Square Rock
1 May 2023
I had been feeling pretty rubbish. Stressed, agitated, psychosomatic chest tightness, headache. I intended to go to work, but threw my backpack and hiking boots in the back of the car just in case I needed to go bush instead. As I drove towards work I argued with myself — what was the best decision for me? What is the right thing to do? What will I think of myself six months from now when I look back? I’m not coughing or bleeding so can I really say I’m unwell?
You should hear the dashcam audio. In the end I “missed” my turnoff to work and kept heading down the Parkway. I was proud of myself for the choice I made, and sent an email to work that I wasn’t feeling well and needed the day off. I don’t like the term “mental health day” but I guess that’s what you could call it.
So I headed up Square Rock on Corin Road behind Tidbinbilla. I think it’s part of Namadgi National Park. It’s a 10.5km return walk but of course I don’t stay on the track and take detours to look at interesting things, look for reptiles, get geocaches etc.
It had rained a lot over the weekend so part of the track was very muddy. I was recording a video of the state of the track when my feet sunk about 10" into the mud!
This was my first time back to Square Rock since the 2020 bushfires and to my delight, it didn’t look too bad.
The ubiquitous small orange fungi that breaks down dead trees was more visible and I guess in some parts the forest looked a little more open, but to my untrained eye I’d say the area looked maybe 10% fire-affected if that means anything? Much better state than Booroomba Rocks and Legoland.
There are so many granite boulders and tors to stop and explore on the way up to Square Rock.
Up the top of Square Rock is kinda scary. There are no guard rails and the only infrastructure is a ladder that helps you get up the first big step. Be careful up there because one slip and you could fall up to 50 metres to your certain death.
After cooking up some lunch at Square Rock I pushed on to geocache GC84MA6 Square Stone’s Sons placed by Tankengine in 2019.
It was 200 metres west of Square Rock and involved relentless bush-bashing through wattle and other undergrowth, rock-hopping over small granite rocks and wayfinding around the larger boulders. Bumped my head on a fallen tree and scraped my shin, but finally got to the GZ.
It’s pretty cool to bag a cache that was last logged in 2021, nearly 1.5 years ago. I can see why many people are reluctant to make the trek here, but I needed the adventure and was determined to get it.
It was mid-afternoon by the time I got back to the trail and headed back towards the car, and the sun had emerged, shining a warm oblique light on the forest.
There was a stockpile of grates and feet near the swamp crossing so I wonder if they’re planning on replacing these beautiful stepping stones with metal?
Quick top-up from a creek a kilometre from the car; thankfully it had rained a lot over the weekend.
I don’t know what these red seeds are but something tried to eat them. Clearly they’re not digestible.
I think the boot pathogen spraying station was clogged because there was definitely liquid in there but it wasn’t coming out the nozzle.
A nice day, and I’m glad I did the smart thing and took the day off to get my head sorted out and work out that anxiety and tension. Feeling much better now.
