Donkey Mountain Walk – 13 – 14 May 2016

This was a very pleasant two days spent at Donkey Mountain in the Wolgan Valley. The mountain lies within Gardens of Stone National Park. It is not a large mountain but its top is a maze that you can easily spend two days exploring. Bob had never been on top of it before and was keen for a look.

When we pulled up at the parking area on the Newnes Road we were surprised to see other cars pull up too. There turned out to be two other parties on the mountain that day (a Friday). One group was from UNSW and I knew Laura from that party.

Bob and myself were the only ones with overnight packs. It is a long way to go – all the way to the Wolgan Valley and it would be a shame to rush along the mountain on a daywalk.

We crossed over the style and climbed up through open woodlands towards a saddle on the southwestern end of the mountain. On the way we were rather surpassed to disturb a rather large red-belly black snake.

At the saddle, we left our packs and set off to climb the south western tower. The way up is to traverse along a ledge on the northern side until an easy ramp is reached. On top there are great views looking along the mountain. Laura and her party were exploring a nearby chasm.

We then descended and shouldered our packs. But not for long. We left them again and climbed up onto the next tower. Again there was an easy way up, although you had to jump across some deep chasms near the top. More great views.

Then back down to our packs and another ascent. This time up onto the main part of the mountain. On the top, there are great views looking back over the two towers. Another short scramble took us to a high point right next to the summit pinnacle of Donkey Mountain. I doubt it has been climbed.

We then made our way to a larger area, big enough to find a few small campsites. We and lunch here and then set off without our packs to explore the other end of the mountain. We intended to return and camp, as it was close to some great views for sunset.

I had been on top several times before and knew the easiest way. It is a bit of a maze woking your way along the tops trying to find the best route. At the eastern end of    the mountain there is a lower labyrinth of passages formed by jointing between the sandstone blocks. Such features are common in both Gardens of Stone at Wollemi National Parks but the ones on Donkey Mountain are all negotiable. The labyrinth is an amazing place to explore. We soon found ourselves in a large central chamber where there is a logbook. From there we continued along some more passages into more chambers and then through a very narrow crack and around the side of the mountain and through more cracks into another chamber full of ferns. Nice.

It was time to return to our campsite. I wanted to get ready for some photos during the golden hour.

Next morning I got up early hoping for some valley mist. There was some – but only a minuscule amount. But the dawn light was nice. The problem with Donkey Mountain and photography is that one end is better at dusk and the other end better at dawn. We had camped at the end best for dusk.

After breakfast, we again left our packs and headed back to the other end of the mountain. This time we explored some of the pagodas there. More great views.

Then we went back to the central chamber and continued exploring passages and more chambers that led back close to our campsite.

We wanted to stay longer on top, but our water supply was getting rather low, so we returned to our packs and walked back to the saddle and then back down off the mountain.

We were a bit dismayed to find a lot of ducks (cairns, stone men) that had recently been built leading up to the mountain. We dismantled these. This is an easy area to  walk in and there is no need for an markers like this. Donkey Mountain is a fun place to explore. Please keep it that way. The ways up to the mountain from the bottom are all straightforward for bushwalkers and any marked route would soon lead to a track being formed. This is steep country and a track would soon be an erosion channel. Not a good outcome.

More photos from the trip are online on my website here.