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
Another trip to this short but pretty dryish canyon out the back of Clarence, and a stop at Goochs Crater on the way back
This is an awesome sheltered cave. The creek, when it’s running flows through the back of it.Venturing up the stuning side canyon. First recorded exploration of this slot by a bushwalking club was a group from Sydney Uni Bush Walking club in 1962, though I suspect Col Oloman would have visited previously either on one of his solo trips or with friends as they explored the areas through here across to the Bungleboori and beyond. Neither bothered to name it.I keep forgetting how short this slot is. You get caught up in the light and ambience and time ceases to have meaningthe large cave in a 180 bend in the canyon.It’s like another world. Ciaus and Ed desided when society falls apart this might be a good place to liveEd in one of the more open twists and turns in the very narrow upper section of canyontight and twisting canyon formationEd on the peak, the canyon carves around either side of him. The cave at the bend can be seen in the cliff line, though the scale of it is hiddne by the treesWe seem to be climbing out to look down on the top of canyons a lot latelyCiaus and Jake as the canyon opens out slightly near the caveEd in the canyonOn our way back out
Ed looking down on the cliff lined swamp known as Gooches craterLooking down on Ed and Ethan through the Sky light in Goochs archIt’s an interesting featureJake heading over to join Ethan and Ed under the archIt really is impressiveJake in the well used camp/party cave looking back towards the arch
Tiger snake is a cool little canyon. The two canyon sections are very short but the top one is tight with some interesting climb downs/absiels and the bottom section is magnificantly deep and narrow making it very cave like. One of the few “dry” canyons where you need a head torch in the midde of the day.
It’s a hard subject to photograph well but we had a goal in mind for sun set shots at a spot close by and thought this would be a good way to fill in the day.
-7.5° is almost a record low over night temp for the ‘Go, lucky its a short day and we weren’t planning to leave until 10am. By then most of the frost had melted and while cold, the sun was shining nicely.
The walk in was fairly uneventful and we reach the cleft where the small creek drops into the upper section without incident
It’s an awe inspiring fissure, Narrow and dark
In all our previous trips we have absieled directly down here. It is an awkward absiel, as you have to bridge out over the narrow section to a bit that gives a bit more room, then you are pretty much down climbing on rope, if you slip you are going to swing in and get grated into the narrow bit… This time we deside to check out the alternate anchor point from higher up on the pagodas next to the slot.
The views fromthe top are amazeballz
Tal and Ed checking the view and enjoying the sun shine
It also gives you a great perspective over the top section of canyon. It really is narrow and short
That dark slot drops 15-20meters down before openning up just around the cornerThe abseil from the higher anchor point is still narrow and awkward but you don’t feel you are goign to get pulled back into the narrow slot, plus you miss a little pool so keep your feet dry for a bit longerEd dropping in
Once in there is a slipery down climb, another advantage of the high anchor and long ropes is you can leave them set to assist you dont this bit and along the log to keep your feet dry again
And then it’s the infamous bundle of sticks anchor. Where some one has placed a surperfluous fixed line.
Hmmm that water looks cold, might take a few balancey moves to keep our feet dryTal descends as Ed watches onEd unclipping on a tiny ledge as he contemplates how to keep his feet dry
With the advantage of a bit of hieght I managed to bridge across easily. Tal had a bit of a go but decided the risk of slipping in outweighed the thought of getting his socks wet so just stepped in. Ed took a bit of time and all but done a Van Dam like set of splits but made it across the small, wet, slippery, sloping ledge.
The top section finishes with this 17m absiel next to a small water fall
It is possible, with some good scrambling and down climbing skills to do the entire top section, including this bit, without abseiling but it is risky and why would you miss this one? It’s a very nice abseil
Ed on rope Tal on firemans belay
It’s a short walk down the gully, the creek is dry again with the wtare from the canyon soaking into the sandy soil, to the lower constriction
There are acouple of ways in. Entering straight down the creek is nice but it is an awkaward drop and you do get wet at the bottom. This is the way I have been on all previous trips except the last one.
The other way is to scramble along the top of the canyon on a dodgy ledge to a anchor high up on a chock stone bridge. You do miss a bit of very pretty canyon but with a bit of scrambling/climbing skill you can make you way all the way up to the bottom of the awkward drop.
On the plus side the high entry is a great absiel down a dark hole and you keep your feet dry
Ed Disappearing down the rabit holeIt’s 20-25m straight downinto the darkness between walls so narrow that half way down you turn around to put your feet on the oposite wall
We spend some time in the dark depths snapping photos. Hopefully Ed gets some shots he can work with. My little TG struggled a bit in the darkness with my small head light trying to light paint the walls. My bike lights might have been better able ot illuminate the scenes.
Ed sitting high up on a delicate arch within the darkness of the canyonEd on a narrow bridge getting ready to defend 13 dwarves and a hobbit against a Balrog!Ed at the exit portalTal and ed making their way downthe boulder scramble below the canyonWhat goes down must go up. Climbing outClimbing out
After doing all the “extreme” stuff I go arse over tit on the flattest part of the trail back to the car. I slipped on a slimey log, thought I’d caught my slef only for the momentum of the haeave pack to tip me over and drive my head into the ground. Mush laughter was had at my expense..
Driving back along the Coach rd we are stopped by a car coming the other way. How much further is the camp ground? says he
Which camp ground ar you looking for? say I
The one at New-nes, is it New-ness? says she
Newnes. You wont get there going this way.
We lost GPS when we turned off the highway.
Yep but you turned off the highway 20km to early and have gone 30km out of your way. 45years ago you could drive down from here…
they ask if there were any spots to camp up here and decide on a rough camp rather than trying to drive all the way back around in the fading light. Did I mention -7.5°? The night promised to be just as cold and they don’t really look like the outdoors type.
We point the way to a bit of a area where they might set up camp and wish them well then head off to capture a sun set from the cliff lines above the Wolgan
Sun set over Donkey Mt. People might pay thousands of dollars per night to stay atthe resort below us but they wont hae views like this.
Tiger Snake canyon
Party Size 3 all experienced
Time: about 5hrs car to car with a lot of photo phaffing
‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”” — J.R.R. Tolkien
So after our trip through River Caves Mandy had to be back in town early but the rest of us decided to take the drive out to the dry canyon which is always a great one for showing newbies
It’s a bit pongy today, says I. Probably that dead dingo, says Catherin. Don’t know how I missed it. Poor thing looks to have taken a few wounds and sort refuge up in a little alcove but didn’t make it through.Standard dry canyon shots to come
And with plenty of time in the day we decided to slip over the tops to bask in some sunlight and take in the views
The pagodas that from the Dry canyon with Donkey Mt in the back groundAt least here we can look down on the rich bastards in the Emerites resort
Its a long way down into that dark cervice to where we just wereIt doesn’t feel like it arcs so much when you walk through itHeading back up the middle canyon section
“the great French climber called it ‘The conquistadors of the useless.’ Yeah, the end result is absolutely useless, but every time I travel, I learn something new and hopefully I get to be a better person.” – Yvon Chouinard, 180 Degrees South”
I have to say after our scrub bash to nowhere I was fairly surprised the others would still be keen on coming out, let alone head back with the same goal in mind. Something about unfinished business. The more we looked over maps the more convinced we were right there, just misinterpreted the trail notes.
With a whole range of schedules and commitments finding a date where every one was available was the tricky part.
The date was set and eagerness grew. Then Illness struck. Ed rang saying he was crook as a dog. I called Gaz saying I was reluctant to do the trip without Ed as it was his idea in the first place. I was just heading to the chemist to drug myself up, Says he, as I’m the same… Trip off.
It was going to be w while before everyone would be available again.
Then I got the opportunity to do the trip with others who had been there previously and a mid week reconnaissance mission took place. It had me more eager than ever to get the crew back there.
Another date was set.
Another set of circumstance meant not everyone could make it.
Postponed again
Finally 12months later every one was getting keen again. Ed suggested the June long weekend. We had a big MTB race on at Rydal which ruled out Saturday and Sunday. I needed to go to work Monday morning but arranged to go early so I could meet the others around 9.
I threw out an invite to Julie just in case she had a day off and luckily she did so it would be a party of 6.
Well Friday and Saturday pissed down. Like constant drizzle interspaced with good heavy rain. Sunday dried out just enough that the race at Rydal was on perfectly tacky trails but I warned the others that while usually dry above the knees with this rain we might get wet up to our waists… A slight under estimation.
Anyway we met up and made our way down into the Wolgan. A good fog rolled through the valley with the promise of clear blue sky once it lifted.
We made good time up the hill and through an easy break in the cliff lines. Much easier than the first way I lead them 12 months ago.
Julie leads Ethan up through a convenient pass
Another magical vantage point on the Wolgan cliff lines
Julie guided the way and we surprised ourselves by arriving bang on target at the lunch spot above the abseil anchor with surprisingly little scrub to be bashed at all.
We need to squeeze down through that holeUsually dry it was nice to see water flowing down here, though it was a tad chilly. The hole opens out into a nice circular window
As far as constrictions go it’s a fairly blah. But the abseil features make it worth itThe start of the only real canyon section. I’m told last week this was ankle deep. Last year when I came through with Julie and the Cooks it was about nut deep. It looks a bit deeper today….. Chest deep for me. So much for not getting to wet today. Lucky it was a bluebird day
While some tried in vain in the end there was no option but to wade on through, except after we all had, Ed pointed out a high ledge we could have scampered across with a convenient abseil tree almost directly above the end of the pool.
And next is a fun little abseil down through a hole in the rock. It’s almost like a mini Alcatraz but darker and narrower
Gaz descending into the HoleJulie offering Jodie some tips as she bridges across a deep plunge pool within a Hole in the RockEd emerging from the Hole in the Rock. The Creek drops down a tunnel behind the rock face
next up is 2 awesomely exposed 30m abseils above the spectacular Wolgan valley
The slot in the cliff line opens up with some grand viewsJulie leading the last abseil, a fun jaunt down a big slab with stunning views.
Our track notes said 2 ropes needed here but both center marks were on the ground so conceivably its doable on 1 genuine 60m (Note mine is about 63m and the center mark was just off the ground.
Looking down the slab from the top of the last drop. You may be able to make out the gang at the bottom.Our slot is not obvious from below, pretty much center of the shot.
Acoustic/SunnySide/Wombat(WTF?) is a great little canyon to visit in Winter as it has a nice constriction, some awesome erision caves and with a little bit of care it’s possible to get through it in normal conditions without getting you feet wet.
It’s fairly short so it’s usually conbined with other trips out that way but we had some other stuff to do and living close it’s an easy half day.
Pulling into the car park I handed the map and compass to Tal. Navigation is as straight forward as it gets in trackless terrain so it’s not a bad one to practice on. I gave him a bearing and he lead off following the path of least resistance through the scrub while staying on course. A decent effort delivered us to the dry water course about 100m upstream of where the pogodas sprout out the the ground and the creek canyons up.
Just before the jaws of the canyon Mandy decided to have a lie down when she stepped in a hole and twisted her ankle. After a bit of drama queen stuff she got up and said she’d be fine to keep going.
We left her to walk out the sprain a little as I lead Tallis up an easy scramble to check out the Acoustic chambers from above. The ridge above the western wall is easy to negotiate and gives a great perspective on the canyon.
One of the “smaller” chambers near the start of the canyonLooking down the canyon towards 2 of the larger chambersLooking down into the canyonTal checking the views from pogoda topsThe large chamber from the western ridgeLooking back up along the canyon
After quickly checking it out from above we make our way back to Mandy and head on in.
The canyon starts with a little twist and then a nice little tunnel scramble
Mandy following tal into the gateway
There’s a few spots where it looks like you are sure to get your socks (and more) wet but with a bit of route finding and care you don’t even get the soles of your shoes wet
Tal balancing of thin ledges to avoid getting wet. It might look like a mirror of liquid mercury in the harsh noon sun in the photo but its crystal clear
Mandy reflecting on how we got past here with out getting wet. There are ways… We may or may not have shared our secret
and after a little bit of fun the eastern wall opens in to the large chamber…..
Mandy an Tal eating lunch by the ferns while I check out the TARDIS effect, it’s bigger on the inside
You soon have to tranverse across the base of another chamber. In any other canyon this one would blow you away but it is eclipsed a bit by the previous one.
Mandy traversing the balcony while Tal heads downinto the next sectionOnce again it’s bigger from the insideCanyon formation
It’s advisable to traverse the right hand ledge above the last 100m of canyon. this avoids a little scrub as well as some delicate vegetation in the final slot which ends in a boulder choke. It also gives better views out into the Wolgan as the canyon opens up.
The view down into the final slot is also pretty cool
There are a few ways to exit. On my first visit we climbed an easy spot on the west wall and went back along the tops. It is also possible to scrmble out the exit portal and scramble around into Bushranger creek or to simply reverse the canyon but most parties now seem to use a hidden slot in the east wall. There a bit of a step up to access it so those short of leg may need a boost but once on the ledge it’s an easy ramp all the way to the top of the cliffs.
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Once up there are vista’s applenty and it’s worth having a good look around.
Then Tal was back on map and compass to lead up up the ridge to the old fire trail and hence back to the car
Party size: 3 all experienced
Time. 1.5hr car to car even with the photo phaffing
Video to come if I can work out why my external drive with the go pro file and editted video on it decided to go RAW…
“many believe that the nature of the universe is to hide itself from mortal eyes. That we must search and meditate upon all around us to see and grasp the simple truth that
is enlightenment. However, perhaps the answers are being told to us all the time and we have just forgotten how to hear them.”
sleepwhenwearedead 