Kanagra - Kowmung - Church Creek Trip Report

So, first on the agenda was a weekend walk. I wanted to return to the Kowmung area, in the Kanagra Boyd National Park, as I hadn't been there for some time, but knew the area quite well. Two good friends, Grace and Dunk, were joining me for their first experience of the Kanagra wilderness. Excellent.

I planned to camp at Church Creek, on the Kowmung River, which I later worked out I had camped their about 7 times previously. No doubt because it is a nice spot, and not far from the Church Creek caves, which are easy to explore. I also planned to camp the first night at the Coal Seam Cave, which meant we had about an hour's worth of night time walking - which makes navigation a whole lot more difficult.

So, after getting picked up by Dunk outside work (a first, since Dunk never used to have a car), we were soon on our way. We arrived at the empty car park well after nightfall. I was expecting others to be in the car park, but Summer mustn't be the most popular time for over night walks around there. In fact, it was my first summer walk there, even though I have camped there many times in Spring, Winter and Autumn.

Setting Out

Anyway, we set off in the dark, and tried to imagine what the views were like from Kanagra Walls. You could make out some features, like the basic shape of the Thurat Spires, but it was a dark night, so it was something the Kanagra Virgins had to imagine. Despite a lack of light, it was very warm, and I managed to lead us through the maze of tracks and rock platforms to the right direction. It is amazing how indistinct the track becomes at night, especially since how much of a no brainer it is during the day. Probably because there are no trees around this section, just rocky areas and heath, and it is quite easy to miss the track when on the rock platforms.

Once the taller trees arrived, the track was much more distinct, but it was still tricky walking. I found I had to concentrate on walking when I was a the front of the group, but could day dream when I was at the back. We arrived at Coal Seam cave just after an hour of walking, and quickly setup before heading off to sleep.

Camp Caves

Now, if you have ever camped in a cave - a camp cave - which are more like overhangs at the base of a cliff with large flat areas to sleep on, you'll know how easy it is. No tent or tent fly to setup, and heaps of room to chuck all your stuff. If it rains - you don't get wet, and even your fire remains dry. I introduced another of my mates to camp caves, and he couldn't get enough of them - he always asked if there was a camp cave wherever we were going,

This cave had all the qualities of a good camp cave, and this particular night, it was also very warm. I almost didn;t have to get into my sleeping bag (this despite being at an elevation of about 900m).

We awoke the next morning to the cries of many birds - or one lyre bird. I made a fire for my porridge, and after a bit of farn-arkling about, we set off at a very relaxed hour, bumping into Mr Lyre Bird on the way.

Cottage Rock

Our first stop, after less than 1lm, was cottage rock, which sticks above the trees, giving you fantastic views down towards the Kowmung River. You can usually trace your route for your walk from here, which we did. We also pratised a bit of navigation, taking bearings and workiing out where we were by surronding features.

After almost heading down the Gingra track, we found Bullhead Ridge, and proceeded down it. At a spot just before Cambage Spire (a steep section, where once I was walking down there in a group with this girl who was afraid of heights. We all tramped down there with not much concern, but she burst into tears half way down. I couldn't really understand why, nor could I summon any encouragement - I just didn't get it...), yes, at this spot just before the cliffy bit, we turned off the main ridge, and bush bashed down to th creek. I was glad to get to the creek, as the steep sections were getting a bit tiresome.

The Creek

The canyon, or it is really a creek with some steep sides in places, was very very warm. When you stick your feet in most mountain creeks, you have to think about it, or look for an alternative (even if your feet are already wet). This was way too warm for that. Both air and water temps were probably around 30. By now, I had changed into some volleys, the number one shoe for walking in wet areas with (very grippy, even when wet, and the water exits your shoe just as easily as it enters). The local lizards were enjoying the warm weather, sunning themselves like lazy poms at the beach (although not quite as red). The local red bellied black snakes were also enjoying the warm weather, and proabaly also the lizards. We saw about 7 of these as we meandered down the creek, most of them were swimming, and they seemed quite adept in the water. I guess the tadpoles also had to watch out.

One section of the canyon was narrow enough to require a trickly climb around, although I ended up swimming it as well (just because I could). After lunch, we collided with Chrisy's Creek, just before hitting the majesy of the Kowmung River (HRH). We went to cool off in its waters, but we also happened to hit some shallow rapids just after a wide (say 20m) and shallow (knee high) and long (500m) section of the river. This all added upo to a very warm dip - never was it really quite refreshing, although it was fun to sit in the water.

The Kowmung

I managed to teach a lizard to swim whilst here, but we soon headed a few kilometres upstream to our campsite. Interestingly, a few sections on the river seem to have been home to a few very violent wind storms - most, or sometimes all of the trees (mainly casurinas) had been blown over, leaving us to jump the logs (and avoid black snakes).

After many pleasant river crossings (I kept on remembering when I did a walk here in the middle of winter, when you wanted to stay dry for as long as possible, and even when your feet were already wet, you didn't want to get them wet again), we made it to a nice clearing, beside the dry Church Creek (and wet and warm Kowmung River). We setup camp, jumped inthe river again (it was a bit cooler here), but that was not the end of our day's walking...

Church Creek Caves

After a scrummy meal, my plan was to find and explore the nearby Church Creek caves. The caves are about 1km up the dry creek bed, past a clearing, and not far from where the map indicates it is. Of course, finding a small hole in the dark from a 1:25000 map aint the easiest, even though I had done it before (except for the dark thingo). In fact, I have been to these caves 3 times before, and I have had trouble finding the entrance each time (except the first time, when someone else was leading).

Last time I went up, there was a big cairn in the middle of the dry creek bed, pointing to a tarak up towards the cave entrance. The time before that, I noted a big boulder, that looked like a brick (ie a square corner) next to the way up to the hole. This time, I found neither. We hunted around for half an hour or so, but if you ever get the chance to bush bash at night, one thing you will realise is that it is very hard - you can barely see 5m in front, let alone plan any significant way. Disappointedly, we trudged back to the camp site, and I eventually fell asleep in just my sleeping bag liner.

Next morning, with the enthusiasm of exploring unfound passages, we set off again to look for the caves. This time, after a few false starts (there are a number of holes up around there that don't lead to anything), we found the right passage, although I had to go down a fair way before I realised that it was "the one". (it was near a boulder that looks like a brick, only the boulder looks like a brick when you look at it from upstream, and there was no cairn, although we did add a hefty one when we left). (O, and there was a track up to a different hole, but if you head if to the false hole, then head back towards the clearing, for 10m you should be able to find the right place).

So, down Dunk and I climbed - Grace was to keep watch up top, on the lookout for melanomas, no doubt (i'm sure she would have slipped, slopped and slapped). Now, this cave system takes about an hour to explore (from my perspective), and it doesn't require ropes, so it is perfect for a side trip for those on a bushwalk. And it's cool in summer, and warm in winter. I hunted for invertebrates in it on the Great Kowmung walk of 94 or 95, but we din't find anything. I had also heard it contained a sump, with access to yet more caverns, but I had yet to see this. Dunk, having caved with ropes and all that, was keen to lead the trip.

We started heading up the creek (the system basically follows an underground creek), as I knew this path shouldn't take too long. We returned via a slighlty different way, passed the way back up to the surface, and then found the missing sump (although we didn't try swimming it). We continued on downstream - I was remembering some parts of it, but not all. The ground was quite dirty, but there were still many clean features to be had - flowstones, stalagmites and tites, glistening shit and the like - ask a sproglodyte for proper names. There were a few alternate paths to follow - all good fun. We eventually came to the tradition end of the cavern, but this time, Dunk found a passageway that continued on further, which I had never seen before. It looked like with all the dry weather we had been having, the creek had dried up a bit, leaving a very low (commando crawl territory) passage way to somehwere,. As we had been down for almost an hour, and we still had to walk up a very big hill, we piked on the mysterious, uncharted passage way, and found ourselves some proper photons. I think we were under for an hour ten.

Climbing Back

Reunited with Grace, we headed back to our packs to start the return journey, which was the same way we came (after deciding it was the quickest way back, since our caving took a bit longer than it should have). Except, of course, we didn't go up the canyon/creek, but stuck to the track. But it still meant we had a big hill to climb, complete with Cambage Spire (the crying girl cliff), which Grace made up with much poise, and, er Grace. We spied a pair of Red tailed cockatoos on the way back, and they must have had a nest nearby, as they didn't run too far from us. We managed to watch them for a few minutes, even after trying to scare them...

Back up to the tops (Kanangra), we found ourselves in some clouds. And with the fading light (actually, I think it was just the cloads that made it dark), no views were to be had. This was a bit of a disappointment for Grace and Dunk, as they never got a really good view from the walls. I guess they will have to return.