The canyon log is my chronological account of the various canyon trips that I have been fortunate enough to partake, and in some cases, lead.

Sydney is blessed with an abundance of rugged bush land less than two hours drive away, and in this bush land lie some of the most pristine and delicate environments that can be found.
Visiting these places may require no more than a simple walk along a creek, or demand bush craft and navigation skills just to get there.

These trips are 'canyon' trips which involves starting high in the range and following a creek or stream as it carves it's way down to the river valley. The Kanangra canyons are generally fairly open and following these is an excersise in abseiling and scrambling. The beauty of this area are the panoramic views along the Kanangra Walls and valleys. The incredible ruggedness of the area.

Blue Mountains canyons like Claustral, cut deep into the sandstone below them and over time have worn channels and gutters, deep enough that direct sunlight never reaches the bottom. Walking and swimming through these is a magical tour through a ferny green wonderland. A visit to the lost planet.

I have kept these notes as a reminder to myself of the individual trips, as well as to provide 'some' useful information for following excursions, or to supply to others planning similar outings.

Earlier trips are documented on my original canyons page.
As I have been hap-hazardly adding pictures lately, these pages are best viewed at 1024 x 768 !

Trip 15
Claustral Canyon
3rd Jan Y2K
Anthea and Eddie, Sean, Geoff

Seven and a half hours !!!
Seven and a half hours !!!
Am I so average I simply can't get through this canyon any faster ? And Why am I doing this again in the space of a week ?!?!?
[ [ [ Rewind ] ] ] ]

New Years Eve was a very pleasant affair at home with the flatmates and new 'parents to be', Simon and Cath ! With the weather lifting, the outlook for the fireworks show was good. Careel Bay was uncommonly quiet with the occasional flare or firework to be seen above the water or arcing out from one of the many headlands ringing our area. (We could even see flares up at Gosford!). Drinks and music, food and company continued well into the wee-small hours, with the expectation of seeing the sunrise. Unfortunatly the weather had other ideas and at about 5:30 I decided the overcast drizzle was now a poor second to my comfy pillow, and sleep won me over.
The first day of the new Millenium started fairly quietly for Number 2 , with most bodies stirring around midday. Again the weather was not the best, with overcast drizzle and a very messy sea. Video's and slothing seemed the order of the day and somewhere along the line, someone suggested that we all get out and do something ! Since canyons have high on my agenda recently, I suggested Claustral on Monday (a public holiday with me 'not-on-call'), and every one else said OK ! That done, the wheels were in motion, the hard part had been done, and we returned to enjoying the relaxed feel of the day ! (OH .. I caught up with Tove and Geoff and tuned Geoff in for Monday too!).

Sunday was earmarked for my girls, so up early(er than I would normaly have liked) and off to pick them up and take them shopping! Later that afternoon Sean and I rigged up a couple of ropes down the driveway (have I told you we have an extremly steep driveway ?), and gave Anthea and Nicky a quick intro into abseiling. Thhis worked well and after 15 minutes it was time to graduate to a real cliff, so we grabbed our gear and headed off to Terry Hills. Sensational ! Ed and Anth demostrated no problems at all, and even Nicky managed two drops as well ! (She's growing up so fast !). Anth got her first taste of real scrambling, up the groove from the base of Orgasmotronic, and we packed up and left just before the drizzle started again.
I dropped the girls back home to Sue and bid them adeu and finally headed home to pack for tomorrow and get some food into me. (Have I not eaten all day again ? Bugger!) ...

Monday!

I always drive up to the mountains via Blackheath these days, and as such, I arranged a 6:30 start from home, and asked Geoff to meet us at the carpark for Claustral at 9:30. Sean suggested that we take the Bells Line Rd and this saved us an hour in travel ! (make mental note!). The 3rd day of the new year was the 1st day of sunshine. It seemed we were blessed today. As we settled in to wait for Geoff, with coffee and a frisbee, another vehicle pulled in. A tour group of 8 tumbled out and we chatted with their guide for a couple of minutes and compared group size and weather. As they were the bigger group, but leaving first, their guide offered us use of their ropes if we caught up with them. We thanked them but I wasn't sure if we would catch them. Geoff arrived not too much later and after a bit more frisbee, we too locked up and headed off right on 9:30.

Flatmates Sean, Eddie and Anthea and Geoff

1st Pitch - Claustral Canyon

A very pleasant though somewhat slippery walk down through the ferns and scrub saw us at the creek by 10:00 with no rubbery legs. Excellent! Walking along the creek is very easy these days. The track is very well defined and somehwat eroded, especially at the scrambles. Soft mud spots along the way, churned up by the many feet that have past also seem a sad reminder that these places seem to have a very limited time as 'wilderness'. I like travelling here, and it would be hypocritical of me to say that other's shouldn't. But is is sad to think of what we're doing to the local environment, just by passing through it. Wetsuits were the go at the first swim and Yup ! The faces said it all ... COLD WATER ... Scrambles, Jumps, walking, wades and by 11:30 we were a the top of the first abseil. We had just missed the other group, but could still hear them at the 3rd abseil. Excited now, we wasted no time in harnessing up and sending Geoff and Sean down the hole to set up below.

Anthea "hand-over-hand" -ing

Anth' went next, and from my photo perch above the entry point, I nearly had a heart-attack when she slipped getting past the first edge and nearly let go of the rope ! The short swim proved a major task and Eddie and myself watched from the top as Anth' Struggled to heavthe rope through her rack. Rope drag and water pressure was making the job very difficult, and from our vantage point, we had a bird's eye view of the struggle and exasperation in the cold water. Finally she made it and was safe from the pull of the rope. Ed and I breathed sighs of relief and settled in to wait for a few minutes for Seans call to follow on. Ed scooted off down the drop and reefed himself along the line to dissapear around to the next drop. My turn now and off I follow. The rope drag was phenominal! With a pack full of water I struggled up into the notch above the 2nd pitch and pulled the rope up from below and threaded it through the ring, then pulled the other side up and pulled the top half down. Oddly enough, it was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I quickly rapped down Sean and coiled while he pulled. Still coiling, Sean followed the others down the third pitch to meet up with Geoff and after a false start I also followed on. I helped Geoff stow his rope and jumped in to follow Sean around into the last chamber.

Anthea - 1st pitch Claustral Canyon

This chamber is amazing. With the sunlight filtering down, the room takes on the appearance of a green cathedral. Gothic sculptures dissapear into the darkness above. Green moss covers the walls giving the cold rock a warm soft feel, our breath hung as vales of mist behind us. Outside I could see Anth sitting in the sun warming up. This is the area I call The Green Room. (The junction of Ranon Canyon). With the biggest splashes we could muster, we all hurled ourselves into the next swim and enjoyed the classic verticle walls and pools that make this canyon one of the most popular in the Blue Mountains. We reached the Thunder Canyon junction and catch up the the commercial group as they are having lunch. Our lunch consisted of 'killer pythons', green (and red) frogs, space food sticks, and a few soggy breakfast bars.
As the commercial group started making moving on sounds we quickly grabbed our stuff and tailed on, then passed by. Scrambling down to the creek we round a corner and met ... the comercial group again... They took short-cut ... Again we play through, and again we lobbed straight into the middle of them, just around the next bend ! Jeeze... Don't these guys ever follow the creek !
As the walls get higher again, we headed into the the 'Wit's Mistake" area of the canyon and we made good time. Thankfully, the dry conditions meant we didn't have to re-name it Eddie's Mistake. (Everyone was suitably impressed with the drop on the other side!).

Water Dragon

Sure enough, just as we finnished the scramble down from the top of the block, the other party appeared above us, but from the other side !!! how the hell did they get there ?!? Not hanging around now we took off into the corkscrew and hightailed it down the creek. Pausing only to enjoy the jumpins, and the baby brown snake sunning itself on an exposed rock just before a shot drop. This made a nice change from all the water dragons that kept surprising us along the way.

Canyon Snakes ?!? (Brown snake)

Within minutes the sounds of the group behind had faded and we were now once again on our own, and the lead group for a change. Yabbies galore !
The final swim was sensational and also a little sad as it signaled the end of the canyon. We spent a little time packing wetties away and cleaning sand, during which time the other group caught up and gave us a sensational display of varied dive techniques into the final swim.
From memory we began the slog up at 2:30pm, some 5 hours after starting. It certainly didn't seem that long ago.
Two and a half hours later we emerged at the cars and signed ourselves out of the visitors book. Whoo Hoo !

It had been a sensational day and with plenty of daylight left to burn, we headed off to the Kurrajong pub for a very well earned beer.

End of a long day

Eddie emerging from the Black Hole

Trip 16 Starlight Canyon 8th January Y2K Sean and Ross Length of trip : approx 14km Elevation : approx 350m Duration : 1 day Rope required : 50m DRY ! (1) Ross arrived home from visiting his parents up north (2) I couldn't make Sunday for a canyon trip with Geoff and Tove. (3) The NZ trip is fast approaching ... time is running out I hatch an evil plan. Knowing that Geoff and Tove are planning camping at Newnes to do Starlight Canyon on Sunday, I suggest (to Sean) that we make a day of it on Saterday. Drive up, do the canyon, leave a card to let Geoff's crew know we were there, and drive back. ! Cunning huh ! I knew Rossco was kind of interested in doing something like this so, after climbing in the gym on friday night, eating pasta in Crows Nest and then talking Ross into coming along with us, (during the godfather part II), we started packing our stuff at about 02:00am, for a 06:00am getaway ! 06:10 and we were on our way. The weather looked positive... Postivley dismal that is ! Light rain alternated with heavy rain, and the only consolation was that Sarlight is a dry canyon. (save for flash flooding, we should be OK)... We made it to the camp ground at Newnes around 09:15, and to our surprise everything looked pretty dry. That is, it hadn't rained here for a day or two. The sky above could have gone either way though. A good tip on the way is the Bakery at Richmond for breakfast consumables and lunchtime treats! (Watch out for the traffic lights though).

The canyon starts way up over there !

The start of the 'unmarked' Pipeline Track

It was 09:30 as we walked along the track following the creek downstream. We knew we were the first people that way this morning, from the spider webs we kept removing from the trail as we went. Theorising as to where the famed 'Pipeline track' might start, we were pleasantly surprised by a large sign and a small set of stone steps marking it. Next we theorised as to where the track might actually go, (as it's not marked on the topo's). Here we were surprised again ! Instead of following Petries Gully up as we imagined, it actually climbs up and further around the cliff and winds it's way into the next gully. As the going got steeper I got slower. Our next landmark was to be a lookout of some description. After a reasonable slog uphill I stopped for a breather and was surprsed to hear shouts from a group obviously coming up behind us!

Ross and I exchanged quick glances and began uphill again. Maybe 50m further on the trail ubruptly leveled out, and a small sign pointed the way to the lookout. Just then, a group of 10 or so peope charged up behind us and with barley a word, all trooped past maintaining their speed. Weird! (We never saw them again...Apparently as they passed Sean, he asked which canyon they were heading to, their reply ? An inscrutible "We may do a couple..." (They did Starlight ahead of us and left their fire place in the flat open section).
We spent a few minutes admiring the view from the lookout and managed to estimate where it was, on the map. there were some sensational rock walls on the other side of the valley!

From the notes, we were to walk another 0.5km along the Glen Davis track before turning off toward Starlight. I began counting paces and sure enough, at an estimated 0.49km we reached the saddle marking the first turn. Following Sean now, we skirted around the rocks to the east and picked up a footpad that was neither faint nor old. Checking our progress along the way was purley mechanical, the track did all the work. Devils Pinch canyon is access via an obvious turn off from the same track. (Freshly broken branches indicated that the group ahed of was, was in fact... ahead of us).

The creek started off as a pretty scrubby affair. Lots of leaf litter, dead logs, and no water. Occasionally we passed a soak which made us feel there was a creek beneath us, and soon we found the path sratching it's way up the right hand bank to avoid the pool mentioned in the guide. There are a couple of rocky traverses on the path here, but all have good hand and foot holds and the rock was dry (watch out for loose leaf litter). Eventually we dropped back into the gully which was now looking a little more like a canyon. The flat leaf littered floor was walled on both sides by steep rock walls about 8m high. A small canyon comes in from the left at this point. (but it is very small!)....

As we walked on, the canyon became more typical. The walls became taller, the moss became greener and thicker. The path winds back and forth down the creek, crossing on logs or stones, or sticking to the level ground where it exists.

At 12:30, some three hours after we started we stumbled onto the 1st abseil.

The 1st pitch (Sean and Ross)

This is an impressive place. Just where you least expect it, the gound open up an dsimply swallows the creek... and then continues on beyond. Looking down into the hole I could just make out the pebbly ground before a dark slot into which the creek was flowing. We could hear the water splashing it's way down below us, but the actual base of the drop was out of view. As I looped the rope down, Sean and Ross took up positions on the oposite side of the drop and whistled their amazement at the view presented. The first abseil is straightforward. A good tree on the right hand side gives a solid belay with ample room below it for clipping on safely. The drop itself is a little slippery and very dark. It was difficult for me to see where to put my feet as I went from daylight into twilight. Ross came down next. The photo should say it all. Ross's 1st abseil ever was a 25m drop with slippery overhanging edges down the side of a waterfall into a black hole ! ... Check out the grin ! Sean followed smartly and I re-packed the rope into it's bag as we would need it again for a while. Our canyon was now a very deep, dark and narrow slot. Not completley dark as I expected, and certaily no glow worms. i was feeling a little dissapointed as we carefully picked our way through the tangle of debris at our feet. One spot was full of recently deposited trees and folage which enticed a few comments as we passed by. As quickly as it started, the slot opened up briefly and then, once again, closed up. This time swallowing us in complete darkness. The constriction here is amazing. About shoulder width for most of it, the roof is solid and seems at time to be about 10-15m high. The floor is flat soft sand and the walls are worn smooth and round and flowing. Chamber after chamber connected by a single twisty little passage (any played adventure?). he glow-worms are sensational. They actually give off enough light that we can almost see eachother in their green glow.

The first of the two drops gave a little trouble as I walked in to it with my pack on, and then couldn't easily reverse out to take it off. After struggling out of my pack straps, wriggling down the slot was no problem and a good tip here is ... don't put your pack back on again just yet. The next drop is just around the corner. (I'd just managed to get may pack back on and do it up as we walked when, you guessed it... the second drop! At one point I couldn't fit through with my pack and had to resort to dropping to all fours and crawling underneath. The other guys just squeezed through. Not much further on I spied the grey of daylight from beyond and we stopped once more to take a last look at the constellations of glow-worms above us. In a moment of quiet I heard a strange noise ahead. Not quite chirping, not quite squeaking, sort of chattering. BATS! Just before the final opening, sound and smell advertised the presense of a large family of these furry little creatures all huddled together high up in the roof above us. With all three head lams shining on them, they were starting to get a bit agitated. The chattering and flapping was increasing, as were the number of little bodies becoming detached and swooping out over head. (we stopped shining our lights on them least we started an avalanche of wings and poo ). The sun chose this moment to appear and the narrow confines of the canyon lit up green and damp. Continuing along we ambled out into a very wide section of canyon. Picturesque with tall trees, ferns and vines, white sandy beaches, mossy rocks and steep undercut walls. Many of the trees here have grown very tall to reach the sunlight. Barley a couple of handspans in diameter they reach 15-20m above us before a single branch sprouts. Some have clearly not been able to support their own weight in storms. Numerous stumps, snapped like matchsticks, dot the floor with their dead upper body lying further down the canyon, or caught up high, in a tangle of vines and branches. Some balancing precariously against the canyon rim like giant booby traps.

A sunny open section

We rewarded ourselves at the top of the second abseil, with a bit of lunch (and left another card for Geoff and Tove), and I set the rope for the next abseil (a couple of times). My first throw was wild. Despite us all joking about 'not' getting the rope over the fallen tree suspended above the falls. I managed to do just that! To make matters worse I even managed to hook some obstacle on the other side, and for a minute, looked like I'd got the rope jammed. One good pull and back it snaked. My second throw ended up as a tangled mess below the teee, but still all at the top of the falls. "Bugger it !" I'll fix it on the way down. Good thing too. I'f it had gone through, it seemed a good probability it would have wrapped itself over another tree trunk, unseen, below and some distance out from the water fall. Lucky for me the others were laughing so much, no-one got a photo of the stuff up ! This 15m abseil goes down a slippery water fall with a slight overhang about two thirds of the way down. Again the pool was only ankle deep. The rest of the trip down stream consisted of boulder hopping and sliding until we emerged onto flat land on the bank of the Wolgan. Splashing up the river is delightful, although the soft river bottom made walking a little difficult. As soon as we could, we popped through the bush and landed on the old 4wd trail back to Newnes. Excellent views of all the cliff lines and 'big walls' being lit by a low western sun accompanied us back to the campground. A point of interest along the way back is the 'ruins walk'. This is a self guided tour through the ruins of the old shale oil cracking plant that used to exist here some 70 years ago. It's humbling to stand there and realise how much effort and toil went into building the site, and how completly nature has re-consumed what once was. It's also curious to think about what the river must have been like when the plant was operating. They used a lot of nasty staff back then and I'll bet there was little or no concerne for the environment at the time !

Sean on the 2nd pitch

With sun shining and blue sky we crossed the Capertee once more and arrived back at the car at 17:30 exactly. Dinner from the chicken shop in Lithgow and a drink at the Kurrajong pub and finaly ... sleep at home .... I can't help wondering where the other guys went though !

Postscript:
Geoff and Tove actually went and did Devils Pinch, thereby not seeing any of the cards we left !
Apparently the abseils were very good !

Trip 17
Hole in the Wall and Banks (in a day)
15th January Y2K
Sean, Ross, Ed and Geoff
Length of trip : approx 10km
Elevation : approx 100m ???
Duration : 1 day
Rope required : 50m
WET !

Photos comming soon

We'd done Hole in the wall
We'd done Banks
Some said that both of them together made for a good day out
We thought about it
Then we did it too !

Ed and Ross were less than keen with the early start required to get ourselves to Newnes early enough for the excercise.
I had arranged that Geoff would meet us at the turn off to the Zig-Zag railway and was keen that we wouldn't be late. Sean drove from our place with Ed rocking in the front and Rossco and myself lounging in the back in absolute splendour.
It's been such a long time since I havn't been the one driving. Bliss!

The start of the walk was begun as usuall, in high spirits. A short jog to wake up the sleeping muscles and shake the fat around, and then a more leisurly stroll along the fire trail until the well defined footpad leading to the start of Hole in the Wall canyon.

We quickly romped through the upper reaches of this first canyon, enjoying the bushy surrounds and general open'ness of this area, and I think Ed and Ross were not too impressed with it as we went. But this was soon to change.!

At the first constriction we stopped to put wetsuits on and take a few photos, before ploughing on into the deepening canyon.
The details are sketchy but I remember having some difficulty scrambling down a short drop with my pack. Ross was enthusiatically pointing out foot holds, but it just didn't feel right. I undid my aging pack and passed it down. The look on Ross's face as he recived it said it all!.. Without the weight of the pack, the scramble was easy.
We meandered our way down through the canyon, going from rock to rock, pool to pool, creek to track etc until the first drop. This one has a big log standing in the way which makes the start awkward but once you're in .. you're in.
Ross had his first abseils only on the last trip, (see trip #16 Starlight Canyon), so these were proving just a touch trickier !
Ed likewise, seemed happier to scramble and jump the shorter ones.
We reached the squeeze-through in record time and spent just a minute checking out both holes for body size. Geoff and Sean took the righthand hole, Rossco, Ed and myself chose the left.

(From previouse experience I think the left hand one is probably easier, but the right hand one is darker and more of a challenge! Ross didn't particularly enjoy being left behind in total darkness, up to his nads in water, to feel his way through the squeeze and out to the light again.
We raced out of this section and continued to splash our way down stream. At the last (big) abseil we caught up with a small commercial group and waited a few minutes for them to depart from below before lowering our ropes and ourselves.

All too soon we were diving out into the Bungleboori and heading upstream to the exit spot for lunch and a quick break.

The commercial group bid us a quiet and reserved greeting, as they set up a trangia for a hot brew.
We pulled out our snakes and fruit etc, and sat down for a quick munch. After a couple of minutes, a movement in the rocks attracted our attention. Several largish water dragons were slowly zeroing in on our lunch spot. Obviously attracted my the smell of food, and mostly unafraid of the people.

We found that apple fares fairly high on their menu of hand-outs.

With the sun getting high, and lunch consumed we set about getting ready to cross the stream and start Banks canyon.
The comercial group eyed us with sceptisism!

As we were now intending spending as little time as possible in this next canyon, we decided to dump our spare (dry) clothing and food and water. Geoff made a neat pile of the uneeded gear, and with a last wave to the comercial group, we stalked off into the bush, away from the exit track.

It took no time at all scrambling up the gully that seemed to take forever last time. (It's absolutely amazing how much faster things like this are the second time around!).
I think we walked a bit further north than we did last time but fairly quickly located the upper reaches of the creek and dropped in to follow it back down again.
After splashing our way along for ten minutes or so, we all agreed this one was much colder than hole in the wall had been !

The abseils were straight forward and the deep dark bit caused some concern again, due to the concentration of spiders visible, running away from us in every direction. (I hate this part.. swiming through icy cold, spider infested water in the dark!). Ed is loving it! Rossco seems more to be enjoying my own discomfort ! (He likes spiders !) ...
I am careful this time not to get my pack caught under any water lever ledges, as I squeeze and duck my way through the dark constrictions.
Reaching the end of the tunnel is a relief, as I am able now to (clear a space free of spiders) and climb out of the freezing water to wait for the others. A short scramble over a choke of mossy boulders opens out into a wood and scrub filled gully and we race toward the final two abseils.

The weather has been very kind to us today and the early afternoon light has a clarity about it that is hard to mistake as it sparkles through the folage above us.
Rossco, Ed and Geoff all succeed in not getting wet on the last abseil, by swinging to a high ledge on the left (facing in).
Again we pause only brifly to take in our surroundings before forging on ahead into the Bungleboori.

At the junction, there is a large log. (tree actually). That forms a low bridge. Broader than a small pony, it still requires a little balance to walk the entire length.
Normally sure footed, Sean came quite unstuck here. Almost with very serious consequences !

From behind it looked so comical, but in reality it was a very fine line between minor misshap, and major rescue required.!!
A sudden loss of balance saw Sean momentarily place his feet together on 'ether side of the center', and they just slipped off. (One on either side) Does that bring tears to your eyes ?!?

Yup !!! A complete straddle followed by a slow dismount to the left ! Scoring 9.8 from all the judges.
Fortunately he had just passed the only obstacle on the whole trunk.
A fist sized protrubance, dead center, ponting straight up.
Two feet further back and he would have been impaled. ... Very Nasty ! ....
Other than that we had no instances. (Even I managed to stay upright all day long).
Reaching the Bungleboori for the second time today we noted an immediate rise in water temperature, and Geoff and I commented on the low water level compared our last visit. We cruised quickly upstream spotting yabbies, lizzards, spiders and the like, all the time looking forward to the food and water stashed at the exit point.

Passing the Hole-in-the-wall junction we again stopped for photos and fun before cold and hunger got the beter of us and we hightailed it to the exit.

Imagine our surprise as we clambered out of the water at the exite and saw ...

No Food !

What !?!

"Someone took our food !"
"Our Snakes"
"Our Water"
"Our Dry bag"

Even our dry clothes (Ed's bungers! too )

Who would do such a thing ? It's got to be a mistake .. Maybe the water dragons dragged it all away... no that's just being silly.

The only explination was that 'some other' group had come down and taken our gear (accidentally we hoped)....

Dissapointed with the world, but not with our travels, we started up the exit track, and back to the car park. As Geoff and I got closer to the end of the track we could hear voices of another group, car doors slamming etc. It was sounding much like they were prepareing to leave.

Our pace quicked until we were jogging, and much to their astonishment, burst into the car park at just under a full run.

"did you just run the whole way?" they asked ...
"Err... no! Did you guys pick up any spare gear from the bottom ?"
"Oh Yeah .... Is that yours? We were about to leave you a note on your car .."

Phew! We had our stuff back.... No snakes or water (they ate and drank it), but the bag, the containers, the clothes (Ed's bungers) etc. A happy end to the day. I even found the pair of bungers I left drying in the tree about 4 weeks ago!

Plenty of time for a drink back at Kurragong, and this time... I'm not driving !

Trip 18 Starlight Canyon (the video) 20th Febuary Y2K Sean, Ross, Geoff, Jason and myself Length of trip : approx 18km Elevation : approx 350m Duration : 1 day Rope required : 46m DRY - canyon (torches required)

At the Newnes Pub

Low energy seemed to be the call for the day.

Ed and Anth decided not to come in prefference to spending the day at home drowning yabbies in the ocean. Jason had an intersting night involving being broken into, and having to fend the intruder off with a baseball bat, followed by fortifying drinks from several mates.. into the wee-small hours. (We picked him up at 06:15).

Rossco was non-commital but seemed eager to do something. Sean was going to be in Lithgo anyway and said he'd meet us at the Newnes hotel.

None of us particularly liked the early start required... Even worse for Geoff who had a little further to drive.

With Jason and Rossco in the car we were on our way proper by 06:30 and eagerly looking forward to the niceties in store at the bakery in Richmond. Never a let-down, they were choc' full of all sorts of tasty treats. Surprisingly there was quite a number of people there already.

Armed with pies, rolls, biscuits, cakes and drinks we hit the road again and made good time to the dirt road to Newnes. Here we slowed somewhat, to take in the views, avoid the goats, and generally try to keep the car unbent. Geoff and Sean were both waiting for us when we arrived.

Heading up the pipeline track

As usual, a few minutes goofing around the cars before we left, ensured we got some video of the start of the day and we were off on the trail (after being warned about snakes by the local kids) by about 09:45. Not too bad a start. The day itself was warm already. Promising to get hotter as the day progressed. I was glad we were doing the hard bit first. After the walk up the hill, we would have just the cool easy trip back down the canyon, and along the flat at the botom! To every one's amazement, we made good time up the Pipeline Track and arrived at the turnoff to the lookout, sweating profusly and in need of a short breather. Geoff, Jason and I headed out to enjoy the view and by the time we got back, every one seemed suficienty rested to go on.

Ross and group at the start of the creek

A little more goofing with the camera as we walked along the bushy track over the range, and finally down into the creek that eventually becomes Starlight Canyon. Even though I was ready for it this time, I was still dissapointed with the upper reaches of the creek. It just seems so 'un noteworthy' at this point. Wide, very dry and just scrubby ! But things soon change. As we progress along the dry creekbed, the banks on either side take shape and the leaf litter gives way to rocks and sand. Dead tree's and logs create minor obstacles along the way and a faint track is just visable as it negotiates it's way around the few dank looking pools that dot the upper reaches of this creek.

a brown snake

The guide book suggest going high at one point to avoid a deep pool. It's easy to find the track, but be aware ! There are at least two false leads returning to the canyon from it.

At this first junction we came across a brown snake and also made voice contact with a group just in front of us. Sean stood his ground as the snake slithered virtualy over his foot and we stepped past it and clambered down into the creek.

This was not the way. Loud Ker-Splashes ahead of us told us we were heading to the jump ins, which we wished to avoid. Sean, who was out in front tried to climb out using a tree and the moss covered rock, instead of reversing back. He very nearly made it to, but gravity won out in the end and he came crashing back to where he started. Shaken but not stirred he came back and followed us along the high path.

Scrambling back down is a very short steep section that cased me some difficulty this time. (I missed the 'jug'). Which caused great mirth amongst the others.

Jason on the 1st abseil

Geoff halfway down the 1st abseil

Reaching the creek again we are reminded why we are here. Canyon! Here the creek bed (although completely dry) is flat and wide. The walls however are steep rock. We follow the canyon, now from side to side reaching a gentle dip, combined with a general opening up. Ahead is a dark drop, and the group from before. We round the last few boulders and take up comfortable positions to wait for them to go through. Camera's clicking away and video going too.

Our turn, and Geoff heads down to belay for us all. In a moment of insecurity Rossco and I notice that one end of the rope is nowhere near the bottom of the pitch. Geoff stops and re-adjusts everything, and assures us that the rope is long enough to complete the pitch. (This was Sean's new rope's debut.. a 40 something meter off-cut... actually it turned out to be the perfect length!).

Jason went next and after a moments hesitation at the lip, sailed over and got to the bottom before I had time to change camera positions. Sean, myself and finaly Rossco, and with the rope down... past the point of return.

The slot here is not completley dark. Some light does filter down from above and the floor it littered with canyon debris. Leaves, branches, logs, sand and pebbles. The smell is of rotting vegitation is obviouse but not overpowering. Small (and large) spiders scuttle away from our noise and lights. An antechamber with a very dark slot of sorts, signals time for headtorches before we dive into the darkness to begin squeezing ourselves along inside the "starlight" section of the canyon.

The glow-worms were fantastic.!! Like tiny astral constellations of stars, they even gave off enough light to 'almost' see eachother in the pitch blackness of the slot. We found our bat family had moved since the last visit. Now they seemed to be resident about half-way along the dark bit, instead of clusered at the end. All too soon we were out into the daylight again, and moving quickly through the open topology that seems to make up so much of this particular canyon. Characteristically high, vertical or overhaning walls guarding a wide flat bottomed canyon, with lots of tall trees and ferns. The pools of water in this section are just magic. They are so clear it's hard to tell where the surface of the water starts. Gradually the pools collect and begin to run into one another and the stream begins to surface. Today, as last time, it's just a trickle.

A glow worm

Ross descending the 1st pitch

Most of the dark section is quite tight

Sean squeezes through

We lunched at the top of the second pitch before setting off searching for the best way down the boulder strewn creekbed. The gully here opens up quite wide and the nice easy going of the canyon floor above is replaced with a never ending pile of big sloping boulders. Every turn looks like 'the way' but most turn out to be big drops to the next set of boulders. No jump-ins, the creek is way below ground level here ! After some criss-crossing of the creek a steep track become apparent on the right ad this leads shortly to the valley floor.

Ross emerges into a sunny section

Geoff finds a jump in !

Ross on the second pitch

From here it's an easy walk back to the camp ground via the ruins. On the way we ran into Greg who had been out climbing with friends on Old Baldy. We scanned the face for the line they had taken and were duly impressed! But impression only last a short while, and thirst grows while waiting. As we could feel beers waiting for us at Kurrajong, and we still had some distance to walk, Geoff and I waved goodbye and jogged off down the 4WD track to catch up with the others.

I think every one was quite relieved to be back at the cars. Surprisingly, by the time we got there, the campground was completly empty ! No cars, no tents, no people.

(Just the way I like it!)

Trip 19
Butterbox Canyon (also known as Mt Hay Canyon or Rock Pt Ravine)
27th Febuary Y2K
Geoff, Richard and myself
Length of trip : approx 3km (short way in and climb out)
Elevation : approx 350m
Duration : 1 medium day
Rope required : 50m
WET - canyon (wetsuits not required but advised)

Sorry ! No Photos...

This is yet another canyon that had been waiting patiently, high on our 'Must do' list. Several others had also expressed an interest in comming too, but on the day there was just the three of us. Alison had led a group the day before and had other commitments on this day, Hamish slept through, past his pick-up time, and Davo just never materilalised.

I arrived at the Mt Hay Rd turn-off in plenty of time, and plenty of fog and drizzle. So much fog, in fact, that at times I swear I couldn't see the front of the car as I was driving!

Geoff and Richard arrived exactly on time, and together we waited for half an hour in case Dave was till on his way. Eventually we decided to move on and, having decided on the short way in, drove to the end of the road (just before the 4WD track starts), and surveyed the intended route through the mist and gently falling rain. The canyon itself is pretty obviouse from the car park.

There is a small path leading west, down into the valley, and quickly crosses a small creek (or bog), and then winds out onto a rocky platform above a short cliff line. the whole valley encompassing the creek is one, almost continuose cliffline. We could see the creek we crossed earlier as it now streamed down as a waterfall from an overhang on our left.
In hindsight we could have abeiled from here and scrub-bashed down to the creek below, but we chose to search for a way down from where we were. Thrashing through the wet bush, and trying not to slide uncontrollably off the slope we eventually fell into a small dank, slippery, creek above a tricky 15m abseil. (some of us {well me actually} sliding a bit more than others)! We abseiled from a small tree on the left down a narrow slippery "V" shaped shute with an awkward log blocking one side, and landed at the base in a tangle of broken and rotting branches and logs. After this we shinnied down the next small drop a slippery log (which could be scrambled past by crawling through a damp cave on the right), and found our way to an open section with a straight forward dry abseil from a tree down to a lush wooded section below.

Almost immediatley after this we found a sling around a tree, marking another abseil down the creek. The steep awkward start bottoms out on a very slippery ramp with an overhang at the end, but you can avoid the pool by stepping right (as you abseil) at the very bottom. I suspect this is the first abseil of the canyon proper.

From here a faint track meanders back and forth across the creek and soon the first jump in is reached (approx 1m). It's only a short swim and we found the water to be fairly warm. (I guess the air temp wasn't!). (I had no wetsuit for this trip and was relying soley on my thermals for warmth ... out of the water!).

We found the next abseil again on the right hand side of the creek and from the top, it descends a veritable junk yard of boulders, branches and other debris. The view however, is sensational.
A deep narrow canyon presents itself before you, and beyond the visable choke below, the gulf looks huge and ominous! As we had a long rope (63m) I continued to rap all the way to the pool at the base, negating the need to risk slipping down the last ramp, which could be down climbed on a convienient (if somewhat slippery) log if one so desires.
Have I mentioned just how slippery everything was ?

We stepped across the small pool and climbed two steps up on the boulders that form the next choke and found two large sturdy looking PETZL ring bolts for the next abseil.
Also the gut wrenching view of the narrow chasm tumbling away before us. The guide-book suggests ending this particular abseil on a large chock-stone about 15m down, and then continuing from there, although 2 x 50m ropes will apparently suffice to do both pitches as one. From the saftey of the big chock-stone below, I could see our single 63m didn't make the bottom by anything resemabling reasonable height, so I pulled it up, called the others down, and we made a second pitch of it. (there are another two big ring bolts here and enough room for three or maybe even four to stand! Be clipped in though... the only way is down! Another chock-stone above us had an old rope sling around it too!).

We arranged this pitch to go over the top of the flat topped chock-stone we were standing on, and I rapped off initially into free space, and then straddled the waterfall and pushed off to the left to finnish up on ledges at the pool below, mostly unscathed by the mini-torrent.

You can also set the rope to go UNDER the chock and go that way too. Probably easier to get the rope down afterwards. (We had some difficulty with ours, but some perserverance by Richard and Geoff won out and down it came).

The short pool has another abseil immediatly after it, (8m) and likewise ends in a small pool requiring a very short wade/swim. These pools had bright red and orange yabbies everywhere! Even in the crevises I used as hand holds, in my attempt to climb around the top pool rather than swim it, had little orange feelers, fleeing or waving out at me.

We jumped the final drop (3m) into the last pool and swam to the other side. More simple creek following now, and from the right hand side, we cross again back to the left just above yet another slipery water fall and ascend slightly into the bush on the left.
There is a prodominant track here that leads up. It's not the one to follow. The view is good, but it just get's higher and the creek gets lower.
Instead, go down the bank, and from a ledge above a deep pool either jump and swim, or go back (right) and slither down a boulder to a water level and gain a ledge that skirts the pool (on the left).

Shortly after this we found the final abseil on the right hand side of the creek again. (15m)

To return, we opted to follow the cliff line to the right and climb out, using the grade 11 route described in the guide-book. This proved quite easy to find, and the climb was neither grade 11 nor felt like 20m. I think the original grade 8 is more applicable but that's just my personal opinion. It is very well protected with 5 FH and finnishes on another sturdy ring bolt.

To exit in this manner, simply follow the track along towards the cliff line on the right (east) and keep going as it winds up and down and eventually goes into a steep loose gully. Go up, and just as it starts to level out again it switches back towards the canyon and goes at a fairly even level, back around the buttress again. A short grovel through a dusty cave and you're at the base of the climb.

Take 6 quickdraws for the climb and a few slings for the belays and to extend one of the runners (if you use them all).

After the climb go right (still towards the canyon) and the path becomes more and more substantial as it winds up through pleasant bush and spectacular views of the Grose valley and the ravine you've just been through.

Keep following the track right at each junction (unless you want to visit all the lookouts) and it takes you right back to the cars ! s and to extend one of the runners (if you use them all).

After the climb go right (still towards the canyon) and the path becomes more and more substantial as it winds up through pleasant bush and spectacular views of the Grose valley and the ravine you've just been through.

Keep following the track right at each junction (unless you want to visit all the lookouts) and it takes you right back to the cars !