Bushwalk Australia

G'day folks,
I recently spent a weekend canyoning out of the old oil shale ghost town of Glen Davis (as well as spending some time checking out the ruins).
It's the first time I've visited this area, and I was blown away. There are a number of exceptional canyons all within a long day of the camp ground. We only did two, but I am determined to go back. I was blown away by how spectacular they were (which was probably amplified by all the extra water flowing through them at the moment!)
A full trip report plus a couple dozen photos can be found here: http://fatcanyoners.org/2012/02/25/glen-davis/
It is amazing that despite only being a little further afield than Newnes, this area seems so much less visited. This has meant the canyons seem to have maintained more of their wilderness feel. It helps that there aren't track notes published for them (although both canyons I did have now had their coordinates published in the new Canyons Near Sydney book).
Anyway, I hope this trip is of interest to some others. If you haven't been there yet, I highly recommend a visit!
Tim

Great shots Tim. One looks really dark. Not been out that way for a while myself. Those ruins are nearly overgrown now. I remember seeing an old black and white news reel years ago of the works at glen davis when they were operating.

A longer trip i enjoyed was to follow the Capertee down to the Wolgan junction and then back up to Newnes and then back to GD via the Pipeline Pass. Another was to follow the Capertee down to Running stream and then exit via a side creek on the right to the old army strip and up to Gospers Mt.

K.

I'd love to see that news reel. It is amazing how short lived Glen Davis was. A failed PPP that never got close to its production targets, or to making money!
I've been talking about doing a trip down the length of the colo for a while, but need to get the time. The Capertee / Wolgan loop sounds like a great option. I had been intending to do some walking further down both, but that was more for the purpose of canyoning. I'm sure all the rivers will be much nicer to walk this winter after the solid purging they've had recently!

Nice write up and great pics. It may just inspire a return visit to the area!

Loved that 30 metre drop shot. Great to see stuff that I'll never do. Cheers, Ian

Loved the report mate! Pretty sweet areas. Nice looking passes.

Thanks for those responses. The passes were great fun. Given I regularly do 'pass finding' bushwalks, where the passes are more important than the destination, our two efforts up this cliff were particularly fun. From this area north is pretty well trackless, so if you like looking for passes then it is a great place to walk / canyon!
And Ian, I totally agree. As I was hanging there I yelled out to the others that this was one of the best abseils they would ever do. It was amazing. But why say it is stuff you'll never do? It is well worth trying out some time. After all, at it's core canyoning is just bushwalking through creeks!