What better way to escape the scorching temperatures of Australia’s hottest year on record than to hang out in some of the more remote canyons in the Wollemi National Park? That said, we nearly didn’t make it to the Cooroongooba campground, with 11 fires flaring up in the Wollemi region just before Christmas and the campground taken over by remote firefighting helicopter operations. Fortunately, the…
The ridge trail was at times faint but as it turned more to the north near hill 998 we kept on east, then eventually round to the south, down the scrubby untracked ridge down to a point where the vegetation cleared a little and the patchwork of mostly burnt with some unburnt bush on Waratah Ridge was visible. Other ridges…
Just a quick report on my 3 peaks walk the other day. Summary is I just made it, but it was hard going and I wasn’t very well for most of it. Set off about 5 am and made good time to the Cox’s river, just over 5 hours. Went down Yellow Pup track but then up Mt Konangaroo & Bullagowar as I was doing it “anti-clockwise” with Guougang the first peak, having done it the “normal” direction previously. That was…
Having already completed a few easy solo walks over the past year or so and with a bit of free time over the Christmas break, I was keen to get out on something a little bit more challenging. I had never walked in the Blue Breaks before but had heard a lot of good things, and its remoteness served as a brightly coloured lure I simply could not resist. So, when…
Following a late night email on Saturday night, Hossein was the only one who was able to get away at a reasonable hour on Sunday, but even so, it was after 11am when we left the car. There were 7 cars parked at the Claustral entrance / exit and none any further up the road, so we were confident we would have at least Ranon Canyon to ourselves. It was…
Carrabeanga Falls is described in the canyoning guide book as being “an epic, due to its remoteness, problems of loose rocks, and the exposure of some abseils”. This always sounded like a good fun trip for me and this summer I finally got a chance to schedule it. Due to its length, Carrabeanga is usually done as a two day trip, with the walk in and the canyon on day one before walking out the next morning after camping at the junction with Kanangra Creek — if the party doesn’t get benighted. In fact,…
Such was the breadth and depth of SUBW attending this trip it would seem that just one trip report written by just one attendee can’t do it justice. The trip would be worthy of multiple trip reports should anyone else wish to write one. The Christmas Dinner Walk, held in December every year is one of the most important dates in the SUBW calendar because it is the weekend when members both new and old descend to the same spot on the Coxs River for a weekend of camping, socializing, swimming, eating, drinking and lazing around by the riverside. An alternative…
The realisation of items forgotten started early in the trip when Adrian took a call from home. Had he forgotten a small rucksack still sitting in the kitchen? Yes … but following some quick calculations it was decided it contained nothing vital. Then after the turnoff to Hampton Helen declared she had left her abseiling glove behind. The situation…
Given that the weather forecast indicated a mild day in the Blue Mountains, and thus was probably the last chance to do a non-canyon walk here before hot weather set in, I organised this walk which turned out unusually to be an all-bloke walk (usually the girls are in the majority). Three of…
Kristian was the original leader for this trip but after abseiling together near Katoomba (fun, fun, fun) on Saturday it was clear he needed a day off to rest. So instead of staying in the mountains that night, we headed back to Sydney and I took over leading the canyoning trip the next day. Picked up…