A few photos of this very nice canyon at Blackheath. This was our prelude trip before going down to the Coxs RIver with SUBW to celebrate the festive season.
At Blackheath, before visiting the canyon, it was quite cool. Was it worth doing the canyon? Ashley had organised the trip and he was having some misgivings. There was a big party of beginners. We thought it wise to do some abseil practice on the way to the canyon and then decide. The abseiling went well and and the weather, although still cold was at least no worse. So we set off down the canyon.
Grand Canyon is underrated by some canyoners. I would regard it as one of the best on the south side of the Grose Valley. Sure, Mt Hay Canyon with its spectacular abseils onto and off a chockstone down a drop that you cannot see the bottom is a lot more exciting, but Grand Canyon is much longer. The slot is consistently good and some sections are very fine indeed.
Grand Canyon is not too technical. There is one abseil. It is not straightforward. The top part is slippery; the bottom part is overhanging. After that, it is easy going to the end of the canyon where you can rejoin the tourist track. There is one compulsory swim – and that is near the end of the canyon. All other pools can be climbed around or jumped over.
The interesting thing about the Grand Canyon, and the feature that makes it unique amongst Blue Mountains Canyons is that it has a tourist track poised on ledges above the canyon. This is the usual way that canyoners return back to the start and then back to the car park above Neates Glen. The track gives great views of the canyon that you have just been down.
Just after the swim in the canyon, some steps can be seen cut into the (true) left hand wall of the canyon. They provide access to a high ledge. I suspect this is part of an old tourist track. There must have been a branch track up the lower part of the canyon as far as the swim. The steps must have been cut to avoid a deep pool or swim. This section is now very shallow and most people would walk past not noticing the steps.
One nice feature of the canyon is the the way its walls are covered in ferns. Its a green haven! Not took far upstream from the swim is a very nice and fairly dark corridor. This is just after a small side creek joins the canyon. You can look up the side creek and see a small bridge spanning it on the tourist track. This part of the canyon has beautifully sculptured scalloped walls. Swirling water over the aeons has carved some amazing pothole like formations high up the canyon walls.
More photos on my website here.