On Saturday 4th of July, Kat led a group of ANUMCers out to the Tinderry Ranges. After leaving the SRA at the respectable hour of 8am, we drove out to Michelago where we turned off the highway and headed out to the ranges. We drove up the unsealed Tinderry Road until we found a place to park the cars. We left the cars and proceeded down the West Tinderry Fire Trail. We followed the fire trail for about 13km, which was very steep in sections but offered great views of Tinderry Twin and Tinderry Peak. After lunch, we left the fire trail and scrub bashed for about one and a half km to reach the summit. The scrub was quite dense in places and it took about one and a half hours to get to the summit, though this was with a few photo ops along the way.
As we didn't get to the summit until 3pm, we decided to head back the way we came, rather than pick a spur to get back down to the track. A quick afternoon tea with some of Kats delicious date biscuits and we set off for a few hours fire trail bash and we made it back to the cars at about 7pm.
Thanks to Kat for taking us out to a little visited area and I'm hoping to get out there again sometime soon.
Kat's put some photos up in the photo gallery, so have a look at the great views.
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Here are some recommendations for future Tinderry walkers.
1. I'd recommend getting in touch with National Parks before heading out to the Tinderrys. The Tinderry Ranges are not actually in a National Park, but a nature reserve, however it looks as though NWPS look after some parts of the area so they should be able to give you some up to date info.
2. It is not always clear what is and isn't private property. The fire trail we chose looked like it bypassed a farm, but went straight through it, the land owners have made a number of their own tracks so choosing the right fire trail can be tricky. Also, watch for 'private property' signs that have fallen off gates.
3. The area has a population of wild pigs and we came across a number of baits. Apparently some folk like going out there with guns to control pig problem.
4. To avoid crazy farmers, I'd suggest heading in from the Mount Allen Fire Trail which joins the West Tinderry Fire trail up in the nature reserve. From there, it should be possible to head up to Tinderry Twin and may leave you with enough time to attempt Tinderry Peak.
5. Another possibility may be to head in from the East Tinderry Fire Trail.