Ettrema Entry South of Churinga Head

[Huntsman247]

A little while ago I noticed a break in the cliffs just south of Churinga Head. It seemed to be marked with a cairn.
The spot is marked with a info dot in the image.
Has anyone from here used this? I'm assuming the idea is drop into the creek to the east and follow it down.

I'm contemplating leading some friends on a short ettrema trip but there's a varied experience level in the group. Just trying to find some info to see if it's worth considering as an option. Appreciate any advice.

Additionally how badly overgrown is transportation spur these days?

[tom_brennan]

A little while ago I noticed a break in the cliffs just south of Churinga Head. It seemed to be marked with a cairn.
The spot is marked with a info dot in the image.
Has anyone from here used this? I'm assuming the idea is drop into the creek to the east and follow it down.

I'm contemplating leading some friends on a short ettrema trip but there's a varied experience level in the group. Just trying to find some info to see if it's worth considering as an option. Appreciate any advice.

Haven't done it, looks doable but there's a couple of small falls in that creek, and the slopes around are quite steep.

Additionally how badly overgrown is transportation spur these days?

Was OK in Feb 2023. A couple of slow sections on the ascent, but nothing horrendous. We mostly stuck to rock platforms once on the tops. That worked pretty well until we got a bit lazy as we neared the road and wandered into some heath. The last km took about an hour! Not sure if there was a better route though.

[Huntsman247]

Haven't done it, looks doable but there's a couple of small falls in that creek, and the slopes around are quite steep.

Thanks for the update Tom.

Have you explored up that creek? About those small falls. Are they negotiable? Or do you have to side skirt up and around them?

Cheers.

[tom_brennan]

I haven't been there so don't know if they are negotiable, or if you can get around them. You can see the falls on LIDAR - they could be up to ~10m high, but probably less. The upper ones you'd likely bypass, but hard to tell with the lower ones.

2024_01_17_10_38_50_Window.png (319.99 KiB) Viewed 1380 times

I've been up and down some other creeks in the area. Larger falls tend to need some kind of sidling. Can sometimes be pretty sketchy. Lots of loose scree

If I were you, I'd probably be inclined to give yourself some time, explore from the bottom, and you can always bail and take a different way out to Churinga Head if it doesn't go. If you can get past the one near the creek junction, I'm pretty sure you'd get out from there (scrub permitting!!)

[Huntsman247]

Thanks for the screenshot Tom.

Wise words. Lol. I'll see how we go. Hopefully we can explore it a bit from the bottom.

[mirv2535]

Is that near Boomerang Pass?