The predicted snow didn’t come our way and I was keen to do something short and sweet.
Wolgan Falls seemed a good option.
Kylie and I had been searching for rock art in Kia Ring Gai NP and it occurred to me I hadn’t shown her some of the more prominent stencils around here so we met Dick early at Maiyingu Marragu (Black Fellows Hands rock)
Maiyingu Marragu was a meeting place for Wiradjuri, Gandangara, Dharug and Dharkinjung people. It was also an occupation site with a mens area, Women’s are and a special birthing place. Exisiting art layers are upto 1600 years old.
There are other art sites in the area but Maiyingu Marragu is the easiest to get to and one of the more impressive with over 50 motifs.
We take our time soaking in the ambiance then head back to the cars to meet Russ and Vince before heading up the hill.
I definitely didn’t take them down a wrong fire trail, twice… Shuddup
The trail in is reasonable and it doesn’t take us long to get to the views over the spectacular upper Wolgan gorge.
Dick dropping in
A couple of dry abseils gets us down to the shelf above the falls.
It is an awe inspiring place to be.
My old mate Loz pioneered this trip. We have dubbed the little cascade above the main falls in his memory “Laurie Cohen Falls”
I sign the log book and, again we spend some time soaking in the special space
And then we rig the main drop.
Myself, Kylie and Dick are going to take the main drop in one 55M+ abseil down a wet line in the side flow. While Vince a Russ opt for the usual 2 stage dry line.
Kylie taking a shower. We have rigged the main flow in the past but it requires a long complicated anchor. This line was wet enough for a cold winters day.
Kylie riding rainbowsDick avoiding a swim with Russ on the dry line
Dick, the gold at the end of the rainbow
She’s an impressive sight
And then it was back up the hill.
Back at the cars it was still early so we headed off over the plateau to some other gems.
and we finish the day and get home just before the weather breaks.
Millie, Kylie, Jason, Vince, Russ, Libby, Russ, Brooke and meeeeeeee
Any one canyoning on Sunday. Asks Brooke
Not Sunday but we’ll be doing something Saturday says I
W’re taking Millie to the Glowworm Tunnel says Russ, We might stop by the Dry canyon but if you are doing anything in the afternoon we’d be keen.
So we pretty much invited ourselves on their trip.
First stop the Dry Canyon, AKA Wolgan View or Nobles Canyon.
Ans then we head off to find some honeycomb.
The facilities at the Glowworm tunnel has undergone an upgrade and the road it the best I’ve ever seen it so it was to be expected that the car park would be chokas on a long week immediately after reopenning.
But we found a park, grabbed the packs and skipped up the hill
Millies new bed room. She is quite impressed with it
Post 2019 fire scrub has grown back hard!
So much so we couldn’t see the canyon until we were right on it
Honeycomb is a pretty little pagoda canyon. Adventurous, with trick abseil starts but nothing overly awesome
Go Go Gadget had been in a moon boot with a broken foot for the last six weeks and now she was out we thought we’d ease back into it.
Or sumfink
We’d thrown around a few options and settled on Serendipity canyon at Mt Wilson. But, um well, Unpopular opinion: I’ve never been a big fan of Serendipity. Just always thought it was overrated. Gadgets wasn’t a fan either.
So we changed plans last minute and headed to a little one off the Bells Line that neither of us had visited before.
Named after an elaborate pot plantation in the head waters that got busted in the 90s I had not given too much thought to Marihuana Canyon before and had low expectations but it was something new so why not.
Scrub bashing down we avoid the upper cliff lines but get to the lower cliff and decide to rope up.
And we shall never speak about the tiny shrubs we used for anchors ever again.
As I use to joke with my old mate Della, if it’s wider than your thumb it’s ok. We never did clarify if you held your thumb vertical or horizontal.
Anyhoo
We enter the creek a little high (see what I did there.)
But it didn’t take long to start getting pretty
And before long it drops into a stunning little canyon.
The water was so clear.
And soon we reach the junction with South Bowen
We work our way upstream through some very nice canyon section.
A wider section of South Bowen
TBH it was hard work making our way upstream so we got to our exit and hauled out.
He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it: D Adam’s
It’s late March in the Australian Alps. Why am I roasting ?
Gather around, grab a seat and get comfortable kids. I’ve got a tale to tell.
I’m sat in the patchy shade of a patchy shade bush waiting my turn as the sun beats down and reflects back up off the granite.
The guide wasn’t overly clear on exactly where the top anchor was but the others were confident they had the right spot.
Me? Not so much. I’d been nervous as shit about this one for some reason.
The guide said there were a multitude of bolts to choose from but the ones set further back with captive rings were the better option.
Problem was I could only see 2 sets and the ones further back didn’t have captive rings. And we weren’t really on a rounded boulder and, I was second guessing stuff.
Just let me have a look around.
So I’d soaked up time looking a long the cliff edge then in the creek on the ledge below. Nothing.
We’d all donned our full wetsuits earlier. Did I mention it was hot?
It was hot.
Kris dunked himself in the creek to cool down while I was stuffing around. Kylie waded in to do the same.
We headed back up and decided to check the anchor closer to the edge as we figured at least that didn’t drop straight onto the ledge and U bolts are closer to rings than the bolt hangers on the other ones.
I’d stuffed everyone around and wasted time.
I set up on anchor duties. P1 is supposed to be 38m to a semi hanging belay. Because I’m not 100% sure we are at the right anchor I let out 50m so Kris has a factor of safety and over he goes.
Muz slips across to a lookout to take photos and is prefectly located to keep us informed of what’s happening on the face
Time elapses.
He’s coming back up. Calls Muz
Kris regains the ledge 10m below.
I could see the P3 anchors just below me but they were way over to canyon left and I could not traverse that far. Calls he.
Weird. P3 anchor was suppose to be another 35m below the P2 anchor. I still had 15m of my 64m rope in my bag.
I saw the bolts for P2 on the way up. Says He
He has done an amazing job and now he is safely back on the large ledge I had walked out to earlier (I’m guessing in high water like they had when pioneering the canyon that would not be an option) he directs me to reset on the other bolts. I add some maillons to the hangers and Kylie resets the rope.
It’s a little known fact that maillons were invented is 1673 by a Frenchman called Louis D’Nutter. The same guy who invented the bicycle derailleur. No one really knows how to pronounce either one but we all attempt to sound French as we try.
I digress, We’ve been in the wetsuits in the heat for about 1.5hrs by now
Did I mention it was hot?
It was hot.
Damn hot.
Fry an egg on your helmet hot.
Hywaida takes the 80m rope and goes next. There’s not much room at the rebelay so Kris has P2 set. She will get to him then continue down to set up P3.
Kylie will then go and skip past both and we’ll regroup at the bottom of the 80m P3.
At least that’s the plan.
I find a patchy shade bush to sit under as the sun beats down and reflects up the granite as I wait my turn. But I’d already told you that bit.
Muz calls that Kylie is clear of P1. I rig the pull cord, drop on down to Kris and we pull the rope.
I take a 40 leaving Kris with the 60.
Is Kylie passed the anchor? Calls I
No they are still sorting it out. Calls Muz. who is now adding in all the correct hand signals.
Two whistle blasts come up. I start down. Muz tells me to stop.
I whip the camera out
Oh hi.
Kylie calls me down
Hywaida is starting to struggle in the heat. She hadn’t taken a dip to cool off and it was damn hot.
I reach the small ledge they are setting up on and noticed they are clipped to a single bolt which didn’t leave a lot of room for PASs and rope.
Kylie is tipping water over H’s head to cool her down
This isn’t the right anchor
The guide doesn’t mention the single bolt at all but Kylie had more detailed notes from a friend and we remember them saying to ignore the single bolt halfway down P2.
We get the the 80m set up and we discuss a game plan. Kylie is going to stay with Hywaida to get some water into her and cool her down. I’m going to head down on the 80, if I find another anchor within the next 20m I’ll secure myself and I’ll blow 3 whistles. that means to lower the 80m to me and reset using a 40m
If I don’t find any rebelay bolts but make it to the bottom it’s two whistles as normal. come down on the 80.
I head on down looking for more bolts but I ain’t see shit.
Well, except for the end of my rope about 10m above the bottom of the drop.
Halfway down I’d finally entered the flow. It was deliciously cool but now I’m a little worried about people needing to pass a knot right where the flow funnels in to smack you in the face.
Luckily there was a convenient, albeit tiny, alcove with a 30x30cm ledge right where I needed it.
I join my 40m rope on and continue down.
Hywaida comes next.
Oi! Calls I. You need to pass a knot.
What, calls she.
A Knot! calls I
I can’t hear what you are saying!
She tries to continue
There’s a Knot! calls she as she finally sees it she does what’s needed and continues down
Kylie comes next.
Oi! Calls I. You need to pass a knot.
What, calls she
A knot! Calls me and Hywaida
I can’t hear what you are saying!
She tries to continue
There’s a knot! Calls she. And does what needs doing to continue down.
Kris comes next
Oi! Calls I… you can probably see where this is going.
He gets off on a larger ledge and scrambles down not needing to pass the knot.
Kris is in there somewhere
Ok so I can see how this would be a major test piece in the flows they had during the La Niña years when they were establishing it and writing the guide but at 1.2Ml so far it’s just been abseiling down a (high) waterfall for the sake of abseiling down a (high) waterfall.
From here though the abseils get a little more interesting and funner.
In high flow accessing the anchors would be scary as a really scary thing.
We’d been warned about the terrifying false bottoms and syphons and stuff but at this water level it was an easy traverse to the next anchor across a solidly wedged boulder choke
Dem views 📸Kylie
Whoop whoop 📸Kylie
Next up is the superhero anchors.
Apparently boulder has moved. The bolts were originally set high but now they are so high and reachy I wouldn’t be able to reach them and I have quite a reachy reach.
Lucky Kris has his panic draw, which only just reaches. He then has to use that to pull himself up and out to clip in. Once again he saves the day.
TBH I think you’d be better combining this drop off the previous anchor. It looks like it would be a clean pull down anyway.
Kris levitating at the SHAB (stoopid high anchor bolts) meeeeeee on rope 📸Kylie
H P5
And all that’s left now is to boulder hop down stream to find the exit.
We scramble on down and spot a small cairn but to the right of it the climb looks horrendous and the guide says large cairn and we have a trace off ropewiki that says the exit is still further down stream
We press on to where the trace says the exit should be. There’s no cairn but a slight weakness in the vegetation in the first real side gully we’ve seen so we start up. It gets steeper and sketchier and shittier the higher we go.
We decide to bail and Kris heads back upstream to double check for a cairn we may have missed.
He finds it so eventually we start up the trail.
It goes
It goes
It just goes and goes and goes.
Up. traverse a bit. Haul up a handline. descend a gully. Up again etcetera etcetera etcetera.
The views at the top match the feels of getting out though
Type 2 Fun.
Crystal Brook is a big undertaking even at low flow, but a solid team brings the dream.
I think I made a better boy than I do a man, I admitted ruefully to the wolf. R Hobb.
It’s been a spell since I’d done a big scrub bash on a djinn’s whim of finding a questionable canyon and, TBH I had a tip off that we would find canyons in our chosen creeks
But you never know until you go.
We use to drive out here for a picnic over looking the Wolgan. Even a few years ago it was a reasonable (if legally questionable ) ride on the mountain bikes. Post 2019 fires regrowth is hectic.
Even since we did surefire late last year the scrub has engulfed more of the trail.
Anyhoo that was not going to deter us and we head out in good spirits.
There was a bit of debate about where to set up camp. Closer to our destination would give quicker access to the canyons in the morning but that meant lugging the camp gear further
Deadset this seems as good a place as any to set a rough camp.
Not wanting to carry a full tent we banked on it not raining and spread out under the stars.
Magical
I didn’t even feel the factor 3 earth quake that was conjured up and rumbled through the Bluies sometime that evening
Did you feel it? Asks Vince the next morning.
Nope, says I. I was dead to the world
We leave the camp gear and make our way further along the ridge before dropping into our first target.
We weren’t expecting much. unpublished “wilderness” canyons along this part of the Wolgan can be hit and miss but generally aren’t renown for high quality. (The high quality ones mostly found their way into the guidebook)
My good self and Vince making our way into a promising looking creek
We descend the upper cliffs without it really. Canyoning up and then it opens out again
Have we missed it? Asks Gadget. We’re not that far from the junction.
We are expecting the junction to be where the canyon ends.
We continue down.
And then
Hmmm that looks smelly I wonder how deep it is ?
Kylie summons up the courage. Turns out it was smelly and deep enough.
The creek finally canyons up and begins to plummet through the lower cliff line
The abseils all have tricky starts. getting over the edge without getting jammed is a bit of a black art but we all got through.
Gadget below abseil 3 looking for an anchor amid the dead fall
Another tricky start and a long abseil over several ledges with no options to rebelay
It keeps going. like the army of the undead
It was an interesting little canyon dropping steeply through several ledges of various widths.
Despite the ledges the only anchor options is about 35m above me at this point
Ok first goal achievements . A quick look about and now to break a pass back up through the cliff and check out its neighbour.
Getting back up through the lower cliff was surprisingly easy.
We knew the adjoining creek also had a canyon in it and seeing as all the interesting bits of the first one were in the lower cliff line we traversed around and dropped into our next one.
It started with a bit of promise
But just didn’t deliver.
After the second scrubby abseil we realise we are 1 short abseil above the junction where our first canyon finished.
Disappointment
We ascend up the previous drop then scramble out a convenient side gully.
There was chatter about checking the upper section out as it is rumoured to hold cool abseils.
But open scrubby creek greets us as we make our way up stream. We gain the ridge and continue up, keeping an eye on our gully just in case it drops through a slot but there’s nothing of note below the top cliff line.
Another easy pass yields us the ridge top
And thus back to camp and homeward bound.
It was a longish walk out for 2 short canyons. But I still get a kick out of exploring little canyons few others bother wit h. These ones would be doable in a day with a fit, efficient group but camping out was half the appeal. Plus there is other stuff out here that’s worth a look
This was suppose to happen before Christmas but a big rain event had NP jumping at shadows and closing things down.
Even though it stayed dry for the next 4days the parks were still closed and we had to postpone.
Until now.
Yeah baby
First up pizza and beerios at Evans lookout.
Oh, and as a 70s child a 70s theme seemed to make sense.
These lads
They really are a legendary bunch of humans
After posing and yakking and general shenanigans we make our way down the Grand Canyon trail under a setting sun and drop into the slot to say g’day to the glowworms.
I always forget the walkin/walkout to canyon ratio for Grand blows but it is a pretty little slot in any light
Night canyoning is a different experience
Space girl
Traversing under worms.
Dick glows as much as any worm
I really am lucky to be surrounded by amazing people and it was a great night.
And backing it up the next morning with a trip through Twister and Rocky Creek was a great idea
Entering the maw
It’s hard to describe just how much I love rocky creek.
How could the weekend get any better?
I’m glad you asked
Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. And scratch where it itches. A Roosevelt Longworth
BACK oh and once again I’m raising money fir the Westpak Rescue Helicopter so please consider a donation
In the spirit of cruisey we push that start time 30min later..
That might have been a mistake. As I role up the mountain it seems like every second car in NSW is trying to get a car park at the trail head.
Are you with them? Asks old mate pointing at a large group as I step out of my car.
Not me.
Come on boys let’s get going. Says he. Oh which way is it?
I point old mate and his 2 sons(?) in the general direction.
I notice Leo T marshalling the aforementioned group. That’s a relief. A commercially guided group that all bought their own cars making it seem like it’s a bigger group than it is. I know Leo is efficient and quick with his groups so not too fussed there .
Another group jumps out of their car and heads off to beat the rush.
Madie and Leo arrive and introduce another two of the people milling around. Achi and Toni are with us. Excellent.
Everyone ready to go? let’s get going before anyone else shows up. Says they
Um we aren’t due to meet for another 10 mins and Brook’s not here yet. Says I
Bugger say they.
Another group of 4 arrive. Leo knows them from rescue they banter about getting the jump on us and head off.
Brook arrives. Ok let’s go.
A quick walk becomes a slow jog becomes “keep up!”
Oi! I was promised a cruisey social trip.
By the time we get to the wetsuit change spot we’ve over taken all the groups who started before us.
As I always say, it’s not a competition. Unless you are winning, and right now we are winning.
Winning
Ok get changed and get into it. We’ll slow down when we get to the abseils.
Thank fugg for that.
The “black hole”
Overcast day meant sunbeams were unlikely but oh the ohm-bi-aunce
Despite the three thousand two hundred and forty eight cars at the car park we haven’t seen any one in the canyon since one of the groups got to the top of the first abseil just as our last member was roping up.
We figure most of them would have leapfrogged us while we were in Thunder but we catch back up to the group of 4 at the exit and have a chat while we dry off and have a bite to eat and it appears no one else is in front of them.
then it’s up, up and up.
There’s still a gazillion cars at the car park
And while winning is winning, my legs don’t work anymore.
we farewell Achi and Toni then head for a well earned beerio
sleepwhenwearedead 