty of regrowth in this natural cycle.  Native grasses and other ground level cover appear to be enhanced with more sunlight available and, of course, the rain, as well as the epicormic tree foliage.  We paused here for a morning cuppa. 

With renewed vigour we tackled the rise out of the creek gully, heading for the more gentle slope and open vista of the spur which runs south and west from our objective.  We paused to photograph the orchids and had passed many areas of native violets.  The going was relatively easy and by 11.30am we reached the rocky peak of Blue Gum Hill. 

The view was quite spectacular.  To the north-west were the peaks of the Tidbinbilla ridge-line; north-east lay Canberra; south-east were Booroomba Rocks, then the bulk of the NW to SE hill we had climbed; to the west were peaks of Namadgi familiar to other members of the party, such as Coronet Peak and Mt McKeahnie.  The Bimberi and Brindabella Ranges filled the horizon.  It was obviously a perfect spot for lunch. 

An hour later we commenced the return leg, coming south-west off the top to strike a gurgling gully which we followed north-west down to Blue Gum Creek.  After a short stop and the sharing of generous Jenny’s liquorice allsorts (she’s building a reputation, isn’t she!), we continued on a north-west compass bearing to hit the site of old stockyards.  Sadly, some imagination is required since the fires – rusting wire bound to tree trunks is all that is left to define the footprint. 

A final leg in a more westerly direction saw us back on Smokers Trail, a couple of hundred metres away from the cars.  We were back at 3pm.  A glance at the GPS (scorned by purists!) indicated that we’d covered 11.2km and climbed around 300m.  An excellent day was had by all. 

Distance: 11.2km  Time: 8.30am-3pm, with 1 hour 30 minutes of stops.