Ain't no mountain high enough - breaking the Camel's Back

Autumn is without doubt my favourite time of year. In Melbourne, this was mostly because of the festivals that occur around this time (e.g Moomba, comedy festival etc). In Canberra it is purely and simply the weather. The hot dry weather of the summer gives way to frosty morning's, but gloriously sunny days with hardly a hint of wind, and very little rain (which is true of just about anytime of year in Canberra). Sure, the night's will freeze your nads off, but the average Autumn day in Canberra is near perfect. On Saturday morning I woke up to just this.

Normally, when faced with the sight of clear blue skies on a weekend morning, the blankets go flying as I jump out of bed, and get on my bike. So keen am I to get out that I am sometimes reminded by Aff as I open the front door, that some clothes (at the very least, some pants) might be worth considering. On this occassion, however, I was feeling just a tad under the weather after a planned 4 beers, home by midnight house-warming party turned into a 10 beers, home at 3am affair. As such, I decided to catch a bit more rest, and see out my mild hungover state in bed. After breakfast with Aff at our local cafe` later that morning, I dropped her off at uni (apparently for Aff, the perfect Canberra day is best enjoyed in the comfort of your office, writing a paper), thereby leaving me to my own devices.

I considered my options for the day. Cycling was, of course, an option, but on this day I felt like something different. A bit of gardening perhaps ? - hmm, too many weeds, and too much like hard work! Shopping at Belco mall? As enticing as Belco mall is on a sunny Canberra day, shopping would require money, and that I do not have ; completing my 2004/2005 (insanely overdue) tax return ? - woh! too much excitement for one day I think, maybe next weekend (which is what I concluded last weekend). Clearly this was not going to be an easy decision.

Thinking some more, I gazed out into the distance, looking for inspiration. In so doing, I caught sight of Canberra's impressive sky-line. "Impressive sky-line?" I hear you ask - "does Canberra even have building's higher than three stories?". The answer, for the record is, yes it does, but when I refer to Canberra's sky-line, I am not referring to it's modest collection of tallish building's, but rather, the strikingly beautiful sight of it's mountain ranges that make up the entire Western backdrop of the ACT. It was with this view that I made my decision for Saturday's activities - a bush walk.

I have ventured out to the Western mountains a few times, but have only done a modest amount of walking in the area. With Lee-Fay and Tim last year, Aff and I climbed to one particular peak known as the "Camel's back". On that occasion, the weather turned quite horribly wet and cold, and so we were unable to walk to the very top. Well, it wasn't so much that we couldn't get to the top, we just couldn't be arsed climbing the extra 60 metres required (mostly rock scrambling), for no view whatsoever. Clearly then, I had unfinished business with this Camel, so decided this would be my mission for today.


The Canberra skyline (both of them), and the Camel's Back (circled)

The Camel's back track is mostly a fire access road that starts at the Tidbinbilla nature reserve, out along the Cotter rd (near the space centre). It takes about 30 or 40 minutes to drive there from Civic, which is about as remote as things get in the ACT. From the above photo (taken from Canberra's Mt Ainslie), you can probably gather that this walk is pretty much entirely up hill. In fact, from this photo you might conclude that this walk would be stupidly hard. The reality is, it isn't. Sure, you work hard in sections, particularly at the beginning when most of the steep climbing is done, but once you get your rhythm, the walk is actually quite a pleasant one. After the first kilometre or two, the grade of the track is significantly friendlier, and you just put your head down and go.

There is no doubt that bush walking, particularly alone, can sometimes be a very meditative experience. The walk to the top took me about one and a half hours, but it felt like I'd only been walking for about half an hour. Large slabs of time seemed to be completely missed due to my mind wandering off into countless thoughts of the week gone by, and the week ahead. It's almost like you have woken up when you suddenly look around and remind yourself that you are hiking (or more accurately, when you stumble on a rock or fallen tree branch and nearly twist your ankle). It took me a bit over an hour to reach the point where Lee-Fay, Tim, Aff and I stopped last time. Unlike last time, my view of the summit was not impeded by fog and rain, and the final stage of the climb was very much in my sights.


The Camel's back summit, as seen from the track as you approach it.

Apart from a little wind, conditions were perfect to make the climb to the top. The final climb, however, is not as easy going as the track before it, and I did a fair amount of rock scrambling, with only the occasional thought that I may in fact die out here, and no one would know it. It took about 15-20 minutes to reach the top, where I was greeted with some pretty spectacular views.





Of course, no mountain would be complete without the obligatory "conquered all" photo, of which I may have taken just a few.





A Saturday afternoon very well spent.