A walk on the wild side with Canberra's John Evans

Over the last 15 years, the Tuggeranong septuagenarian has completed more than 1200 bushwalks in and around the ACT. With an average length of 15 kilometres (and many, much longer) that equates to more than 18,000 kilometres of walking — that's the same distance from Canberra to the North Pole and almost half-way back.

What's even more extraordinary is that John, a former IT staffer in the public service, has meticulously documented every walk, complete with photographs, detailed track descriptions and maps, on his encyclopaedic Johnny Boys Walkabout Blog. So well-regarded is this blog among the bushwalking fraternity that it's received almost a quarter of a million visitors in the last five years alone.

For almost a decade your Akubra-clad columnist has been keen to discover the motivation behind John's epic walking feat, but I have to confess that we have completely different walking styles. I'm a slow walker in every sense of the word, whereas John, super fit for his age (or any age for that matter), hikes with real intent and tempo. He tackles each track with all the zeal of a dingo on heat.

So when I recently heard John had unfortunately sustained an ankle injury I jumped at the opportunity to join him on a walk. Not that I'd ever wish any harm on John (far from it) — rather think of him as the Phar Lap of the bushwalking world and his injury adding a handicap to even up the field a bit.

I asked John to choose a walk of personal significance, a difficult task given most of his preferred walks are energy-sapping climbs to mountain tops, all of which were clearly out of reach with his current injury.

Thankfully for me, he chooses a 6km stroll to Yankee Hat in Namadgi National Park. While the destination of this walk, a rock shelter featuring some of the ACT's most accessible indigenous rock art, is more than worthy in its own right, it's not the sole reason John chose this walk.

"From this natural amphitheatre you see a lot of my favourite peaks in the ACT", he says, pointing towards the rocky summits of Mt Kelly (1829m), Mt Burbidge (1731m) and Mt Namadgi (1780m) as we stride out along the track to Yankee Hat.

"Sure they aren't its geographical centre but for me they are the heart of the park," he explains, looking at the three peaks holding up the north-western horizon.

For the first 500 metres John hardly looks down at the track, his gaze instead drawn towards the three unreachable summits. He's like a caged lion unable to reach its prey.

"I'm certainly slowing down, especially with this injury," he admits. "Some people talk about slow walking to appreciate the surroundings, but that's not me, I walk to achieve an objective and I'm not happy if I don't achieve that objective."

That said, it's not as if John isn't aware of his immediate surroundings. As we plod across the little wooden footbridge spanning Bogong Creek, he hears a couple of eastern grey kangaroos boxing behind a boulder well before we see them and point outs a cockatoo before it flies out of a distant tree. It's almost as if he has a sixth sense. Even the wild dogs stop, and appear to acknowledge him as he walks past.

Apart from the sheer volume of material, one of the first things you notice when browsing John's knock-out blog are his unpretentious photos. They aren't the touched-up instagrammable selfies you'll find on some other blogs hosted by egotistic twenty-somethings, no, these are warts and all images which clearly show key landmarks and equally as importantly demonstrate the difficulty of the walk.

"I provide enough information so that people can get a real sense of the walk before deciding to undertake it for themselves," says John.

"The main reason I started the blog is to encourage people to get out and see nature.

"Being out here is so different to urban living, it's a great foil to screen time."

Given the blog's extensive coverage of walks of varying lengths and difficulty, it's not surprising that it's just as popular among interstate walkers planning visits to the ACT as it is with locals.

John's most common query from interstate visitors is about the best route to trek up Mt Bimberi (1913m) – the ACT's highest peak.

"There's a thing in bushwalking circles called the 'State8' which involves summiting the eight highest peaks of Australia's six states, the Northern Territory and the ACT," explains John, who on several occasions has guided hopefuls up the lofty peak.

"I remember one lady who travelled all the way from northern Queensland to walk up Bimberi, her flight was delayed so she came back to my place and had dinner with my wife [who due to a rare neurological disease, is often wheelchair-bound] before the two of us set off at midnight," recalls John.

"I hadn't arranged it but it was full moon, it was a magnificent hike walking through the night under the spell of magical moonlight".

Despite its elevated appeal, John's go-to peak in the ACT is Mt Namadgi. "I'm a list ticker and it's the last of the ACT's highest 10 named peaks I climbed, and has remained special ever since," explains John, who started a tradition 10 years ago to invite friends to trek to its summit each year for his birthday.

"After a bottle of sparkling has jiggled around in your pack for seven-hours, when you open it the cork is virtually sent into orbit," says John, who always appoints "a cork catcher at the summit because even if there's six of us, knowing we've got such a long walk back, we'll only get through half a bottle".

John then usually sticks the half-full bottle in his backpack and forgets about it until about half-way down the descent he hears "a 'pop' and the cork has blown off and there is champagne everywhere".

A luminary in the Canberra Bushwalking Club, John is currently on a drive to recruit younger members who can also climb up Mt Namadgi. "Because when I die, it'll be their task to take my ashes up to Mt Namadgi and scatter them up there," he muses.

The extent and reputation of his blog means that it has considerable commercial value, however John has made a conscious effort not to monetise it.

"I once sold a map and some photos for about twenty bucks," says John, "and then I thought, blow it, God made nature and it's here for our enjoyment and for us to look after so why should I be making any money out of it."

Evident from this above statement, John is a man of the church, having worked as a pastor and marriage counsellor for many years at Eternity Church (now called Awaken Church Canberra South), an apostolic church in Kambah.

Despite his strong Christian beliefs, as we approach the Yankee Hat rock overhang, John explains that he also "respects the creation stories of others, including Aboriginal culture".

Eating lunch standing up (I did well to keep him still for long enough to unwrap my sandwich) John further explains why his blog is so-named.

"When my daughter wants to press my buttons, she calls me Johnny Boy," he muses, "and 'Walkabout' comes from an association with Aboriginal people who I really respect and who have been caring for this land for tens of thousands of years."

Having turned 70 in November last year, John wonders how many more walks he has left in his weary legs. However, he need not worry, for even with a busted ankle he leaves me floundering in his wake. Somehow I think (and hope) it will be a long time before John's younger bushwalking recruits will need to make that solemn trek up Mt Namadgi, to Johnny Boy's heaven on earth.

Johnny Boy's Walkabout Blog is at www.johnevans.id.au

Rock Art Site: Allow 2.5 hours for this 6km (return) walk through expansive grasslands dotted with kangaroos to the Yankee Hat rock shelter to view Aboriginal rock art. The start of the walk is located in southern Namadgi National Park, about 70km (allow 90 minutes' drive time) south of Civic.

Age: It is not known how old the art is, but dating of campsite deposits show that Aboriginal people began using the shelter more than 800 years ago. Evidence from nearby sites suggests that people were camping in the area, and presumably painting, as long as 3700 years ago.

Paint: The paints used are ochre and white clay that may have been mixed with water, sap, blood or animal oils. Ochre was a valuable commodity often traded between groups and the ochre used at this site may have come from either Gungahlin or Michelago, the closest known quarries, or from coastal areas. Some of the motifs have been painted with a brush, perhaps made from a green banksia cone.

Did You Know? The rock shelter is located at the base of a hill which, when viewed from afar, some believe is shaped like a Yankee's (cowboy) hat.

While out exploring the region, Bruce Ryan of Page drove past this tree on Bungendore Road, "not far from its intersection with the Federal Highway", complete with old-school wall phone.

"It's probably no good for trunk calls anymore," laughs Bruce who "wonders if it fell of the back of a trailer and was later found and 'installed' by a wandering swagman".                                    Does anyone know the back story?

Clue: Learned bricks

Degree of difficulty: Very Hard (well the last few have been easy…)

Last week: Congratulations to Henry Kark of Rivett for being the first reader to correctly identify last week's photo as a view from a balloon of Springbank Island in Lake Burley Griffin. Henry, who on hot days while working at the ANU Research School of Physical Sciences in the 1960s and 70s "used to swim across to the island at lunchtime" just beat Rohan Goyne of Evatt and Roger Shelton of Spence to the prize.

Leigh Palmer of Isaacs recalls "picnicking on the island many years ago" while Roxanne Missingham of Acton echoed the thoughts of several other long-time local residents in reporting "new Canberrans are often surprised when they are told that the lake used to be rolling sheep paddocks".  Roxanne also shines a light on an archaeological dig undertaken at the island several years ago which "uncovered artefacts from indigenous Australians as well as those who settled and grazed".

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday March 30, 2019 will win a double pass to Dendy - The Home of Quality Cinema.