Rachel Grindlay

Another plan made at 9:45pm the night before – which was a bit unfortunate as this would have been a good walk to invite some other people along on.

My research indicated a number of people on the interwebs had trouble finding the start of this walk and/or following the route once on the ground. There are several minutes of my life I will never get back. Much like a car crash you can’t look away from I started reading a blog which detailed 3 attempts (the final one being successful) on Mt Jellore – along with blow by blow conversations held during the drive there and while walking. I hope my blog readers don’t find my writing so tedious.

We had no issues deciding where the walk starts (though it is not sign-posted) and then finding our way through the mess of fire trails which punctuate the start of the walk. To be fair, it’s probably a lot easier now that the bush has come back after the fires. Tom noticed when we arrived that openstreetmaps had a loop option drawn, so we decided we’d try and do that rather than the usual out and back.

The surrounds were lovely and the sun was out. Early on we came upon a look out which was almost excellent. Other than Mt Jellore being directly behind the trees!

I had read about the creek crossing having ropes on both sides. We didn’t use them but I can see why you might want them, particularly in wetter conditions. The way the track has formed in this section is not ideal – straight up and down on each side. A re-routing which goes across the slope would alleviate erosion and remove the need for ropes.

Now that NPWS has taken over management of the area (rebranded as the Jellore Flora Reserve instead of Jellore State Forest) it would be nice if this walk became official – perhaps in the lead up to that the track could be re-routed. Of course, I doubt this is anywhere near the top of the priority list!

It was impressive how many sizeable pieces of sandstone had been put across the old 4WD tracks leading off Soapy Flat Road, so there’s definite evidence of attention being paid to the area.

Another place which has had considerable attention is the junction of the track with the private property fire trail. In an obvious attempt to funnel walkers around the private property a sizeable ‘entrance way’ has been built – along with a sign to “Soapy Flat Road”.

Tom wanted to check out where the loop route went off before we climbed Mt Jellore. While we were looking for any evidence of the route I found a cairn. So we thought that might be the start. Until I looked more closely and found a geocache – not that we could get the lid off.

I was somewhat surprised to find the side of Mt Jellore was quite cliffy – I had expected it to be completely rounded. Fortunately the track just works it’s way up the slopes, and other than early on in the climb, does a decent job of switch-backing through to the top.

Mt Jellore was the first trig station in NSW – established in 1828. Mt Jellore was chosen because it’s such a distinctive peak. Having seen it from so many places it was great to finally get on top.

We headed out past the trig to the rocky outcrops for lunch. We had a couple of wedgetailed eagles do a close fly-by – almost as impressive as the ones we saw at Mt Kaputar. Despite being a lovely sunny day the wind was brisk and there wasn’t much desire to linger once we’d finished eating.

After descending and having found no evidence of this ‘footway’ that was on openstreetmaps we decided we’d just go off-track for our return journey. There were a myriad of animal tracks so the going was relatively easy.

We were a bit surprised at the terrain we ended up crossing. After scaring off a couple of pigs we then found ourselves in a thorn thicket which we probably could have avoided with the benefit of hindsight.

Similarly we picked up an old fire trail on the ridge that we probably could have picked up earlier. Between old fire trails, animal tracks and relatively open bush we made reasonable progress to return to the main track after the thicket hell.

Back at the cars after 5 hours this was an enjoyable walk which got us back to Mittagong in time for afternoon tea before all the cafes shut!

Another week, another walk. This one had been overshadowed in the lead up with a not-so-bad that it should be cancelled, but not-so-good that it should definitely go ahead, weather forecast. In the end Tom decided it would be more work to try and come up with an alternative and we’d just dice with the rain.

It was raining when Jon picked us up at 5:45am which along with the early start wasn’t promoting positive feelings. But by the time we arrived in Mittagong, with plenty of time for a coffee, it wasn’t raining and things were looking up.

The highlights of this walk really came once we got to the cliffs lines – but that was a few hours walking away. During the morning the rain came and went but fortunately the scrub was a lot less intense than feared.

Tom’s recommendation to wear long pants had caused Jon a great deal of consternation before we’d departed but ultimately he had opted not just for long pants but also overpants. Despite this somehow I was in front for a decent period and by morning tea my trousers were saturated from the wet bush.

We were happy to get to some views for lunch, though the choice of lunch platform seemed to be a trial for some of the more cantankerous party members. Initially I was unhappy that the fine conditions changed to light drizzle as we started lunch, but then the most complete and intense rainbow I have ever witnessed filled the vista before us. Surely worth the damp for the spectacle!

After lunch we explored the nearby ridge and then keen people went looking for a pass through the cliff line.

Eventually we regained our packs and headed off towards Surveyors Crag. The water run en route was a bit more effort than expected – for both the effort through the vegetation and the amount we had to drop to find water. Subsequently we didn’t have a lot of time to set up camp before we lost the light on the cliffs. Nonetheless the views were still spectacular for a jovial happy hour.

A late spattering of rain sent most of us off to bed a little earlier than we might have gone otherwise. While Jon had suggested a band of rain was on the way it seemed to largely bypass us, and along with a reasonably windy night, the tents were dry in the morning.

A few of us got up for sunrise and we had breakfast in our happy spot looking over the Nattai valley.

I had found the remains of the logbook container in the cairn when we’d arrived on Saturday afternoon but hadn’t had time to poke around for anything else. On Sunday I was surprised to find the logbook, unprotected from the elements, other than being inside the trig cairn, still relatively intact.* The logbook hadn’t seen much use – a total of two entries since it was placed in 1996!

I know an SBW party visited the spot in May 2018 but they obviously didn’t fill it in. I had wondered about how that trip had gone as it was pre-fires and I imagined the scrub would have been quite bad. But when I went back and reviewed the trip report from the 2018 day walk it had been shortly after an RFS burn. The report concluded “I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for the recent burn we would most likely not have reached our destination in a single day without some very serious night walking.” (as it was they finished after dark).

Since we weren’t doing a day walk we had time for more exploration – so Sunday morning had us crossing a gully so we could get to what Tom had christened “Pointy Point”. (Look at the Hilltop map and you should be able to work out where Pointy Point is!)

The descent creek was a pleasant surprise. Scoured sandstone made for some fun rock-hopping and boulder-scrambling.

Getting up the other side was a completely different story. I took the lead in plunging uphill through dead incense plants, fallen trees and general vegetation. We eventually got to the top of the other side, which after the 2 hour crossing, meant it was morning tea time!

I think we were all relieved when the Pointy Point ridge was relatively easy walking. It would be interesting to know how much the 2018 RFS burn impacted how severely the different ridges burnt.

More splendid views and scrambling around edges of Pointy Point kept us entertained before lunch.

Tom had to shelve his idea of another gully crossing as we were running out of time. Post-lunch walking was something of a grind as we followed boring broad ridges and eventually retraced our route back to the cars. I was expecting a post-sunset finish so it was a bonus that we got back just before 5pm.

We capped the weekend off with an early dinner at the Mittagong RSL. Another fun weekend out in the bush with a boisterous party.

 

*While the logbook was in “relatively” good condition it was still very weather affected and so I took it & the remains of the container home with me. Future visitors won’t find a logbook unless a new one gets placed.

Caro put a Short Notice Walk on the Program which offered a short(er) drive from home, so we signed up. It ended up being a very satisfying weekend of exploring off the Mt Hay Road. And finished in time for afternoon tea in Leura on Sunday. As Tom would say “stoked!” 🙂

Possibly the earliest I’ve ever got up for a bushwalk? I dreamt that we’d slept through the alarm, and I was very pleased when we woke up and it was too late to do anything about it. That wasn’t how the day actually turned out (fortunately). I felt surprisingly good when the 4:30am alarm went off.

We had a good run through to Wog Wog even though the road from Marulan has plenty of potholes following the floods last year and enlarged by the recent rain. Turns out no one in the group was keen for a cold, possibly wet, night camping, and we all went for the Saturday morning drive. (Though some with significantly later alarms than me!) The car had shown -1°C not far from the campground and it was still very cold when we started walking.

Subsequently we were all thrilled when we discovered that the Wog Wog Creek crossing was going to involve a wade unless you had long legs and a good sense of balance. Tom & Mark #1 managed to leap across but the rest of us went barefoot. There was a disaster in the offing when Ljiljana couldn’t find one of her shoes which had been thrown across. Fortunately it was eventually located. Our feet took longer to recover from the crossing, it felt like hours before my toes were back to normal.

I was glad to get off the sodden, boggy track for some exploration just before lunch. We had a nice stroll down an open ridge (for the moment at least – the vegetation hasn’t come back as much as other places yet) and found a cave for lunch.

We oohed and aahed over views for most of the afternoon. Whether that be the distinct peak of Pigeon House Mountain, or a sun-drenched Monolith Valley, or just the 360°C panorama from Corang Peak, or of course the surprise of Corang Arch.

The forecast had been for rain to come through during Saturday night. It wasn’t wrong. Fortunately we were dryly tucked away in a cave. It was hard to tell how much it was raining as the waterfalls cascading off the tops were so noisy. As it turned out not an insignificant amount, as Canowie Brook was up a fair bit from the day before. With Sunday’s weather dawning cold, cloudy, windy with the odd-spattering of rain Jo decided (with plenty of support from the party, possibly even twisting her arm?) we would head directly back to the cars.

Wog Wog Creek was no longer a leaping prospect for anyone after it’s overnight rise. But, since our feet were wet already, it made getting across a lot less painful.

With the early finish we had time to head to the Nerriga Pub for lunch. A great weekend – easily moulded to suit the weather.

The forecast for Sydney was a month’s worth of rain on Sunday. Saturday and Monday weren’t far off similar totals. And it wasn’t just Sydney – a large swath of the surrounding area would also get the deluge. So it wasn’t a difficult decision when asked if I wanted to do the ACT Rogaine on Sunday. Canberra seemed to be just on the edge of the east coast low, and would hopefully avoid most of the precipitation. I was feeling slightly ripped off as the rain got heavier and heavier as we drove towards Canberra on Friday afternoon!

Saturday dawned dry, but cold and windy. By comparison with what was going on in Sydney we were in tropical heaven and so bushwalking we were going. Ali had suggested that we would encounter lots of long wet grass, but the wind dried everything out so that promise came to naught. We opted for something closer to Canberra and not too high – and what a great option it ended up being.

After being blasted by the wind as we wound our way around the base of the reserve, we soon warmed up once we dropped into the creek we planned to ascend. The creek was a delight – the rock was dry, otherwise it would have been a nightmare. Lots of easy scrambling and rock-hopping. And it just kept going.

Eventually we got to the waterfall which was the main attraction of the walk, we had morning tea on top but soon got moving again as the wind quickly chilled us.

It was a similar story on Big Monks Summit – not somewhere to stick around – but we were much more protected once we dropped off the side.

The final creek of the day was nowhere near as enjoyable as the other ones we’d walked in so Ali & I quickly made it back on to the tops. Soon we picked up the main trail and then it was just a contouring jaunt back to the car. An excellent walk for less than pleasant weather conditions (but no rain!).

ACT 4 Hour Winter Rogaine

The forecast on Sunday was worse but I had my fingers crossed we’d get a similar day to Saturday. This was mine & Jo’s first pairing in a rogaine and it went pretty well. I’ve never done a 4 hour rogaine before – an unusual length – but long enough to stretch the legs. Particularly since we chose the hilliest part of the course (since running wasn’t on our agenda).

We constantly leap-frogged a team of 4 for the first part of the day. We were pretty confused when only 2 of the team members seemed to actually go to each control. I think maybe each team only had two wrist-bands so the two which didn’t have them didn’t bother getting to the control – doesn’t really seem within the spirit of things. But anyway – they would run past us on the fire trails – we would then take a cross-country route to the next control, shortly after they would run past us again. Oh the feeling of smugness to come out ahead of them on the road.

We pulled out a 1st in the Women’s Division – but at 21st overall it wasn’t a particularly impressive victory. That said, there was only 60 points separating the 10 teams above us (810-870). The overall winners did have a resounding victory on 1400 points – second place 240 points behind them! Hartley Lifecare did a great job with the catering – can’t really go wrong with cheese toasties and soup on a coldy, windy day. The rain started as we were driving out to the main road – so winning all round!

Two bludgey long weekends in a row had left me feeling overindulged. The forecast for the coming weekend was great. “We have to get out” I informed Tom. Unimpressed with the two suggestions I put on the table he countered with Glen Trig. Given he had been suggesting it on and off for a while I figured he really wanted to get back there. I didn’t really care where we went, as long as I got some exercise. Even better if we could line up some other people, then it would be harder to bail out at the last minute.

As we drove along the Wolgan Road water dripped from the trees, the overnight frost starting to melt. The grass was frosted over at the Newnes Campground, and I rapidly reassessed whether I really wanted to wear shorts to walk in. Fortunately the Pipeline Track warmed us up and we were soon feeling positively balmy having escaped the frost hollow at the campground.

It had been over 18 months since we’d been in the area so a visit to the Pagoda Lookout (now very officially signed) was definitely on the cards. A bit further on we had a late morning tea looking over the Glen Davis side of the Pipeline Pass and not long after left the track for the unknown.

Despite only having a couple of kilometres to cover (as the crow flies), the country was intricate. The map gurus had been at work with DEMs, slopes and probably all manner of other things I don’t understand. It made for relatively easy negotiation of the complex terrain.

Though, the maps don’t show if the gullies are going to have water in them, do they!? Tom didn’t believe Toni when she said we couldn’t go the way he wanted unless we were going to get wet. Not far off the shortest day no one was was inclined to get wet feet.

Fortunately Jon had already scouted a dry route which gave us access through the cliff line and into pagoda city. We clearly weren’t the first to use this route as we found a cairn further up the pagodas pointing down to our pass.

Tom was itching to get into the canyon above the water barrier but high cliffs kept us elevated. Something for another trip when we have ropes! Instead we contented ourselves with negotiating the pagodas.

Unfortunately the nose had a small section which was more ambitious than we were keen for. So we dropped down and traversed under the cliffs to find an alternate way up.

Even once we’d made it through the next cliffline the final ascent to the summit was not straightforward. I waded my way through scrub and managed to get on top from one side, while Tom & Smiffy jammed a log in place to get up in a different place.

The wind made us keen for a more sheltered spot than camping on the open rocks. We were glad to find a sheltered gully with some flat space. Only a small time window remained before sunset, so any camp set-up was delayed. Instead, a mad dash to get what we needed and settle in with the first round of snacks, cameras and warm clothes on the tops.

Post-sunset we went through several more rounds of snacks and finished off with sour cherry cheesecake brownie (thanks Toni!). Efforts to create a natural candle not successful. A rousing round of Happy Birthday to Vivien* (conspicuous by his absence) had to make do.

The next morning Tom, Jon and Smiffy got varying amounts of sunrise photography in, while Toni and I enjoyed being warm in our sleeping bags.

Eventually we set off, taking a different route out than the one we’d approached with.

More water (and more inconveniently, a 4m drop) prevented us getting down the gully we were exploring. After reversing we decided to roll the dice and head along the cliffs for a few hundred metres and hope the maps were giving us the right information on an alternative pass.

We got lucky and descended where we hoped to, and explored some more canyon-y sections of the main creek. Before once again deciding it was not the right trip to get wet feet.

From there it was a relatively straight-forward ascent back to the point we left the track the day before.

We saw a couple of groups of walkers at the Pagoda Lookout, including a couple of women who had walked up with nothing except what they were wearing. The other couple said the women had asked what they were carrying in their backpacks – and were a bit surprised when they said “food, water, first aid”. Apparently a new idea!

The cold wind put paid to any ideas of lounging about looking at the views.

Back at the cars at 2:30pm meant we got to Pie in the Sky just in time to get apple pie before they sold out. An excellent weekend with good weather, great company and spectacular views.

*and me

Ironically (?) I was home alone due to my last solo trip. Tom was off on a holiday without me since he hadn’t been able to make my Tassie jaunt. The weather looked like it might actually be pleasant on the weekend – I realised I had no excuse to stay home. Of course it was already Thursday, far too late to realistically find company. After a lacklustre effort (I asked 2 people) I found myself setting off, alone, from the Wattle Ridge carpark shortly after 8am on Saturday morning.

Optimistically dressed in shorts but with a scarf on, it didn’t take long to warm up as I marched along the fire trail. At the Starlights Trail I took the option less travelled (for me at least) and headed out on what the Second Edition maps have marked as the Nattai Road (erased without a trace on the Third Edition). The first part I had walked a couple of times previously, but after reaching the Troys Creek Fire Trail junction I set off into the unknown (yet again, for me!). I wasn’t sure what the state of the Nattai Road would be – non-existent, a recognisable and easy to follow fire trail or something in between?

The condition deteriorated almost immediately, though it was still clearly an old road.

The road seems to get enough use for a pad to exist through the regrowth when it had taken over. The fallen trees were more of an effort to climb through/over/under.

Then at times after battling through the trees it would open up to a clear road.

Fortunately there was more relatively easy to follow road than bush/tree wrangling and I made reasonable time to get onto the valley floor. From there the road became harder to follow so I decided it was easier to walk down the creek.

Eventually getting back up on to the bank I found the track again. For not the first time that day I was glad to have marked the line of the road onto my Third Edition map. Knowing where the road had supposedly gone previously was a decided advantage. I was curious to find two cairns close together. It was unclear what they might be indicating – if I had to guess I would say a spot to head up towards the cliffline (which looked imposing)?

My original goal had been to head a fair way downstream and hopefully get to Grant Head. It became clear that was probably a bit too ambitious for the day. Two poor night’s sleep in a row were catching up with me. I wandered on the large sandbeds admiring the landscape trying to decide what to do. Eventually I decided I should just eat lunch! Feeling slightly more energised I figured I’d head downstream and see what the going was like.

While the walking was clear, it wasn’t quick across the sand. When I hit a section where I was going to have to climb up and around unless I wanted to swim I figured that was as good a turnaround point as any. I clearly wasn’t the only one who had been here recently there were quite a number of footprints in the sand.

I continued to have the company of a single set of footprints  (other than mine) as I retraced my steps, and indeed the rest of the trip, back to where I had arrived at the Nattai River. This time I chose to stay along side the river rather than pick up the road. Unfortunately that meant a couple of shallow wades – off with the shoes. The side effect of wading through very cold water was a definite perk up in my mental state.

I’d told myself I needed to walk upstream till at least 3pm, to make the next day not too unreasonable. So not long after 3pm I settled on a little sandbank opposite Surveyors Crag. I’d passed many, many suitable, and arguably superior, camping options but the spot I chose had a nice feel to it, and it wasn’t like I needed much space! I even had my own little stream. Water is definitely not an issue at the moment – the Nattai River isn’t good drinking –  there were regular flowing tributaries.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to make myself stay up to even 7pm. But setting time limits to when I could start eating cheese, then soup, then dinner managed to string out the evening. I was amazed it was after 8pm when I decided to retreat to the tent (7pm was going to be a win).

I spent some of the many hours in bed worrying that I had left too much river walking for the next day. Who knew how rough the going would be? Was I going to be getting out in the dark? I thought it wouldn’t take long to get ready – after all I didn’t have Tom with me! Yet somehow it still took 1.5 hours – so much for my vision of being walking not long after 7am.

However, my fretting from the night before was quickly allayed when I found a secondary channel that I could just march down. I could even look up at the changing angles of Surveyors Crag without being too worried about falling over.

When the secondary channel ran out I hit a cliffy section. The first bit I soon concluded was probably a bit too high in the risk stakes to climb, given I was alone. So shoes and socks off, and a cold wade got me to the next section minus a chunk of my big toenail (ouch). The next section was easier scrambling and I was pleased to get up and avoid a much longer wade.

As the river straightened the pleasant walking was replaced with a bit more effort. Also the campsites which had been plentiful the day before were far more sparse – unless you wanted to cross the river. Fortunately the wombats had left some good tracks to follow – except, of course, the sections which were wombat height. This was much slower and harder work, and even though relatively speaking it wasn’t that bad, I was ready for it to be over well before it was.

Pleased to have reached the confluence with Wanganderry Creek by morning tea time, I remembered how much I enjoyed the last time I’d been in this spot.

Not long after morning tea I gave up on keeping my feet dry. I was now back in territory I had visited before. A couple of wades to access a long sandbank in the middle of the river were definitely worth it.

I wasn’t tracking my route so I’m not sure where I ended up in the final section leading to Emmetts Flat. If I had a trace at that point I think it would have been rather inefficient. Pushed away from the river, and trying to avoid vegetation, it seemed to take a long time to finally hit Troys Creek and from there Emmetts Flat.

The campsite is nothing like the one I visited so many years earlier – and was so enamoured by I contrived an overnight club walk just so I could camp there. I was somewhat bemused to see jonquils growing in clumps!

Leaving the campsite I struggled to follow the trail. I found fragments of it near the bottom, but then lost any trace of it going up the ridge. Referring to where it should have been on the map I was happy enough I was heading roughly where it should be. I found a large cairn which gave me hope. But still no sign. The exit was going to be quite a different proposition if the entire trail was gone!

After starting to sidle and meeting a couple of slightly disconcerting loose gullies I was happy to find the trail coming out of the rubble on the other side of a rockfall. It would be interesting to know how much formed track I missed.*

From there it was pretty easy to follow, though there were still a couple of slightly sketchy gullies to cross where rockfall had knocked the trail away. I was a bit surprised when I saw the only other people of the weekend, a group of 4 heading down around midday. Initially thinking they were going to camp but then I realised they only had day packs. I guess there was still plenty of time to get down and back up again.

I managed to walk off the track near the top – probably not the only one given there was a slight pad – but scrambling back up the slope I regained it without much issue.

From the top it was just the final fire trail bash back to the car park. Where I got an almighty fright as a large dog started barking at me out of one of the car windows. His owner, who was sitting the car, assured me it was just very friendly and excited be on his excursion for the day. They were still both sitting in the car 20 minutes later when I drove off!? And despite my fears of an after dark finish it was 2pm with plenty of time to visit a friend on the way home.

A great weekend out.

 

*A friend later confirmed she had followed it all the way down without issue the same weekend.