Current water situation at Mobbs Swamp

[beachcruiser]

Anyone been out in the Wild Dogs and passed by Mobbs Swamp recently? Heading out to camp at Splendour Rock/Mt Dingo next weekend and wondering if we'll be able to pick up water at Mobbs, on another walk out that way a couple of years ago at a similar time of year we'd planned to get water there but it was completely dry so any recent info would be appreciated.

[DaveNoble]

I have not been to to Mobbs recently - but I would expect there to be plenty of water judging by other places in that general area.

[tom_brennan]

I agree with Dave. It has been a very wet winter, and it's hard to imagine that it is dry. Even back in April when it had not been particularly wet, there was water there. However, it's not always obvious where to look. The creek often stops flowing, but water can be found in various pools.

[johnrs]

Plenty of clear flowing water last weekend.
John

[beachcruiser]

Thanks for the info, Dave, Tom and John.

There was plenty of water at Mobbs and we enjoyed our walk on the weekend.

[robertoman]

I am heading out that way soon. Water update ?

[robertoman]

there was none that I could find this week - but it has had a drenching since then. I spent an hour crawling around the gullies but no luck. This long hot spell has dried everything up for a while

[ribuck]

Yesterday the rock pools were full but stagnant - barely a seep was flowing from them. The water looked quite repulsive, although it could have been made drinkable with filtering and boiling. I had been planning to collect water at Mobbs Soak for a camp atop Mt Dingo, but the water was so unappetising that I decided to walk on to Konangaroo Clearing instead.

[DaveNoble]

Yesterday the rock pools were full but stagnant

Did you try the big pool down near the cave?

Dave

[ribuck]

Yesterday the rock pools were full but stagnant

Did you try the big pool down near the cave?

Dave

I sure did, Dave. That was the worst water.

If I had decided to draw water, I would have done so from the first two shallow earth-bottomed pools just downstream from where the track crosses the watercourse.

There was no shortage of water in the pools near the cave, but it had a thick green scum on the surface, and lots of rotting vegetable matter below that. I couldn't face it.

[johnrs]

Any updates here?

[davidf]

Whilst it hasnt been raining heavily in the mountains most places have water. Even in drought I have found water around Mobbs, you're in the bush its not the Hilton.

[ribuck]

Any updates here?

Although I found the water unusable in February, I was there again in April and the water was plentiful and beautiful. I would expect it to be fine until the next summer dry spell.

[Quarksta]

I will be heading out there next week and was also wondering about water. It has been very dry for the last couple of months and I’m not confident that I can count on water there. Has anybody been there recently and can confirm if water is available?

[ribuck]

I was at Mobbs Soak yesterday and can confirm that there is water, but not very much of it (the pools near the cave were less than half full), and not very good quality (lots of mosquito larvae in it - average three per billyful).

I explored downwards from the soak, to find the junction where it meets the watercourse from Mobbs Swamp. There was water seeping around moss on a cliff, but climbing around the cliff just led into impenetrable swampy growth with no discernable water. Right at the junction were two very small ponds, with water that was slightly better quality than the water near the cave. We collected this and boiled it.

I checked further downstream. The stream drops down rapidly and the vegetation becomes very green and lush. It's an attractive watercourse, but it had no surface water. One day I'd like to follow it all the way down to the Coxs.

So my conclusion is that if water is available, it will be found near the cave and slightly upstream from there. There is not much point looking downstream.

[rcaffin]

One day I'd like to follow it all the way down to the Coxs.
A good walk.
Abseil gear might be handy, as there is a great big granite waterfall halfway down. The sides around there are steep too.
Yes, granite, not the normal country rock. There's a band of it running through the area, and it appears in other gullies too.

Cheers
Roger

[ribuck]

Thanks Roger. I really appreciate all the tips you post. You obviously have deep knowledge of and affinity with the country.

[Tyreless]

Had a chat to some campers at Mobbs Swamp on 31/3/2018 as I was passing through. They said there was water in a small pool 30m downstream from the cave. I had a look at the cave and saw 2 puddles with water trickling through. When I was there in early January it was dry.

[buggeriamold]

Not quite mobbs, but does anyone know how the situation is at Dex (or 100 man) at the moment.

Mark