Good canyoning weather has been in short supply recently. So when the forecast started offering a window of warmer sunny days I decided to grab hold of one, even if it was a work day. Mary had also been really keen to squeeze one last canyon in before her departure back to Italy, so she jumped at the idea of a night canyon. And despite…
One day I will lead an SUBW walk where we actually take the route as advertised. Today was not that day. After my original plans for this weekend got rained out, I put up a very short notice walk, asking for volunteers to join me on a walk to descend Kedumba Valley Road from the Bonanza Gates on Kings Tableleand, cross Kedumba River, and climb up the Col to have lunch on Mt Solitary, and then return. I got…
Last Saturday was one of those days you wouldn’t get out of bed unless it was to lay on the couch with a warm blanket, a hot chocolate and a good book. It had been raining for the previous two days, with temperature dropping well below the 20’s, and the weather forecast was promising more of the same. Given the…
Advertised as “Canyoning Weekend, 23-24 Feb 2013”, but became “Flooded Canyons Daytrip 22-23 Feb 2013” I was asked why didn’t I cancel the trip before it started. Well I could have. But didn’t you know that the SUBW motto is “Press On Regardless”? And that Press On Regardless doesn’t mean Press on Recklessly or Foolishly, just “Press on Regardless of the Weather Forecast”. Nothing more…
An astute observer may notice that while this trip was advertised as being “Megalong / Medlow Bath Tracks”, the title of this report excludes the Megalong, for the reason that we never quite made it down far enough to qualify being in the Megalong. My objective today was to explore the old tracks at Medlow Bath, to find the established ways in & out of the valley, as preparation for a future long day walk descending Blacks Ladders and ascending to Medlow Bath. I was…
This morning my girlfriend (Sophie) and I did a hike below the cliff lines of Radiata Plateau (just West of Katoomba, near the start of the 6 Foot Track). A couple of others had indicated interest, but in the end it was just the two of us. I had previously gone in & out each of Esgate Pass (the chains) and Blacks Ladder, but this was my first time doing the full traverse. It was…
A cool change on Friday night heralded mild summer walking conditions on Saturday for an exploratory walk into the Nattai Valley via The Slott Way. The Slott Way is a fairly new route only marked out some 7 years ago as far as I know. It is described in a small booklet by Robert Sloss, “Bushwalking Cycling in Mittagong and Nattai National Park”. I was…
So when Sydney has its hottest day ever (global warming anyone…), where better to be than a canyon, right? Except when that canyon requires you to climb several hundred metres up an impressive sandstone escarpment, only to discover an unnervingly strong smell of smoke once you’re on top, then turns out to be the driest poo-smeared slot you’ve ever entered! We’d driven out to Glen Davis the night before. Dinner was…
On this trip, all that could have been done wrong I DID, like wearing the wrong shoes, the wrong set of clothes, burning my socks on the campfire – gee, not even in my early bushwalking days I’ve ever done that, getting sunburned, or having the wrong map. Some were mistakes that could have ruined the whole trip if it wasn’t for the amazing cooperation I had from the rest of the party. So first…
Normally I try to run a beginner canyoning weekend towards the beginning of the season. However, this year it got pushed back further and further until I finally decided to take literally the last weekend of 2012 to make it happen. Going in summer had the advantage that we were able to do proper wet canyons, as opposed to the (semi) dry ones in early spring, and Tim’s trip report about Dargans Creek made me decide to use this location for the first day and then head out to the Newnes Plateau. As usual…