A CENTURY OF CONSERVATION 1914-2014 Dunphys kowmung adventure 2014 SEPTEMBER 26TH TO OCTOBER 6TH KATOOMBA TO PICTON Stage 2 September 28th to 30th, 2014 Jenolan Caves to Dingo Dell Stage 2 Author: Wyn Jones 2014
Stage 2 Monday Oct 12, 1913 Jenolan Caves to Dingo Dell Well we camped here but it was not a great campsite. Rough sleeping was had and the campground was occupied by many workers. But we picked up our stash of supply s. 14 lb of flour that s a lot of dampers. We left some of the food behind as the weight was too much. I ll bet you have it easy with the light weight gear, have you weighed your packs? Here s a scale to check your weight. I noticed galahs picking twigs off a gum tree and eating the nuts, they dropped the twigs on me as I watched below. And I forgot to mention the rock wallabies ( now an endangered species) on the limestone outcrops of jenolan as we came past the Carlotta Arch yesterday. They are so tame. Now there s two different routes to the Kanangra Walls Rd and then the real adventure begins as you slip down into the catchment of the Kowmung River. But it s a fairly heavy grind up the Gingkin Point and then it s straight done into the upper Hollanders river. We followed that route up the Point since it looked easier and more direct than the one suggested by the Chief Guide at the caves. The view from the top was amazing and I hope the weather is good for you as a few nice photos would be worth the while. At the first and lowest bluff of gingkin point we quaffed a few raisins, yes yet again. Here the ridge is surmounted by some big limestone boulders sticking out of the ridge proper.... the views were grand. away down below the seemingly small red roofed caves house could be discerned, hemmed in by the tree covered mountain gorge sides. We could see right up jenolan river above the caves. The limestone cliffs up there stood out boldly. At the foot of these cliffs winds kyber pass, but we could not see it of course..... on the right just over the rocky bluff of the ridge we were on, the seemingly level top of black harry stood out plainly on the sky line. Lucky for you eh? We had a slouch of wet country there which you are dodging by going straight down across the ridges to the camp on the junction of the Hollanders and Budthingeroo Ck. Check on the original parish map where the rivers are marked. So some surveyor must have been here once. Also see the large blank areas marked unsurveyed. DKA2-2
DKA2-3 Stage 2 Day 1 September 28th, 2014 Jenolan Caves to Camp 3 So Adventure Walkers up you go on the spur east of Gingkin Point which is the same as Gingkin Spur mentioned by Dunphy. Just remember to take a photo of the first bluff Myles writes about to show the country you have traversed, well at least some of you. You should the see Black Harry on the skyline. And try and get some walkers faces in the shot to give depth and presence. You might hold up the packet of Sunbeam raisins too. At last you will surmount a high point next to Gingkin Spur and head for the Walls Road along the Caves Boundary and then the Park Boundary as you go past the private property on the east of the ridgeline. Myles turned right at the road but you go straight across it heading for the Park boundary adjacent to the cleared areas. This is as close to the original route possible otherwise you would pass through private property. As you cross the Kanangra Walls Rd think of how rough it would have looked in 1914 as a mere cart track though he states it is well formed. Later when Myles was married and had young Milo,
they wheeled a pram with him in it and had Dexter the Dog tag along as they had come from from Oberon along this rough road. This was to be the beginning the of wilderness training of their son. No wonder Milo went on to save Colong Caves. But that is a few days ahead yet and some real hard mooching along the trail to do yet. This is the varied route on the Dunphy Map and the original route which comes through cleared country as you will see in the photo below from Google Earth But this is the route as marked on the Original Parish Map he used for the trip. Note again the large areas of UNSURVEYED TERRITORY no doubt uncleared and the cleared areas along the river where they camped, and you will too. Surveyors had previously been there and marked the route of the river and some prominent features such as rocky bluffs and limestone outcrops. Dunphy was to significantly add to this information which resulted in him drawing a bushwalking map of the area which is still useful today and more interesting than standard topographic maps. DKA2-4
From Dunphy s Diary No 4A Page 24 Map No 1 DKA2-5
DKA2-6 Google Earth Image with the route superimposed of Dunphy and Gallop On the way up Gingkin Point Original Route of Dunphy in to the Upper Hollanders River area
DKA2-7 How would they react if they could see this view today. Imagine being Myles and Bert in a helicopter and looking at their old maps and notes and then seeing the differences, and yet some of the places much the same. Myles reckoned there had been a bushfire recently along the Walls Rd in the vicinity of Gingkin Point. This cleared farmland is used for sheep and cattle now, but these domestic stock were grazing the forests of the Kowmung and the Boyd Plateau in Myles Dunphys day. He later meets a cattleman on the Kowmung River near Lannigans Creek. Also near the top of Gingkin Point they saw a pony, probably an escapee. Here are the photo points which it would be good to obtain. They show the change of land use since Myles visited 100 years ago, but remember to photograph the bush at the edge which might contain Black Sally Gums and other species nearby. And here on the way to Camp 3 Myles notes the forest is black and scraggy and along the creek, where there are sun lizards about 10 long. Wonder if they are Water Skinks? Along to Council Chamber Flat he also remarks they saw a
DKA2-8 wombat and a few rabbits. The flat was fenced and was probably a Stock Reserve. They were following a track all the way here to the east of the Upper Hollanders River. Finally after passing more yards and ruins of rough human habitation they reached the flat at the junction of the Budthingeroo Creek and the Hollanders River. On the way Myles remarks they saw wallabies, which by his description were red necked wallabies. And mountain lorries (lowries) which are Crimson Rosellas and parrots which could mean King Parrots or Gang Gangs. Note Bene: that you should be able to take a photo at their second crossing of the Hollanders River labelled Photo 1 on Myles map. It is at GR: 463-679. They camped here YOUR CAMP 3 Here you should rest on the words of Myles the previous day as he looked at the country ahead from Council Chamber Flat This trip fired our blood. We felt we were doing things in reality and we scanned our maps with the eyes of professionals. Ah! It is real life, despite the heavy swags. And then again as they settled down in camp to dinner as darkness fell, A slight breeze stirred the trees from which came the mysterious rustlings and murmurings common to all gum trees, accentuated by the still night and hardly noticed during the day. Monday September 29 th 2014 (Dunphy Time Oct 12 th, 1914) Well I hope you all had a good night at Budthingeroo Creek on the Hollanders River. You probably noted some Blackberries along the creeks and rivers. They were not there when we came through in 1914. But there were plenty of rabbits. I don t recall hares which are common in the Oberon area and should be in the paddocks above the creek. And now to what lies ahead, the unknown, after a very cold night. we called it... perishing point camp.
Can you locate this picture now? OR... ANY OF THOSE THAT FOLLOW.... Myles PHOTOGRAPHS - Upper Hollanders River Page 33 DKA2-9
CROSSING THE RIVER WAS MADE MORE EASILY BY OUR SWAG ARRANGEMENT, THE DUNGAL SWAG. WITH THE SWAG ON THE BACK AND THE BAGS COUNTERBALANCING AT THE FRONT ONE BECAME MORE STABLE. I WOULD HAVE BEEN SWEPT AWAY ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE SWAG LITERALLY ROOTING ME TO THE RIVER BOTTOM. AND THIS IN PLACES WHERE IT WAS MERELY KNEE TO WAIST DEEP. DKA2-10 Hollanders river page 35 Limestone Bluffs AS WE MOVED DOWN THE HOLLANDERS THE RIVER TWISTED AND TURNED MANY TIMES AND WE FOUND IT WAS NECESSARY TO MAKE MANY CROSSINGS. THE GOING GOT STEADILY ROUGHER, LIMESTONE BLUFFS BECOME A FEATURE AT FIRST ON ONE SIDE OF THE RIVER WITH BOULDERS AND TERRACES ON THE OTHER TILL IT CLOSED ALTOGETHER INTO A CANYON. OUR FEET WERE PERMANENLT WET.
DKA2-11 One thing that was helpful was the presence of bridle tracks on the map which together with the bends in the river enabled us to obtain an accurate position. By the way the bridle track we identified was actually named pfeffers trail. The river got deeper and great cliffs appeared high overhead making progress slower and more difficult. At one stage we had to push through thickets of some spiky bushes and just as we were almost overcome by these we entered an immense amphitheatre filled with bare red earth and studded with lumps of limestone, It was bare owing to a huge number of rabbits. And Today; Dear Reader you will realise that the large numbers of rabbits seen by Myles and Bert occurred well before the use of Myxomatosis to control them in the wild. It will be interesting to see this amphitheatre NOW as I imagine it is covered in green verdure and most probably the spiky bushes that occurred upstream form this site as mentioned in the diary. Also Myles thinks the rabbits had never seen humans or been shot at since they behaved naïve on approach. This amphitheatre is on the west side of the river since the east side is covered in vegetation. It is a requirement that you Adventure Walkers take photographs at this spot and remember to place people in the shots to provide scale. How high are the cliffs at this point. Then they burst through some bushes into the start of the Red Canyon. And you too will have to follow in their footsteps and climb around it. This is now called Chardon Canyon. At this point the rock had changed to granite which occasioned the canyon formation since it is impervious unlike limestone. The granite must come from an intrusion in this locality. What do you think?
DKA2-12 This canyon was the first of the journey with waterfalls, and over the next few miles (km) the greatest concentration of waterfalls occurs on the adventure. Just around the corner from Chardon (Red) Canyon is the Tuglow Falls and to get there was a fairly hair raising sidling on the western granite scree. There may be a sort of trail there now worn by generations of bushwalkers ( remember they were called trailers) so that may make it easier for you young-uns. Myles says, Oh! The grind of it! Half way up I pondered as to which was the more dangerous the canyon or the the range! It is a cold fact that where we were climbing would turn the average person giddy. Up! Up! Up! Six inches at a time. Careful! Careful! Slip and good bye amateur explorer. After this they reached the Tuglow River and acknowledged for the first time (P49) in the diary that the Kowmung River started after Chardon Canyon although on the maps they used, it was marked as the Tuglow River. Note also on the old map that the area around these falls had already been reserved for Public Recreation in 1912, 1913 and the Tuglow Caves adjoining to the south had been reserved for Preservation of Caves in 1898. So perhaps the previous surveyors had an appreciation of this country as an aesthetic in the way Dunphy expressed in this diary and in his campaign for conservation. After crossing Tuglow River above the falls YOU are required to find the spot from which Myles photographed the falls (GR: 403-755). Myles said the total drop of the Tuglow Falls is 350ft, is he correct? It is JUST a matter of heading down the Tuglow (AKA Kowmung) River now around the Gridiron a name which is a contraction of Griddle Iron a metal rack of parallel bars to cook meat or fish over an
The Gridiron DKA2-13
AND NOW CAME THE NEXT PART OF DUNPHY S ADVENTURE 1914.. AND - IT JUST GETS HARDER. THE REALM OF THE FALLS OF THE KOWMUNG From Chardon Canyon down to the Next Camp Myles and Bert pass through and see the most stunning section of the Kowmung River for waterfalls. Even though they are dodged by bad weather they get glimpses of all the falls and are enchanted. The rhythm of the walk changes as bert and myles stop for views of the Tuglow Falls and turning to look across the Kowmung River they saw a most magnificent waterfall of 4 great leaps plunging from the plateau level down into the gorge! This is Box Creek Falls although Dunphy gave it that name and Dungalla Falls as well. He was a prolific namer of features. He said, we are virtually the discovers of these falls. It is not charted. And he was impressed by the nature of the vegetation around them as The dense timber covered bluffs and slopes were splendid. He drew the falls and also took photographs. Can you identify the gumtrees? TRACK NOTES ROUTE 2014 1. PASS AND PHOTOGRAPH THE GRIDIRON CAMP AT GR: 392-747. This is where Dunphy camped, right next to the present firetrail. Watch for cars or rather 5 WDs. 2. Proceed around the Gridiron bends but do not use the Gridiron as there are no bunnies to cook. 3. Short cut over the last Gridiron Bend at GR: 389-751 You should see River She oaks along the banks of the Kowmung and water gums in the boulders bent downstream by the floods. 4. Cross the Kowmung and listen for rapids and roar. By now you should have passed the walking track which comes down from the Kowmung River firetrail ( not present in 1914). They saw 8 head of range cattle on the river at this location. In fact cattle were present here until a few years ago. Is there any sign of them now? Now you have to take a diversion up the range to the west or you will be sucked into the torrents of the Morong Deep. DKA2-14
5. At GR: 383-753 Climb up from the river. This route takes you on a little sky traverse between the Kowmung gorge and the Tuglow Hole complex. This was noted by Myles, Finish Stage 2 at Dunphy s Lunch Place of 1914 Tuglow Hole Start Stage 3 Myles Great Vision DKA2-15