This walk was organised and led by me as an irregular CBC Tuesday walk:
(Tuesday 19 December: Orroral Tor and The Spinnaker. M-L/M-R, part X. A route which can be easily tailored to suit the desires of the party and the temperature of the day. From Honeysuckle Creek camping ground, we’ll head 3km south into the open creek lines. Then up to the ridge and round the back of Orroral Tor to inspect this grand feature up close and personal. North to the Orroral Valley-Honeysuckle Creek fire trail which will take us back up the ridge. NE through the bush to the back of The Spinnaker (aka Honeysuckle Crag). At max, 14km and 700m climb; at min a gentle stroll of a couple of km and a bit of a climb to the granite face of The Spinnaker. Limit of 8. Maps: Corin Dam and Rendezvous Creek 1:25000. Leader: John Evans – jevans@pcug.org.au, (h) 6288 7235; contact me by 6pm the previous Sunday to discuss options. Transport: ~$10. Further details at www.pcug.org.au/~jevans.). 7 of us drove in 2 cars to the Honeysuckle Creek camping ground. Canberra forecast 29°C. |
Away by 7.55am. The distance views were already smoked in from a bushfire near Tumut. Nice to have some local knowledge, with some of the party being quite familiar with the area and features. But some of us, including me, were first timers. This helped finding the turnoff a couple of tens of metres along the fire trail to the collimation tower which led to the water tanks above the Honeysuckle Creek site, marked on 1st edition maps, but not 2nd edition. We followed the old track until it turned away to the NE (0.7km and 15mins to here).
Then a nice wander though cleared areas to the S, the first of which afforded us views W to the side of The Spinnaker. We were back into light scrub just S of SH1264 (this leg 3km and 1hr).
We headed generally SSE along the ridges through light timber, through SH1202, to morning tea at 10.15am, on the ridge looking SW to Orroral Tor (see pic 1) (this leg 2.2km and 1hr 10mins).
The vegetation was a bit closer for a time, with plenty of spiky bushes (forgotten the botanical name but not the wounds). A bit of a sidle around towards the ridge approaching Orroral Tor from the SE, with local knowledge to take us up an easy easterly slot to a N facing terrace very near the top (this leg 0.9km and 1hr). Excellent views over the length of the Orroral Valley (see pic 2), although distance was smoke hazed.
Off the tor to the SE, then a mite W of N to join the Orroral Valley - Honeysuckle Creek fire trail (aka AAWT link track). Surprising to cross a couple of drainage lines with the sound of running water (this leg 1.2km and 50mins).
A 2km slog up the fire trail in 30mins to find lunch by the trail in an open area. No view, but a bit of a breeze.
On up the fire trail a further 500m, then a right turn to SH1283 and a generally NE route through some very nice granite and trees to the back of The Spinnaker (this leg 2.3km in 1hr). Local knowledge again came to the fore. To hit the top of The Spinnaker, one needs to head between 2 large blocks of granite (see pic 3), down though a cavern, then out onto the top of the granite slab. A high view which drops away spectacularly, but you can't actually appreciate the form of The Spinnaker from the top as much as from below.
Off down to the E, passing some magnificent granite rock overhangs and a monstrous cave - well worth another explore. A bend to the NE and down to the morning's first open area, hitting a few pink tape markers leading to the tank track. Back to the cars by 3.10pm (this last leg 1.8km and 1hr).
A quite reasonable round for a warm day. A couple of destinations I'd not visited before. I think everyone enjoyed it. Gun walkers from CBC and FBI made for a nervous leader. Thanks Jenny, Madeleine, Max, Peter, Rob and Shirley - apologies for melted certificates!
Distance: 14.2km Climb: 750m. Time: 7.55am-3.10pm (7.25hrs), with 55mins of stops.
