Canberra Bushwalking Club Newsletter
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Canberra g o r F e e r o b o r r o Bushwalking C it Club newsletter Canberra Bushwalking Club Inc GPO Box 160 Canberra ACT 2601 Volume: 51 www.canberrabushwalkingclub.org Number: 10 GENERAL MEETING November 2015 8 pm Wednesday 18 November 2015 In this issue 2 Canberra Bushwalking Into the heart of the Himalayas Club Committee Presenter: Jono Lineen 2 President’s prattle Jono Lineen’s solo trek through the Western Himalayas came after the 2 Walks Waffle tragic death of his younger brother. Jono’s book tells of his four-month, 2 Membership matters 2,700 km trek from Pakistan to Nepal and of his years living in the Himala- 3 Training Trifles yas: ‘a quest to honour and understand the lands and people of the great- 3 Review: Paddling Beaver est mountain range on earth’. Creek, Alaska 4 Mootik Walls and the The hall, upper Tonalli Range Hughes Baptist Church, 6 Three treks in Peru 32–34 Groom Street, Hughes 7 CBC Xmas Party 8 Activity program 8 Wednesday walks Also there will be a short (5 min) presentation on 16 Bulletin Board the features and use of the Personal Locator Beacon 17 Feeling literary? (PLB) and some leaders of walks in the current and next month will be on hand with maps to answer your questions and show you walk routes etc Important dates 18 November General meeting 25 November Committee meeting 25 November Submissions close for December it Committee reports Canberra Bushwalking Club Committee President’s President: Lorraine Tomlins prattle [email protected] 6248 0456 or 0434 078 496 he Committee has now agreed on Conservation Treasurer: Julie Anne Clegg TGuidelines to assist us to decide on what conser- [email protected] vation activities to pursue. The Guidelines have been developed by the our Conservation Officer, Cynthia 0402 118 359 Burton in conformity with the Club’s aims as set out in Walks Secretary: John Evans our Constitution and finalised after receiving feedback [email protected] from CBC members. They will be posted on the CBC website. Cynthia has also organised a number of con- 6288 7235 or 0417 436 877 servation activities that have been added to the Activity General Secretary: Cynthia Coppock Program, including the Annual Broom Clearing with ACT Parks. This will be on Saturday 28 November [email protected] and it provides the opportunity to drive to Cotter Hut 0408 266 501 or 6270 9010(w) in Namadgi National Park – usually it is walking ac- cess only. Membership Secretary: Roger Edwards g o r F e e r o b o r r o [email protected] Lorraine Tomlins C President 6288 7863 Training and Safety Officer: David Dedenczuk [email protected] 0417 222 154 Walks Waffle Conservation Officer: Cynthia Burton xcellent walk choices await you in the current Ac- [email protected] Etivity Program and the weather is most conducive 0488 071 203 to getting out in the fresh air. Web Manager: David Briese I have asked all walk leaders to include an estimated [email protected] distance and climb in their walk descriptions. This should help you self-assess whether the trip is within 6286 3479 your current walking abilities. If in doubt, please ring the Editor: Alison Milton leader to discuss. A good walk leader is always looking to encourage and perhaps slightly extend participants, [email protected] whilst being aware of party cohesiveness, safety and 6254 0578(h) or 6289 2717(w) enjoyment. Assistant Walks Secretary: Keith Thomas Corin Rd is currently closed at Smokers Gap (just after [email protected] the Square Rock car park) and so is the walking track between Corin Dam and Stockyard Spur. Icon Water are 6230 1081 or 0421 607 667 enhancing the Corin Dam asset. Work will be completed Social Secretary: Jenny Horsfield by early 2016. Alternative access to the Brindabella tops is via the Mt Franklin Rd to the Ginini car park. [email protected] g o r F e e r John Evans o b o r r o 6231 4535 C Walks Secretary Publisher: David Williams [email protected] 0414 651 439 Membership matters All members of the Committee can be contacted in one email to Please keep your email address up to date via your membership page on the website. Contact the Mem- [email protected] bership Secretary if you need help. Check in: [email protected] New members: Lyn Dunmore, Nerida McCarthy, Andrew Struik, Trish Webb Web site: www.canberrabushwalkingclub.org Roger Edwards Membership Secretary g o r F e e r o b o r r o C Page 2 – Canberra Bushwalking Club it November 2015 g ro F e re o b ro r o C Review of general meeting talk Training Review: Paddling Beaver Creek, Alaska Trifles t’s late Spring, and the weather Iis heating up again. All the signs are that this is going to be a long hot and dry summer. We should not stop walking, but there are the certain precautions that we should take to ensure that we stay safe and com- fortable in the summertime bush. Watch the weather reports – if it is going to be very hot, consider xperienced kayaker Mike Brem- paw prints at several campsites. The less ambitious walks, or cancelling Eers had already paddled the woods were rich in blueberries. altogether. Try to leave very early length of Australia’s River Murray, and get any climbing out of the way so when the opportunity came to The group hiked away from the early in the day. Have plenty of rests canoe down Alaska’s remote Beaver river at Big Bend, and stayed at a in the shade as you go along. River, he and his son David were cabin in the woods at Caribou Bluff. quick to take the opportunity. The On several nights, the beautiful Hydrate properly. Have a good aurora borealis played its mauve drink of water before you leave, Canadian-style canoes provided for the journey were unfamiliar to and green lights above the horizon, and make sure that you take plenty a memorable sight. Mike is not of water. I always take at least two Mike – more open than a kayak. They are powered by two people, planning to return to the Arctic for litres on a warm day. One cannot more canoeing, but was pleased to always trust the water in the creeks which requires good coordination between the two paddlers. add this challenging experience to – but where you can, avail yourself his impressive adventuring CV. g o r F e e r o b o r r o of plenty of Adam’s Ale. Along with two other canoers, Ger- C Dress properly. Shorts and short mans Pia and Gerd, Mike and David Jenny Stewart sleeves can be nice, but a collared commenced their 25-day journey shirt is important to protect the in August 2014. The temperatures neck. Remember to take sun-block were relatively balmy (around to protect exposed skin on the arms 20 degrees) but the and legs. Zinc cream is good for fast flowing river, sur- noses and elsewhere on the face. rounded by pine forest, Remember to take a broad-brimmed proved quite treacher- hat and sunglasses. ous. Pia and Gerd’s canoe capsised twice Do tell someone where you are within a few kilometres going and when you will be back. of setting out. Luck- Don’t walk alone. Carry a PLB or ily, Mike and David a mobile phone in areas with cover- were able to negotiate age. The party leader will watch the various hazards for signs of heat stress among walk (including trees that participants, but do not hesitate to had fallen into the inform the leader if you are feeling river) more success- uncomfortable in any way. fully. Nevertheless, Above all, enjoy the summer careful advance scout- walking. ing was required. The time lost in this way g o r F e e r o b o David Dedenczuk r r o C meant they could not Training and Safety Officer paddle the 600 km to the Yukon, but took the shorter, 200 km option to the point where Beaver and Vic- toria creeks intersect. Along the way, they saw only one bear (happily some distance away), but there were Canberra Bushwalking Club it November 2015 – page 3 Trip report Mootik Walls and the upper Tonalli Range Participants:Meg McKone, Kerri- Ann Smith, Margaret Cooper, Lachlan Bailey, Rob Simon, Helen Zimmerman. s we drove along the road to ABatsh Camp, I was glad to see the potholes brimming with recent now at last we were going to have a It was a lovely walk along Mootik rain. Even the muddy patches didn’t serious attempt. Plateau, brightened by the yellows faze me. The Blue Breaks are no- and mauves of early spring flow- toriously dry compared with other Helen, Margaret and Lachlan on the ers, with views north to the Tonalli parts of the Blue Mountains, and if disentegrating ridge of the Coach and Range, the Axeheads, Vengeance we couldn’t find water in the Tonalli Horses Peninsula and beyond. There were River or Butchers Creek we would rock orchids blooming beneath the be in big trouble. But though my cliffs, and a Greater Glider with a mind was further quietened by some long furry tail and huge eyes darted overnight rain, as we started along out of its hole and ran up the tree the Mount Armour Trail the next before stopping to look at us. But day the road was ominously dry.