16 March 2010 Corn Trail

Maps: Monga and Araluen 1:25000

Getting There

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

Tuesday 16 March - Corn Trail - L/M,X. Walk the Corn Trail, which starts on the Kings Highway below Clyde Mountain. To make the car trip shorter, we'll walk down then back up. Around 26km and 850m climb. Maps: Monga and Araluen. Leader: John Evans - jevans@pcug.org.au, (h) 6288 7235. Transport: ~$30 per person.

4 of us met in Canberra and drove down the Kings Highway to the River Forest Road turnoff. Thanks for driving Ken. My timing was out - the trip from Kambah was 7-8.30am and we were to meet Garry at 9am. Thanks Garry for being 20mins early. Good dirt road a couple of km further in to the Dasyurus Picnic area, the top of the Corn Trail.

Further Information

See http://www.southcoast.com.au/batemansbay/corntrail/index.html.

Photographs

Access all primary pics here. All thumbnails in the walk report are active - click for a larger picture.

Walk

Track a	Track b	Track c

What can one say about a benched track walk? Plenty of time to focus on the scenery. Away at 8.50am to ford the Mongarlowe River. E turn and across the N side of Murrengenburg Mountain on easy walking track to join the track in from the Kings Highway. From Dasyurus to the junction 3.5km in 50mins. The alternative in from the Kings Highway is 1.8km. A gentle climb to 850m, then the benched track drops to 230m and meets the Buckenbowra River. We had morning tea at a knoll on the way down. Where the track follows the spur, great views across to ajoining ridges. Well drained dry ridge lines, plenty of grass trees. Coral heath in flower.

View from the 600m contour	Corn Trail near the Buckenbowra River	Corn Trail near the Buckenbowra River

A beautiful section of wet rain forest around mid-way on the Buckenbowra River. Magnificent ferns. Here the trail is marked with several guide posts, as one could imagine that without them the trail could quite easily be lost.

Guide posts on the Corn Trail near the Buckenbowra River	Corn Trail near the Buckenbowra River	Corn Trail near the Buckenbowra River

We arrived at the bottom car park at 12.20pm, covering the 15.2km in 3hrs 30mins. 130m here and damp feet jumping across the river. The day got better at lunchtime, after I realised I had my shorts on inside out. We stood for lunch so as to better keep an eye on the leeches. I was happy as, having decided to down and up, was glad when the lads agreed when we assessed the situation at midday. For me, it's not only the journey but the destination. Where we were now, the cars were back up the hill.

12.45pm saw us set off for the return leg. At one stage a large goanna lazed on the trail - it hissed angrily as it fled up a match-sized sapling, probably more at its own poor choice than as a threat to us. Back at 5.30pm, so 4hrs 45mins for the up. Not bad, just an extra around 50%. We were a little puffed - "...I will balance future walk descriptions against the possibility of my premature demise" was an apt summary from one party member.

Climbing the Corn Trail near 300m above the Buckenbowra River	2 Coral Heath (Epacris impressa) on the Corn Trail	3 A goanna on the Corn Trail

Thanks Eric, Garry, Ken and Max. Not a bad wander to an area new to me.

Distance: 30.5km Climb: 850m. Time: 8.45am - 5.30pm (8hrs 45mins), with 45mins of stops.
Grading: L/E-M,WX; H(13)

KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Corn Trail

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This page last updated 15Aug22