Flowers on the trip to Pryors Hut

Map: Corin Dam 1:25000

Walk Description

This walk was organised and led by Ian W as an irregular CBC Tuesday walk:

Tuesday 3 December: Stockyard Spur Forests - M/R,ptX. From Corin Dam we will follow the Stockyard Spur track for about 45 minutes to the 1300 metres altitude, then head off-track to the southwest. We will spend a few hours traversing across the flank of Stockyard Spur for a few kilometres. The off-track section is exploratory, but hopefully there will be some nice stands of Alpine Ash and ferny gullies. I expect it to be slow going with thick scrub in places. We then head back up to the crest of the spur and follow the foot track back to the start. Map: Corin Dam Leader: Ian W. Limit: 8 Transport: Approx. 80 km return.

8 of us drove from Canberra to Corin Dam. The cleared up rock slide area on the Corin Road looks impressive.

Further Information

2 of us went to Pryors Hut.

Photographs

Click here to access the Pryors Hut walk photographs.

Click here to access the Stockyard Spur Forests walk photographs (courtesy Ian Wright).

Track Maps

Track maps: thumbnails are active - click for a larger picture

Track overview - blue: Pryors Hut; red: Stockyard Spur Forests

Track 1 - blue: Pryors Hut; red: Stockyard Spur Forests

Track 2 - blue: Pryors Hut; red: Stockyard Spur Forests

Google Earth

Click here to display the walk in Google Earth.

Track Notes

We got to around the 1200m contour up the staircase to Stockyard Spur and decided to split the party. I and another went to Pryors Hut. The other 6 did the planned walk - unburnt Alpine Ash and a pleasant walk, so they reported.

We had a leisurely ramble to Pryors Hut, with plenty of time to admire the flowers and appreciate the bird life. High cloud cover till 1.30pm kept the temperature reasonable. Canberra reached 31°C.

If anyone can identify the unnamed by me flowers, please let me know.

Coming back down from Stockyard Spur we joined our 6 companions, as we'd cleverly arranged our schedule to do so. Eric was literally skipping down the steps - wonderful to see that he's regained his mojo!

Ian Wright's Track Notes

Tuesday 3 December: Stockyard Spur Forests, Namadgi National Park. M/R Part X

There were extensive stands of mature alpine ash (Eucalypus delegatensis) in Namadgi National Park before 2003, but much of it was destroyed in the bushfires of that year. The stark white trunks of the dead trees are visible on many of the mountains in the region and the vigorous regrowth of new alpine ash saplings makes walking in these areas very difficult. There are extensive areas of forest on the shady slopes on the west side of Corin Dam and from browsing Google Earth and not seeing any white trunks, I was hopeful that some of the forests had survived the 2003 fires.

Our route from the dam took us up the Stockyard Spur foot-track to the 1300 metre contour. Two of the party nominated for an easier day and continued on the track to Pryors Hut near Mt Gingera. Six of us continued with the original plan and followed a meandering route to the southwest through what I hoped would be stands of mature alpine ash.

Our route initially took us steeply down into a small creek filled with tree ferns and a nice mixed forest of mountain gums and alpine ash. (GR 653656)The terrain was steep and the ground was quite loose but there was only light scrub so we made good progress. The trunks of the trees were lightly scorched but the fire had not reached the crowns, so the trees had survived.

The next leg was steep but easy going and took us across the flank of the spur through nice mountain gum and snow gum forest. After about an hour of walking we entered a dense and extensive forest of pure alpine ash (GR 641646). At this point we had entered the catchment of a major tributary of Snowy Flat Creek and though the creek has a small catchment it was flowing strongly. We followed the creek upstream for about a kilometre and stopped for lunch surrounded by magnificent trees. (GR632642). The forecast was for 33 degrees in Canberra but the day was much cooler at 1500 metres altitude. After lunch we traversed to the northeast, still in the dense forest, before heading north up a small spur through a light understorey, to join the foot-track on the crest of Stockyard Spur. Another hour of easy downhill walking and we were back at the dam.

This was an interesting walk and the area has the potential for repeat trips given the scarcity of mature, unburned forest in Namadgi. A fairly easy option would be to drop down from Stockyard Spur, from our exit point, into the tributary of Snowy Flats Creek. A pleasant hour or two could be spent exploring the forests and following the creek before heading back to the foot-track.

Total Distance From the Dam: 10.5 km with 900 metres ascent
The off-track section took 4hours 30 minutes with a lunch break

Summary

For the 2 of us who went to Pryors Hut:

Distance: 15.9km Climb: 950m. Time: 8.10am - 2.30pm (6hrs 20 mins), with 40mins of breaks.

For the 6 who wandered above the side of Corin Dam:

Distance: 10.5km Climb: 900m. Time: 8.10am - 2.30pm (6hrs 20 mins).

For Pryors Hut - Grading: L/E; M(10+)

Walk Participants

8 walkers - Brett C, Eric G, Ian H, Jenny H, Stewart J, Richard M, Ian W (leader), me.