This walk was organised by Mike B and led by me and Mike B as a CBC/NPA Tuesday walk:

Tuesday 12 May 2009: Hardy Range to Camels Hump - L/R,X. From the gate on Pipeline Road near Hardy Hill, SW along the Hardy Range to SH1059. Then generally S through SH1042 to SH1269. Climb the rugged spur SE to Camels Hump. Return via the Tidbinbilla Range Road. Around 19km and 1000m total climb. Strenuous walking for a fit and experienced party. Route not fully known to leader. Possible delays and diversions from the intended route. Map: Tidbinbilla 1:25000. Leader: Mike B. Transport: $16 per car or $4-$6 per person. Limit: 8.

7 of us met and drove via the Cotter, Paddys River Road, Laurel Camp Road, East West Road and Pipeline Road to the locked gate NW of Hardy Hill.

This is my best guess of what Mike's walk will be like.

Route Card
 

Walk

I do hope I didn't put anyone off by an overly savage pre-walk description. We were last in this area to Pierces Creek Falls on 11 Aug 07 and I guess experience since then counts. Today certainly deserved 12-20km=4+900+m=6+Moderately rough going/some scrub=4, totalling 14, but it was a lot quicker than I'd estimated. There was some conversation as to why and we concluded that Tuesday walks rarely have any trouble because we are a small (usually 8 or fewer) and very cohesive group which can move at a good pace.

I had the dubious honour of leading this party of scallywags on the inward leg and we met Mike at Camels Hump. He must have dawdled, as he only had to wait 30 minutes for us. The story is pretty much in the above route card actuals. The fire trail we started on is marked as a Four Wheel Drive track on the 1st edition Cotter Dam 1:25000 map for around 960m and not at all on the 2nd edition map. It certainly extends a lot further - you can see it on Google Earth via the kmz file. It actually extends 2.4km from the locked gate on the Pipeline Road where we started in good form. From here it continues as a very old, overgrown trail (but you can follow the obvious benching) and finally peters out. A couple of very old tapes were seen along the ridge towards SH1059. Some nice views down into Pierces Creek around the 25r falls area from the ridge about opposite Cotter Hill. The ridge forms a relatively easy hand rail, with a couple of little twists and turns (see pic 1). Terribly scrubby with masses of very tight regrowth to 'swim' through, but we managed a reasonable pace.

Morning tea near SH1042, from which we could clearly see W-E ridge rising to Camels Hump to which we had to climb. So climb we did, turning left when we gained the spine. Camels Hump towered above us (see pic 2). There were a couple of more open spots where we could see SW to Johns Peak, Tidbinbilla Peak, Tidbinbilla Mountain and The Pimple and also N back along the Hardy Range to Hardy Hill (see pic 3). Finally gained Camels Hump at 11.35am, having covered the 8.6km in a bit over 4 hours.

Mike took us home along the Tidbinbilla Range Road (Camel Back fire trail) via Pierce Trig for lunch. Lovely views over the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, Paddys River Valley, the dishes of Tidbinbilla Tracking Station and over the Bullen Range to Canberra. Down a savage 200m drop from the U-bend in the main road along a disused fire trail, then parallel with the Hardy Range. A pleasant fellow at a new quarry near Pierces Creek told us they were pulling out rock and gravel to redo the fire trails in the area. Across Pierces Creek we picked up another fire trail, rounded below Hardy Hill and so to the cars.

With an early mark I earned brownie points by a quick shower and a visit to the flicks.

Thanks Mike. A great walk with some excellent views in places. We may never part the scrubby regrowth on the Hardy Range again. The excellent and cohesive party consisted of Eric, Karen, John, Max and Roger.

Distance: 18.2km  Climb: 900m.  Time: 7.30am - 2.40pm (7hrs10mins), with 45mins of stops.
Grading: L/R,X; H(14)

KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Hardy Range to Camels Hump