Wild Dogs Circuit ~ 16-18 April 2004
Party: Dave Lee Pete Harvey, Dayna, Sarah, Jo Boyd (Sunday), James Bevan
It was a lovely day on Friday with blue skies and not a hint of rain as we left Carlon's Farm 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 junction of Breakfast Ck and the Coxs...they couldn't quite believe we'd be there the next day.
We arrived at Mobbs Swamp at for lunch, where the sludge was as always, clear as mud. After a few jaffles, we continued. We made the cardinal sin of blindly following a track and thus managed to take the scenic route back to the main track via some more of Dave's favourite 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, so our 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 River. 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 mid-afternoon.
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