Walking in the budawangs

[juju]

We were at Cooyoyo recently. I'd like to see the other side now. Any pics from your trip? Julie

[mountnman]

I've got some pics here somewhere. I'll see if I can find them. I actually did the walk in July, about 2 weeks after I started the thread. It was COLD!!! BOM says Nerriga was -4.5 that night.

[mountnman]

Here we go....

(I haven't posted pics before. I hope it works!!!)

Here are the first 5 pics.

[mountnman]

Here's some more...

[juju]

Thanks mountnman. Lovely clear weather you had, views all the way to the ocean...
It's a very special place - I wish I'd taken more advantage of it when I lived nearer. Julie

[PeterJ]

We were at Cooyoyo recently. I'd like to see the other side now. Any pics .....

Here are a few taken between Corong and Monolith Valley via the Wog Wog entrance.

You can see more at this link

[juju]

Thanks Peter, great photos and as we didn't take nearly enough (now on walks I over compensate) - really really looking forward to going back now. A through walk would be one to remember, maybe from Endrick to Yadboro.
Peter and Mountnman (each) How long were you there and how was the walking
Peter, where is the shot of Pigeon House at http://picasaweb.google.com/PeterJFrank ... 1084559730
taken? Is it from the end of Byangee? Julie

[mountnman]

Hi Julie, I was only there overnight. I think it took ~6 hours total from wog wog to Canowie (including lunch and stopping at corang peak & the arch...). Most people go to Burrumbeet Brook as it means a shorter second day for people heading through monolith valley towards the castle and cooyoyo.

[PeterJ]

Thanks Peter, great photos and as we didn't take nearly enough (now on walks I over compensate) - really really looking forward to going back now. A through walk would be one to remember, maybe from Endrick to Yadboro.
Peter and Mountnman (each) How long were you there and how was the walking
Peter, where is the shot of Pigeon House at http://picasaweb.google.com/PeterJFrank ... 1084559730
taken? Is it from the end of Byangee? Julie

We were there in 2008 and intended going in from Endrick in September this year but the park did not open until after we had left the area (closed due to wind damage), so may go there next year. On the trip from Wog Wog we camped at Canowie Brook (in and out) and it took from memory less than 3 hours to a campsite at the top of the Corang River. We climbed Mt Tarn in the afternoon and the next day did the Monolith circuit. All up we spent 5 days in the park.

The Pigeon House photo was from Yurnga Lookout which is at the top of the climb out of Burrumbeet Brook valley.

The walking was good, parts of the track were a bit overgrown but not hard to follow. The entry to Monolith involved a bit of climbing up a sloping rock and that section including the Mt Owen part into the bottom of Monolith Valley needed a bit of care with navigation, but was not a problem.

[juju]

It seems the time of year for windy weather down there, September/October. We went into Yadboro just after they'd cleared the road after storms cut the road with trees.

The Pigeon House photo was from Yurnga Lookout which is at the top of the climb out of Burrumbeet Brook valley.

I'da though you'd be too far away and not high enough, but on looking at the map there's a clear line of sight through to Pigeon House.

[PeterJ]

It seems the time of year for windy weather down there, September/October. We went into Yadboro just after they'd cleared the road after storms cut the road with trees.
I'da though you'd be too far away and not high enough, but on looking at the map there's a clear line of sight through to Pigeon House.

As Budawangs was closed we went to Bournda NP on coast (and others) and was surprised at the damage there. Stacks of big Melaleucas had fallen over the tracks and the park staff must have spent a lot of time with the chainsaws. It was just in one part near Hobart Beach and the other end of the park was mostly undamaged. I guess just the vagaries of wind.

As for the photo; I zoomed in quite a bit.

[PeterJ]

After storms closed the area in 2010 we decided to give it a try this year and did the
Foster, Styles Creek, Hidden Valley, Quiltys Circuit on 20-23 September 2011
The original intention for this walk was to follow a long used track starting at the Endrick River entrance on the western side of the Budawangs area of Morton National Park. However, this entailed crossing private property and the owner has recently blocked access. So an alternative from the same starting spot was taken, via the Alum Track. It is written up in a guidebook and although part was marked on the map as a route; I assumed that plenty of walkers would have gone this way and a reasonably easy to follow pad, possibly with markers would be there. No sign of a pad existed when we reached the Flat Top Mountain area, so we followed the notes to the top where the view down to Running Creek was enough to cause serious doubts about heading to an area of several creek crossing with unknown scrub. The guide book did mention open sections, but they have either overgrown or we could not locate them; except for a very short wet one. The scrub at the creeks was thick and slowed our progress down even more. Several heathy sections were easy enough to negotiate by weaving through the most open bits. Fortunately when we reached the Square Top Track it was not long before we reached an upper tributary of Running Creek that was living up to the name. A nice clearing was close by too, so we were able to set up camp and cook before dark set in.
It was over 2.5 k to the junction with main track near the Foster Mountain turnoff. We climbed Foster, where we got the first views of the cliffs of the mountains of the Budawangs. The previous day was mostly fine, except when a period of showers arrived during the afternoon, but today and the next two were delightfully sunny and mild. Back on the track it became narrow and at times there was a bit of scrub ducking and weaving, plus a couple of scrubby creek crossing. For most of the afternoon we were out on plains with a number of tree belts and the views were superb. The cliffs of Mount Hoddle were impressive with huge cave like chunks within them, whist Quiltys and Sturgiss Mountains were equally dramatic.

The campsites at Styles Creek were described as a bit degraded, but perhaps they now get less use, for they seemed in good order. Perhaps this and time may have healed things. The track from there north was better than what we had been on the previous day, until we encountered lots of fallen trees. Hidden Valley was the first diversion for the day and this was a track that wound a way through a gap in Sturgiss Mountain to a small valley surrounded by cliffs. Our notes indicated that a track should continue through to a clearing, but we found it took a while to find the last bit of pad and were unable to locate any clearing amongst the scrubby interior. On the other hand the pad to the aboriginal Bora ground on Quiltys Mountain was quite obvious and easy to follow. From here we also had views down the valley of the Kilpatrick Creek to Pigeon House Mountain and the huge buttresses of the mountains in that direction.
A wide track through forest was followed through The Vines region to meet the first crossing of the Endrick River after which a suitable campsite was found. The final day was a three hour walk with an ever widening valley and plenty of flowers to the second crossing of the Endrick and then a short walk to the car.

There is a photo album on the web with some of the favourites from the walk.

[PeterJ]

A few of photos

Camping at Styles creek

Sturgiss Mountain at sunset

Mount Hoddle from the plains

[colinm]

Out of curiosity, why have people always walked over Mt Tarn en route from Haughton to Monolith Valley? Is the scrub around its base really that thick and impassable as to warrant scaling the thing? Or is it some kind of peak-bagger business?

[juju]

What - no wild wind storms? You must've missed 'em.
thanks for the trip report Peter, it's good to have some fresh info on tracks in that beautiful place.
Nice pics by the way.

[Narralakes]

We just finished a 4 day Duke of Edinburgh expeditiion there with 16 students, what a magnificent area. Some of those photos brought back some memories, I''lll post some later of the caves we stayed in there, although when I was researching the area prior to going I saw someone had posted up some great photos. It was not an easy hike, espeiciallly after all of the rain this year, some of the tracks were washed out and it was challenging at times. A beautiful area to hike though and our hike from Sassafras to Wog Wog was filled with magnificent scenery. Its amazing how much remote wilderness is onlly a few hours from Sydney.

[JohnDaly TakeAWalk]

On a brighter note, we have just printed our latest book - Take A Walk in Southern NSW & the ACT. It has a whole heap of overnight walks in the Budawangs, including the complete Hume and Hovell Walking Track. We will get the stock next week!
Check it out at www.takeawalk.com.au
Within a few days we'll be announcing a competition where everyone who buys a copy will go into a draw to win a paid of Scarpa boots.
Cheers
John

[khouw]

After about 30 years, thinking of doing the Endrich River to Quilty Mountain loop walk again. I read somewhere in this forum that access at Endrick end has been barred by property owner. Is this true? Can we politely ask for permission from owner - who might the owner be with their contact details do anybody know? Or is there an alternative route to get to the Redgrounds track?