So today was the day long map and compass class with the Canberra Bushwalking Club. I liked this walk a lot. It was a good length at about 15km, and included a few things I'd wanted to do for a while like wander around McQuoids Hill and the northern crest of Urambi hills. Some nice terrain, and red rocks gorge clearly requires further exploration. [kml: 20150912-1]
I've been doing the Canberra Bush Walking Club navigation course for the last couple of weeks, and last night's exercise was a night time dead reckoning navigation session. The course is really good by the way and I've been enjoying it a lot. It should be pointed out that I also wasn't lost, or alone, but it sure was dark. Anyway, the basic idea of the exercise is that you're given a hand drawn map, and a set of markers. You determine the bearing from each marker to the next, and the distance to walk. You then set off on your adventure. Getting a bearing or distance wrong matters, because you either need to stop and find the next way point, or carry the mistake on to the next marker. The markers were generally things like "gate in fence" or "two big trees". It turns out for me the hardest part is walking in a straight line when its dark. If you look at the GPS logged map below, you can see that the consistent error is that I tend to veer slowly to the right. That's a pretty useful thing to know, because it means I can correct a…
I've just realized that I didn't post any pics of my walk to the most southern point of the ACT. The CBC had a planned walk to the southern most point on the ACT border and I was immediately intrigued. So, I took a day off work and gave it a go. It was well worth the experience, especially as Matthew the guide had a deep knowledge of the various huts and so forth in the area. A great day. [kml: 20150818-2]
I went to find a couple of geocaches in a jet lag fuelled caching walk this morning. Quite scenic! [kml: 20150729-1]
So, I've been fascinated with American nuclear history for ages, and Chet and I got talking about what if any nuclear launch facilities there were in LA. We found LA-96 online and set off on an expedition to explore. An interesting site, its a pity there are no radars left there. Apparently SF-88 is the place to go for tours from vets and radars. I also made a quick and dirty 360 degree video of the view of LA from the top of the nike control radar tower: [kml: 20150726-2]
In what amounts to possibly the longest LAX layover ever, I've been hanging out with Chet at his place in Altadena for a few days on the way home after the Nova mid-cycle meetup. We decided that being the dorks that we are we should do some geocaching. This is just some quick pics some unexpected bush land -- I never thought LA would be so close to nature, but this part certainly is. [kml: 20150725-1]
I did a walk with the Canberra Bushwalking Club from Casuarina Sands (in the Cotter) to Kambah Pool (just near my house) yesterday. It was very enjoyable. I'm not going to pretend to be excellent at write ups for walks, but will note that the walk leader John Evans has a very detailed blog post about the walk up already. We found a bunch of geocaches along the way, with John doing most of the work and ChifleyGrrrl and I providing encouragement and scrambling skills. A very enjoyable day. [kml: 20150718-1]
I am on vacation this week, so I took this afternoon to do some walking and geocaching... That included a return visit to Narrabundah trig to clean up some geocaches I missed last visit: [kml: 20150715-1] And exploring the Lindsay Pryor arboretum because I am trying to collect the complete set of arboretums in Canberra: [kml: 20150715-2] And then finally the Majura trig, which was a new one for me: [kml: 20150715-3] I enjoyed the afternoon. I found a fair few geocaches, and walked for about five hours (not including driving between the locations). I would have spent more time geocaching at Majura, except I made it back to the car after sunset as it was.
A morning of vacation geocaching, wandering, and walking to quartz trig. Quartz was a disappointment as its just a bolt in the ground, but this was a really nice area I am glad I wandered around in. This terrain would be very good for cubs and inexperienced scouts. [kml: 20150713-1]
I went for an after work walk to try and find GC1D1NB on Tuggeranong Hill yesterday. It wasn't a great success. I was in the right area but I just couldn't find it. Eventually I ran out of time and had to turn back. I am sure I'll have another attempt at this one soon. [kml: 20150701-1]