Barren Grounds

Bit of a gap, but I have a good excuse!

Monty

Our son was born last July, a whirlwind of change and good times. Approaching nine months he is a happy little dude who loves climbing and standing up. God help us when he learns how to walk!

So yeah, adventures of the wilderness type have been a bit light on over the past year. We have still been doing some nice walks, exploring the pram friendly tracks around our home and also lots of time at the beach surfing and playing in the sand.

A free morning recently presented me with a great opportunity to check out the Barren Grounds Nature Reserve which is a short drive from our house.

I took the Griffiths Trail which was in really good condition and I quickly made it my first stop, a lookout north to Lake Illawarra.

North to the Illawarra from Barren Grounds Nature Reserve

Small section of temperate rainforest on the Griffiths Trail

Woodland typical of the environment on the opening section of the Griffiths Trail

There was some beautiful wild flowers and the escarpment reminded me of the heath of Tasmania.

Grass Trees (Xanthorrhoea australis)

Christmas Bells (Blandfordia nobilis)

Fuchsia heath (Epacris longiflora)

Barren Grounds Nature Reserve heathland

Drumsticks (Isopogon anemonifolius)

Not sure

I followed the Griffith Trail all the way around to a natural stone bridge across Lamonds Creek. While sitting having lunch I noticed some small flowers and assume them to be some type of orchid. Identifying them back at home I found them to be carnivorous!

Stone bridge at Lamonds Creek, Barren Grounds Nature Reserve

Fairy apron (Utricularia dichotoma)

Spoon-leaved sundew (Drosera spatulata)

On the way back I took a short diversion to Cooks Nose where there was a great lookout to the south taking in the Kangaroo Valley.

Kangaroo Valley from Cooks Nose lookout

I had intended to keep going and check out some of the other side tracks but it was really hot and I was spent. So good to get back out into the bush and so much more to explore the Barren Grounds NR and the adjacent Budderoo NP.

Our son is getting to an age where we will be able to enjoy the outdoors together and we are looking forward to spending more time in the bush and sleeping under the stars. Winter is not far off and we are excited for some snowy adventures. So hopefully more time outdoors and some more blog posts.

Great morning out 

Logging

Short posts at the moment, we have recently moved and I am now painting and renovating our second house!

Anyway, a quick vid of a fun little surf I scored on my longboard.

Spring Skiing, The Sentinel and Mt Carruthers

Our last big group ski for the season is becoming a bit of a tradition. A big day out followed by a night of camping with beers and stories around the fire. This year we continued the tradition. Rohan, Mark and Marcin the mad Polish man arrived at my house in Berridale late Friday. After a few beers and stories of toilet practices gone wrong while snow camping, a recurring theme it seems, we hit the hay.

Angry Wagyu bull I met on the drive to the mountains

Kind of excited too

We were up early and at the turning circle around 8:00 to meet a host of people; Belly, Rimey, Tim, Dave, Richard, Carl, Mrs Skifree and Paul the telemarking sheep farmer. After a mostly uneventful wet crossing of the Snowy River and walk/ski to the saddle above Soil Con Creek we assessed the skiing out to the Sentinel.

Multiple gear explosions as everyone gets ready for the day out

Boot packing up the Main Range Trail

Looking out to The Sentinel, the boys weigh up the options

The Sentinel, a beautiful peak

The group split with the snowboarders electing to head over to Little Austria and Carruthers while the real man decided to take on the Sentinel.

For our first run we dropped off Sentinel Ridge, the snow was pretty firm and not that great. Huge dimples, like giant golf balls, played havoc with our cool carbon layup skis.

Frame grab of me on our first run off Sentinel Ridge, the dimples were not fun

We then bush-bash contoured around to the south east face of The Sentinel. Some of us donned crampons and climbed to the peak while others experienced snowboarder-esque screw issues with their new crampons. Those of us that climbed to the peak dropped in while Rimey and Mark met us at the bottom after skiing another line off the ridge.

Mark with some classic Australian backcountry ski conditions

Stoked to finally be able to ski The Sentinel

Watsons Crags

Sentinel peak and Mt Townsend

Paul drops in

Hats off to Rimey who after surviving a nasty fall last summer, and subsequent recovery, is back to carving up lines way out in the middle of nowhere.

Classic style, Rimey drops off Sentinel Ridge

The climb out was long and hot.

Crampons on and straight up

We made our way back to Carruthers for some afternoon lines into Club Lake. I met up with some old mates, Ryan and the Snowy Mountains' own bush carpenter Dougs (and here).

Hey Dougs, where's that single malt?

The run down to Club Lake was beautiful, just the right amount of softness and steepness to really let the skis run.

Mark drops into The Elevator, a pretty nice Australian chute from Carruthers down into Club Lake

Frame grab of me skiing off Carruthers

While the fitter members of the group booted up for another run I started the climb up to Mt Lee for my preferred last run of the season. Looking back I saw some tele gold by Paul the telemarking sheep farmer.

The awesome terrain off Mt Carruthers into Club Lake

My last run down Mt Lee was fun, beautiful wide open turns all the way to Club Lake Creek then drift hopping all the way back to the Snowy River. We finished the trip with a memorable night around the campfire discussing snow camping toilet etiquette and tales of youth misspent.

Classic night

Roos around the camp site in the morning

We wet a line in the Thredbo River but no luck as usual

A glacial erratic I encountered on the way home?

Lucky to see hundreds of endangered Hoary Sunray

Thank you everyone for the good times out on the hill. Another great season with plenty of good snow and backcountry learning opportunities. Enjoy summer.

An edit by Rohan who really loves 80's rock!

Sentinel and Club Lake SD from Rohan Verco on Vimeo.

A Sunny Spring Day on Mt Tate

Nothing to strenuous, just a fantastic morning out in the sunshine with my buddy Belly and other friendly BC folk.

Belly on the approach

Dropping

                                       

 

Belly, the fruits of our labour

The view from Mt Tate looking south towards Mt Twynam, Tenison Woods Knoll and the north face of Watsons Crags

North face of Watsons Crags, terrain I hit in my last post

Twynam West Spur and Tenison Woods Knoll, still looking so good

Our turns off Mt Tate

 

Cashing in: A day trip surfing the NSW far south coast

The last months or so has been pretty hectic at work with little time for recreational pursuits. Fortunately I work for an understanding, flexible organisation, and when a rare winter northeast swell was predicted I took the opportunity to cash in my overtime and head to the coast. I left the mountains in the afternoon and had my tent pitched at the beach by 6:30. A takeaway burger and an episode of Game of Thrones and I was fast asleep and cosy in my sleeping bag.

Country living!

Sunset at the coast

I woke at dawn. There is no rush to get into the surf on the far south coast of NSW. Even during school holidays, the endless options and cold water keeps the crowds down. I had a fantastic surf at Moruya breakwall alone.

Good morning

The breakwall

Beautiful waves!

After my first surf, I spent an hour driving around on reconnaissance looking for options for another trip. I found this great setup but didn't have time to trek out to it.

Around Broulee

Saving this for next time

There is a rivermouth in the area that I have heard whispers about. Stuck behind the retiree drivers I slowly made my way out to the entrance. Checking a new spot, especially with good swell and offshore winds, leads to extreme excitement. I sprinted the last 50m and took in the sight of left and right peelers with no one out. I couldn't jump in my wetsuit fast enough.

Chunky rivermouth right handers

and the left

Who needs indo!

It was an incredible surf, perhaps one of the best of my life. Certainly the best in recent memory.

I had a quick bite to eat and it was onto the next nameless, empty beach. Punchy right hand wedges. My arms were shattered from the two hours spent battling the river mouth currents but I had to get back out there.

onto the next beach, punchy right handers wedging off an outer bombora

Yewww!

I lasted probably another hour or so before a rouge set washed me back into shore. With all my muscles burning and cramping I decided to call it a day. I got back into the mountains just in time to watch the sunset over the endless horizon, a fantastic, rejuvenating 24 hours.

Sunset on the Monaro Plains