I have been thinking recently of peakbagging opportunities with the dogs and after checking the glovebox for my GPS my decision was made and I headed for the Southern Midlands. Having done zero research I had in mind either Brown Mountain or Quoin Mountain. With some fuzzy thoughts of access issues with Brown I headed for Quoin. I had no real map and after looking from the Kempton side and noting several private properties with threatening signs and Quoin Road being gated I headed down Lovely Banks Road where I found Loxton Road which also terminated at a private property.
With a far less threatening sign I kitted up, threw the doggies over the gate and started following the GPS, it was still pitch black and sunrise was still an hour away.
I followed an unsealed road up to a private logging coupe which I cut through and headed uphill directly towards the summit which was 2.2 km away in a straight line. Reaching the first ridge via regrowth forest I could barely make out a valley between myself and the summit, so I decided to follow the edge of the ridgeline and skirt around the valley. I should have stayed true to this theory.
Eventually I got sucked into straight line mode and plunged into the valley, within 5 minutes I had head high cutting grass, baura and a really rough surface of rocks/logs. The dogs at this point looked at me rather curiously but were totally stoked, unlike me.....
It took the best part of an hour from this point to bash my way through the scrub until I emerged onto Quoin Road, cursing the locked gate. From the road it was a half hour to the summit proper through many small logging coupes. The summit is 50-odd metres from the largest of these coupes. The views were non-existant from this point so I made my way out to the cliff face which is visible from the Midland Highway and from here the views over the Southern Midlands are what you would expect......Table Moutain does however provide a point of interest, perhaps another doggie peakbagging ambition.
With full light and lessons learnt we headed back to the car this time finding the 4WD/logging tracks I was merely metres off at times on the way out. We stumbled upon a bush timber mill, producing saw logs but got back to the car in much better time than the outward journey.
Not a walk I would rate for any reason really, but it is nice to be in the bush especially at dawn as the birds waken. 2 Wedgies were spotted and I saw evidence of wombats and saw plenty of Pademelons and wallabies early. I also had an owl flash past my face in the pre-dawn gloom, so despite fairly intense farming/logging all around Quoin Mountain provides an island for the plants and animals of the area.
Dogs were totally wrapped with the mornings unexpected mission and have officially begun their peakbagging ambitions.
The best thing was though, I was home by 11am and able to get on with domestic bliss without losing my whole day.
I will post a couple of pics later on, not much to look forward too I'm afraid.
Any other suggestions for peakbagging with dogs much appreciated, it's nice to have walking partners that don't question my navigation
Cheers, sbs
