Chapter 1: The Pinnacle

"Help! Help!" Stephen heard a faint voice crying out; just before he reached a junction where he could see a small, narrow track leading off to the left from the main trail that he was jogging along. Not that his track was much wider than the one branching off to the side. In any event, the bush was quite thick on either side of both tracks.

He stopped instantly and peered down the twisting path between the dense vegetation that led off down the slope to the left. He could just make out a figure lying on the track some 100 metres away.

Again he heard the plaintive cry for help. Realising that it sounded like a female in trouble, he decided to investigate and started jogging down towards the source of the sound to find out what the problem was. After all, he was in no hurry: it was Saturday morning and he had no plans. Not that it being Saturday even mattered to him, because, after all, he was recently retired and one day was like the next as far as he was concerned. He had recently told a neighbour that every day's a Saturday when you're retired, except Sunday of course.

By this stage, Stephen had been jogging for around forty minutes since he left his car near one of the entrances to this nature reserve. Consequently, he had worked up a reasonable sweat, on what was a warm, sunny autumn day. It was cloudless with little or no breeze, which made it seem hotter than it actually was.

As usual, when he was jogging, he was only wearing a t-shirt, shorts, briefs, a cap, socks and a good quality pair of runners, although he did have a water bottle strapped to his waist, to ensure he maintained his hydration. His army training made him very aware of the need to avoid dehydration during exercise.

It was the time of year Stephen loved most in Canberra, even though for him, spring came a close second. One of the reasons he had decided to stay in Canberra after ending his military career was that he enjoyed the four distinct seasons in this area: hot but not humid summers with not too much rain; cold, crisp winters but usually with plenty of sunny days; the delights of the many and varied flowers that grew in spring; but most of all the wonderful autumnal colours with their incredible array of browns and greens as the leaves turned at this time of year.

Although puffing, he was a long way from finishing his daily jog and knew he could happily run for another hour – he was very fit for a 49 year old man and he normally ended his run with a 15 minute workout to maintain his upper body strength as well. At the moment, he was running along the 2.6 kilometre nature trail that wound up and down the Pinnacle Nature Reserve, one of his favourite areas to jog and it was even right next to suburbia, not that far from where he lived. It was just one of the bush hills and ridges around Canberra that were a delight to explore and which seemed to encourage an active lifestyle.

While there were some rocky sections, most of the tracks here were easy to run on. As the trail crested the ridge, there was a side track with steps hewn into the slope leading to the Pinnacle summit; a rocky knoll with superb views across to the Brindabella mountain range, while much closer, Parliament House could be seen with the tower at Woden a little further in the distance. Also, since the major bush fire on the outskirts of Canberra in January 2003, the observatory on Mount Stromlo was clearly visible in the foreground, the buildings, many of which had been destroyed by the fire, visible from a distance for the first time.

He always took a brief pause for a few moments when he got here, enjoying the panoramic views from this lookout which was 709 metres above sea level, while he took a sip from his water bottle. Below, at the point where Deep Creek flowed out from the Reserve, it was only about 620 metres.

This 128 hectare nature reserve bordered some upmarket houses in the more middle-class Belconnen suburbs of Hawker and Weetangera; however, like most suburbs in Canberra, there were also a number of government houses and flats down the lower end of these suburbs. The other three sides of the Reserve were surrounded by rural leases, which only served to add to beauty of the area.

The birdlife in the Reserve was a delight to see, with parrots and honey-eaters in abundance, while in the Red Stringybark forest area, he loved hearing the differing sounds of Crimson Rosellas, Yellow-rumped Thornbills, White-throated Treecreepers and Grey Fantails. He had only recently read that the Canberra Ornithologists Group had confirmed sightings of 102 different bird species here in the Pinnacle Nature Reserve.