Kent, Tim, Ruth, Doug, Sue, Pete, Toby, Scott and Me
When Kent put out the invite for this one I was pretty keen.
The weather forecast improved slightly as the weekend approached and a final check of the radar and 48hr forecast and it looked like we might be missing the deluge that seemed to be about to strike the rest of the state but rain predicted for around 3pm so I headed off nice and early to meet the others who had camped down there.
The usual meet and greet, sorting of ropes and then it was off to pick our way up through the cliff lines.
A Glorious morning looking down the valley from Pearson lookout.
We work our way up towards the base of the cliffs
A weakness in the towering cliff allows us to zigzag up between scrambles as the valley steadily drops away below us
Not quite full on rock climbing, not far off itAnd the views keep getting betterTim on a very exposed step around
A series of ledges guide our way, some ledges wider than others
Sue Negotiates one of the narrower and more exposed ledgesRuth followsToby gets to more solid footingAnd then it’s another tricky verticle scramble
And then we come to the most rock climbesque section. a Scramble up a chute that gets steeper the higher you climb.
It’s easy going except for a couple of moves in the verticle section at the top.
It looks loose so I choose to wait for the others to clear the climb. Tim and Pete get up without issue. However Ruth has a bit of trouble so I scramble up to help her with the foot holds. Tim offers to drop a rope. With a little assistance Ruth gets through the hardest move to where she can sit on a ledge, wedged into a bit of a crack.
ROCK!!!
I look up to see a house brick size rock tumbling toward us. Shit. I tuck in as close to the rockface as I can.
Whack. FUCK! it slams into Ruth’s shoulder and I feel the breese as it tumbles passed.
I’m OK, calls Ruth. My arm’s dead. I need a moment.
ROCK!!!
Fuck I’m on some ballancy footholds. Ruth is wedge into a ledge above. A smaller rock goes whizzing past, thankfully out in space.
No one move up there!!! I call. Just stay still until we are set.
Ruth takes a moment and signals she is fine. Tim drops the rope and she continues up. I scramble up.
Watch your footing, Tim instructs. and if there a loose rocks on the path pick them and put them some where safe.
Thankfully Ruth is OK. Everyone agrees helmets for the walk in are a good idea. The others come up without incident
We continue on. We are at the halfway ledge but from here up the climbing is easier.
Belatedly Toby suggests there is an easier gully just around the corner that bypasses the chute.
Did I mention the viewsMaking our way up the next cliff lineToby and Doug admire the ViewKent does the same for slightly higherKent says he puts a lot of stock into the quality of the lunch spot.
It’s taken us 2hrs to get through the main cliff line. One small line of cliffs to go then we can start to descend into the canyon
Selfie time.Descending a side creek towards the main canyon1 little abseil and some creek walking brings us to the main slotNow that looks worth the effort
Some large, dull coloured yabbiesTim coming into a very pretty tunnel sectionAnd still the long abseils keep coming
SueTim setting up ropesScott
With a bit of a hand some people managed to stay reasonably dry hereAnd still the drops come thick and fast
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And right on cue the heavens openned
Slight drizzle turns is to proper rain and it pisses down. Within a minute what had been barely trickles turn into proper waterfalls.
Geckos make for the safety of higher ground.Out of the constiction and with just one abseil to to go we enjoy the extra beauty the rain bringsTim on the second last abseil
One more spectactular 30m abseil I didn’t manage photo then we make our way down the ridges.
Back to the Capertee
Cycad fruit
Cycad in fruit
Capertee pineapple
And after a 4km trudge up the maintenance trail we are back to camp
Another great day with great people.
Group: All experienced
Timing: 9hrs car to car steady pace.
“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert
So I was looking for people to go canyoning. Lewis and Ben were looking for people to go canyoning. We went canyoning together.
Koombanda is a short canyon, but it has some nice bits too it. My last trip with Mandy and Tal we started fairly high up in the creek and while there was some nice pools and features up there was also a bit of scrub. This time around we shortcut the entry a bit and entred by a short abseil down a now dry waterfall
This put us in the creek not too far up from the canyon. Unfortunitely the creek was bone dry. Last time we were wading here, and the small stagnant pool was a swim.
Anyhoo, it not before the creek canyons up and we done wetsuits and drop on in
Lewis Dropping into the short but pretty canyon
Directly below is a deep plunge pool that is a bit awkward to get out of, especially in low water, we were all able to bridge across the the, er, um, bridge today
Ben get to the bridge
The water was a tad refreshing. Thankfully the swims are short
Looking back up the canyon
Now the next abseil is just around the corner, down through a hole but we had a bit of a WTF moment as there is the anchor above a pool, no hole.
Wow says I, That’s where you normally abseil. That’s freaky.
So that is normally a hole?
Yep we’ll need to find an alternate tree down stream….
Only just down stream is the actual anchor and abseil through the hole…. No idea what the other anchor is for other than messing with my head…
The next drop is really nice down through what looks like a giant clam
Below is a very nice chamber, unfortunitely the anti fog lens cleaner I tried on my camera this morning mad it fog up worse than usual..
Ben on rope
Canyon Formation
As we are waiting for Lewis we hear a crash-bang-karfuffle.
Are you OK calls Ben
F@#$ing kangaroo just fell into the canyon replies Lewis.
Poor old skippy takes off up the canyon. With the abseil up up stream I fear he is trapped, unless he wants to take the 10m jump down in the the next bit. In any case he wants nothign to do with us and Lewis comes on down.
Lewis illuminatedCanyon formationCanyon formationCanyon formationEmerging back into the lightCanyon formationBen in a tunnelAnd before you know it we are at the collieryIt doesn’t seem like there is much holding up that great head of rockHow’s them viewsTaking on the landslide
Mountain Dragon
So we get back up to the second car which we dropped at the exit point and Ben looks a bit sheepish. Um, sorry I think I misunderstood my keys are in your car….
Taking it back a bit. When we met up Lewis was driving and we dropped what I thought was his car at the pick up before jumping in mine and driving a coupel of km up the road to the start of the walk.
When Ben asks will I be right to leave my keys here, I’m still assuming it’s Lewis’ car and Ben has his house keys or something.
Yeah sure say I, just leave them in the car there…
Anyhoo an extra 2km walk along the railway in the heat of the day never hurt anyone.
I thought he was joking, says Lewis….
Party Size: 3 all experienced.
Time: About 3hrs car to car
It’s still early in the day so I deside to take a stroll down to check out something else close by.
Some people like chasing the big epic canyons, and don’t get me wrong I enjoy the long, sustained canyons as much as anyone but I get just as much joy out of the shorter ones too. They all have their own uniqueness, beauty and share of challenges.
I suspose being surrounded by canyon country I don’t need to justify the long drive up from the cities so am happy exploring the smaller stuff too.
Today was one of those days where we’d combine a couple of the smaller pagoda canyons. The first one dry(ish) the seond one wetter.
I’ve done both before but I’ll have to admit I had completely blanked out the amount of tea tree needed to push through on our way up the ridge on the first one….. Shorts may not have been the best bet…
Anyhoo. We all meet up at the car park and head off.
Wild flowers were out in colour
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And after a hot climb through some scrub we arrived at our first slot.
Like a violent crumble bar without the chocolate
We wasted no time dropping in
Gaz likes to wedge himself in and film people from aboveOur next obstacle was this very narrow cleft.
Last time we bridged out and then abseiled in at a slightly wider bit. The flaring nature of the slot meant the abseiler invariably swung in and cheese grated themselves. I knew it was possible to walk the ledges high above the canyon floor. Tiny ledges, wet feet. It makes for an interesting traverse.
Gaz bridging out on a section where the ledges all but disappear so the others could use him as a stepping stone if neededMarchelle clinging to the rock face while the others watch on in trepidation.
We all make it. Somehow.
Gaz in the next sectionAnd it’s just one more abseil and the canyon opens out
Last time I did this canyon we followed the creek down a bit and then around for a short dirty abseil off a lower cliff line. But I had soem beta that a better option was on offer so we follow the clifflines around past some stunning views
Then scrub bash a bit before dropping in to a lost world near a trouist destination
A stunning 25m freefall abseil greeted us.
Knowing how popular this spot is with tourist I was very careful dropping the ropes over, a carefull lower rather than a toss. Not a soul to be seen thou. It amused me a bit that on the way out we pass a steady stream of people heading in very all five of us abseiled down with only us as spectators 😉
We even had the place to ourselves for a selfie
It wasn’t just the tourists who on the exit track some of the locals were out too.
Anyhoo, after a spot of lunch it was back to the car and bike for a bit of a drive to our next destination.
I really do enjoy this oneIt’s one abseil. but it’s a cracker of an abseil
Into the inescapable chamber.Or sumfink
oh there is a way out
All in all an enjoyable day in the bush visiting two short but beautiful pagoda canyons
Party size: 5 all experienced
time: I have no concept of time….
Life is too short and the world too amazing to be bored
Most people do Newnes ( or Starlight) Canyon as a round trip, climbing up the pipeline trail, working their way around the ridges and abseiling in. And don’t get me wrong that’s a great way of doing it but there is a lot to be said about doing it as an up and back from the bottom.
The canyon is off limits over winter as it is an important hybernation cave for bentwing bats and disturbing them during their sleepy time invariable leads to a percentage of them dying as there is no food around food them to replenish the energy it takes to come out of hybernation.
Anyhoo, I had planned to do this earlier in the year on the last weekend before the closure except in the week leading up NPs put out a notice that they were hazard reduction burning and all the canyons in the area were closed…….
Fast forward to the other end of hybernation season and we were good to go.
The plan was to ride down the maintenance trail from the locked gate, stash the bikes then make up way up to the cliffline and into the canyon.
I’ve done it this way several times and have always been able to get all the way up to the bottom of the abseil point (the top of the canyon) no dramas. However, last summer people were reporting deep swims in the tunnel and while that is normal after heavy rain the fact that the water hung around post rain had me thinking maybe something in the floor or blockage had changed.
Not tha I was too worried about long swims after the dry winter we’ve had but the thought of a deep wade through stagnant, bat shit filled water wasn’t that inviting. I needn’t have worried as the tunnel was as dry as a nun’s nasty.
But I get ahead of myself
While bikes arn’t necessary they do turn an hour long fire trail walk either way into the 20min ride and the ride down was uneventful, almost. Tina had a small off at the bottom of a loose down hill on a sandy corner and hurt her elbow. As a mad trail runner that didn’t bother her. a sore elbow would not stop her from running so no worries. We hide the bikes in the thick scrub and head across the river which is about as low as I’ve ever seen it.
A bridge over the wolgan
Up the hill we went taking a bit more of a meandering route than I usually take which made the climb up fairly simple, then we took in the views down the Wolgan from the base of the upper cliff before working our way around into the canyon.
Looking down the magnificant Wolgan Valley
Entering into the lower canyon is like entering another world. The micro climate is completely different to the scrub out on the exposed hill side
This is magical, Flynny, says Sav as we make our way up through ferns, coachwoods and vines so big that at first you think you are stepping over a fallen tree, only to realise its a living vine.
I smile to myself, this is just the appetiser and I think that is the reason I like doing the reverse trip of Newnes Canyon. The starlight section is so awesome that when you come through it from the top you are in such awe of the top section that you kind of over look how spectacular this bottom section is.
There are a few scrambling sections but everytime you would otherwise be blocked tree roots and vines have grown into the perfect pass up.
And then, just as you are thinking the walls are petering out and the canyon is about to open out the upper cliffs encroach and suddenly the canyon closes in
A lovely narrow section of canyon follows and again people remark how awesome it is. But again I know it gets betterAutal in the long section of deep, narrow canyonTina with head torch on as the walls get higher and the canyon gets darkerThe canyon breifly opens out and what was dry, bare and sandy suddenly becomes damp, lush and greenTina in the green section
And then we reach the Amazing Wallaby tunnel, better known as the Starlight section, high up the walls close in so much, become so twisted, and are jammed with chock stones that it forms a high narrow tunnel.
Autal and Rob entering the tunnel
I feel on previous trips the glowworms were far more abundant, maybe that has to do with the dry winter, maybe it’s just the time of year as I think it’s around mating season for the flies, maybe it’s just modern headlights are so bright now you don’t notice the worms unless you tuen them off and give your eyes a few minutes to adjust, or maybe the bats had a wormy feast when they awoke
After 300m or so of tight twisting tunnel the roof opens back up and just around the corner is the waterfall that is the normal absiel in point.
I have known people to absiel in here but be blocked by deep water in the tunnel so they had to prusik back out and abseil in further down. I also know of at least 1 group who pulled their ropes without checking the tunnel was passable and were forced to spend a couple of days huddled here waiting for rescue…. When absieling in the first person need check all the way through the tunnel before getting others to absiel or pulling ropes.
And after taking time to enjoy just being there we leave Ed and TJ to get about photo phaffing with their good cameras and the rest of us make our way back down
Autal in a narrow squeeze admiring the bats far aboveAutal in the green section
We have a bit of lunch and then explore up a side canyon called Upside Down canyon.
Bottom section of Upside Down Canyon.
The bottom section of Upside Down involves some tricky climbs up through small holes. I made the first look far harder than it was mainly as I forgot had the go pro on a chest mount and had to do some contortioning so as not to scracth the crap out of it.
Rob squeezing up through one of the holes. It’s about 7foot straight down, if you squint you can make out Tina down below himRob in Upside Down canyonOur path was blocked by this small waterfall
I remeber the water fall from previous visits and started bridging up, the walls were a tad slippery, I had no doubt we could get everyone up, what I did doubt thou was getting people back down safely without ropes… I’m sure there use to be a log or something here to make the down climb simpler.
Anyhoo despite knowing the top section has some pretty bits I decide it’s not worth the risk today so we turned tail and headed back down.
Ed and TJ are still phaffing so we sit back and just take in the surrounds
Honey comb walls. we sat and watched the bird dart in an out of pockets and holesSupurb Lyrebird on the wingThen it was time to head on outI’d noticed this massive vine knotted around the base of the tree on the way up and was hopeing to catch it in the right light on the way back down. The light did not disappoint. Another advantage of doing the canyon as an up and back the changing light can be magicalAnd before long we are back at the Wolgan river
The ride back up the valley is a bit more difficult than the ride down but for a mountain biker it’s still better than trudging along a fire trail.
Party size: 7 mixed canyoning experience levels but all experienced outdoors
Timing: 6hr 20 with lots of photo phaffing and chilling out
People talk about their comfort zone as though it’s a place they want to stay don’t they realise your comfort zone is the most dangerous place to be
As David Bowie once sang, the only thing I ever got from you was Zorro… or something like that, I was never a fan so could be wrong….
Anyhoo it was back up to the plateau for more canyonng fun. Shoes and harness was still damp from yesterday and a bit of drizzle had set in but that wasn’t going to curb my enthusiasm.
This time we took a left and headed out along the Sunnyside ridge trail looking for a couple of short but spectacular canyons.
Our first goal was Zorro and we had no dramas on the way in.
The entrance was lined with wild flowersthe canyon gets narrow and deep very quickly.Gaz squeezing pass this tenatious treeGaz dropping into the depthsJodie in the amazingly straight and narrow canyonJodie watching James and Garry descend the canyon
There follows a tight shimmy down to a cold pool. There is an anchor above so I guess people rope up for it but it looks like tha would be awkward. It is a fairly straight forward down climb.
I have no idea how deep the water is but there are narrow ledges just below the water level so only you feet get wet.
James tries to bridge above the water but is unable to. Wanting to keep his shoes dry he wedges himself above the water level slips off a shoe and hurles it over the rock he thinks marks the end of the water. It makes a big splash in the small pool just beyond the rock…. No dry feet for you.
Then the canyon suddenly opens out in to the gorgeous Z chamber which links the parallel fault lines the entrance and exit passages follow
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Then it’s more bridging over what is usually a long pool but in this dry spell it’s starting to dry up
Then all that is left is a final abseil to exit, but before we do Gaz shimmies around the ledge to check out the views
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A quick scramble around the base of the cliff brings us to the exit slot, which is a nice, short canyon in it own right looking like something out of Jarassic park
Once ontop we slip out the ridge inbetween the two slots with the idea of having lunch in the sun with a view
Wind and drizzle interupt our plans and we abandond that idea and head back to the car
It’s not even noon so we do a quick car shuffle and go head in to check out some other features near by.
James heads into the Crack of Doom!!!
The Crack of Doom!!! with appropriate skull shaddow
Gaz in Crack Of Doom!!! 2Jodie in Crack of Doom!!!2 with gaz on rope aboveGaz in Crack of Doom!!!2Cathedral CanyonCathedral canyon
James taking in the grandour of Cathedral canyonGaz and Jodie soaking in the ambienceThe Cathedral
Then it was back up the Crack of Doom!!! 2 for an easy exit
This poor goanna never made it out
And back tot he car for a much earned beerio.
Party size:4 all experienced
Time: about 5 hours total for both canyons
Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity… ― John Muir
Last time I did Coachwood canyon was about ’97. I couldn’t remember much about the trip other than the Coachwood forest made for nice photos and as I abseiled out the end I could hear what I first thought was airforce jets zooming over the gully. Turned out it was a wall of hail that was just about it hit. It struck with avengence just as Della and Mandy joined me at the bottom. Gathering the rope as Rocky creek began to rise we made a dash down stream to the big bend where we cimbed up to a little cave to wait out the fury. An hour or so later we climbed up a hail covered ridge. Photos below (Click to enlarge)
Della in the coachwood forest
Mandy watching Della on the absiel
That white stuff isn’t snow it’s hail
Hail on the ridge top
Anyhoo, I had a week off work and I know Julie is always looking for people to go canyoning mid week so I hit her up.
Yep I’m off Wednesday, says She. Want to do Coachwood?
Sure do, says I
I was keen to get back, it’s reasonably dry but I had no recolection of the canyon itself.
Want to reverse up Rocky creek to exit? says she.
Are you freaking kidding how freaking cold is that going to be… I think but instead my brain replies with, Yeah, sure.
Anyhoo We drive up to the Bungleboori picnic spot to meet Michael. Instead we meet Geoff, Anna, Peter, Ruth and other assorted UBMW members heading off to do a rarely visited canyon not so far from ours. Anna looks confused as she does a head count. Oh we arn’t with you guys we’re meeting someone else.
all good they pile in cars and head off. Michael arrives shortly after and we do the same. Veering on the the Galah mountain road we see Geoff and his group driving backout. That was quick.
Big tree down just up ahead, we couldn’t move it. He informs us. We’re changing plans.
Oh we might as well have a look. Yep big tree. we go bush and carefully edge around it and continue on our way.
I think I know why I couldn’t remember much of coachwood. It’s not much of a canyon. A bit of fun but nothing overly “Wow!”
We somehow missed the top of the first absiel and walked in below the waterfallThe Coachwood forest I remebered being so picturesque
Julie on the first of our absielsMichael dropping inMichael on the the very nice second last abseilJulie on the last abseilLunch in Rocky CreekAll Rugged up ready for the swim up Rocky Creek
Now traditionally for me Rocky Creek is a NewYears day or later canyon. It’s always cold so I was a little apprehensive. But we’d layed up. I had a thermal top, 3mm steamer wetsuit with a 3mm spring suit over the top. Woolen beanie to keep the noggon warm and over it all a light spray jacket to keep the wind off.
With all that on and working our way up stream I never felt cold at all. Infact because the beanie stayed dry it got a little warm and I ended up splashing water over my face a couple of times to cool my head down.
Rocky CreekRocky Creek
The light is so different each time you visit
Toasty warm
And of course the early waratahs were out on the ridge
all in all a fun day out. I’d class it more of a trip up Rocky Creek with an alternate entrance
Party Size: 3 all Expereinced
Time: 5.5hrs car to car
What if something is on TV and it’s never shown again? Smudge
Tim, Kent, Sheila, Marchelle, Ev, John, Doug, Craig, Pete and me
Nightmare canyon, it sounds, um, nightmarish but it’s a pleasant, if somewhat short, canyon in the Wolgan valley with some interesting abseils.
I’ve been enjoying heading out with Tim, Kent and their band of canyon addicts, they run great, well organised trips.
Anyhoo, it was back to the Wolgan and up everyones favourite little hill, the Pipeline trail
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You can’t walk up the pipeline without a side trip to the lookout. It’s the law.
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Hazard reduction burn late last year has left the ridge denuded of the usual nightmareish scrubAnd it wasn’t long until we drop into our creekTim leads down the second drop which looks delightfully…. I mean nightmarishly tightAnd it just gets worseHorrible Canyon formationThey look terrified don’t theyThe kind of absiel that wakes you at night in a cold sweatEv hugging the log for comfortWhat terror awaits us around this corner? Probably a demented clown or something, We’ll let the girls go first
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Marchelle disappearing into the abysys
Everyone knows lime green is Disney’s colour for evil
I have no wordsTim battleing a evil split ropeOh the horrorOne step closer to the edge
Total nightmareMy go nextActually this aint so badMore like a sweet dream really…
Well except when you plunge into the nut deep pool. My outie became and innie again.
Oh sure they pull Kent across so he doesn’t get wet… FavouritismOk The halfway ledge has it’s momentsLike the fossilised remains of this dragon
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But it also has it’s grandour.
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Then all too soon we are back in the valley at the ruins.
Party Size: big but all experienced and a rope for every drop
Time: 6.5hrs car to car
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing views…” Edward Abby
Tim, Yuri, Scott, Louise, Peter, Sophie, Craig, Autal and me
Ah Windows 95, while Machintosh ensured “1984 wouldn’t be like 1984!”, Windows 95 took Graphic User Interface and plug and play and made it accessable to the microsoft masses who had thus far been stuck in MS-DOS. It may have been the first and last time people got excited about a Windows release.
Anyhoo.
Windows Canyon is nothing like that.
It’s more of an absiel trip with canyony sections and the access as well as the length and tricky starts of the abseils has probably kept the masses at bay.
We park up and do the meet and greet. This time around Tim is going to be ringmaster it’s his circus and we’re his monkeys and he rallys us up for the pep talk then we are off
Up we go. Out of the wind it’s a pleasant winters day wind jackets and thermals will soon be shedIn the spirit of adventure we opt to go a slightly harder route up that contains a little shimey up a rock climbAfter climbing up through the cliffline the cliff edge is a great spot to have a drink and a bite ot eatYuri on a brittle shelf way above the Wolgan
Don’t worry it is a bit of an illusion as there is another wide ledge just below and the pedistal is way more solid than it looks.
Autal thought he’d replicate Yuris photo and handed me his brand new TG5 camera. Now over night it was windy. All morning it has been windy. But we really didn’t get too much wind all trip, except as Autal approached the pedistal where a gust of wind plucked the beanie right off his head and made it soar.
Like wow, I’ve seen some pretty impressive paper planes in my day but nothing that caught on the wind like that beanie. Go little beanie. Go!
It went and went and went and went before finally dropping down into the tree line and snagged in a tree in the distance.
Bye bye beanie
Oh well a bit of scrub bashing later and we were in our gully
One of the impressive side slotsSophie in the tunnelScott leading one of the tricky to start abseilsCraig 1’s new rope gets a test out. Flynny’s rope law. New ropes always tangleOver the chock stone or under the chock stone?About as canyony as it getsCan you keep your feet dry?OK it does get a bit canyonyView from the lunch ledgeLouise absieling through the arch “Window”A window on the world. Louise setting up ropesA fine Window it isAutal through a windowAutal under the arch with a windowScott leading the last absielTim about halfway down the last pitchHomeward bound
Another great day in the bush with great people
Time: a tad under 5hrs car to car
Thanks to Tim for organising and making it run so effortlessly.
“Get out there now and make sure you become part of the glorious past in somebody else’s future!” Andrew Penny
Glen Davis is a bit of a canyoners paradise. A quick scan of the clifflines shows slots carving through the sandstone pretty much everywhere you look. Yet being a bit further from Sydney the canyons are less frequented than those in the Blue Mountains or over the hill in the Wolgan. Publicised track notes are also scarce and getting up through the cliff lines takes a good bit of route finding, navigation and rock scrambling (if not outright climbing) skills.
All of this means the canyons here retain a bit more of a wild, explorationy feel. It is an epic location.
When Kent sent out an invitation to do the Coin Slot lets just say I was keen as mustard.
it was going be a large group but the plan was to split into smaller groups and take different routes up. Just about every one was carrying ropes and the first group to get to the canyon would set the ropes and the last group would retrieve them before we all met at the base of the last abseil.
I pick up Peter and Ben and we meet the others at Capertee. I’m so use to pulling into the car park, grabbing packs and heading off. This standing around socialising is a all a bit of a novelty.
We roll down into Glen Davis and regroup. More socialising. This is going to be a relaxing day. or is it?
The narrow slot in the shadow centre of shot is our goal. First though we somehow need to get up through those cliff lines.
Big groups are often hard to get organised but Kent is the consummate ring master and he gathers everyone together, gives the spiel on how the day is to go and splits us into our group. Climbers here, scramblers there. and we’re off.
The groups soon spread out on the haul up the steep fall zone to the base of the cliffs
It’s a steep scramble from the river up to the base of the cliff
We gain a lot of elevation quickly but the clifflines still tower above us and the route is not overly obvious.
We harness up. The first pitch is pretty simple. 1 balancey move as you step across a gap and you’re basically up. Autal makes short work of it and I follow him and set ropes. the rest of the group will be roped up. Ruth joins me to haul packs while I belay the others as they climb up one by one.
With everyone up it’s a traverse along a narrow ledge with stunning views before we wind our way up and onto a sucession of ledges.
I think I spent most of my day capturing this view from different vantage points
The zig zagging route takes us through some stunning erosion caves with sands of different colours and textures.
Working our way up through zig zagging ledges beneath erosion caves.
I’m caught up in the experience and am snapping photos of the views.
Craig and James we need you guys up this bit next to set ropes on the last pitch. Calls Kent. Apparently we are the “climbers” in the group.
The next pitch is fairly simple as far as technicality goes. Someone has already managed to get up and so the rope is set by the time I get there. Again one or two moves that are difficult more from the exposure than the moves themselves. We are now along way up. Maybe 50 meters above the base of the cliff, which itself is a hundred meters or so above the river so it becomes a head game.
One step out then up and around. Foot holds are solid and plentyiful but at one stage the hand holds are slopers. I get up and replace Kent who has been on top belay. He goed ahead and direct people through the next section.
I take over rope duties to belay others us to a small ledge below the final climbing pitch. Trust your feet, says I more then once.
Over the radios we hear the first group has already made it to the canyon. With a small group of experienced climbers this route would be quick and easy. The size of our group has definitely slowed things down but we are not in a hurry and it’s all part of the experience and the views were breath taking on a stunning winters day.
Kent doing a tip top job at keeping the large group under control and moving
A bit of a bottle neck is forming on the small ledge between these two pitches. James has managed to free solo the next pitch and drop a rope down and so he starts belaying others up the last pitch as I bring the last of the group up mine.
the view for the ledge below the 3rd pitch. That little clearing left of centre is just up stream of where we left our cars. Check out that big nose of rock hanging out of the cliff on the right.
The last pitch is the longest we’ll do, maybe 6 or 7 meters, it’s only about grade 9 or 10 but again you are a long way up and it seems like there is nothing but air between your feet and the river several hundred meters below. It’s an awe inspiring place to be.
The nose always goes: Sometimes.Trust your feet. Nichole on the second of the roped pitches
The last pitch starts on small holds and foot placements are smeers more than anything. But with a bit of assistance on the first meter or two everyone gets over it and from there the climb is pretty simple. As people top out they head off towards the canyon. By the time I’m up and James coils the rope it’s just the two of us.
Sue and Sonya wait for us at one of the turns and Kent waits to lead us through the final bit of scrub. The first group have left ropes set up so all we need to do is head on in and retrieve ropes as we go. So despite the big group we were spread out and you were only ever in groups of two or three with little to no waiting at the abseils. The groups chopped and changed a bit as people waited to help cart ropes out and others went ahead.
James dropping into the creek
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The unique heart shaped chock stone is the iconic image of this trip. it’s a nice drop and you don’t notice the shape until you look back up from just down stream.
And then the creek drops down into an stunning dark slot.
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Kent descending the first big abseil into the dark slot
It was here we struck the only glitch in the smooth running of the day. The rope refused to pull.
Kent scrambled up the bottom drop, throwing himself backward over the lip, legs akimbo. I’ve heard of looking up old friends but that was a bit much. Nichole averted her eyes…
Trying different angles the rope still wouldn’t budge. I climb up to Kent and between our combined weight of mumblemumble kilos and a bit of backwards and forwards on the different rope ends we manage to free it with out needing to resort setting up Z lines or the like.
The biggest hold up of the descent, 15min freeing a jammed rope. Not too shabby.
Just around the corner it looks as though the slot is finished but it wasn’t done with yet and the best was yet to come.
Nichole on rope with the stunning view of the valley in the back ground.
The “Coin slot” abseil it breath taking. A scramblie start then down through a hole and the bottom of the world seems to fall out from under you. It looks and feels far higher than it is. I lock off to try and get a photo looking down but as I take my top hand off the rope I start to swing back…. Um normally on a big drop my pack is pretty much empty. As rope mule this time around I have 2 60m ropes in there. Lesson learnt. I quickly grab the rope as a guide and continue down. Photos can wait.
Sue coiling ropes at the bottom of the fourth abseil. This is my favourite shot of the trip. What an awe inspiring place
Oh did you notice the faces in the rock?
And still we weren’t done.
Sue bridging out to get to the final anchor
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With the group back together for the first time since we left the cars we dolled out ropes and head off back down the hill.
Hi Ho
All in all an enjoyable day with a great bunch of people.
Group size: Large but spread out with lots of ropes and capable leaders
Time: About 6.5hr car to car with bottle necks on the climbs
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of
changing himself.”
Leo Tolstoy
sleepwhenwearedead 