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Kalang Falls , Kanangara Honeywell Group Friday 28th February 2003 Vert. Elev: 600m (approx.) Distance : 5km (approx.) Time : 13 hrs (aprox.) Comments: A big day out. Good weather. Camp ground very quiet. Crew: Richard Payne Geoff Williams Wit Cieslik Ropes: 3 x 65m All photos courtesy of Richard Payne

Other Sources of information on this area :

• Canyons Near Sydney (Rick Jamieson)
• previouse trips '93 and '94 with Ross Gardyne.

Kanangra Main

Summary (the salient details) : We were a group of three and we chose Friday as we felt pretty sure we'de have the place to ourselves. (We did !)... Our gear was two 60m+ statics and a 60m dynamic as a backup. (prusicks, slings etc ...). Geoff and Rich had shortie wetsuits and I used my longjohn (but didn't put it on until the bottom of P3). We thought we could do this dry ... but we got very wet ! I'd definitly be wanting more daylight hours.

In all it took us a little over 13 hrs. where we'de estimated 10.

Richard, Geoff and I had made a pact. As soon as Kanagra was available, we would head in, mid week, and go for Kanagra Main !

Lessons : We lost time in ... nav'ing in to the top of the first pitch. (we can do this better now!) re-rigging some of the pitches ( a couple were really badly rigged). Virtually every pitch, we rigged a backup sling which was retrieved by the last one down. scouting the best way (after the thrid pitch, you are left with several choices, some better than others). (we can do better here now) getting our ropes jamed on the 2nd last pitch. (we can do better here now) and finally slogging up MG in the dark. We reached MG about half an hour before sunset, and the saga of the headlamps is a tale in itself. We also never really took the time to eat properly, and this took an increadibe toll later.

I must admit I was feeling just a little awed by the prospect and a little uncomfortable with the prospect of facing Murdering Gully again. Also the daylight hours are quite short now and finnishing after dark is not how I like to end the day. My track record out at Kanangra for daylight finnnishes is not great !

Enough said about our planning ... Thursday night and we were off !

The Boyd River camp ground was deserted when we arrived and the same when we rose the next morning. The short drive to the end of the road was filled with quiet morning banter and expectations of the day to come. "Let's get that exit point punched into the GPS Richard !"

At the road end a final dump and some light packing and off we walked in search of the "indistinct track some 500m back from the car park".

We must have passed it... Instead we found an old 4WD track and camping area, with "indistinct" tracks leading off in all directions. Nav'ing by error and rough bearing we set out across the heath from this spot. The bush accross Kanangra Brook ck is really thick and unpleasant for big backpacks !! Once past this low slung obstacle course, the vegetation becomes much friendlier. As we closed in on the end point and started correcting our course, we found a very distinct track, which leads directly to the falls.

The view from the falls is truly spectacular !
To elaborate ....
The view from the falls is truly spectacular !

Hint:
To get down to the first pitch, don't head down left to the falls directly.
Instead stay high and go to the very end of the ridge and scramble a few moves down a faint path and walk back left to to emerge on the main ledge. The anchors are towards the water fall, on the lip below a couple of steps!

1st pitch ... Ya Hoooooooooooooooo !

For the 2nd pitch the anchors are plainly visable as you approach the 'comfortable ledge'. Abseil to obvious pinnacle below.

For the 3rd pitch (from base of pinnacle), there are several choices of direction on offer. The giude suggests 'climbing carefully with a safety line 2 meters to the abseil'. Read this as 'Use a safety line to drop down to a stance just below the pinnacle and abseil from the rope belay at the base of the pinnacle'.

NOTE: The end point of this pitch caused me some confusion.
From the stance at the base of the pinnacle, and relying on my saftey line, I could see slings about 8m below and over towards the slot.
Scrambling there was ruled out due to being too wet, too slippery, and too close to the Falls for the next pitch. (We were still trying to stay dry). As well as too small and cramped for the three of us ...

Abseiling straight down from the base of the pinnacle I eventually spied a sling on a sloping rock platform way below me and headed for this as it was "a good distance down", and from it's positioning, likley to be a bolt belay.
It was however a really poor stance. Although about 40m down it was two crooked bolts with some tatty sling a few meters above a chute, continuing over a drop into a sizable looking pool. The rock was diabolically slippery, and there was barely enough room for myself, let alone Geoff and Richard.

At this point I was still looking for the 'dry' options, but seemed to have run out of suitable routes. From my now poor vantage point, I couldn't see if the ropes made it into the pool or what was below in that driection. The wind generated by the falling water behind me was freezing and the spray was increadable. I tied in, hunkered down and waited for Richard and a second opinion.

The wind, roar and spray from the falls was quite intense here and I was wet and freezing. We had to shout to each other even though we were only a few meters apart. I gave up on the dry option, and balancing precariously, tied all my stuff to the bolts and got myself into my wetsuit and rain coat.

After viewing my position Richard decided the pool was probably the go and he pushed out away from me and the din of the falls, and quickly dropped out of site into the pool below. Emerging a few minutes later, swimming to the far side.

Geoff came down and clipped a retrival line to the main line for me. After he had swum the pool, I pulled the main line back to me, clipped in and went for a casual arc and careful descent into the pool too. Our first imersion for the day !

The 4th pitch is pretty straight forward. Use a saftey line from two pitons at head height, to safley rig and attach to a belay of three pitons below. This whole setup seems dodgy. One of the saftey line pitons is only just in and needs a hero loop to tie off on it. The main belay has pitons loaded in all manner of wierd directions. The abseil is short though, and is I think, the 8m one in the guide. (why someone doesn't just make this a good two or three bolt belay and be done with it, is beyond me ....).

After here the details all become a bit blurry.

5th pitch we did this on the right ...

6th pitch starts on the left and crosses the creek. Easy start down a climb-able ramp, step across and continue easily down wall beyond into a steep wide cleft.

As usual, thoughout the day, we kept reffering to the guide to aid with identifying the next pitch and guage our progress. In doing so Richard spied the description "Climb carefully .... to avoide the pool OR scramble down to the chockstone and jump ("the BIG JUMP").... With a huge grin, Richard yells over the sound of the creek, "We're all doing the jump aren't we !" ... (Note there is no question mark at the end that statement).

I try to explain that I'm really not feeling very sporty at present, but will reserve judgment till I'm on top of the 'stone.

7th pitch down to the chockstone. I have to admit. The jump is not as big as it looks. Maybe 6m ... Slightly right of center seemed to be the deepest. (we were wet now anyway!). Still feeling less than sporty I decide I will go if someone else goes first. (I'm so easily led ...). Rich comes down and grinning from ear to ear says he'll go, but he wants a photo of it if he does. Dillema ! Someone else has to go first ....

Simultaneously we both look up. "Geoff, come down and jump !" ... Good plan Richard !

With barley time to think about it, Geoff launches and pinpoint perfects a landing. It's all good ! Rich fly off next and after we drop the ropes I follow, with probably one of the shakyest jumps I've ever done. Arms flailing about above me and my whole boddy wobbling the whole way down. Oh well ... Theres always next time. (I did say I wasn't feeling particularly sporty).

The chock stone has bolts on top, so abseiling from it is an option. As well, if your ropes are long enough, you could abseil from the pitch above and continue "under" the chockstone, but rope retrieval might be difficult.

8th pitch we did from the left. This is a short one and crosses the creek again.

9th pitch. The guide describes this as, "... beside a moss covered waterfall to big ledge." This big ledge is actually a slipery bastard (when wet). The belay from here is 2 dodgy pitons right out on the edge. The absiel was also slippery, but the end point is wide anf comfortable.

10th pitch (40m+) from boulder on the right. This is the one we got the ropes stuck !! But in reality, this was probably one of the easiest pitches of the day.

11th pitch (a short one) from scramble UP on the left, to avoid nasty wet slippery scramble. Geoff scouted ahead and set this one while I prussiked to retrive our stuck strings.

12th pitch we opted to abseil into the pool rather than keep scouting for the 28m. We also theorised, that if the 28m drop was further downstream, then this drop was likley to be shorter and we guessed we could use one rope. It was and we did !

Whew! ...

The pool is one of those classic wide swimming hole type pools that ends abruptly as it cascades over the next drop, which was surprisingly sizable. I spent a minute or so searching for a suitable scramble down the 8-10 m or so, unwilling to to go look for another abseil anchor just yet. Success! Exiting the pool on the left, and continue left and down traversing around into a tiny gully and thence down into the creek, to commence boulder hopping to Murdering Gully. The traverse has one worrying bit. A slippery rock slide to a muddy ledge above about an 8m drop. Not much to hold on to and not much scope for error in the landing.

I've never made it up Murdering Gully in 'one and a half hours' ... In addition, Murdering Gully is not somwhere I like to be as dusk is approaching. It is, in my opinion, a filthy leech and spider infested, vine tangled, knee deep in loose scree and leaf decaying leaf litter, a difficult barstard of a place. I find something particularly demoralising about putting so much effort into moving one meter upwards, only to be stopped by your pack tanlged in a bunch of vines. Then, when you try to step back down, your feet also become tied, as well as an arm. In the meantime the ground you were standing on has now disintegrated beneath you and you are hanging. As one with nature ... Hmpf ! I swear, I have never been through bush so determined to keep me in place !

Shortly after sunset and still a long way from the top, it became time to get the headlamps out. Geoffs decided to become invisable in his pack. Richard's was OK, but mine had previously done two caving trips on the same battery, and I had not packed a spare. DOH!. As expected, mine died before we reached the top. (Geoffs lamp made it's re-appearance when he was unpacking at home, it was hiding in the bottom of his pack the whole time !).

We were lucky we'de done this exit a few weeks prior, because at least we knew for sure, we were headed the right way this time. One less worry is one less worry !

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