Hi all
This summer in an effort to introduce our family (DD11 and DS8) to some overnight hikes we have taken them on some less challenging 1.5 -2 day trips locally.
The Weekend of January 21-22 promised moderate temperatures with overnight showers so it seemed like a good time to visit the Colo River for some camping and easy liloing and take advantage of the lower temperatures for the long climb out of the gorge.
For the latest trip we decided to take them down the Colo River, from Bob Turners Track at Colo Heights to the T3 Track, Mountain Lagoon. This is a trip that could be done in about 5 hours for a fit adult hiker so we decided to make it an overnighter, camping at the base of Bob Turners Track on the Colo River. A friend, Nic, agreed to come along and as she owned a ute it made the 2 hour car shuffle easier as we had to park a 4wd at each end of the track. We did the car shuffle just after lunch then walked down Bob Turners Track to the Colo River arriving at 4pm. DS8 had no pack so he skipped down the track taking 1 hour to reach the Colo river and beating me by 1 minute!
We put up our Tarp in a sheltered spot on the bank and went for a swim in the great pool at the bottom of Bob Turners track on the Colo River.
The night was calm with some light rain and we were glad we had packed the tarp to sleep under. We had to blow up the lilos to sleep on so it was disconcerting to find that some of them leaked! It made for a disturbed night as I had to get up and reinflate the lilo during the night.
Next morning we packed our gear in drybags and with some last minute inflation of the lilos we were underway down the River
The River level was low but we enjoyed the long pool below Bob Turners. My son amused himself by spending as much time in the river as on his surfmat. The water was a beautiful temperature and clear so good for swimming.
2 and a quarter cruisy hours after we started we reached the confluence of the Tootie Ck which was our put-out point.
We ate our lunch whilst the lilos dried and the kids enjoyed rapid running on their surfmats whilst I was scouting for the start of the T3 track.
My Son later told me he was having so much fun that he managed 5 trips down the rapids.
We filled our waterbottles for the large climb out of the Gorge up the T3 Track. Our packs were heavy with the extra weight of the damp lilos so we took the climb steadily.
We stopped for a while at the lookout to admire the view and quake our thirst and eat nuts and jelly snakes.
2.5 hours later we reached the top and the car for the shuffle back to Bob Turners Track carpark. DS8 was rather tired and both him and his sister slept well that night. Upon questioning, they both said they really enjoyed going down the rapids.
All in all, a great trip of a good length for some young adventurers and they are keen to do some more.
Bron