[SUBW-A] Trip Report: Wild dogs 16-18th April

[jbev1596@mail.usyd.edu.au]

Party: Me, Pete Harvey, Dave Lee, Dayna, Sarah, Jo Boyd (Sunday)

It was a lovely day on Friday with blue skies and not a hint of rain as we
left green gully at 9.30. Heading down carlon creek we introduced dayna
and sarah to stinging nettles and assortments of other weeds which are
getting way outta control. We filled up at breakfast creek and began the
slog up blackhorse ridge...soon enough the girls realised it was a bit
different to walking around fraser island. The last time I was on
blackhorse we came down in the dark, so I was pleased to find some pretty
nice lookouts near the top. The first was the most surprising - a large
clear rocky outcrop allowed us to point out the breakfast/coxs
junction...they couldn't quite believe we'd be there the next day.
We arrived at mobbs swamp at about 1, where the sludge was as always, clear
as mud. After a few jaffles, we continued. We managed to take the scenic
route back to the main track via some more of dave's favorite tall
grasses. After discussions as to whether there was time for a side trip to
splendour rock we decided against it. We got to the junction about 3? and
figured we'd need all remaining daylight to reach kanangra creek by dark.
It had been a surprisingly warm day, with temperatures feeling like mid to
high 20s (anyone know what it got to?), so stocks of water were dwindling.
We reached Mt Yellow Dog by 4.30 and hoped the sun stayed up late for the
night.
However, we made pretty good time down the ridge. Somehow The warm
afternoon had subsided enough to make the descent quite pleasant. Sarah
seemed to enjoy rolling and falling on her ankle she thought she'd do it
again, and again, and again!! But each time she continued...waiting for
the swelling the next day. As we neared the cox's the familiar call of
bellbirds was very welcome as was that great smell you get when everything
greens up.
We ambled up the cox's and found a nice little campsite by kanangra creek
just as it darkened. The girls fell asleep soon after and Dave followed by
7.30 (it was his detox trip!!).

Next morning I asked Dayna & sarah how they were-their feet were covered in
blisters...aah! A day of river walking was just what the doctor ordered!!
It was a pleasant day nonetheless. We saw a few blacksnakes (or was I the
only one?) and got to a nice green campsite for lunch. It was there we
brought out the rubber tube we'd discovered. Pete got the fire going in a
flash with our new toy and all sorts of jaffles were had.

Sarah's blisters were making life less than brilliant so at breakfast creek
she and dayna decided to camp on frying pan flat and avoid the climb out
of galong creek...a nice scout leader obliged with a colour photocopy of
the map  - thankyou!!

The rest of us skiddadled upstream to a swimming hole and then quickly
arrived at the beaut campsite at jenolan.

The next morning pete checked out the gorge upstream. By the time he
returned Jo had arrived and we were underway by 9.30. We moved along well
to galong creek, just overshooting it by a smidge. We had an extended
11ses and progressed to the gorge section with anticipation. Along the way
Dave "Bullhunter" Lee managed to persuade a rather large bull to retreat
off the path and posed with some fossils.

The scramble up the gorge was definitely the highlight of the trip. It
didn't seem as menacing as in yr7or8 when jo and I were taken there on a
school trip. We found a nice pool above one of the waterfalls and managed
to get a good fire going. After quite a few more jaffles......
we climbed up the side of a few more waterfalls and reached the carpark by
3ish.

A good trip....thanks to everyone for coming along - see you all next time!

cheers,
James

photos:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~tobaneptyltd/BlueMountainsNP/Wilddogscoxsriver/16-18Apr2004.html


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