Wentworth Cave

[kanangra]

I took advantage of a magnificent winters day to head up to the mountains today. I parked the car at the gate on the Grose Rd. and headed along Faulconbridge Ridge in the cool crisp early morning air. The sun was up by the time I reached the lookout at the end. Long steamers of cloud filled the valley below. I continued along the cliff edge before starting the descent to Faulconbridge Pt. The key to this I have found is to go left a fair distance before sidling back around to the main ridge. This entails a climb out of a high gully but avoids the cliffs. Once on the main ridge the descent was quickly completed with a small cliff line near the bottom the only obstacle. Linden ck was flowing well at the junction as was the Grose itself. Both look quite clear. After crossing Linden Ck I soon pick up traces of the Engineers Tr. which I more or less follow up to the Wentworth Ck junction. It is incredible that after 150 years without any maintenance there is any trace left at all. But seriously how did they ever imaging they were going to build a railway up the valley? I crossed Wentorth Creek just up from the junction. Here it is quite a large creek. But then it is the main tributary of the Grose on the southern side. Checked out the cave and noted room for quite a few tents. Then back across to begin the ascent of Linden Pt. Things started well enough. I was able to negotiate all the lower cliff lines without difficulty. Then higher up there is an impressive wall of cliffs that looked imposing. I elected to attempt to outflank them to the east. The line ran for hundreds of meters when, just as I was about to give up, a possible opening appeared. It was steep with a couple of chimneys but it went and before long I was taking in the views in all directions from the top. I couldn't relax yet because I still had 5k of untracked ridge travel before picking up the end of the Linden FT. With a careful eye on the map and compass I was able to negotiate this without too many problems. The scrub was stunted and quite thick in patches but was interspersed with rock slabs that were much easier going. Some even held water in shallow pools. They also afforded a good view of the route ahead which helped with the navigation. Then about 3 hours from the river I stumbled upon the feintest of animal pads. Sure enough it was the "fire trail", though it was never more than a single track which was thickly overgrown in several places. I could put the compass away and relieved of route finding my pace quickened. After another hour and a half I burst out onto a wide FT just as it made a big RH turn. This is at Sprinwood MR 699 722. i still had to get back to the car on Faulconbridge ridge so I turned left onto the FT and followed it out to the end. Here I dropped straight off the side down into Faulconbridge Ck. The second time I had crossed it that day. Then the last pinch up the other side where I picked up a fire trail which I followed back to the Grose Rd. Here I turned left and within a kilometre I was back at the car. An excellent day. Great sense of remoteness. Challenging route finding. All only one hour from Sydney.

K.

[johnw]

Thanks for posting K. That does sound like a challenge. When I have a chance I'll get the map out and trace your route. I wasn't too far away from you on Saturday, albeit on the other side of the highway. Son wanted me to go with him to try out his recently acquired small 4WD off the tar. So we drove down the trail to Murphys Glen (currently designated 4WD only by NPWS), then walked to Ingar and back. A bit of steep up and down but all on FT. A lot of MTBs on Andersons.

[kanangra]

Yes John the track up to Ingar is steep. A good circuit can be done from there back to Tablelands road then out to the Anderson's FT turn off. Head along the FT and back down to Queen Victoria Ck which you cross near its junction with Bedford ck which brings you back to the road in from Murphy's just above the ford. You would have noticed that road on your left just after you crossed Bedford Ck.

K.

[juxtaposer]

That old track you found I do not think was ever part of the circa 1960 fire trail. The end of the fire trail is a bit hard to find, but back in 1980 I found that it turned off the top of the ridge downslope to the west a couple of hundred metres and ends down there. I followed the old trail you mention that continues out along the top of the ridge, maybe for a few hundred metres before losing it on my way down to Linden Point. At that time, I also noticed other sections of a single pad foot track which, it seemed to me, had been obliterated for the most part by the grading of the fire trail. Yet there was evidence of an old track nonetheless. This has never been a popular bushwalkers' route. Perhaps, as you suggest, it is just an animal pad. But there are other possibilities: the track may have its origins as an early 19th Century bass fishermens' route to the Grose (in the manner of Byle's Pass and Shaw Gully further upriver). This would suggest a link with the known bass fishermens' route from Bilpin to the Grose via Browns Creek. Then, if you look at the topography, Linden Ridge provides a direct northerly route from the central Blue Mountain Range to the middle Grose at Wentworth Creek junction, which is a kind of crossroads, being less than a days travel between the ranges to north and south, and to the coastal plain by way of following the river itself. There are a lot of aboriginal occupation sites in this area, too. It makes you wonder.

[HitchHiking]

Such a neat area with a really fascinating history to it.

Thanks for the reprot Kanangra

[tom_brennan]

There is a zigzagging (cairned) route that goes through the top cliffline above Faulconbridge Point. I walked up there on Friday, assuming we would need to traverse south west under the cliffs above the two gullies until they broke. But after a very short traverse we headed up left, and then back to the right, and then we were on top. It is steep but only mildly exposed. Quite neat. Be difficult to find from the top though.

[kanangra]

Tom that is interesting. I've never used that route but will look for it next time. The cliffs looked quite imposing and I'm surprised to hear there was a relatively simple way through.

K.

[FatCanyoner]

Kanangra, we were in this area on the weekend. Did a slightly longer version (backtracked from the lookout to the track down to the Grose, which meant a few more kms of river walking), but as we walked back towards Linden it was pretty slow going through some of that scrub. I'd be surprised if more than a few people a year wander out there, because there is absolutely no sign of a footpad most of the way, even where the ridge narrows. As for the firetrail, it is insanely overgrown. Other than the steep areas where erosion was worse, it is almost completely healed. In many places I wouldn't have believed it was a fire trail, except for the occasional tell-tale signs of slight embankments the right distance apart to be from grading.
What a spectacular area to walk. I'm amazed it isn't more popular with bushwalkers. Especially when you can hang out in a camp cave next to big, sunny swimming holes!

[kanangra]

That is interesting. I can't believe it is 2 years since i was out there. It sounds as if in that time it has become even more overgrown? So much of the wilderness out there is so seldom visited. I trust you enjoyed the large rock areas on the ridge which make the going easier and afford views of the surrounding country? After all the rain there may even have been the occasional pool of water to help keep you going?

K.

[FatCanyoner]

Kanangra, we did find a couple pools with drinkable water, and I'm sure there would be more if you looked around. A couple had tadpoles in them, so clearly remain for quite a while!
After two wet summers everywhere seems to be more overgrown. It doesn't bother me. It just means slightly slower going and a few more scratches!
The rock platforms are very welcome and we soon learnt to zig zag between the strata layers that most regularly produced them. We'd have been there for hours longer without them!
I'll share a trip report here with photos when I get a chance to knock it together.

[FatCanyoner]

Kanangra, I've written up my trip now: http://fatcanyoners.org/2012/05/05/grose-river-linden-ridge/

[kanangra]

Mate I have just read it, a great report. And some excellent photos too. You finished the trip off the same way I did by following the fire road to the end and then descending to Linden Ck and up the other side to the car at the gate. It makes a very good circuit. Sounds like you had an interesting time getting through the cliff line. I sidled to the left ( as you faced the cliffs ) and eventually found a way through.

Like you I wonder how anyone would descend the Gross from the BGF in a day? Apparantly that was regularly done even as far back as the '30's some even bare foot. ( Eg. Dot Butler ) Maybe the scrub wasn't as bad then? I have walked downstream of Faulconbridge Pt. and it is no better.

Another ridge you might like to try is the one up from behind the Springwood Ck. junction. In one spot it is very narrow and provides great views. Eventually you come out on an old fire road that leads to the road going out to Faulconbridge Pt. It makes for a great circuit too. We camped at the junction with Springwood Ck.

K.