Kylie, Hywaida, Kris, Jason, Monhaka, Levis and meeeeee,
We were itching to just get out and soak up the bush.
We may have got soaked in the bush.
It was a drizzly start to the weekend but undeterred we found ourselves making our way along the entry route with overnight packs and a sense of excitement.
Kylie and I had been held up behind a traffic accident so Monica and Jason already had tents set up and camp established by the time we roll in.
We pitch our tarp, cook a warm meal and settle in out of the drizzle.
Levis arrives a bit later, the drizzle is a bit heavier so there wasn’t a lot in the way of introducing him to the gang.
Kris and Hywaida join us at the crack of dawn and we head off to visit Hole in the Wall canyon.
Hole in the Wall is a classic Blue Mountains canyon consisting of 2 deep, beautiful slots separated by a short creek walk.
Mon entering the upper constriction
The top sections contains some scrambles and wades between deep twisting walls, but no abseils
The bottom sections starts with an abseil into a very pretty pool
and then straight into the glowworm cave.
The glowworm cave is different every time I visit.
This time was probably the least spectacular display of worms. To be fair it was cold and wet outside, so potentially less insects to attract into their web, and it is early ion the season.
The hydrology of the cave also changes. The exit squeeze down to the left has long since collapsed. But what has been a deep swim requiring a difficult exit in recent years has silted up again resulting in a shallow wade.
Still it’s not as bad as it was in the early 2000s when you had to belly crawl in.
Then there’s the exit. Every year I think is this the year I’m too fat to make it. I’m not built for caving.
Jason in the green pool
Mon
Kylie in the lower section of the lower section
Levis’ mate Jackie
The final abseil
Lush green walls
And the final little waterfall before the Hole in the Wall of the Bungleboori
From here we head upstream.
Yeah yeah I know this creek has been officially renamed “Dingo creek” and has been since 2006 but that really is an unimaginative name for such a beautiful creek. On the old 1 inch to the mile Wallerawang map Dingo creek was marked as a small side creek (with an impressive rock arch). The major creek was Bungleboori Creek. The Southern branch that creek lower down was called Bungleboori creek, Nine Mile branch in reference to the Newnes Railway.
I’m assuming Bungleboori was the native name.
Anyhoo, we head upstream to the lunch rock at the usual HITW exit, we have made good time and enjoy a quick bite to eat in the drizzle before crossing the creek and heading up the other side for your next adventure.
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
I always enjoy discovering there’s hidden canyons in areas I thought I knew fairly well.
Suddenly finding ourselves with a spare day we organised a last minute semi exploratory trip to a little canyon none of us had been to before.
Vince had prepared the lidar maps which suggested the constriction would start a bit further downstream than the spot I had selected to enter.
The one source I had said the lidar hadn’t picked up a small cliffline near the creek. says I. I’d hate to miss something.
So we bush bashed in to the spot I had picked. Somehow picking a path to the only 2 cliff lines in that area, luckily there was a path down in-between the two outcrops that look surprisingly like a butt on the lidar. We went down the crack.
The first part of the creek was a bit of a scrubby dub dub with 1000 fallen trees to clamber over but then it opened up a bit
I’ve visited worse creeks
A nice spot for a dip on a warm day. Today was not warm.
and soon it dropped into something that looked very canyon like
A slippery scramble down brought us to a deep, crystal clear pool. Vince spidermaned across. Russ and Jas follow.
This is going to be a test for my shoulder.
I manage to bridge out but as I try the next move I feel the shoulder giving way….. In I go.
It was refreshing.
It should have been a simple bridging exercise.
Couldn’t support my own weight
Not overly deep or consistent but a canyon non-the-less
With some very noice sections.
the next pool looked less avoidable
Even Russ suited up and swam through
Jason decided to give traversing along the side a go. And very nearly made it.
And more pleasant canyon follows
Getting down this tangle of rotting logs and loose boulders was one of the biggest challenges of this little canyon.
And soon we came to the tributary we had planned as our exit.
A little bit of scrambling and a tad of scrub bashing and we were back at the road and quickly headed back to the car to pick up the ropes and harnesses then head off to visit another little canyon not too far away.
Everyone’s favourite squeezy canyon
Russ sitting on everyone’s favourite dodgy anchor
Jason on everyone’s favourite cheese grater abseil
Everyone’s favourite Go/No Go gauge. Don’t go down go over!
Everyone’s favourite helpful team mate
Everyone’s favourite return to the big wide world.
a noice ramp back up through the cliffline.
Then all the was left to do was to bash some more scrub to the main trail and a 3km walk back to the car.
Searching is half the fun. Life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt: J Buffett
Saturday dawned clear but heavy rain was predicted to set in late in the day.
All the comforts of home or sumfink
Today we would leave the camp gear behind and head to the canyon we came out here for. We navigated our way along the, well you can’t call it a ridge but lets say “convoluted yet connected spur” and down to our target creek, which soon canyoned up.
Doesn’t look like much yet but just down there…
It was as specularly beautiful as I’d imagined
Many times throughout the day we would, once again reflect on similarities to Carnarvon Gorge and some of the remote slots we had explored well upstream of the usual tourist hikes. Just all rolled into 1. And greener.
it was grand
Deep, narrow, and twisty
and it went and went
Before opening into a cliff lined oasis.
We wondered down through remnant Gondwana rainforest, in that moment we were content and complete.
There is not enough superlatives to do it justice.
Mini Hunks fist
But the day wasn’t done with us yet. We wound our way through lush coachwoods and ferns to the jaws of another deep and impressive slot.
We wasted no time roping up to drop in
Once again we are dwarfed by moss covered walls
and still it drops
and once we reach the bottom a beam of sun lights up the spray of a side waterfall. The photo does not do it justice but Magic happens.
It’s hard to feel anything but humble out here.
We explore side canyons, again struck by similarities to side slots in Carnarvon Gorge.
We go slow, carefully pick our footsteps not wanting to damage the thick, spongy moss carpet and just soaking in the experience.
And of course before the canyon was done with us it would give us one short swim.
A ways downstream we refill our water bottles and quit this creek via an easy pass onto another convoluted but connected spur.
The sky is ominous so we punch up the spur back to camp.
just over six and a half hours after we left we make it back to camp and attempt to dry things off a bit while cooking diner before retiring under the tarp just as the storm hits.
Sunday
We had some canyons planned but it had rained hard all night and was not letting up. The dump was predicted to get heavier through the day cumulating in a thunder storm after lunch. So we opted to retreat down our first spur back to the pretty creek. The flow had definitely increased since yesterday and by the time we waded upstream to the bottom of a canyon that would lead us back up to the fire trail we had walked in on the rain was getting heavier.
Knowing this canyon was deep, narrow and long and still expecting a storm we reluctantly decided to slip up a pass beside it instead. The ridge I was hoping to use to avoid dropping back into the head waters of the canyon proved to be far more complex than the topo map suggested but it eventually got us to the road via another spectacular knife edge.
With empty heads and full souls all that was left to do was to follow the trail back to the car and the long drive home.
At the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy, and your eyes sparkling: Shanti
This trip nearly didn’t happen. I’d been coughing up a lung and had full body aches after Ashcroft Ravine. I was ummming and arrrring about calling it off, especially when the weather looked to be turning wet and cool and the rest of the crew pulled out due to illness and work commitments.
How about we do a shorter over night trip? says Gadget.
Um I’m not sure says I
Come on this has been on your list for ages, says she, Let’s pack the bags and decide later in the week.
I started improving and once the bags were packed it seemed silly to repack for a shorter trip.
Anyhoo
In 1904 or there abouts the bush poet, vagabond and phrenologist, Cecil Poole wrote a description of the creeks in the area we were headed “The term gorge is not applicable to the creeks of this district. They are true canyons.”
Early cattlemen, ruffians, vagabonds and rogues knew the wild, twisted beauty of this section of the Wollemi. Not as intricately as the natives who had travelled its passes and decorated its walls for time immemorial, but well enough to know it was a maze of ravines, canyons and complex spurs.
Still, being further from Sydney and with lots still to discover closer to train lines and highways the area was largely overlooked by modern canyon explorers.
Until, that is, legendary bushwalker, ecologist, and all round nice bloke, Roger Lembit, was leading a midwinter bush walk in the mid 80s and ventured down what he thought would be an easy pass and instead stumbled on a deep slot canyon.
With no ropes or waterproof gear they opted not to venture down. Instead, they retreated and found a spur that took them to the bottom where they camped the night. The next day Ian Wilson and Michael Donovan opted to brave a cold pool at the end of the slot and ventured up, finding an astoundingly beautiful slot canyon. (It has a total of 0 abseils but I still put it toward the top of my list of favourite canyons based on shear beauty.)
This sparked an explosion of canyon exploration in the area and it was soon found to be densely packed with canyons. Some more scrubby creeks but many containing high quality slots.
But all that is neither here nor there nor anywhere in between.
The fact is I’d barely dipped my toe into this region but had day dreamt of one particular canyon situated off an isolated spur, well off the beaten track. I was well overdue to go for a look.
As luck would have it both Kylie and myself had an extra long weekend to do just that.
We made a late start Thursday afternoon.
happy at the start
The walk into our first camp is along an easy fire trail. However, I soon had a bit of a niggle on my left heal. It’s been so long since I’ve had blisters and it was such an easy walk I didn’t even register that might be what was happening. Needless to say by the time I stopped to check it was too late.
Idiot.
But really, blisters! After a couple of kilometres!! I can’t remember the last time I had bloody blisters!!!
Anyhoo we press on.
We reach the usual camp site to find a family already setup. They had been there for the full week and the kids, 7 and 5, excitedly regaled us with tales of the canyoning adventures they had experienced. Legends have done more wilderness canyons than most adult canyoners.
We set up and snuggle in for the night. Gadget did an amazing job researching our light weight over night gear before settling on the Sea the Summit Escapist Tarp and Spark sleeping bags. I’ve always been a fan of the Nemo sleeping mats. It makes a great combo
Friday
Morning dawns and we have a lovely breakfast, repack then head off for our first canyon
Having done canyons either side of our target for today I had high hopes of it.
I pick a spot to leave the road and Kylie navigates down ridge.
Shelob was guarding the pass but we weren’t scared. Honest.
We gain the creek surprisingly easily and follow it down.
It soon drops into a narrow canyon.
With a bung shoulder I opt to abseil things I would usually scramble but we get down soon enough.
The expected chest deep pool had silted up to be ankle deep so we forewent the usual circus tricks of trying to bridge across and skipped on through.
Well, not skipped. The boys warned us last night of a brown snake lurking near the first pool so we went a bit cautiously.
No sneaky snek was spotted but the canyon snaked on.
then opened up a little
and closed back in
cameras at 10 paces
the walls soon open out to a wider canyon.
The slot had been nice and all but not mind blowing and a lot shorter than I was expecting. Compared to others in the area it was a bit of a fizzer. And we were still a fair way off the junction of the main creek below.
the gullies were brimming with ghost mushrooms. These glow in the dark but we’d be camping hours away so won’t be back to check.
We follow the the widening gully down, boulder hopping and creek bashing to the major creek below
A pretty spot for a picnic or sumfink
Long sidetrack: The names of the creeks around here have such evocative names, but that could have been very different had we had a different Surveyor General intent on mapping the state.
Major Mitchel, of the pink cockatoo fame, was by all accounts a bit of a cock. Invariably described as pigheaded, arrogant and boorish he was the protagonist in Australia’s last recorded pistol dual with soon to be NSW Governor Darling. None of this old west quickdraw Hollywood bullshit. The combatants stood back to back, marched out 10 paces, turned, and like the civilised gentlemen they were, took turns having a shot. Flinch or get shot (obviously) you loose.
Mitchell having thrown down the challenge by slapping Darling with his glove had to go second. Darling took a shot and missed. Michell then took his shot and knocked Darling’s hat off so was declared the winner.
Anyhoo none of that is important to this side story other than I found it fascinating. What is important is Mitchell also had a redeeming factor in that he insisted that, where possible, aboriginal place names were to be used on his map.
When an early sketch was sent in by one of his under surveyors making a nearby creek with the local land owners piss take of a name “The Upper Nile” he basically fired back words to the effect ‘stop being a dickhead and find the bloody native name for the creeks, and if you can’t do that don’t name them at all.’ (probably so he could name them after Macquarie or some shit…)
And thus we have the Coricudgy, Umbiella, Numietta, Coorangooba, and Capatee. (pronounced Kay-pa-tee by the locals and originally spelt Capata on the sketch map )
Of course we still have the Bogee Nile and the Capertee Nile…. but that’s not important either.
Too get back to the story, we’d be using another high camp tonight so we’d need to cart water up. Enough to get us up, cook diner, breakfast, and at least part way through the canyon the next day.
We fill up and start up a creek that should allow us to scramble out at the top. However, a couple of tangled tree falls at the bottom and Screw this shit, says I. I’m going up there.
And we forge a pass up the nose onto the spur.
A break in the cliff line lets us gain the spur with just a short, easy rock climb.
And Kylie leads us up the spur avoiding some minor cliff lines by simply skirting around them.
Up top we have astounding views including this one over the Numietta looking towards Pantones Crown at the other end of the Capertee Valley. This spot put us in mind of battleship spur in Carnarvon Gorge.
And sunsets over the stunning peaks. With Tayan Pic, Grassy Mountain, Mount Coorangooba and many others appearing in a 270° panorama on the other side of the peak.
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
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
We weren’t expecting the others until 9:30 at the earliest and given our slow going on the ridge we decided to wait til 10.
A couple of cooeees and we thought we heard a faint reply. I slip up the gully a bit to guide them down. More cooees and whistle blasts but no response.
Back at camp we scratch a note in the dirt and head for Crikey. it’s 10:30.
We cross the ‘Boori (dingo creek) and start making up way up the opposite gully. It’s full of dead fall and scrub. It’s slow going and we’d already had a late start.
I spot a break in the cliffs and decide to try to climb out. Kylie is skeptical but we escape the gully and make heaps better time along the ridge.
Dropping into the creek at Kent’s entry (well downstream of Jamieson’s grid reference) we encounter walls of dead fall. So much.
It was a real punish. by the time we get to the canyon we are bruised and bloody and just a little over it.
There are several breaks in the cliff further down. I’d suggest future party’s explore their way down the spur and drop in closer to the canyon proper.
Anyhoo Crikey is deep and dark and our timing wasn’t conductive for photos but Kylie managed to get a few crackers
We reach the ‘Boori…. Bloody “dingo” creek.
We are bashed up and exhausted from battling the dead fall, sticks and scrub.
My memories of my previous trip to crikey was some hard going up the creek to get back to camp.
We have lunch and start making our way up stream
Somehow we pick our way up the banks and avoid strenuous swims or boulder hopping.
It’s about 4:30 when we reach the base of the pass up to camp. We strip out of the wetsuits, wash down in the creek and dry off in the sun before making our way back up.
Below camp we call out and are delighted to hear Dick reply.
Camp.
Unfortunately Sunday morning dawns with me and Kylie having grumbling in our belly’s.
I’m careful where I collect water from and have never had issues before but that’s all we can put it down to.
A bit of running off into the bush and we decide it’s best to skip canyoning today and head back to the cars.
It’s a shame for Dick and Monica to walk all the way out and miss the stunning canyons but it is the wisest choice.
It was a tough walk out. Kylie did it real tough. She’s a trooper.
We have a tough next couple of days. It hit us hard.
Anyhoo
There is a hidden message in every waterfall. It says, if you are flexible, falling will not hurt you!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
sleepwhenwearedead 