So I kinda like visiting the little canyons most people would not bother with.
Part of it is seeing beautiful places most people don’t get to and part is just getting out and exploring with mates.
When Tom posted photos of this one on https://ozultimate.com a few years ago it caught my attention as I had a reasonable knowledge of the canyons in that area but didn’t recognise this at all.
Then a month or so ago a YouTube video was posted that had a few clues.
10mins of comparing images in the video and the areal images on sixmaps and I was confident I knew how to find the start and how to get out.
Anyhoo it had been so long since I’d dragged friends out on a scrub bash to a low quality canyon that they had forgotten the pain and agreed to come again.
Was it scruby? Yes it was
Was it low quality?
The canyon section was pretty. Pretty short. But actually pretty.
Wetsuits were over kill. I thought there might be a bit more flow in the falls after last weeks rain but most of us stayed dry above the knees.
Just a few abseils and a short hallway and the canyon opened up
Then it was back up the ridge and we avoided some of the scrub back to the car
A bit under 2.5hrs car to car with a large group and giving Muz some abseiling refreshers along the way.
Despite being right next to Bindook cattle Station Bindook falls are in the middle of nowhere.
Sure it’s an interesting bit of nowhere but it’s a longish drive from anywhere.
The creek cuts a short but pretty slot down a series of Falls that have 2 main points of interest
1) they cut through hexagonal columns of basalt (Edit: apparently it’s not basalt but Barrallier Ignimbrite. Ignimbrite is basically the result of hot ash flows if I am understanding things, which I usually don’t)
b) it’s called a chasm.
Plus
iii) the distance means it’s less visited than a lot of blue mountains canyons.
Any hoo it’s been on my radar for a while only I thought you needed permission to cross the private property and I thought it was a very long drive to get to.
A tiny bit of research revealed you can skirt around the property within the boundary of the National park and it wasn’t that much longer a drive than it is to Kanangra which makes it an easy day trip from my place.
And so we thought why the hell not.
It’s a pretty drive made prettier by a dusting of snow coating the pine trees on the way out through Shooters Hill. And the road past mt Werong to Bindook is very scenic indeed. It’s awe inspiring country
We had no problem finding a spot to park and making the short walk to the start of the chasm.
Making our way down to where the creek first cuts into a narrow slot we are greeted by 2 smallish drops each with a long swim at the bottom and little to no anchor options between
The start of the chasm
We discussed setting an anchor for the first abseil and linking them together but it looked like it might be a tricky pull down in cold water so we opted to bypass a short section and abseil in from the side.
There was a reasonable flow of water so I believe the murky green is due to calcites in the strata?
Bypassing the first 2 drops with a 40m traversing abseil from trees above.
Looking down the amazing “chasm” towards the chock stone. With a bit of effort we were able to use the ledge on the left to avoid the early swim.
The anchor for the next abseil was threaded throu a single piton jammed in the back of the chock stone.
We searched for a while for a feasible back up without luck. Test weighting the anchor showed the piton to be solid and with a stepped, scrambley abseil we decided it was good enough and Gadget went down first.
You don’t really notice the columns until you look back
I perch above the pool and pull the rope. It comes easily and I stop to take out the biner block I had in place then go to pull the last bit down…. It locks solid!
It had come super easy til then. But nothing I could do would get it to budge. I assume the end has knotted itself on the ring and not wanting to waste too much time as Kylie was wet and waiting at the next anchor, I resort to cutting the rope.
The next anchor looks like it needed replacing 15years ago… it partly crumbles as Gadget inspects it. Other bits are so stiff we had to cut them out.
Gadget checking angles.
The next abseil is off old pitons again. At least there are 4 of them but we take a bit of time to set new tape. It was impossible to equalise them in the direction we wanted to abseil but again they felt solidly placed. And Gadget lead the stepped 45m abseil.
Another cold swim greeted us at the bottom of this one.
We pull rope from the far side of the pool then have a brief look for an anchor for the final 60-70m drop.
There wasn’t much in the way of obvious anchors and spying a steep ramp leading up to the right we opt to exit early.
It’s steep, loose and at times narrow but it goes.
Back up top we push our way through black thorn thickets up to the clearing below the property fence line, then make our way back to cross the top of the chasm and thus back to the car
Nice spot for a picnic
Part size: 2
Time: 4hr car to car.
Big places help you realise how small you and your problems are
It’s been a while since I’ve organised an obscure trip.
Others take the piss out of my scrub bashes to shit canyons but I get a kick out of checking out places the majority wouldn’t bother with.
So when we were thinking about what to do and South Bowen formed up as the front runner I suggest how about we go in fro the top.
Not that’s it’s overly obscure, for as long as I can remember David Noble has been commenting that people miss 3 or 4 canyon sections by going in the “standard” entry.
Still upper sections tend to be hit and miss so I wasn’t expecting high quality but they are all worth doing once.
The only hitch was the car shuffle. We didn’t have a second car.
Let’s just do the top and scramble out the Cork Screw entrance. Says I. That way it’s only a 2km walk back up the highway and we can do that first.
Deal.
We pick one of the branches below Mt Wilson turn off and make our way in. It was scrubby on the spur and muddy in the creek line.
Like scrubby scrub and muddy mud
But it’s only a short bash to the first canyon section. And it’s surprisingly high quality.
And once we got to the junction with the “standard” entry we reversed back up the Cork Screw section and found a break in the cliffs to scramble up.
And thus we find ourselves navigating our way around the chemical weapons clean up and start walking out the fire break along Waratah ridge amid banter and laughing.
And before too long we are suiting up and entering the canyon
It’s quiet nice.
I always forget just how spectacular the top section is
And I also forget the length of the walk betwix it and the bottom section …
Aimee entering the bottom section. The log has moved so now it’s a much easier start. That log had been there as long as I can remember. It’s now further down the chamber. Testament to the power of the recent floods
Wrong time of year for a massive glowworm display but still… glowworms! and if I’m ever not awed by glowworms slap me hard
The cave has silted up again meaning it’s a walk through to the squeeze out again.
It’s pretty choked up. Says Russ. I’m not sure we’ll get through.
Ah, that old chestnut.
Wait. I can see a bit of light. and up he squeezes.
I’m not sure of the sense of leaving the fat guy until last but Aimee follows him and I push my pack through to her and think skinny thoughts as I wiggle my self up and out
Then the hole abseil is awkward and holey again
Hole in the Wall, the sun really does shines out it’s arse
I don’t want to get into the whole bolt debate but for me the problem solving aspect has alway been a big part of the appeal of Blue Mountains canyoning. So needing to think about and improvise anchors was a pleasant change to what has become the norm in the more popular “trade routes”
And far too soon we are swimming up the Bungleboori North branch/*hackspit* Dingo creek.
Excuse me, I’ve been trying to reach you about your cars extended warranty…..
It occurred to me I hadn’t done anything biggish for a bit. Nor had I lead anything I’d not done before for a while. Nor had I done the top of Ranon Brook ever.
Time to amend that.
The track notes said to follow the ridge so of course I headed straight down into the creek, joining it just below the feeder swap.
I don’t think Kylie was that impressed but the walking in the creek was mostly pleasant with occasional bits of cutty scrub
There were some nice bits of crystal clear water. And soon the creek dropped into a stunning little canyonHappy smiles Abseil into a pool, swim across and abseil out is a bit of a theme in Ranon
But it’s only short and a bit more creek walking gets us the the junction with Mistake Ravine and into familiar territory
It was a busy day in The main canyon sections. These tip top Canberrians let us go throu on their rope and caught back up a couple of times through out the day. oddly were the only other group we saw once we got to ClaustralKylie in the slot above the Claustral junctionAnd into Claustral. Just in time for sunbeams Mandatory hulks fistAnd National Geographic shotAnd more sun beamsAnd standard Claustral gorgeousness
Another great day out with great company, somehow missing the crowds.
It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done: Terry Pratchett
Sure I’d done a heap of other cool stuff in mean time but I was itching to get back out.
Wanna do Arethusa?
Does the pope shit in the woods…. wait, um, that’s not it. I mean, hell yeah
So the top photo is my Bestards, renownly awesome boots for Blue Mtns style canyons. On the bottom are my skeches renownly comfy for old men but super slippery. I had the bestards out ready to go with my wet suit booties. Guess which shoes I put on that morning.
Anyhoo we meet up. Head in and gear up.
So yeah 5 weeks since last canyon but more like 9 since I was last on a rope . I may have been a little excited
and before long we are into it
It’s a big call but Imma call it anyway, Arethusa is the best bang for buck micro adventure in the Blue Mountains.
All thrilla no filla. Beautiful canyon sections with minimum creek walking. Pretty waterfall and cascades. Abseils that can be techie unless it’s supper low water levels. Interesting down climbs with optional jumps. Stunning views at the end. And some easy but adventurous climbing to get out.
Some extra bolts have appeared recently and I would caution people to assess the landingzones. We scrambled/walked past most (all) of them simply because it was quicker and easier (even in the slipperiest-shoes-known-to-man(tm). OK I had a few moments but none of them near the optional abseil bolts) but one anchor in particular looked like it would drop you into recirculating water at the flow level we did it in. At lower levels (and maybe higher levels) it mightn’t be an issue but today we looked and said nope to that.
So make sure you assess things yourself rather than just blindly follow. And that goes for all canyons. We got use to the low water levels during 10years of drought, now they are flowing again reassess things.
It wasn’t the first time adventure buddies had asked that question about today. Unfortunately for outdoor opportunities, I was
Oh… Wanna do a canyon when you finish?
Yes indeedelly doodally I do.
A few options were thrown about and we kept and eagle eye on the weather, both in real time outside and on windy.com.
It was a day of misty rain, squalls and sunshine. And storms were brewing across the northern Bluies
With that in mind we opted for a quick stroll through The Grand canyon.
At the right time on a bright sunny day Grand will usually dazzle you with sunbeams, at night it gifts you with glowworms and, in the soft twilight on a misty day its beauty is almost mythical.
Once again we were packing light and I didn’t take a camera so all photo credits to Madie.
Leo is a blur as he fixes the ropes
Me and Quinton making our way down stream
Lucie in the canyon with diamonds, or with Leo or sumfink. The little side waterfalls were magical
Not saying he is Jesus but that pool is knee deep…
We move like cagey tigers…. I mean, It is so wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully pretty
Yabbies and rainbow trout were spotted but no eels this time around
The good sort of isolation
And soon we reach the end and jog back along the top to collect the rope then make our way back up to reality.
Party size: 5
Time ~2hours car to car
It’s the grooviest thing, It’s the perfect dream:- The Cure
NB: Uncharacteristically I didn’t take a single photo all day so full credit for all the photos herein goes to the awesome bunch of folks above.
The forecast was for torrential rain, slushy snow and freezing conditions so when Kylio put out an invite to do a wet canyon followed by a wet abseil trip of course we all said a great big enthusiastic yes.
The day before I’d swung by Adventurebase to catch up with Leo and pick up a bit of gear. It was a miserable day but the torrential rain was more an annoying drizzle and I duck out to check the track out of our second option, as it had been closed for a while last year, but I was happy to see it open.
Anyhoo, Saturday dawned awash with sunshine. Unfortunately we didn’t get as much rain as predicted but Empress was running a bit better than usual and we were keen to hit it.
I don’t think anyone was expecting every one to turn up so we’d need to split into smaller groups to abide the group size limit but also to keep things moving, we were expecting it to be coolish in the canyon, waiting in line for an abseil wouldn’t be ideal.
Jumping into the first pool was a bit of a rush and instant icecream headache. But by keeping a relatively quick pace I never really felt cold, even while manning the abseil line at the end.
We’re not cold, noooo-sireee.
Sunshine and Bubbles
Monas
4 of the best
Yours truly in the flow
Someone in the pump
Krysto photo bombing
Photos upon photos
Me and Russ pulling the rope and enjoying the swim
We all regroup at the base of the falls. Some of us jump in a few times just for the hell of it then we shake ourselves off and head back up to the cars.
Here we say good by to half the group and the rest of us stay suited up and head off for our next adventure
This is one I’ve thought about doing for a while, but in summertime the waterhole at the bottom tends to be busy with all sorts of people from families trying to relax to thrill seekers and instagrammers so I never through it appropriate to toss ropes. Therefore when Kylie suggested it doing it in winter I was in like uncle Errol.
Glad I did, it might just be my new favourite abseil in the blue Mountains
it’s a pretty little creek, too bad there isn’t a canyon section up above
Mon enjoying a bit of a swim after descending one of the cascades, this was a few degrees colder than Empress
There are a couple of smaller cascades before the main drop
The rocky bottom creek was a bit slippery in places but we all stayed up right, mostly, and soon we came to the main event
Ken rigged it up with a temporary redirect to get us in the centre of the flow, and Kylie took control of the anchor duties
An over hanging start drops us straight into the flow but a short way down was a ledge that ended in a v slot which funnelled the full pump directly intp your face as you dropped into a lovely 10m of free space.
Spot the abseiler
Aimee
Some people just like jumping into cold pools, or sumfink
Kylie
Kylie
Hywaida
With beaming smiles we make our way back up to the cars and make a bee line for warm food and cold beer.
sleepwhenwearedead 