"The Rocks"

A few of us from my Saturday running group set off this morning to tackle Cooleman Ridge, on Canberra's south western outskirts (see Google Earth image at left below). It's a nice run along tracks and trails. It's not especially hilly but does have scenic views across the Murrumbidgee corridor to the Brindabellas to the west or, looking east, to the Woden Valley seen here covered in fog this morning at right.

That's us at the start (L-R), Ben, Kevin, Maria, Bernie, Michelle, Natasha and Leah. It was a fairly typical Canberra morning for this time of year, foggy, frosty, and cold. Temperature minus 2.

Like all of our group outings, it was a very pleasant run with ample opportunity to chat and take in the scenery. The only moment of controversy came when the group split. Michelle and I, the hill hounds, took a slightly different and hillier diversion at one point. The others chose to take a more direct and lower path.

We believed we had taken the authentic route; the others begged to differ.

The key sticking point had been the location of some “rocks”. Just turn right at “the rocks”, we had been told. Michelle and I thought we had found the correct rocks and turned right accordingly, believing the rest of the group to be not far behind. But we were shocked to soon see our other friends low and to the right ahead of us. They had found “their” own different rocks and taken the shorter and easier route.

There’s a word to describe what some might say our friends had done – it has two syllables with the first syllable sounding like meat and the second sounding like ring. If you can work out what that word is you can get an idea of what they had achieved (Of course, I would never use such a word myself!). Anyway, adjudication at the post-run coffee sorted differences of interpretation when it came to the signage for this run. Personally, I would have liked a little more clarity at just which rocks the turn should have been made. Either that or we undertake geology lessons before the next run here. That's Maria our dear leader at left. Is she pretending to be an out-of-season Easter Bunny....or a kangaroo? Maria, please explain!