Kylie, Jason, Beck, Robin, Alex, Dane and meeeeeee
We were in northern NSW and it was too good an opportunity not to have a New Years Day play date with Jason and his QLD crew.
Every one else had done this one before but it had been on Kylie and my wish list for a while.
Pictures of it pumping in previous years had us frothing.
However, recent photos look like a trickle.
A storm the night before got our hopes up.
We meet at the top secret location (note: location may not be top secret) and skirt private property boundaries to access our canyon.
The storm had done nothing. Nothing !
The creek was dry as a nuns nipple.
Well not quite. There was water flowing, just
Jason wondering where the water went.
Alex on rope while Dane waits
Kylie thinking, well at least it’s a little wet
It might be a trickle but still pretty
Taking on Vecna
Robin wondering if he should avoid the pool or plunge in
There is a teeny tiny lathe you can unclip and jump from
Coming last I made an error. I didn’t unclip it just did the usual Empress release the brake hand and jump.
I knew my centre mark was just beyond the anchor.
I figure I jump out and when I reach the end it will pull the pull strand with me.
I’ve done that before, but I unclipeped first.
This time I’m sailing through the air, there’s “a bit” of a jolt snap the plastic lug it was tied to and the end of the rope recoils up And is now on a teeny tiny ledge 4metres above the pool.
Up I jug to retrieve it.
Lessen learned, double check your centre mark, especially when doing abseils exactly as long as half your rope. And keep an eye on your end of rope markers
I have marks at the 10 and 5m points to let me know I’m getting to the end. I didn’t even look for them. Dumb arse.
Anyhoo all good, no harm, rope retrieved. Let’s never speak of it again.
One more abseil and she’s all over.
Beck doing it in style Only slightly rinsed but Happy canyoners
There’s some great side canyons along the Wollangambe with the most popular ones clustered around Mt Wilson.
Of those accessed from the Fire Shed there are a couple of outliers that get less traffic due to being a little harder to get too.
Whirlpool canyon is one of these.
Expecting a stinking hot day and a long scrubby walk in we meet early and head off.
The others had obtained a GPS trace of the entry, I had my usual plotted way point for the canyon start and sometimes/usaul/mostly wackily off gut feel…
Banter made the walk in pass in a flash, well not really but it was surprisingly simple, even if I did get completely turned around at one point, thankfully Clare and Kylie kept us on track. Though when H suggested we try a short cut I was all in.
It was also relatively scrub free(ish)
Slipping down H’s side gully hoping to cut off a fair bit of the GPS trace.
And soon we find ourself at the start of the canyon.
We weren’t expecting much out of this one but a short abseil gets us into a surprisingly nice slot.
Kylie sussing out the first abseil
There was some interesting anchor set ups and a couple of the abseils have very tricky starts. This problem solving aspect is part of what I really enjoy about canyoning.
Don’t get my wrong, on popular trips where hordes of foot steps compact tree roots and pulling rope after rope wears grooves in the rock well placed bolts are a Good Thing (TM) but they do take something away from the overall experience of problem solving. That’s probably not a major draw for most, but for me it’s a big part of it.
Anyhoo that’s off topic.
Back in the land of dodgy anchors, we check each one carefully (as you should every time). Replace what needs to be replaced and carefully consider the remnant dodginess
Before lone you could feel the warmth chimneying up from the ‘Gambe
H leads the way down the last abseil and soon we reach the Junction with the Wollangambe
But the day is not over. Our exit is about a kilometre and half downstream.
Having pretty much traced this enigmatic river from its source at Clarence to below Mt Irvine on various trips over the years I reckon this bit is the most stunning section of the ‘Game
Deep walls and beautiful pools.
That’s said it’s not easy going with deep sand and boulder hoping between long swims zapping your energy after an already longish day .
Having less foot traffic it’s also a lot slipperier in spots.
Just before our exit we catch a group from the central coast who had completed Geronimo.
We chat at the exit, cooling off at the sandy beach before making our way back up to the shed.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day but it was also a long day for a shortish canyon so I wouldn’t rush back to repeat the trip.
Whirlpool itself was nice and as stated it’s a beautiful section of the Wollangambe so worth doing at least once.
But Having a much larger catchment it can be a disappointing trickle or a wall of white water death.
We got it almost perfect.
We meet up and waste no time walking to the end of the fire trail and making our way down to the upper falls.
We bypass the first cascade and its inviting plunge pool.
Kent leads us pass an anchor set mid river left to find another just to the left of the main flow.
All abseils except the big one have easy escape routes back to the exit trail so you can pretty much choose your own adventure with doing a part or the whole.
Our first 3 slabby abseils are between 8 and 15m high. They are a bit of fun and nothing technical.
It’s a beautiful series of falls interspaced with plunge pools
Joel and I have the long ropes and get sent ahead to set the big drop.
From Kent’s description I’m nervously looking for a narrow ledge I need to traverse across which may or may not be slippery.
I’m standing on the edge of a wide slopping platform with heaps of grip looking for something below.
Bolts are behind you. Says Joel
I look at the wall behind me.
On the ground.says Joel.
Oh
I know this particular drop was pioneered by members of one of the caving clubs a few years ago.
2 odd looking bolts are set on the ground 7 or 8m back from the edge. 1 is a 8mm cap screw. The other a type I’ve not seen before….
A nice shiney new glue in has been added and all 3 equalised using D shackles.
We set up and Joel leads the way down. We have about 76m of rope out and by the time he gets to the next big ledge and traverses across to the rebelay there is maybe 3m of tail left.
As Kent heads down the rope snags behind a nub of rock which gets dislodged as he traverses at the bottom. He calls up a warning over the two way.
Dave about to descend
The rest of us get down no drama but Kent is reluctant to pull rope from directly below.
Joel devises a plan which will allow us to descend the next 12m abseil on a biner block, tie the pull cord for the previous ropes to the biner and pull rope from both pitches together from a safe spot on the far side of the plunge pool
We all head down. Most swim across the pool. Joel does a nice traverse climb to avoid the swim.
Pete follows Joel but does not avoid the swim…
I stay dry, just
The main falls. Around 90m
We start to pull and the system works perfectly
1 rope down.
2 two ropes down
3rd rope clears the anchor the end tumbles down and lands in a ledge. I start to pull.
It comes.
It comes .
It does not come.
Joel and I spend a bit of time trying different angles and stuff and it’s stuck good and proper on the only ledge not accessible from the exit track.
Next time we think we’d set this drop, leave the rope there and collect it on the way out. Not only would it avoid a stuck rope but it would avoid the need for 2 x 76m+ ropes and carrying it out the bottom half of the exit.
Joel looking further down as storm clouds begin to roll in.
Kent on the next one which passes under big boulder halfway down
Looking back up the main series of drop. Can you spot Dave, Cotter and Joel?
Finally we get to the wetter part of the trip. We are not quite 3/4 of the way down, still 150m or so above the Kowmung.
Below a series of falls and plunge pools
Above thou, the sky is cranky.
Dark clouds, thunder and a spattering of rain.
Big storms were predicted for later in the day. It looks like they arrived early. Standing on exposed granite in a lightning storm probably isn’t the best idea so we opt to abort the trip and scramble out to the exit track.
The storm doesn’t really hit in full, thou I later learn it hit the mountain with a good smash of hail. While disappointed not to complete the trip to the bottom we are comfortable with the call.
Besides, it gives us a good excuse to comeback and finish the journey.
“A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but because of its persistence.” – Jim Watkins
Popeye creek pops in and out of canyon sections along much of its course and it’s one I’d not done before.
A big Saturday trip had been foiled by thunderstorms and we just needed to shake out the cobwebs but couldn’t be arsed repacking ropes and stuff so thought why not have a look at some non abseil sections in Popeye.
Meeting at the crack of 10am, or there abouts we make our way in in no time.
We’d be entering the canyon a long way upstream of where the jamieson guide recommends but not too far from the increasingly popular Popeye falls.
The creek cuts a deep, promising looking cleft in the sandstone.
A short section of narrow u bends hide a pleasant little canyon.
There’s a bit of bridging to stay dry above the knees. But the water is a pleasant temp anyway
Not the figure 8 pool
It is very pretty.
Parts very similar to the Dumbano tunnels.
We are already impressed. the canyon opens up a bit and Waratahs line the banks.
Waratahs along a spur off Waratah ridge? Who would have thunk it
And soon we come to the falls.
Most visitors to here avoid the canyon bit and keep their feet dry by scrambling down the nose.
It’s a funky little waterfall through an arch in a side creek
We phaff about with photos for a bit, we have to pool all to ourselves., but then push on downstream to the next canyon section.
A bit wider and deeper it’s a nice walk through section
It’s nice
Again the canyon opens out. We believe it’s a 1km scrub bash down to the next bit so, happy with our easy day, we retrace our steps back up to the waterfall. A crowd of people are here now.
There’s an easier way in, says old mate sucking in a vape.
We came that way, replies Ellie very politely. We just had a look at some other stuff while out here.
We leave the guards and scramble out into the cliff top for lunch.
Our weekend plans had fallen through so we thought we’d go in search of some waterfalls neither of us had been to before.
Kylie suggested a spot and during research got a tip off that the fire trail out to them had recently been gated.
So we put the mountain bikes in to help eat up the kilometres.
Not only are the swimming holes spectacular this could now be my favourite fire trail ride (Did I just say that? what have I become?) I have a feeling the guy who did the road work is a mountain biker. Each waterbar seemed to be a perfectly shaped step down. Even though recovering from a shoulder injury meant I couldn’t take to the air it was still a blast.
Anyhoo, that’s not what we are here for.
20min later we are stashing the bikes in the bush and heading down a steep trail cutting through subtropical rainforest quiet different from anything you usually see in the upper mountains..
This brings us to a pleasant creek and we head downstream.
We have some lunch and a splash then make our way out.
The Haul up the hill is steep but interesting enough that I wasn’t in a world of suffering. And while I thought the ride back to the car might be tough it was just as much fun as it was coming in, with some pinches to keep you honest.
On the way back we spy some interesting mushrooms.
So of course we had to head back in the dark to see if they still had a shine.
It was faint, barely able to be made out with naked eye but some long exposures brought up their beauty.
Click to enbiggen
Ghost Mushrooms produce bioluminescence for around 22hrs a day. And for 14 of those hours you would think they are just another mushroom. People are like ghost mushrooms, if you can’t see their glow you are looking at them in the wrong light: C Flynn
sleepwhenwearedead 