Saturday 27 August 2022

The interesting, if not a little rough, drive in

Walking single file on the not so wide new boardwalk

Morning tea amongst the wattle

The morning tea falls

The scramble into Gaolhouse Pass

Glenn in Gaolhouse Pass

Pat, all smiles at the bottom of Gaolhouse Pass

The Gaolhouse group

Back to the track from Gaolhouse Pass

The boardwalk ends

The magnificent cliffs

Wildflower hunters in action

Those wildflower hunters on the cliff top

Before the rain

That view

Rain gear on to head back

Not sure a short sleeve poncho is ‘fit for purpose’

Photos courtesy of Donna, Karen G, Amanda, and Mary  

Fifteen of us headed up to Mount Bushwalker for an easy hike on the Mt Bushwalker walking track. The road in, was itself an interesting journey and by far the most difficult part of the outing.

For most this was the first time back to Mt Bushwalker after the 2019/2020 fires and it was nice to see the area with all its new regrowth. We were also keen to check out the work done by National Parks with upgrading the track after the fires.

The views from Mt. Bushwalker lookout are said (by some bushwalkers) to be amongst the best in NSW. The lookout gives 180-degree views across the Clyde River Gorge and its mountainous backdrop – the Shrouded Gods to the north west, the Castle, due west, and Pigeon House to the south west. We were banking on the weather staying fine to enjoy the vistas, and it seemed promising with BOM’s forecast of a 75% chance of no rain.

We set off in what seemed to be perfect weather. We were greeted by a renewed track of board walks, making the walking more than easy, even if we had to do it in single file! Morning tea had us sitting on the board walk near a waterfall in full flow due to the recent rains. The wattle was also in flower everywhere, providing endless photo opportunities of the yellow against the blackened banksias.

Our notes then had 10 of us detouring on a side trip down Goalhouse Pass. The Pass was a bit tricky to find amongst the regrowth, but well worth the search, and not too hard with only one rock scramble. We descended below the escarpment into rain forest untouched by the fires. There we marvelled at the moss and fern covered cliffs towering around us and, of course gathered for a group shot.

For the 5 that did not take the detour, they ambled to the lookout stopping along the cliff to enjoy the early spring wildflowers and the clear views.

Both groups met at the lookout and settled in for lunch. The weather though, only held out just long enough for us to enjoy the views for a few minutes. A squall came in from the east bringing mist and rain. This was, apparently, the 25% chance of rain!

Not wishing to get drenched, lunch was cut short and we all donned our rain gear (some more efficiently than others) to head back to the cars. But despite the wet, it was an enjoyable outing.

Peter