Friday, 21 June 2019

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve: Johns Peak and Tidbinbilla Peak

General Information

Grading:  hard
Distance:  16 kilometers 
Total climb:  869 meters 
Time taken:  5 hours 30 minutes 
Map:  Tidbinbilla 8627-2S, 1:25 000 
Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  52 kilometers 
Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 71471 74628 
Destination map grid reference:  Johns Peak   55H FA 71378 77330
                                                    Tidbinbilla Peak   55H FA 70688 76929 
End point:  same as start
 

Previous Similar Walks

6 June 2019

Route

 
http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/

Description

Although I had walked up to Johns Peak only two weeks before (link), I enjoyed it so much I thought I'd go up again and continue on to Tidbinbilla Peak. If there had been more daylight hours to play with (it was, after all, the Winter Solstice) I would have been inclined to continue on to Tidbinbilla Mountain; but that will have to wait for spring.

We took the same route up to Johns Peak in perfect winter walking weather with some nice views of the climb ahead of us from the Camel Back Trail.

From Johns Peak we continued along the walking track on the top of the Tidbinbilla Range which dog-legs to the west and then southwest to Tidbinbilla Peak. This is a particularly nice section of walking trail: good views and not at all strenuous. From Tidbinbilla peak we could see Tidbinbilla Mountain and The Pimple, and also had views towards the Brindabellas one way and Canberra the other.

It was pretty cold on top of Tidbinbilla Peak, with some clouds starting to scud across the sky and an increasing southerly breeze. We returned along the walking track and Camel Back Trail, finding another view of Johns Peak from the opposite side (the side we climbed).

About mid-way along the Camel Back Trail we were treated to the sounds of a nearby lyrebird going through its repertoire of other birds' songs: we heard it mimic cockatoos, magpies, currawongs, kookaburras and many others we couldn't identify. No sign of the bird itself, but it must have been very close to us.

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