Jungle Circuit - Blackheath
Posted: Tue 12 Jan, 2016 9:53 pm
I'm wondering if anyone here has been on the Jungle Circuit (to get an idea of the frequency of visits)?
For those that don't know the Jungle Circuit is the 'P' shaped inclusion that branches off William's Track. The start of it is just before the base of Govett's Leap.
I went there first on 18/12/15 and reached the junction of the loop. I went back on 10/01/16 and completed the entire length clockwise. It took me 3hrs 20mins but there was plenty of backtracking as I wanted to understand the route properly. I reckon it would take 2-2.5hrs if I was to do it again.
I found it much more difficult than the Lindeman Pass as the track is quite rough and overgrown and I would say that even though it must have originally been developed into a tourist track it is in a greater decayed state than Lindeman.
However it is still a nice walk and the highlights for me were:
-base of Horseshoe Falls (like Govett's Leap but more intimate)
-seeing the numerous stone stairs (especially the many stairs that complete the climb from the Popes Glen Creek crossing)
-other obvious features of a once established walk (metal barriers, sections of board walk with 1 washed downstream, 2 signs at the fork of the loop)
-a track pressing towards ruin like alluded to in the Lindeman Pass book when Jim Smith mentions various tracks likely destined to oblivion
-the views of Pulpit Rock and surrounds
-and the actual 'jungle' itself
Does anyone know when and why the maintenance of the track ceased? There is evidence of where a chainsaw must have been used long ago and other slight signs of clearing. I looked for info on the net and there are just a few references made to the actual walk with not much else mentioned. I also found someone's seemingly recent photos of an outing there. Perhaps it's mentioned in a book somewhere?
Attached is a photo of where the track crosses Popes Glen Creek and there is a link below to a panorama on wikicommons taken at the base of Horseshoe Falls.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... ntains.jpg
For those that don't know the Jungle Circuit is the 'P' shaped inclusion that branches off William's Track. The start of it is just before the base of Govett's Leap.
I went there first on 18/12/15 and reached the junction of the loop. I went back on 10/01/16 and completed the entire length clockwise. It took me 3hrs 20mins but there was plenty of backtracking as I wanted to understand the route properly. I reckon it would take 2-2.5hrs if I was to do it again.
I found it much more difficult than the Lindeman Pass as the track is quite rough and overgrown and I would say that even though it must have originally been developed into a tourist track it is in a greater decayed state than Lindeman.
However it is still a nice walk and the highlights for me were:
-base of Horseshoe Falls (like Govett's Leap but more intimate)
-seeing the numerous stone stairs (especially the many stairs that complete the climb from the Popes Glen Creek crossing)
-other obvious features of a once established walk (metal barriers, sections of board walk with 1 washed downstream, 2 signs at the fork of the loop)
-a track pressing towards ruin like alluded to in the Lindeman Pass book when Jim Smith mentions various tracks likely destined to oblivion
-the views of Pulpit Rock and surrounds
-and the actual 'jungle' itself
Does anyone know when and why the maintenance of the track ceased? There is evidence of where a chainsaw must have been used long ago and other slight signs of clearing. I looked for info on the net and there are just a few references made to the actual walk with not much else mentioned. I also found someone's seemingly recent photos of an outing there. Perhaps it's mentioned in a book somewhere?
Attached is a photo of where the track crosses Popes Glen Creek and there is a link below to a panorama on wikicommons taken at the base of Horseshoe Falls.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... ntains.jpg