Walkers: Taeko, Satoshi, Mutsuko, Charles, Alex J, Peggy, Bron, Ben P, Alisha + friend, Jerome, Elmore, Elin, Alex B, Terje, Laura, Dmitri,David K, Miriam, Gary, Jana, Marina, Claudia, and Bruce. (and one more whose named I have missed).
Alexander Bertholds Ashley Burke Brian van der Gouw Charles Prime Chris Thornett Christy Scott Daniel Wesolowski Elin Andersson George Karpenkov Guy Tannenbaum Helen Smith Izabela Spaleniak Jana Röther Katie Bates Lisa Jonas Lucy Swinnen Mariacristina Merlo Melissa Freer Michelle Veney Robert Merlino Samanta Castellarin Sierra Classen
It was decidedly damp when we set off into the bush, but we decided to press on regardless. We picked our way down the ridge and into the creek, noting how high the water was. We eventually reached the first small drop, finding powerful currents churning down into a foaming, seething mass of whitewater, and no easy way apparent. We decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and regretfully decided to retreat. Besides, my family has strict rules on whose turn it is to almost drown (and this year is not my turn!).
Saturday morning treated us to clear sunny skies and a well known treat from cityrail – trackwork. After missing a couple of buses on account of our packs we were off to Blacktown and then Faulconbridge to start the hike. In Faulconbridge we loaded up on last minute treats and applied sunscreen with what claimed to be invisible zinc but had the look and consistency of wall paint.
After a nice early start we set off through the scrub to find a way into our chosen canyon – Ashcroft Ravine. Our information was light in detail, but we managed to find a relatively straightforward scramble down into the gully.
During the 2 weeks of hot dry weather preceding this trip I envisaged the shimmering deep pools of Kalang Falls and Dione Dell and how nice it would be to jump into them on a trip after abseiling down dry cliffs in the sunshine. And so this trip was thus conceived. Yet the weather had other ideas and by the time we set off along the track to Kalang Falls on Saturday morning it was cool, grey and heavily overcast with the promise of rain.
Travelling separately in two cars, the party drove out to Newnes on the Friday night of 12 November and on Saturday morning we all met around our breakfast fire. It was shaping up to be a warm weekend so we chose a route into the Red Rocks that incorporated a cool but dry canyon. There had been plenty of recent rain so there was fresh rainwater water to be found high in the Wolgan Capertee divide.
With Fiona bailing out due to too much Saturday night action, the four of us met up on the train to Wentworth Falls where where we started our walk. The first leg of our trip was following down Jamison Creek all the way from the station to the magnificent Wentworth Falls and further down the Slack Stairs and the old Hippocrene Falls track. We left ample time to watch and photograph the stunning waterfalls and finally settled at the Hippocrene Falls for an early lunch and some of us went for a cold swim, too.
This very belated trip report is for completeness of the record, and was a (P)BT as neither the President nor the Vice-President were in attendance! However, the Honorary Junior Vice-President, and a range of ex-presidents were there to help carry on the tradition. Apologies for any poor recollection!
I’ve put the trip report for the beginner canyoning weekend up on the Fat Canyoners Club site. Coming out of the weekend we’ve only had one participant get operated on (that I know of) and have located the one person we lost for the whole weekend, so I can now safely call it a success. For those who missed out on this trip, there will be a similar beginner weekend in the next couple months. As for those who were on this trip, I look forward to seeing you on more trips as the canyoning season gets into full swing.