[SUBW-A] trip report: Gangerang / Kowmung walk 22-24 May

[Tim Vollmer]

Gangerang / Kowmung walk - Friday 22 May to  Sunday 24 May

Party: Tim Vollmer, Joshua Hill, Huey

After several days of rain, flooding up north and promises of more
rain to come, two foolhardy souls decided to push ahead with a three
day stroll out from Kanangra.
The drive out on Friday morning started with light drizzle, slowly
increasing to a torrential downpour by the time Katoomba was reached.
The drive out through Jenolan Caves only increased the trepidation as
the road was littered with branches and even a couple fallen trees!
Eventually the walls were reached and despite thick mist and constant
rain the two intrepid adventurers left the otherwise empty car park.
We soon realised the clouds were well down in the valley, there would
be no improvement to the poor visibility of not more than 30 metres,
and we would not be getting any spectacular views. This lead to the
decision to modify the walk slightly, by reversing the direction,
heading to the Kowmung first and hoping for a fine final day for the
walk on the Gangerang Range.
Just like the rest of the walk, recent hazard reduction burns had left
sections of scrub blackened, creating stark contrasts between burnt
and unburnt sides of the track and some surreal landscapes in the
mist.
At Coal Seam cave we admired the lovely dryness, but fought the urge
to set up camp and traipsed down the Gingra Range. Soon I was
questioning my decision not to bring a rain jacket, but was still
hoping it would clear and I would dry out. It just goes to show I will
never be getting a job as a weatherman!
We eventually got under the cloud, although not under the rain. There
were a some occasional pauses in the foul weather where a glimpse of
blue was seen. Unfortunately, each was followed by a smirking Huey as
a fresh gust of wind brought yet more driving rain. The one plus side
was that no photos were taken and few rest stops granted, and we made
great time to the Kowmung. Actually the other plus was seeing
impromptu waterfalls streaming off the cliffs on Ti Willa Plateau.
When we arrived the river was raging, filling the valley with a
thunderous roar. It was at least 30 metres wide at the camp site (and
about 40 metres by morning, which did make use question our choice of
camp site!)
We set up the tent and a little shelter and got started on the fire.
Everything was wet, and not that superficial damp on the outside, but
the soaked-to-the-centre-dripping-wet kind of state where you can take
bark off a tree, squeeze it, and have water come out as if it were
moss. Over a painful hour and a half we (and by we I mainly mean
Joshua who is now officially the best fire-lighter I know) chipped
tiny slivers of wood, blew air on the embers with a camelbak hose, and
attempted to stop the driving rain from extinguishing the tiny flame.
Eventually it bust into life and we stood in the drizzle enjoying the
glorious fire.
Despite all the work, the weather got the better of us and by about
6.30 we were in the tent, fed, watered and liquored up, ready for
sleep. The rain didn't let up, and by morning we discovered the river
was now substantially closer to our tent (it had risen about half a
metre) and the spot I had washed up in was now a raging torrent. We
packed up after a relaxed breakfast and got on our way.
After a short walk down the river to admire the flying fox (and
serious consideration being given to using some rope, tape and a
carabiner to cross over the river) we began the climb up Stockyard
Spur to Ti Willa Ridge.
The rain eased then stopped, we made great time and thanks to some
brilliant navigating through the scrub higher up hit the cliffline
less than 5 metres from the chains of Campagnoni Pass. We climbed to
the top, followed the cliff about 30 metres to a perfect lunch rock
and proceeded to have a long, relaxing feed. Plenty of photos were
taken thanks to the best weather we had received thus far, and much
time was wasted.
Eventually we continued along Ti Willa Ridge with the plan to head to
Hundred Man Cave. At first it was easy going, clear weather and none
of the nasty scrub we had heard about. When we finally did hit the
really swampy banksia scrub we decided to scoot over to the west and
check out the views over to the Gangerang Plateau. We weren't
disappointed and more photos were taken of all the waterfalls rushing
off into what is unquestionably one of the most beautiful valleys /
gorges in the mountains. Even high up we could hear the roar of the
normally placid creek below. Unfortunately, the fun times spent
photographing, exploring and examining the world's narrowest slot
canyon (about 3 or 4 cms, dropping most of the way down the cliff!)
wasted what little good weather we had, and Huey returned with a
vengance, racing up the valley, engulfing us with cloud and once again
pissing down rain (which didn't ease up until about 9am on Sunday).
At this point I will say that I have always thought the SUBW use of
the term "Huey" was a bit of a wank. After all, what does everyone
have against a big, cuddly, affable bloke who loves to cook? After
this weekend, and Huey's repeated, deliberate, vindictive attacks on
us, I completely understand the need to personify him (and his evil
mistress Cloudmaker).
Anyway, we resumed our search for Hundred Man Cave (which neither of
us had been too) in the driving rain, through horrendous scrub, with
what was definitely the worst visibility of the trip. My attempt to
cross reference Dunphy's map with the topo had me locating the cave
about 400m away from its proper location, which in conditions like
this was a substantial margin of error. So we searched for about half
an hour, did a few zig-zags and loop-the-loops (and Joshua lost his
watch, given to him by his wife, as a wedding gift... yes, he is
sleeping on the couch), before the dying light made us realise we
weren't going to make it and better find a spot to camp.
Considering the swamp, scrub, mud, rock etc which made up 95% of the
area, we were lucky to quickly find a nice little camp site and bed
down. We again started the process of trying to light a fire. After
half an hour we gave up. We had discovered a new kind of wetness even
more horrendous than the day before and the rain was heavier.
We climbed into the tent, warmed ourselves up and cooked in the
vestibule because there was no way we were going to be going back
outside. (That same desire led to debates later in the evening about
the appropriateness of peeing in a cup in the tent... ;-)
We stuffed our faces with chocolate to cheer ourselves up, got into
the irish whiskey, bourbon and pisco, then had another early night.
In the morning it was still raining. I tried to convince Joshua that
we should just spend the day in the tent because there was no way I
was getting out of my sleeping bag and putting those sopping when
Volleys back on! I lost the argument and we got moving.
As we packed up the rain stopped and the visibility began to markedly
improved. We moved along the ridge, dropped into a nicely flowing
creek for water, then started up the other side. Looking up, we
suddenly saw a great camp cave appearing. Sure enough, only a few
hundred metres from our wet, miserable spot was Hundred Man Cave,
complete with dry firewood. We mentally logged its location for future
reference then kept on going.
It was an enjoyable stroll up towards Cloudmaker, and a great feeling
to be on top. We then started on the final push to the cars, for which
Huey finally decided to cooperate, lifting the cloud by Stormbreaker
and giving us a fairly pleasant walk. The sun even managed to peek
through at times, illuminating the walls, with Crafts Walls looking
particularly spectacular.
The final day, despite supposedly being a shorter one, took until
sunset because we kept finding great spots to pause and admire the
chasm below, the torrents of water flowing into the valley, and some
exciting canyons on the other wall which are now on the to-do list for
summer.
I don't think I have ever been that wet, certainly not for that long,
and our inability to find the cave on Saturday night was a tad
depressing, but overall it was a surprisingly good trip in the face of
adversity.

Photos to follow once Joshua emails some to me.

-- 
Tim Vollmer
Mob: 0404 273 313
Email: tim.vollmer at gmail.com