Bushwalk Australia

I'm interested in this pass but I've read that ropes are advised, not being a rockclimber myself I don't really have any. From the pictures it doesn't look too bad.

Does anyone know how necessary they are and how easy the climbs are? I'd most likely be doing it myself or as the most experienced one in my group so I'll have to lead the climbs without rope anyway.

Lith; Difficult to answer as I don’t have a clue how competent a scrambler you are. The fact that you don't own a rope (how about 10m of tape?) indicates that you may not be that experienced, in which case you may have problems. Have you had a look at Caro’s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVhH7SNwgdM ? The only other thing I can suggest is that as the first of the two difficult bits is at the very bottom, you wander up from the track and have a look for yourself. If you can manage the first bit, then technically the second hard bit is no more difficult, albeit you have further to fall. One advantage at the moment is that it should be as dry as it will ever get.

I've got a bunch of tape, never got any ropes as ropes always said "belaying" to me. Thanks for the video, doesn't look too bad, I think i'll give it a shot

And it seems that you can avoid the top tricky section if you continue on a little further.

Grabeach wrote: One advantage at the moment is that it should be as dry as it will ever get.

Katoomba did have a bit of rain in the past day or two - about 6 mm or so, and that may change things a bit. And in winter - not much Sun to dry things out.

Hi friends, I will revisit Dog Face Gully in two weeks (weather permitting). The first visit was done on 19 May and we would like to explore the area a little more this time. My attached track note may have some relevant to this discussion

There is certainly a way to get to Federal Pass by heading south from Orphan Rock, but not (I think) during Scenic Railway opening hours. I was once on the Cableway when they spotted someone on top of Orphan Rock, and they actually radioed for one of their staff to accost the person.

So it wasn't the best idea to inform in public that "we are going to Orphan Rock" on that day we'll see how we go. Thanks for the information!

It's an awesome place! Enjoy!

The route down from near Orphan Rock is actually the old miner's track. I'm fairly certain it pre-dates the railway. From the bottom, the miner's 'track' (from memory nothing left of it down there) goes up the first gully to the west of the railway then crosses the track. Make sure the cars are above you when crossing the rails as the cable rapidly jumps a few metres into the air as the load is taken up. Long ago Wilf Hilder and I had gone down there exploring when the train came by. The driver was about to have kittens until he realised we were there with Phil Hammon who Wilf had shanghaied as a guide. Higher up the original track (still there) went up through the Scenic World property. Not the Orphan Rock tourist route. One thing I recall seeing was a locker cut into the rock with a door added where they stored gunpowder. The 'tour' concluded with an inspection of the 'engine bank' with the winding mechanism in action. An interesting morning.

Good luck for Sunday... it's such a rarely used pass (eh, Graham!)... I'd be interested to hear how many ascents are made each year.