Bushwalk Australia

Hi all!
I'm a long time browser but this is my first post

I recently put together a film where we explored some hikes in the Cathedral Range and Rubicon Valley area. We were happy to have squeezed this trip in before lockdown, hopefully it can help a few plan their future trips. It was an awesome time soaking in the beauty of the high country, what a place we live in!


https://youtu.be/tt2p7FTWE5A


First hike was Sugarloaf Peak via Wells Cave and Canyon Track
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/austral ... nyon-track

Second was the Rubicon Aqueduct Circuit
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/austral ... ay-circuit

Happy travels

Excellent video, very impressive.

I know this region well, and regularly hike on Cathedral when I can, but you have certainly captured the Rubicon region well in your snazzy video. The use of the drone is brilliant.

Look forward to seeing more videos on your next adventures

Welcome, Adventureon, and thanks for an excellent first post!

Hiking Exped wrote:Excellent video, very impressive.

I know this region well, and regularly hike on Cathedral when I can, but you have certainly captured the Rubicon region well in your snazzy video. The use of the drone is brilliant.

Look forward to seeing more videos on your next adventures

I also really liked the videos, nature is shown very beautifully here. I agree with you about the drone - if you know how to use it, it can make wonders

Sadly Cathedral Park has been closed all summer this year with a growing anger by some of the locals. I try and get a few hikes in down there when I can as it really is a lovely spot. Parks Victoria closed the park after the wet weather saying flood damage caused issues. Months later some of the locals say hiking track damage was minimal, just one of the access tracks suffered minor damage. I confess I’m surprised it’s still not open and the Parks Vic website and telephone contact have no info at all on the problems and when it will be back open to the public.

Hi,
I'm thinking of doing a day walk (southern circuit) to get the legs used to doing hard stuff again.
Does anybody have an idea how the Wells Cave route up Sugarloaf Peak compares to SnS Spur to Crosscut or Helicopter Spur?
Assuming it's open. It seems to be on Parks website.
I'm leaning toward going up Canyon track, but you never know.
Youtube videos are a mixed bag. Some make it seem doable, some not. Others show folks with a death wish climbing on the exposed side of rocks, instead of bum-shuffling between them and so on. So not much help.
It'd be hilarious (looking back a few years from now), if I got my fat *&%$#! caught in the tight bit of Wells Cave and they had to douse me in oil or jackhammer me out.

If you want to suffer and do a day walk from Melbourne then go up Mount Juliet near Healesville.
The track has recently been cleared by a volunteer.

Yep, I need to suffer. Got the Prom. northern circuit soon, and going up to High country a few weeks after.
Need to get some distance in the legs for the Prom and some ups and down in the legs for mountains.
Juliet may do the job, closer than Cathedral ranges too.
But I do want to do the Cathedral ranges at some point. So many places to do...

I can't compare with SNS or Helicopter, but going up Wells Cave a couple of years back the very last section was a squeeze. Had to lose my pack and then shuffle along sideways to get through. After that is where you get to the really exposed sections to climb. There was the option of heading up a chimney or going outside on the worst part, where going more exposed is the easier path physically. I'm yet to go back and try the canyon path though to compare it.

Thanks for the info!

indented wrote:Had to lose my pack and then shuffle along sideways to get through.

The big worry with that is if you can't squeeze through, you can't go back down safely if warnings are to be believed.

indented wrote: There was the option of heading up a chimney or going outside on the worst part, where going more exposed is the easier path physically.

I think that's the bit I saw on a video where it looked like the person had a death wish.
It seems could wedge yourself in the 'chimney' and use your legs, arms and bum to get up the top, or you could temp fate going the exposed way.

Baeng72 wrote:The big worry with that is if you can't squeeze through, you can't go back down safely if warnings are to be believed.

I wouldn't be too worried about going back down, though you'd probably have to slide on your butt for some parts. The only concern would be causing a traffic jam really. There is a small path that bypasses the cave as well, but the junction is hard to spot from the bottom. It comes out immediately after the cave, so you can still do all the sketchy/scary exposed sections if you take that way, or you can take the canyon track instead and still get the same views from the top.