Rocky Creek Canyon – 13 February 2016

My friends Doug and Lizzie were keen to do a canyon, and wanted one they could take their daughters along on. Their two girls are young (7 and 9) but are good bushwalkers. I was pleased to be able to come along and be able to assist in some tricky spots where needed.

It was a hot day, and I don’t think I have ever seen Rocky Creek Canyon so crowded. When we set off for the canyon, there were 18 cars or mini buses in the carpark. We bypassed Twister Canyon and headed straight down the gully to Rocky Creek.

There, we changed into wetsuits, and descended down the first drop. The two young girls were lowered part way down by rope. Then a lot of stop and go through the first part of the canyon – which is narrow with some tricky bits where only one person can go at a time. As well as other parties going down the canyon, other parties were going up – on their return. This included several large commercial groups. They only seem to travel a short way into the canyon before returning. I have always been puzzles by this as then they would miss the technically easier, but much more spectacular section downstream. Perhaps they have time constraints?

Anyway, the lower part of the canyon was a lot less crowded and we soon reached the end. We continued on about 100m to the old campsite and stopped for lunch. We had considered going back up the canyon, which is the quickest exit, but the young girls were not too keen on this and wanted to explore downstream. So we headed down the gorge to the lower exit – just at the start of the S bend in the creek.

Then, we climbed out and followed the track back to the Galah Canyon Track and carpark. At this point, Doug ran back and returned with the car.

Rocky Creek Canyon is always a nice place to visit. More photographs are online here.