Party : Cat, Jiri, Jayden, Nik, Murray, Josh, Tim, Nadia, and David
Leader: Cat
Trip report by: David
Date: 7-9/6/2014
We all met at the service station at the start of Wolgan Road (cnr Castlereagh Highway) on Saturday morning at around 11:00am. We left one of the cars in Lidsdale and then travelled along the dirt track beside the upper Cox’s. We parked before the big drop on the trail and set off. Along the way past Baal Bone Gap camp area we eventually climbed up on the fire trail before leaving it and having lunch on a pagoda with a view of the colliery and Baal Bone Gap. There were other walkers on the ridge to the East heading toward Baal Bone Point. On the way we noticed a few small “dishes” of water atop pagodas. We had gotten going late and found ourselves at Baal Bone Point at around 3:30pm. A decision was made to stop there to enjoy the sunset rather than to continue across the saddle to the lower end of Pantoney’s Crown. Some of the group went looking for water and others made the fire. We backtracked to manage to syphon some liquid from a dish which was located in a most improbable location. The result was some clean but yellowish water and some of the dregs that resembled “texas tea”. There was a splendid later afternoon snack and drink (at BBP) whilst watching the sun go down.
The next morning we descended the pass off Baal Bone Point, crossed the saddle and went to the south end of Pantoney’s crown and up the pass at that end – once more to get water out of the top of a pagoda. Our smallest member was having a great time in his harness-backpack, especially while the baby–passing was happening down and up the passes.
After a break a quick traverse was made of the crown and we searched for the top of the northern pass. We found it and were very thankful that Nik had brought his handline for training purposes. Once again Jayden enjoyed a ride down a rope on mum’s back.
After heading down the pass we made way across to Crown Creek, only to discover that it was dry at the point we met it. We had passed a cow-trough and found that it had an automatically replenished supply of what looked like clean water – a few Puri Tabs ensured that it was drinkable.
Up the valley we went and once again found ourselves temporally compromised, with, at 1600, the prospect of camping in the valley, or climbing Point Cameron, and probably missing sunset. We chose to stay in the valley and walk further up the valley. A great camping location was found, with an unexpected abundant supply of fresh water. Around another enjoyable campfire, people must have been feeling a bit stiff as we all started to compare menisci, discs and relieving stretches.
The next morning involved a pleasant stroll up the valley to a convenient spur, using which the ascent of point Cameron was made. Right on the point, a pass was found and we had morning tea overlooking the valley. The remainder of the day was spent travelling back along the Wolgan/Crown ridge past Mcleans Pass. At McLeans Pass, a super cave was explored. We reached the cars at around 1600, a tired but satisfied bunch of walkers. As we drove off, it started to drizzle. We had been very fortunate with weather.
For a first-timer, it was a wonderful experience full of memories. Many thanks to the leaders and all the participants.