Pleasant View canyon is a canyon which leads a view over the Carne crk which is pleasant… Actually the views from the end of the fire trail are better as are those from the cliffs above the canyon.
But anyhoo…
The canyon itself has some nice features (Some of the erosion caves are, IMO, on par with those found in Acoustic/Sunnyside canyon) and the tree ferns are awesome, but the canyon sections tend to be short and there is a bit of scrub, stripped bark and dead fall to negotiate.
All in all it’s worth a look if you are in the area doing other stuff
We followed a little gully down through a short canyonette but a 4-5m drop barred our way in this fantastic chamberLuckily it was easy to slip over the top of the pagodas and scramble down then approach the chamber from below.With the big wind swept over hangs in the upper cliff and the blanket of ferns commanding my eyes I would have missed this cave altogether if it wasn’t for Mandy disappearing into itSure the canyon sections were short but a couple of them gave promise of a deep, narrow passage.Did I mention tree ferns?Felt fern covered the walls, leaf litter and bark carpeted the floor.
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The dry creek bed followed the big over handing wall around almost 180°
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Scrambling out of the canyon gave this awesome view over the CarneThe pleasant view at the end of pleasant view canyon
Xanthorrhoea spears back droped by towering cliff lines.
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Another caveHeading back up into the canyonAnother cave
An even more pleasant view from the end of the fire trail above
It might be hard to beleive but the town of Rylstone has one of the best Yum Cha/Tea house in Australia (29 Nine 99, do yourself a favour). I’d booked in with Mandy for a late Mothers day lunch and we thought why not do a walk while we were there.
Dunns Swamp is the gate way to the Wollemi and a hot spot for outdoor activity in the area but it’s a long way out of town and with the limited openning hours for Yum Cha we needed something closer and a bit more touritsy.
A quick google search told me there was a little nature reserve about 16km north of Rylstone that might offer up a pleasant walk. Fern Tree Gully
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, certainly not a little canyon, but I was in fr a pleasant surprise.
A well maintained (Not a thing out of place, 1 discarded chip pack the solo piece of rubbish we carted out.) tourist trail winds down into a pretty gully the vegetation is completely different to what I’m use to in the blues and there were lots of little information signs to let us know what we were looking at.
At the base of the gully I commented it was almost a canyon… then we rounded the corner and it canyoned up. Sweet!
Mandy making her way down into Fern Tree GullyFern Trees aplenty
The walls close in and a canyon appears
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After a bit the gorge opens up a little as the trail ambles through the gullyEven close to midday the light was magicalFor all their calling and mimicry Lyrebirds are normally shy creatures that dart off into the scrub at the first scent of humans… This one didn’t get that memo. I think he liked Mandy to be honest.The canyon opens out and closes in a few times
The grey gums were massive
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At the junction with the exit gully a short board walk lead down the main gully to a little chair where a natural spring rises
There was more canyonette in the exit gully
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Did I mention the trees were huge?Steps back up to the lookout trail
The Lookout trail winds along the top of the canyons 1.4km back to the car park and offers some very nice views
So if you listened to the weather forecasters you’d expect to see a guy building a baot and collecting animals two by two or something.
Still I was keen to get out and was origanlly thinking one of the drier canyons out around Sunnyside might be nice with some rain.
Julie was keen and expressed an interest in doing Alcatraz instead.
Leaf posted on the Ozcanyons facebook group looking for trip she could join inon and we invited her along.
After a bit of discussion we settled on Alcatraz and a small double(or is it triple) canyon system out near the glowworm tunnel that I wanted to check out.
The forecaste went from gloomy to dire. There was some discussion on canceling the trip but thankfully we decided to roll with it.
Friday was ment to be the worse day. It was fine but the rain rolled in Friday night and belted down.
Saturday dawned sunny. A prefect day for a bit of exploring.
We met up and navigated the maze of roads into Alcatraz. The view down into the canyon from the cliff above showed the waterlevel well up but we suited up and carefully made our way into the anchor point.
Looking down into the slot, had me a bit concerned. I’d done it in high water with Ed and others a while ago and it was fine but this was up even more and without being able to see the exit I wasn’t comfortable dropping in.
We opted to descend the cliff beside it and make up way up from below. In hindsight it was likely doable but te canyons are always there for next time and I’m happy to play it safe.
Looking across into the spoutJulie setting the camera up while LEaf makes her way into the chamberThe chamber and exit were fineJulie and Leaf in the chamberInside the chamberInside the chamberThe exit slot
So a bit disappoint we didn’t abseil in but as I said there is always next time.
We made our way back to the cars and then continued out toward the glowworm tunnels for our next points off interest.
I had done the first little slot with Mandy from below and after checking the satelite imagry realised there was another system close by. This time we headed down the dry canyon (not so dry today) and then explored as far up the other system as we could get before retracingour steps.
Ed hadn’t done Yileen before and I thought it was good one for this time of year as its a nice trip and the swims are fairly short.
The walk in is a nice stroll down a ridge with great views out over the Grose Valley
And it’s not long before we reach the left branch of the creek with some of the clearest water you are likely to see.
There is a brief canyon in this section then the right branch joins and the creek opens out a bit before the canyon proper
A shallower canyon section carpeted in mossCanyon formation
We get to the first little drop. Apparently some people abseil it but it’s a fairly easy shimmy down a squeeze on the right or you can skirt along a high ledge on the left with one balancey move and then walk down just down stream. Some one has set up a hand line on the left that just looks dangerous.
Ed down climbing the slot. You can see the long fix line in front of him. That’s a long hand over hand to overhang.Lower down the water must pass through a mineral deposit as it takes on a glassey green tingeCanyon formationIt’s like jumping into a pool of midori
Ed Dropping into the final constrictionThen it opens out with cracking views over the Grose
What follows is a big abseil down to the back of the cliff line. This is one of the bigger canyon abseils in this part of the Blue Mtns
There is a choice of routes down. We choose this one to keep out of the spray
The usual method is to rap down to the big ledge then rebelay for the last 8m or so. As we had plenty of rope we did it in one drop.
For the first time ever I got a rope struck. I had carefully pulled the knot passed the vegetation at the top and then passed the lip on the ledge and thought it was all good, however as the end dropped down it threw a loop around a boulder at the back of the ledge….
Cheer to Ed who scampered up the sloping wall to the side of the drop to free the rope. No knots or tangles just the friction of the rope end looping around the rock.
sleepwhenwearedead 