Additional Hints (Decrypt)
Ybbx ng gur cubgb.(Decrypted Hints)
Find...
A profile of the walk.
Fishing Gap carpark on the left and Camel's Hump carpark at 22 km mark. Cache is at 10 km mark.
Looking south from near the cache.
Mount Tidbinbilla (right) and Mount Domain (middle background).
Spoiler photo
The cache is hidden here!
The damaged communication tower
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Warning. Spoilers may be included in the descriptions or links.
Cache find counts are based on the last time the page generated.
 January 25, 2009 by Uncle Toad (3 found)
Found with Utta. See comments below
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January 25, 2009 by Utta (153 found)
No excitement in years and suddenly it's Grand Central Station up here. Canberra Horizon has been calling me ever since I switched on Google Maps and found it. Having studied the ascent options, including a brief recce last weekend, we set down a 430am start from S35 23.831 E148 55.281. This approach I think is the preferred because as was identified by an earlier cacher the previous day, it enables an early start.Uncle Toad and I were put off by the weather and so delayed a day. If we hadn't we would have no doubt been overtaken at some point by FarmerFrentzen and company. We did have plans to do the newly established Pimple, but alas, our equipment and fitness were not up to scratch. From 4:40am Uncle Toad and I made quick work of the ascent to the deceased communications tower, where we had a break for some food and planning. From here, with that Sado-masochist (I say this with all due respect and empathy) Spindoc Bob's instructions for an approach to GZ, we arrived at the base of John's Peak and peeking through the mist seeing nothing but Rock! we decided to do the difficult traverse. Now folks, listen when I say this, go over and do not go around until the saplings have grown into trees!!! Traversing was in no doubt the wrong thing to do. Up and over, following the rocky cairns would have increased speed. Uncle Toad and I lost a lot of energy bush bashing almost an hour around this peak to the point that I admitted to wanting to turn back. Uncle Toad, not knowing of what was in our immediate area, talked me into getting this cache and letting the Pimple go for another time. So we pressed on. Immediately, we re-found the on again off again walking trail and life along the ridge line from the saddle to Tidbinbilla was a lot lot easier. However, rain and mist had taken it's toll and we decided to emulate the great NZ climber and establish a Base Camp 8 at or about -35.434320,148.882599, dropping most of our equipment we pushed on to Mount T and beyond to GZ carrying our swaps and water only; having abandoned our push to the Pimple. GZ made after 4 hours work. Reading the log proved disappointing and inspirational as while we had demonstrably already lost the FTF on Pimple, clues were left of other things to find in the area. A quick firing up of the iPhone Geocache app found that there were other pickings to be had. And so our sights were set on a second offering on the way out (and why I can guarantee you that up and over John's Peak is much easier). Back to Base Camp 8 for breakfast and then via the Squirrel top to get back to the car in 8 hours 10 minutes. Clearly, a lot quicker on the return journey!!! Some comments. This is 5 terrain not 4.5 (I may be missing some subtle definition) given that the returning forest is fight standard in many parts. Another word of warning; Toad and I are not novices at Bush Walking although we have been absent for a while and this is not something you can do without good to excellent fitness, the right equipment and lots of good experience. This is also a cache to do with friends and NEVER alone nor really not with just two of you; three to four + is what I would absolutely recommend. The terrain is rugged and you're definitely in Alpine conditions; we didn't see an horizon until we got halfway back and then it was amazing. TFTC; I have always wanted to knock this hill off (since 1985) and together with my Brother Toad, we have done just that - so thanks. We left a small pen and lip-gloss (celebrating people overcoming disability) and took the wind chime. Cheers Utta and Uncle Toad... [This entry was edited by Utta on Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 2:10:58 AM.]
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January 24, 2009 by FarmerFrentzen (1377 found)
Well what a day!This morning I met up with Big Matt, Secret Squirrel and Captain Tomato for an assault on the newly placed "The Pimple" and a few others that Squirrel wanted to place while in the area. Fortunately our route passed by Canberra's Horizon enabling me to make the find along the way. We made the approach from a different angle rather than wait for the gate access to open at 9.00am, and were on our way up the steep trail from the carpark not long after 5.00am. The carpark is located at approximately S35 23.831 E148 55.281. This approach results in a little longer route but it was worth getting an early start to beat the heat. After quickly making it to the top of the ridge line we made our way past the Camel's Hump and down to the turn off point for Canberra's Horizon. We were so carried away with chatting that we actually walked past the point but realised before we had progressed too far. The undergrowth along these parts was saturated from the previous night's rainfall and by the time we passed the old antenna and made our way to St John's Peak we were saturated. We pushed up St John's Peak and further up the ridge to the old trig station where we were able to gain a panoramic view of The Pimple and the approximate GZ of Canberra's Horizon. A short walk further down the ridge and we soon arrived at the GZ for a quick find, aided by having watched the Geotalk video on this cache. This was a thoroughly enjoyable walk, shared with a terrific team of cachers and topped off with magnificent scenery! The overall stats for the day included a total ascent of 2013 metres! Thanks Spindoc Bob for a fantastic caching experience.
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January 17, 2009 by Craig D. (537 found)
A couple of years ago in my pre-caching days I made a pact with myself that every time I came to the ACT I would climb a mountain. As this particular cache happened to involve climbing a mountain AND fulfilling a rare difficulty/terrain combination for my efforts in the 'Well Rounded Cacher' competition, it was on the top of my 'to-do' list for this trip. Mrs Winglen did a great job of rounding up a couple of locals to accompany me, and it was mtbikeroz and RexTrex who rose to the challenge.We met down at the nature reserve gates at opening time, and drove in to the carpark past some fences that looked more suited to containing prisoners than koalas. We set off up the vehicle track, which wasn't as bad as I was expecting, and gained the height in a constant yet pleasant manner. Reached the crest of the ridge and then mtbikeroz lead the way, up hill and down dale, through scrub, snowgrass and cremated snowgums. After claiming Tidbinbilla Peak as my token mountain for this trip, we headed down to GZ, where RexTrex made an easy find. We signed the log at 12:15pm, before moving on towards mtbikeroz's 'unfinished business'. After eating lunch at the top-secret mtbikeroz location we returned back to the cars via the same route, except for following the remains of the old vehicle track from the communications tower to the fire trail (which avoided a bit of scrub). Arrived back at the cars a few minutes before 5pm, bringing to an end a great day in the hills. Thanks Spindoc Bob for placing the cache, and to RexTrex and mtbikeroz for being great company, as well as giving me many insights into living and caching in the ACT. Thanks!
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January 17, 2009 by RexTrex (948 found)
I have to say that Canberra's Horizon has been bugging me for over a year. It has been on my 'to do' list that long and so I jumped at the opportunity to join CraigD as he ticked off another combination on his 'Well Rounded Cacher' challenge. It was also a pleasure to have the knowledge and experience of mtbikeroz as guide and mentor for the hike.We made a 9 AM start from the Camel Hump car park and set off up one of the more sedate fire trails I have climbed. It is about an hour of walking, but has been constructed at a nice, even incline. From the fire trail we did the ridgeline boulder hop and bush bash thing. That regrowth is certainly coming away, commonly masking any sight of the bush-walkers trail we tried to stay on. Eventually we reached our goal and found the cache in good condition. No snow for us today, but fine and sunny weather. We were pleased that it was peaking at about 24 degrees, rather than the higher temperatures there had been recently. We didn't stop too long here, as mtbikeroz had 'unfinished business' about a kilometer away. Thank spindoc for the cache and for another reason to come exploring the hills around Canberra - there certainly are spectacular views.
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Current Time: 2/9/2010 10:44:43 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) (6:44 AM GMT)
Last Updated: 1/25/2009 10:55:48 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) (6:55 AM GMT)
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum
