As 2017 drew to a close Anthony and I
began to discuss plans for the New Year's Eve Ultra. Due to working down
in Rockdale on New Year's Eve for the fireworks the date for the run was to be
moved forward a day to the 30th. First and foremost we decided that
due to our low level of fitness it would be prudent to tackle whatever
course we decided on as a speed hike as opposed to a run. Given we were looking
at a walk rather than a run I was keen to ensure that it still provided plenty
of excitement and as such a repeat of last year's route was off the table.
After some deliberation on potential courses we have decided on a full traverse
of the Wild Dog Mountains, starting and finishing at the top of the Golden
Staircase on Narrowneck.
Anthony arrived at my place at
04:30am on the dot and we jumped in the car and made our way west into the
mountains. It was an extremely enjoyable drive accompanied by one of Spock's
Beard's classic prog rock albums, Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep. Dark
grey clouds rolled in and it looked as though we would be in for a rainy start.
We met Andy at the end of the Narrowneck Firetrail where he had parked his car.
He was going to run down to meet us at the Golden Staircase. The drive down the
firetrail was pretty interesting, it’s desperately in need of a grading as
there are some serious potholes. We made it safely and Andy was only a few
minutes behind. We quickly prepared our camelbaks and then set off into
the light drizzle.
We headed south on the firetrail and
both the rain and fog began to steadily increase. I always love the look of the
forest when it is damp, it really brings out all of the rich colours in the
trees and flowers. The wind was pretty strong at times and we were treated to
some spectacular visuals of the fog moving over the cliffs. We were making
pretty good time with a strong hike on the climbs and the flats and the
occasional jog on the downhill sections. By the time we reached the observation
tower at the 8km point the rain had ceased and the fog was beginning to lift.
The final 3km of the firetrail to Clear Hill is a nice gradual downhill and the
views begin to open up to both the Cedar Creek Valley in the east and especially
over towards the Breakfast Creek & Megalong Valleys in the west. We stopped
briefly at Clear Hill to take in the view across to Lake Burragorang
(Warragamba Dam) before preparing for the descent to Medlow Gap.
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| Early morning mist on the Narrowneck Firetrail |
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| Anton & Andy on the Narrowneck Firetrail |
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| Amazing views with dark clouds in the sky and mist moving quickly over the cliffs |
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| Dark clouds still loom overhead as we look east towards Lake Burragorang
(Warragamba Dam) |
Leaving the firetrail we joined the
Kanangra to Katoomba trail and began the technical descent down to the Tarros
Ladders. Shortly before reaching the ladders we stashed two extra water bottles
which Anthony had brought along, these would become a godsend later. At the top
of the Tarros Ladders there is an excellent lookout which takes in the Wild Dog
Range, our mission for the day. We spent a few minutes enjoying the view whilst
I explained the intended route. It was a little intimidating looking over the
valley at the row of peaks that we were intending to climb one after the other!
After this short stop I descended the ladders first so I could get some shots
of the guys coming down. Tarros Ladders is always heaps of fun and it was
awesome for Anton to experience it for the first time.
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| The view from the top of the Tarros Ladders. In the foreground to the left in Mount Derbert and then behind that is the Wild Dog Range. Our first objective is Mount Mouin, the pyramid shaped mountain. |
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| Andy descending Tarros Ladders |
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| Anton descending Tarros Ladders |
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| Anton descending Tarros Ladders |
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| Anton descending Tarros Ladders |
From the bottom of the ladders there
is a lovely single trail that takes you up and over Mount Derbert before making
its way down to Medlow Gap. We had a short stop at the gap to apply some sunscreen
before proceeding south on the White Dog Ridge Firetrail towards the first big
climb of the day up to Mount Mouin. After a kilometre or so on the firetrail
you peel off onto an old overgrown 4WD track and immediately it kicks up very
steeply. After about 700m the track comes to a stop and from there we picked up
a light footpad. This too ran out after 200m or so and from then it was an all
out scramble on all fours towards the summit. Just before the top we found a
really cool little camp cave were some bushwalkers had stashed a bunch of
firewood to keep it nice and dry, it would have certainly been a great spot to
spend the night. From the cave it was only a short little boulder hop and we
were on the summit. In total it took about 35 minutes or so to reach the summit
(945m) but it was bloody hard yakka! It was certainly worth the effort as we
had an amazing view back towards Narrowneck and the Breakfast Creek Valley. It
felt really good to have the first summit in the bag and we spent a good 15
minutes or so admiring the view and taking onboard some food.
Departing Mount Mouin we made our way
along the ridgetop towards Blackhorse Mountain. It was nice to pick up a
footpad which made route finding easy. There were a few very cool rock towers
along this section before the ridge thinned right out to a knife edge. At times
it was only a metre or so wide and dropped away steeply on either side so made
for interesting walking. It only took about 20 minutes or so to reach the
summit of Blackhorse Mountain (865m).
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| Mountain Devil (Lambertia Formosa) |
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| Broad Leaf Drumstick (Isopogon anemonifolius) |
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| Layered rock tower on the Blackhorse Mountain Ridge |
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| The knife edged summit of Blackhorse Mountain (865m). Mount Warrigal in the background |
It’s a short descent down from
Blackhourse Mountain to the saddle were you pick up the Wombat Parade. It was
about this time that Anton and I were really noticing that our legs were
starting to feel tired. Not too far along the Wombat Parade we caught sight of
some Red Tailed Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii). They were beautiful
but sadly easily spooked and I was unable to get a photo before they flew off. The
sun was well and truly out now and the heat and humidity were on the rise. We
were all coming to the realisation that we were going to be short on water
and we wernt too confident that we would be able to get some at Mobb’s Swamp given the lack of recent rain.
The Wombat Parade quickly reaches the cliff line that extends right the way
around the summit plateau of Mount Warrigal, our third objective. There are
only a handful of passes through the cliffs which are hard to find and as a
result the summit is very rarely visited. Luckily I had done some research and
Paul Ma provides a grid reference for a pass on his blog (http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/).
The Wombat Parade veers around to the left and runs right along the cliff on
the eastern side of Mount Warrigal. There are some sections with lush ferns and
the cliffs themselves are really beautiful. There are some rich sandstone
colours and at times you come across layers of shale and coal which back in the
day were extensively mined in other parts of the Blue Mountains. After two
failed attempts we eventually found the pass, a thin ramp up through the
cliffline. Once on the summit plateau it is a relatively easy 500m walk through
open Casuarina forest to the top. The ground is nice and spongy as it is
covered it a thick layer of their needles. It would make for a very comfy sleep
if you decided to camp up there! We passed a few huge termite mounds on the way
up to the top. The summit of Mount Warrigal is the highest of the 5 in the Wild
Dog Range (970m) but there are no views, just a small rock cairn with a stick poking
out of it. After a quick photo we retraced our steps and then proceeded to the
southern tip of the plateau, it got thinner and thinner until you eventually
reach the lookout at the end which has an awesome 180 degree panoramic view across
to the final two objectives and all the way down to the Cox’s River and beyond.
After a bite to eat and another splash of sunscreen it was time to move on,
elapsed time was already 05:35:00 and we needed to keep moving if we were to
have any hope of staying remotely on schedule.
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| Huge conglomerate boulder on the approach to Mount Warrigal |
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| Huge conglomerate boulder on the approach to Mount Warrigal |
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| Beautiful layers of sandstone, shale and coal in the cliffs |
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| Layers in the rock |
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| Anton on the Wombat Parade |
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| Andy on the Wombat Parade |
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| One of several huge termite mounds on the summit plateau of Mount Warrigal |
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| At the summit cairn of Mount Warrigal (970m) the highest of the Wild Dog Mountains |
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| Negotiating a fallen tree on the walk from the summit of Mount Warrigal to the lookout on the southern tip of the plateau |
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| Negotiating a fallen tree on the walk from the summit of Mount Warrigal to the lookout on the southern tip of the plateau |
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| Negotiating a fallen tree on the walk from the summit of Mount Warrigal to the lookout on the southern tip of the plateau |
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| Taking a breather at the lookout on the southern tip of the Mount Warrigal plateau |
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| Amazing view from the lookout on the southern tip of the Mount Warrigal plateau. Our next objective Mount Merrimerrigal is in the foreground with the Cox's River and Three Peaks in the distance |
We returned through the casuarinas
towards the pass back through the cliffs which luckily was marked from the top
with a few cairns. The pass is not marked from the bottom so it appears that
people that know about it like to keep it somewhat secret. It was a fun scramble
back down before continuing south on the Wombat Parade towards Mount
Merrimerrigal. There are a few nice little scrambles to reach the saddle
between Mount Warrigal and Mount Merrimerrigal. Once in the saddle it doesn’t take
long at all to reach the pass up onto the plateau above. This one is
particularly interesting as it actually takes you through a small tunnel! Once
through the tunnel it was a nice easy walk to reach the very inconspicuous
summit (905m) marked by a small clearing.
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| Old Man Banksia (banksia serrata) on the Mount Warrigal plateau |
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| Old Man Banksia (banksia serrata) on the Mount Warrigal plateau |
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| Anton on the ramp down through the cliff line |
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| Anton scrambling on the ramp down through the cliff line |
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| Back on the Wombat Parade heading south along the base of the cliff |
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| Scrambling down into the saddle between Mount Warrigal and Mount Merrimerrigal |
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| Scrambling down into the saddle between Mount Warrigal and Mount Merrimerrigal |
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| Climbing up through the tunnel onto the Mount Merrimerrigal plateau |
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| Climbing up through the tunnel onto the Mount Merrimerrigal plateau |
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| Climbing up through the tunnel onto the Mount Merrimerrigal plateau |
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| Climbing up through the tunnel onto the Mount Merrimerrigal plateau |
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| Climbing up through the tunnel onto the Mount Merrimerrigal plateau |
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| Climbing up through the tunnel onto the Mount Merrimerrigal plateau |
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| One of a few rock cairns marking the top of the tunnel pass |
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| One of a few rock cairns marking the top of the tunnel pass |
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| A gnarled fallen tree near the summit of Mount Merrimerrigal |
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| The small clearing at the summit of Mount Merrimerrigal (905m) |
From here the footpad seemed to peter
out but it’s a pretty open forest so still makes for relatively easy going. The
saddle (Dingo Gap) between Mount Merrimerrigal and Mount Dingo was quite nice
with a few boulder hops and some nice mossy features. Finally we made our way
up the gradual climb to the summit of Mount Dingo (935m) which is marked by a
small camp clearing with a fireplace. It was awesome to have completed our goal
of summiting all five of the peaks in the Wild Dog Range! We didn’t stop here
long as it was only a final 500m further south to our final goal of the day
which was the lookout at Splendour Rock. I had been here once before on an
overnight hike back in 2014 but sadly then the view was virtually nothing as it
was completely fogged in. It is rated as one of the best lookouts in the
southern Blue Mountains and overlooks the mighty Three Peaks region and all the
way to Kanangra Walls. As the trees thinned out and the made our way out onto
the rock itself my jaw dropped at the site, it was truly spectacular! We all savoured
in the view whilst taking on board some more food and signing the logbook. 23kms
down in 06:47:00.
We spent about 20 minutes enjoying Splendor Rock before starting the return journey back to the car. The original goal was
to start the return journey by 06:30:00 elapsed time so we were about 40
minutes behind schedule. We all still felt ok at that point but everyone’s
water was starting to get awfully low which was a bit of a worry. The trail
down of Mount Dingo zig zags its way down through small cliffs and boulders and
is a lot of fun. It was nice to reach the bottom and rejoin the Kanangra to
Katoomba Track which meant we were finally walking in the direction of home. We
started some easy jogs on the flat sections and all in all were making
reasonable time. About halfway to Mobb’s Swamp we passed a massive fallen tree
which was down over the trail and really was quite a site. We reached Mobb’s
Swamp at the 26.6km and although predictable it was very disappointing to find
that the creek was bone dry. Everyone was starting to feel pretty parched as we
had been rationing our water and the prospect of no fresh water until Tarros
Ladders was a bit of a bummer.
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| The huge fallen tree near Mobb's Swamp |
We left Mobbs Swamp and made good progress
along the trail although it appeared running was now almost out of the question
for Anton and I as we were both starting to really feel it. A kilometre or so
out from getting back onto the White Dog Ridge Firetrail we came across a
massive lace monitor. Once we hit the firetrail we managed a gentle trot down
the hill into Medlow Gap. I was now completely out of water and not looking
forward to the steep climb up Mount Derbert. Anton and I trudged up while Andy
set a cracking pace up front waiting for us as regular intervals. It was a real
grind but eventually we reached Tarros Ladders. Once up the ladders it was only
a short climb until we reached the spot where we had left Anton’s water
bottles. We could have easily finished them off within a minute but there was a
small matter of the 11km or so back to the car so we had to be sensible. It was
a relief to hit the firetrail and Anton and I were both shattered and it’s much
easier to find a rhythm on the open firetrail. We were now way behind schedule
looking at a finish time closer to 12 hours instead of the originally estimated
10. Andy charged on ahead running out and backs to rack up some extra
kilometres whilst Anton and I just ground it out at a steady walking pace
around 5km/h. It wasn’t long before the water supplies were low again and Anton
and I were taking one sip every 15 minutes trying to make it last to the end. A
few kilometres from the finish Andy left us for the last time as he had the
extra few kilometres or so back to where he had parked his car. We shared a few
handshakes and then he sped on off up the trail. At long last we reached the
locked gate which meant approximately 800 downhill metres to go until we
reached the car. We cruised it in and finished the 44.8km in 12:08:19.
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| Massive Lace Monitor (varanus varius) on the Kanangra to Katoomba track |
We were both absolutely destroyed and
I couldn’t wait to open up the esky. I don’t think I have ever been so thirsty
in my life and that ice cold beer that we had waiting for us was one of the
best I've ever had! We dipped a cloth in the icy water and poured it over our
heads, wow it was refreshing!!!
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| Doesn't get much better than a post run/hike beer! |
What a truly epic day! Although I had
travelled much of the route before it was so awesome to string together all of those
summits back to back in a single day! For Anton it was his first foray deep
into the Blue Mountains wilderness and I know it has certainly wet his appetite
for more. For Andy as well it was a nice experience for him to travel at the
slower pace of us mere mortals and actually be able to enjoy the views that in
the past he has never seen due to the need to focus solely on running fast on
technical trails. I couldn’t be more stoked with how well it went and how much
fun we all had, it certainly showed that you don’t necessarily need to be
running to have a massive day. A huge thankyou to both Anton and Andy for
sharing the adventure, looking forward to the next one!
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