2016 SUBW – PBT – October Long Weekend

Last weekend I went on the 43rd PBT, the annual President’s Bludge Trip held by Sydney University Bushwalkers on the October long weekend. This year the trip was co-led by Ashley as well as by Joy, the 2016 president. By tradition the trip visits the Kowmung River in the Kanangra Boyd National Park.

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The weather forecast was not ideal. Strong winds for the weekend and the possibility of rain, and even snow on the Friday night, and perhaps more rain on the Monday. Kanangra Walls, the usual starting point is a long way to get to from Sydney so most participants camp on the nearby Boyd Plateau on the Friday night. October in the Blue Mountains is normally mild enough to enjoy some swimming in the Kowmung River. Perhaps not this time?

The joey has a nice warm place out of the wind

The joey has a nice warm place out of the wind

Well, we met up at the campsite around 11 pm on the Friday night. Earlier members had started a nice fire – but it was too wet, cold and windy – so we soon retreated to our tents. We awoke to a cold bleak morning. It had rained most of the night. No snow, but it was very windy, even in the relatively sheltered forest of the Boyd Plateau.

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After breakfast, we set off for the short drive to the Kanangra Walls carpark and then walked out onto the Kanangra Plateau.

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After a large group photo, we split into smaller parties and set off down the Gingra Range track. We then continued down the Bullhead Range to Cambage Spire. The track along the range is quite faint but still quite easy to follow if you are careful. On the way we stopped on the summit of Bullhead Mountain for lunch.

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Cambage Spire is the highest point overlooking the Kowmung Valley, and the first part of the descent is quite steep. A first, it involves some easy scrambling down slabs, and then a steep rocky path is followed, interspersed with the occasional bluff, right to the river. And for the first time on the trip, close to the river we were out of the wind.

The Kowmung River

The Kowmung River

We arrived at the  junction of the Kowmung River and Christys Creek. Our first reaction was the height of the river. It was up a fair bit – and this could mean problems the next day as we intended to walk downstream through the Bulga Denis Canyon.

We crossed Christys Creek and walked a short way up the Kowmung River to the campsite – a nice grassy bank. Here we set up our tents and then started gathering firewood.

Christys Creek

Christys Creek

The campsite here is quite beautiful  and on a past trip to this part of the Kowmung I had seen a platypus in the river. But, the campsite is not very large. Out tents were rather spread out.

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At dusk, we all gathered around the fire and a lot of fine food was shared. Then after dinner there was singing around the campfire until late.

Next morning, we found the river had not gone down, but rather, was even a bit higher. Ashley and Jo set off on a recce downstream and their conclusion was that it would be best to remain at the campsite and not move down the river. I think this was wise given the river level and the difficulty of crossing.

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So, Sunday turned out to be a lazy, but enjoyable day. Some members of the party indulged in some swimming, some in walks along the Kowmung or up Christys Creek, some in playing cards and some testing their balance on the slackline. There was not enough room to set up a volleyball court. The weather on the riverbank was very agreeable – no wind and not too hot or cold.

I looked a few times for the platypus, but he was shy this time. I have seen them swimming in the Coxs River when it has been high, so the high river level should not have stopped them. We did however see a large goanna wander through the campsite. It did not seem too worried about our presence.

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That evening, more fine food and wine to share and then more campfire singing. Again till late.

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On the Monday, we headed back up the Bullhead Range in smaller parties, meeting for lunch near Cottage Rock. It was again a very windy day, and it was quite hard to stand on the Kanangra Plateau.

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On the way home we stopped at the Hampton Half Way House for refreshments. Unfortunately, they had run out of willy for the willi-burgers, so we had to make do with steak sandwiches or veggie burgers.

Special congratulations to long time SUBW members Chee and Cathy who announced their engagement on the walk. And thanks to Ashley and Joy for their organisation and leadership of another great PBT.

For the record, the Kowmung River height was 0.71 m when we arrived on the Saturday afternoon and was at it highest the next morning at 0.84 m. It was down to around 0.7 again when we left on Monday. These heights are from the Bureau of Meteorology website.  It would be tricky to cross the river at this height without swimming. The river did look quite good for pack rafting.

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More photos from the weekend are on my website here.

This entry was posted in Blue Mountains, Bushwalking, Kanangra Wilderness, Wilderness Photography and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to 2016 SUBW – PBT – October Long Weekend

  1. Louisa Klimentos says:

    Excellent photos of a most beautiful remote region of Australia

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