Another Namadgi Trail

Yerrabi Trail

According to the trail guide the word "Yerrabi", means "walk" in the Aboriginal language. This trail takes you past a more wooded area of Namadgi, to a trig point. The area around the Yerrabi trail seems to have been be untouched by the 2003 bushfires which caused substantial destructon to the Northern parts of the park.

How to get there
From Tharwa, drive along the Nas road continuing past the point where it splits into Boboyang road. Past this juncture the Nas road is unsealed. You need to take the right fork which will place you on Boboyang road. Follow the road some time after it too, becomes unsealed and continue past the look out, until you arrive at the Boboyang Trig carpark. Be sure to stop at the look out on the way as the view from there is quite spectacular. See picture 1.

The walk
The walk commences with a gentle descent up until the point where the trail cuts across an area of swampy grassland and passes across Little Dry Creek. As you walk up the slope towards the trig point you notice a subtle change in the trees, with the occassional Snow and Mountain Gum becoming more frequent. The trees in the lower reaches of the walk are mainly peppermint gums. The Boboyang trig is at an elevation of 1459 metres. The view to the north east is the best panoramic aspect. However, the view from the Trig is not as good as what you can see from the lookout. The panaramic pictures I took show rain falling on the nearby mountains.

The walk took about an hour and ten minutes, but it's rated a two hour walk of moderate difficulty. Despite the ascent the Yerrabi Trail is a relatively easy walk of about 4 and a half kilometres return.



Pictures: 1. View from the lookout on the way to the Yerrabi trail. 2 View from the trig. 3. Ascent to the Trig. Click picture to see enlarged image.

More of Namadgi

Yankee Hat Trail

Last weekend I did two walks. The Yerrabi Track and the Yankee Hat Trail. The latter provided an opportunity to see some ancient rock art. Both walks were in Namadgi National Park which is 40 km south of Canberra. The park, which takes its name from the Ngunnawal word for the surrounding mountains, was created in 1984.

How to get there
Drive to Tharwa and then continue along the Nas Road. A short distance past the point where the Apollo Road runs into Nas Road, it splits into Boboyan Road to the right and the continuation of Nas road on the left. This is unsealed and leads to a canola farm. Take the right fork you’ll be on Boboyan Road. Continue past Orroral road until you reach the turn off to the old Boboyan road. This is an unsealed road that leads directly to car park where the trail begins.


The walk
The early part of the trail passrs through a cleared area with marshlands surrounding Bagong creek. This area was cleared by pastoralists, creating the grass plains which sustain the many grey eastern kangaroos to be seen in the area near the marsh land.

The three kilometre walk to the foot of the Yankee Hut Mountain takes you to a strange rock shelter. Carbon dating of campsite deposits suggests that the area was first used about 800 years ago. The style of the artwork in the shelter is characteristic of the people who inhabited the southern tablelands of NSW. In the photo below some of the figures are orange. These are the newest paintings, with the oldest and most difficult to discern being dark brown. Other campsites in the surrounding area have been dated back to 1700 bc.

The scenery is striking, the wildlife abundant and the aboriginal art, a real treat. The six kilometre walk to the shelter took about an hour and twenty minutes even though it's rated a two and a half hour walk. Overall the trail is an extremely engaging and very easy walk. However, its too short. It would be good if it was extended to the top of Yankee Hat Mountain.



Pictures
1. Panorama, 2.Bogong creek and Marshlands, 3.Eastern Grey Kangaroos, 4.rock art and 5.Yankee Hat Shelter.