BMMC End of Season Trip

Finally, something to blog about...

Well, the BMMC end of season camping trip has delivered on its promise for adventure, challenge, mateship and fascinating scenery in the glorious Blue Mountains. The route was set to take in 3 of the largest mountains in the Kanangra Boyd National Park south-west of the Blue Mountains.

Day One:
Headed out along Narrow Neck with The Animal, Welsh Exchange Student, Sleep Train, LL2, King Donges, Wild Bore (Ben Orr), The Physio and Terry Donges. We are joined at the top of Taro's Ladder by experienced bushwalkers Nick and Kim. Things weren’t going well for me, already having to dress a blister the size of a twenty cent piece on my heel with 20km still to walk today. Once off the ladder we head down the spur and across to The Cox's River via Mobbs Swamp, Wild Dogs Range and Yellow Pup. A relatively uneventful day finished with 2 river crossings as we made our way to Kanagaroo clearing, situated between The Coxs River and Whalania Creek. As the sun was going down and the temperature falling fast we built a fire and set up our respective sleeping aparati and settled in to some dinner. Many accounts of various adventures gone by were shared, most in disagreement with each other. Sleep Train did his best to prepare all of us for the day that lay ahead by sharing stories of previous attempts with the near-mythological 'Donny', member of the SAS and frequent partner-in-crime with Sleep Train on his countless exploits. With a 5am start to a very long day, we all hit the sack early.

Day Two:

Begins dark and cold at about 4:15am with a nudge from Sleep Train, final preparations were needed before heading out at 5am. The route for today would follow a slight variation of the reverse route taken by most when attempting the infamous 'Three Peaks' (more info can be found at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~aburke/3Peaks/index.htm). This would take us up Mt Guouogang, then Mt Paralyser and finishing with Mt Cloudmaker. A party of 6 headed out shortly after 5: Sleep Train, The Animal, WES, Nick, Olly and Myself; with the Wild Bore having to make a difficult decision to abort the trip due to a nasty blister. In retrospect, climbing Guouogang in the dark is a sensible decision, if only for the simple fact that you cannot see anything outside of the halo of light projected from your head torch and those in front, and so you simply keep walking oblivious to the enormity of what lies ahead. It was truly spectacular having the sun rise behind us, lighting up the valleys and mountains either side of us as the eery star-lit skyline is replaced by the peaceful dawn. As the day is changing around us, we continue the inexorable climb up the behemeth Guouogang. The pace set up the front by Sleep Train and Olly can only be described as calf-burning. We managed to summit after about 2.5 hrs, push through some dense scrub to find the cairn and accompanying log-books and have a bite to eat before making our way down to Whalania Creek. If I am honest I would say there was atleast 3-4 occasions climbing up Guouogang where I had convinced myself that I would return back down to the campsite, believing that either my blisters would cause too much pain or I would fatigue well before the end of the walk. My pride would only allow me to return if someone else had decided to also return because it would only be safe for us to stay with at least another. However, when the question was asked about who would return back to camp, no one came forward. Thus, with my pride to keep me company we headed out at 8am for the descent. After some tricky navigation work we zigged and zagged back onto the correct spur that gave spectacular views of the surrounding hills. I enjoyed the downhill as it allowed my heels a break and was more technical than exhausting. During the final stages of the descent we managed to lose James and Tim, who deep in conversation veered further left and hit the creek a few hundred metres below us. This slight error made crossing the creek more difficult for them, as the creek was wider and they couldn't easily get up to where we were due to a 5 m waterfall. After refilling our water and having something to eat we started the tough ascent up Mt Paralyser. The climbing was very steep and the terrain loose, which made the going slow. Eventually we made it onto a spur that was walkable, bringing us up to the top of Paralyser. The way up allowed a fantastic view of the spur that we had descended from Guouogang. At this stage Olly and I had moved ahead too far and continued unknowingly off Paralyser on our way up to Mt Cyclops. 20 minutes later when the others had not caught us, we decided to consult the map and after realising we had probably gone too far headed back to find the others enjoying lunch at the cairn signifying the top of Paralyser. After a quick bite, we made our way down to Kanangra Creek, this time crossing together. The descent took us through some vary narrow sections over rocky outcrops with steep drops either side. A pack of dingos, from which the Wild Dog Range is named, serenaded us with their howling across the valley. Again a brief stop at the creek for water and some food, before a steep climb up to a spur that would take us up to Mt Stormbreaker. Reaching Stormbreaker would bring us onto a bushwalking path along the ridgeline up to Mt Cloudmaker. This path is part of the popular Kanangra to Katoomba walk that I did a year and a half before. Everyone was looking forward to this as it meant the hardest part of the walk was behind us. After climbing up Rip, Rap and Roar, the three knolls that bring you up to Cloudmaker, we managed to find the 3rd and final cairn and log-book. After a short break we headed off for the final leg down into Dex Creek and along to Mt Strongleg with the light fading quickly. Sleep Train was not confident of our ability to navigate this section in the dark, given that he has managed to get lost in the same area in the light. Needless to say, we managed to veer off the fading track, losing all sense of direction with no land markings visible in the dark. Some good navigation and keen eyes from James brought us back onto the track. After what seemed like an eternity we were heading down to the Cox's River where we would cross Whalania Ck (meaning shoes off and aching cold) for the last time and head up to the Campsite. We were back at the campsite at about 11pm, making the total time 19 hours. A bite to eat, change in to some warm clean clothes and its off to bed for a proper nights sleep.

Day Three:

A sleep in allowed, rising at around 6:30am for some breakfast of Porridge and some time to tend to my feet. Yesterdays walk had taken its toll on my soft little feet. The blister that started on Narrow neck had worsened, and new hot-spots had developed on both big toes and little toes (from the downhill sections) and the ball of my left foot had a nice blister. Copious amounts of tape were employed to dull the sensitive parts and reduce the rubbing. Once everyone was up, fed and packed to go we headed out to make our way across the Coxs and up Yellow Pup. Climbing Yellow Pup was much harder than I remembered, taking just over 1hr5min. A break at the top before moving on over the Wild Dog Range and down in to Mobbs Swamp for lunch. Sleep Train and I made good time, passing the advanced party of Terry, LL2 and King Donges at the foot of Mt Derbert, pushing on to the top of Taros for a well-earned rest and bite to eat. The others weren’t far behind, and soon all of us were moving on up to the fire trail that would take us the final 10 km back to the cars. This is by far the most trying part of the whole walk, not physically but mentally. We are all exhausted, have sore feet and just want to stop. After seeing the writing in the sand left by Ben and Kel, tempting us with offers of Tim Tams, I was determined to pick the pace up. The whole way back along Narrow Neck I was trying to remember the sections of the trail that still remained, anticipating the bends and rises yet to come. This proved fruitless, as inevitably my recollection is only ever partial, skipping over large sections of trail in my mind only to round a bend or climb a rise to see more trail in front. By the end of the trail my feet were impossibly sore, my knees were stiff, my shoulder sore, quads quivering and getting very cold. A police chopper kept me company over the last 3 km, obviously looking for some lost walkers or climbers. This was a good reminder that there were others doing it tougher than I was, and that I should harden up and keep walking.

We arrived back at the cars at around 5pm, with the light fading and the temperature falling fast. Everyone was safe, and everyone was sore. The inaugural BMMC annual end of season camping trip had concluded, a success on all parts. Thanks to all who made the trip. It was nothing short of brutal. Thanks must go to Sleep Train, who’s navigation expertise kept us on track (mostly) for the who trip. Now we need to plan a real ‘3 Peaks’ walk.