mountains

Arethusa, again

| flynny101

02/04/22

Madie, Kylie, Russ and meeeeee

It had been 5 weeks since I have done a canyon!!!

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.

but anyhoo I have done write ups of Arethusa before here and here, so enjoy the photos (none of which are mine so ©Madie ©Russ and ©Kylie.)

Madie checking out an alternate rap to avoid the pot hole in the waterfall
The girls wondering if I’ll make it across the gap in the slipperiest-shoes-known-to-man(tm)

https://youtube.com/shorts/A9ExmCQuWqw?feature=share

Same spot a couple of years ago different water level
She’s a pretty canyon

meat anchors are me
Frothy

And then it’s time to climb out, well it’s time for Madie to climb out and haul the rest of us up or sumfink

the crew
it’s best not to ask

Of course I’m sane, when trees start talking to me, I don’t talk back: T Pratchett Well Ok sometimes I do: Flynny

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A Grand afternoon outing

| flynny101

29/10/2020

Madie, Leo, Quinton, Lucie and meeeee

Hey Flynny are you working today?

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

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Kamarah Gully

| flynny101

8/9/2020

Meeeeee

Kamarah:

  1. Aboriginal word for Sleep
  2. Sleepy little town on the outskirts of the Riverina
  3. A small sleeper of a canyon somewhat less visited than it’s neighbours

The name fits with other creek names in the area. Yileen = To dream/dream like. Dalpura = Peaceful, Kamarah = Sleep. I’ve not been able to find a meaning for Koombanda, Jungaburra or Jinki but assume they fit the theme somehow.

Like most canyons in this area it’s not that deep or sustained but has some pretty bits to it.

From the bottom of Koombanda it’s possible to scramble up the nose below the junction and drop back down into the top of Kamarah. I guess this is the way most people do it, it makes sense as they are both short and adding in Kamarah then exiting up to the west via convenient tree roots can be a quicker than exiting via the old mine, especially if you don’t want to do a car shuffle.

You do, however miss some nice erosion caves further up the gully

Anyhoo this description is almost longer than the canyon already

With a day off and everyone else seemingly busy I took the opportunity of a quick afternoon stroll. The creek is drier than I’ve seen it before. I wander down off the ridge, check out the caves which seem to have a lot more block fall than I remember, then make my way down until the walls start to canyon up

The water level is down at least 30cm from my last visit
But it’s still a lush green in contrast to the burnt out ridge lines nearby
First drop is about 3m, some careful bridging meant I could keep my feet dry today
You can see how far down the water level is from usual
More shallow canyon follows

Then the creek drops into a dark hole

Typical of canyons in this area it has one, shallow but stunning chamber
And some nice bits follow

And then just before the junction with Koombanda brook you can climb out on the right, or continue down this this nice overhang to scramble up on the left

Time: 2.5hr car to car with a lot of faffing around

Whatever you do today don’t forget to be just that tiny little bit awesome

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The Eyrie

| flynny101

22-01-2020

After our (my) botched attempt prior to new years we had to go back an do it properly.

For such an easy climb it has a lot of atmosphere

  • ©Madie
  • ©Madie
  • ©Madie
  • ©Madie
  • ©Madie
  • ©Madie
  • ©Madie

Life is like a box of chocolates: It doesn’t last long if you’re fat: Joe Lycett.

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A peaceful dapple in Dalpura

| flynny101

05/10/2019

Aleasha, Gibbo and Macca and meeeeee or sumfink

With too many hobbies and a bunch of commitments I just wanted to get out for a pleasant, short afternoon canyon and thought to myself Dalpura is pleasant and short and a canyon and Saturday has an afternoon. A plan started to form…

I’d hadn’t caught up with this lot of awesome folk for few weeks and they were keen enough to join me. Awesome.

Dalpura starts with a nice little section
You only get wet to your waist, said I. Forgetting that takes a bit of effort and even then it was more like chest deep

Um, Russ, did you not pack your harness and stuff? said all of us as Russ rigged up a munter hitch on makeshift tape harness

I have them in my bag, says Russ. But I couldn’t be bothered getting them out. I’m a minimalist….

OK then, cool beans. Rock on,

Jeremy
Russ
Aleasha
The second section starts with a short abseil into what I reckon is one of the prettiest canyon chambers in the Blue Mountains. In the right light it is magical. Today we were a bit late in the afternoon
It is still a nice spot thou
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From there the canyon opens out, closes in and opens out again. There are some nice bits but nothing mind blowing

It’s odd how compelling these little challenges can be. We were already wet but we all had a crack
The I’ll have a Crack kid may or may not have made it to the end… You can do it Jez… Maybe
Never overly deep or narrow it does have pleasant bits
And crystal clear water

Hey there is a little ledge down here with stunning views…. It was fogged out

Hey from up here there awesome views toward Mt Vic and Blackheath…. FoggyMcfogfog.

Still the wild flowers were out on display

How awesome are Waratahs? The correct answer is Very.
And Spiderwebs in the rain… this one was tiny, Captured with the macro setting

Party Size: 4

Time: 2.5hrs car to car

If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be,

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Previous trips 26/03/16 / 31/03/2018

Arethusa again

| flynny101

9-03-2019

David-Stephen, Jess, Ev, Madie, David, Tim and meeee

The only way to back up a fairly late night in Rocky would be a reasonably early start for another canyon

And so, blearied eyes and muddle-headed I find myself driving up to join Madie and Ev waiting for the others for a quick trip through Arethusa canyon.

I was suffering sleep deprivation and the trip is a bit of a blur so I’ll let the photos tell the things

Standard way in
More exciting way in
It really is a stunning bit of canyon

Butterbox gets all the glory for being an adventurous canyon with climbing exit but for me Arethusa is hands down a better all round canyon and the climb out excellent.

Ev asked if she could lead and we happily let her. Wow she handled the climbs like a bomb and set belays like seasoned pro. So cool to watch

  • itch 3 is 1 tricky move then an exposed traverse
  • Ev on lead
Madie on the other hand…..

Sure my climbing style sucked the big fat one too but people were kind enough not to capture that in too many photos..

And with international women’s day just gone what better way to celebrate

Party Size: 7

Time: 7hrs car to car

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly without fear for newer experiences: Elenor Roosevelt

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Empress Falls the Weird Way

| flynny101

16-02-19

Joel, Amber, Jen, Madie, Matthew, Gabby, Andrew, Sonya, Mark, Bernie and meee. Oh, and Geoff as the devil taking photos at the bottom

One day Joel (the sweet, innocent, shy fella he is) had an idea to do something wild.

Let’s have a dress up canyon party, says he.

And so we had to ask ourselves. What would Ginger Jesus do?

Um, He just suggested a dress up canyon…. Well der, dress up canyon party it is

The theme went from Anti-Valentine to Porn to Slotty to hot and wet to anything goes and eventually a mixed bag of fun loving freaks turned up to, um , have fun and, ah, be freaky in one of the most popular canyons in the Mountains.

If only someone had taken a camera…..

Note: there were more cameras than people

Jack Sparrow and some rock chick he picked up on the way in, AKA Madie and Matt
Cat Woman and Lucifer

We gathered out the front of the Conservation hut for some snaps

Just your standard Saturday morning canyon crew ©Geoff


I’m only doing 1 canyon today, says Gabby. Like hell, retorts Madie. We’re doing all the canyons and we are doing them all today! Come on

Lucky Joel was there to settle them down

Like a bizarre Piped Piper Joel leads the sexy people away
Not your standard Empress Falls attire. It was almost disappointing that we only ran into 1 other group, and that was at the end of the canyon.

  • Gabby
  • Madie
With all the fun of the costumes at times I had to remind myself we were in a very pretty canyon
We’re not in Kanas any more Toto

Did I mention the canyon was pretty?


Cattitude

Cap’n Jack

School Girl Jen, Schooling

They’re fighting again

Wait. No they’re not

By the time we were all down the abseil there was a large ensemble of tourists/walkers cheering, jeering and leering at us. Well I say “us” but it was mostly at Joel.

and the looks we got as we hiked back up the tourist track for a bite to eat at the hut were priceless.

Party Size: 11 but we split into 11 groups of 1 because, like, who’d want to associate with those other weirdos.

Time: Time has no meaning when you are having that much fun


If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be: Maya Angelou

 

https://vimeo.com/317642115

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*March 2019 I am once again participating in the Wests Cycle Classic to raise money for the Westpac rescue helicopter. If you enjoy my blog or just want to help this great cause think about making a small donation

Jinki Ridge

| flynny101

Access: A nice walk along a gentle ridge. Tar to parking area

Navigation: Navigation is fairly straight forward though the trail can be a little vague further out

Time: 30min out. 30min back

Date walked: 31-03-18

Jinki ridge is another spur off the Bells Line of road that gives nice views over the Grose Valley. A trail runs from the Bells Line of road out between Jinki and Dalpura creeks and the Pagodas out the end are reminiscent of the Lost city.

Getting there: From the weigh station at Bell follow the Bells line of road toward Sydney for approximately 4km and just after the concrete lane dividers end there is  an old fire trail which goes right just as the road swings around to the left. Turn off into this fire trail and park at the locked gate (Obviously try not to obstruct the gate)

The fire trail goes South and then veers East to start and is easy to follow (note: there is another fire trail just back a bit at a more open park spot, but it goes West then swings North) . Jinki ridge offers great views over the upper Grose over towards Mt Victoria.

The fire trail eventually deteriorates to single track. It can be a little vague  but just stay on the top of the ridge

Views change to your left side with some vantage points looking down the Grose. Towards the end of the ridge you get views over to Valhala Head and Thors Head from high pagodas. Be careful near the cliff edges as they are all over hung and brittle.

Also care is needed on the pagodas. The plate pagodas are fairly unique to our area and iron stone bands that make them so unique break off very easily. These awesome rock formations take thousands of years to form, the last thing we want is for them to be damage by a careless footstep.

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Return: The way you came in

Note: The great outdoors is an ever changing place. Bush fires, changing weather, vegetation growth and forestry activities can all effect the trail conditions and thus the difficulty of the walk. These are a rough guide only and are by no means meant to be a definitive guide . They do not replace the need adequate map reading and navigational skills

Note 1: Taking care  While reasonably well known these spots are still wild places and care needs to be taken around cliff edges and on the steep trails.  Carrying the right gear as well as having adequate food, water and clothing is important. Always tell someone where you are going and when you expect to get back.

Emergency beckons (PLBs) can be hired from Katoomba Police for very little.

Note 2: First aid A basic first aid kit is essential bit of kit whenever heading into the Aussie bush. A basic first aid is highly recommended

Note 3: Maps and Navigation Having the right map, a compass and knowing how to read them is very important when heading into the bush. If you are new to bush walking joining a club or accompanying more experienced walker for you first few outing is a very good idea. I found practicing map reading on well defined trails was helpful when I started out.

The Maps mentioned are the 1:25000 series. They can be purchase at Lithgow tourism information center, from outdoors shops or online for around $10 each.

Note 4: These are wild and beautiful places, respect them. If you are able to carry something in you can carry it out. Don’ be a tosser. Leaving your rubbish behind is a sure way to ruin it for every one else.

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