Freshwater Canyon Mar 29

This would be the big grand finale to my visit to Australia. A big drive and a big approach to a long, sustained and seldom visited backcountry canyon. We left late on Thursday to avoid the Easter holiday traffic leaving Sydney. Between Joe, Greg and Drew, the conversation was flowing which made the long drive through the dark and the rain bearable. As we neared our destination I looked out the window to spy large monument-shaped mountains looming on the skyline to the left and right of the car which excited me for the coming morning’s view. Round about midnight we pulled into the eucalyptus-covered campground and set up tents in the light rain. 

 

In the morning I met Matt and Ivan. Six strong, we set out along a trail and within five minutes left the trail for the 5 hour cross country approach to the start of the canyon. We hiked up a steep slope and then found a passable route up the lower cliff. Here we enjoyed the view over the green Capertree River Valley below and dramatic sandstone cliffs across the valley. After some deliberation on how to cross the ditch in front of us, we descended into it via a vertical-walled ramp and found a route climbing up the limestone pagodas on the other side. We then traversed to gain the top of the ridge and then climbed straight up the highest point in the immediate vicinity for a stunning view over the landscape from our cross-bedded sandstone slickrock perch. A tricky downclimb led to a faint ridge between two major river catchments. Here we had to be very careful to not accidentally drop into the wrong catchment so I took the lead with my GPS leading the way.  I thwacked through the scrub, the GPS telling me we were finally nearing our goal. After about 5 hours, we reached the head of the Freshwater and walked downstream to where water, and then bedrock, appeared.

We suited up and got into it. It started small enough, but once it started it did not relent. The slot canyon lasted for over 1.5 km along which it changed character several times. Small pothole jumps and swims, narrow downclimb slots, flooded corridors, perfectly straight joint-controlled slot sections, dark and sinous narrows, a few tricky downclimbs, long swims, and some impressive log jams all added to the variety. The photos tell it better then I can.

Towards the end we reached a particularly memorable slot canyon. This was among the deepest, darkest and most sculpted I visited in the Blue Mountains. The shadows and tinges of color on the walls were fantastic.

Some more downclimbing then brought us through the last few slot sections. The canyon ended rather abruptly at the end of a joint-controlled slot to emerge into a wide lush valley with abundant room to house-sized blocks filling the floor. A few seemed to have peeled off the cliffs above in the last rain, weeks before.

The adventure was not over yet! We spent another 1.5-2hrs negotiating our way downstream through the sporty boulder field maze, generally wrecking our knees and wearing ourselves down. When we finally reached the fire road at the bottom of the Freshwater we had a good snack and drink on the slickrock before continuing down the fire road. A pleasant walk through lovely eucalyptus forest brought us back to our shuttled car. As we walked late afternoon sun echoed off the red canyon walls towering above, framed by the branches of eucalyptus trees. It was the biggest day of the trip and probably the most memorable. While the canyon was the highlight and obvious point to the large amount of bushbashing, the views and challenging navigation of the approach and exit really added to the adventure.

Thanks to Joe, Nari, Greg, Drew, Ivan and Matt.

Grand Canyon Mar 27

After lunch at Conservation Hut, we drove to the carpark for Grand Canyon, one of the most popular tourist tracks in the area. We bombed down the steeply staired hill past tourists huffing and puffing their way back up the hill. We both hoped we would look less exhausted by the time we hiked back up the hill! The track crosses the creek, sidles along the valley on ledges, ducks through a short boulder cave, goes behind a waterfall and beneath overhanging ledges. It's very scenic but if the tourists only knew what they were missing out on in the canyon beneath them they might find it disappointing. The canyon reminded me a lot of Zion with its vertical red sandstone cliffs and moss-clad waterfalls and grottos. We suited up on the track, walked two steps, and abseiled into the dark chamber below.

        The first and only abseil

Once in the chamber we were immediately presented with the highlight of the trip: sunbeams shooting diagonally into the canyon, hitting the tannin-stained water and casting reflections about the chamber. We spent some time photographing and enjoying the rare light show. At the right time of year on a sunny day, the sunbeams probably only penetrate for a half hour here.

Continuing on we came to a long subway-like section that could certainly be classified and Grand. We were both impressed by the large amount of flood debris in the canyon from recent storms. The debris created a lot of pools and in one I found some really amazing bubbles. I carefully slipped into the water and sneaked up on them with my camera.

Near the end of the canyon was one final slot section with some wonderfully sculpted walls. Then it opened out again and after a couple more swims we hit the trail again. A hot walk out brought us back to the car. It was yet another unique Blue Mountain canyon. Thanks to Julie!

Empress Canyon Mar 27

I met one of my Aussie canyoning mates Julie out at Katoomba to do a couple short, but classic canyons. First up was Empress Canyon which has the easiest approach and exit of any Blue Mountain canyon I have been to. We followed the trail into the creek and suited up.

A couple downclimbs led to a nice 4m jump over a waterfall. A few minutes of creek walking led to the main narrows. Here we jumped and swam our way through the sculpted canyon. All to soon I could see light pouring into the canyon up head. We turned the last corner to see the horizon line of the last drop, the 30m-high Empress Falls. Just above the falls were two perfectly round pothole pools- a very pretty spot in the canyon. The abseil was lots of fun, the wettest abseil I have done in the Blue Mountains so far. 

        Pothole pools and the top of Empress Falls

We missed the usual fanfare of tourists watching us descend the falls but got plenty of looks on the way back up the track. The canyon was short but very sweet. It had been years since Julie had done the canyon and she seemed to enjoy it as well. I know how easy it is to get caught up in finding the longest and most adventurous trips and then to re-visit an easy classic and be surprised at how enjoyable it is. Thanks to Julie!

Arethusa Canyon Mar 25

Apparently Arethusa was the first roped canyoning descent in Australia way back in 1940- pretty impressive! Michael, a friend of a friend, knows the canyon almost as well as anyone else and invited me along for a trip. We drove to the town of Wentworth Falls, then turned on to a bumpy dirt road to a nondescript carpark on the side of the road. We followed a faint trail down the hillside through spiky and scratchy plants, before too long reaching some slickrock at the top of a cliff lining the side of Arethusa Creek. A 30 m abseil then another 20 m abseil dropped us into the creek. We started downstream, almost immediately encountering our first swim, followed by the typical boulder hopping and the occasional small jump.

 

        First abseil into the canyon

        Second abseil into the canyon

Shortly we reached a black void that signals the start of the good stuff. I carefully scooted to the edge of a large wedged chockstone and looked down. Below was a perfectly round and deep looking pool. I had the other two do the abseil and check the water depth. It was all good so I did a beautiful 14m cliff jump into the pool below. The outlet to this large pool was a sump so we had to climb out of the water and jump back in below.

        Start of the good stuff (14m jump here)

Arethusa has some of the best potholes I've seen in the Blue Mountains so far. I found one that was about 2m-deep and drained through the bottom which gave a weird illusion as from above the water drained into it and seemed to disappear.

        Bottom-draining pothole

The canyon then turned cathedral-like with overhanging walls towering above. Rays of light entered diagonally and then bounced golden canyon light up on to the sides of the walls. A few tress reached tens of meters upward to make the most of the daily sunrays. The walls continued to grow in height and the canyon widen, as we continued downstream. The cross-bedded sandstone had an uncanny appearance to the Navajo Sandstone in places. I found a few more fun jumps along the way. At the last pool I found a running side wall jump that was a lot of fun.

Then the canyon opens up and ends at an abrupt horizon line, the 40m-high Arethusa Falls. The old route (which takes a long day to complete) carried on down the falls and then climbed up much further down. Instead we did a bolt-aided rock climb up several cliff bands and into Alpheus Canyon, a tributary. This intricate route eventually deposited us onto a fantastic slickrock vantage between the two canyons. After a moment's rest, we carried on up the hill and back to the car. Although the canyon section was not particularly long, the long abseil entry, rock climbing exit and light and features in the canyon made for a very enjoyable trip. Thanks to Michael and Viki for a great trip.

        On the escape route

        Alpheus Canyon below