Bob suggested visiting Why Don’t We Do It In The Road Canyon at Mt Wilson as this weeks trip. A very hot day was forecast – so it would be nice to be in a canyon, and one that did not involve too much walking.
Some history of this canyon.
We often visited the lower section of the canyon on trips down Wollangambe Canyon in the 1970’s. We would park our lilos at the junction and walk and scramble upstream about 50 m and enter a very dark cave full of glow worms. But we never went upstream from there, although it is not very difficult to climb on ledges and over a chockstone to above the last abseil.
I can remember a canyoning weekend at Mt Wilson, sometime in the late 1970’s I think, with a mixture of Springwood Bushwalking Club members and SUBW members. In those days Mt Wilson canyoning meant lilo canyoning. On one of the days, Tony Norman (SUBW) decided to do a separate trip from the main party down that particular side creek of The Wollangambe. I think it was Jayne Hibbard (SBC) who joined him. They entered the creek high up and reported a reasonable canyon with a number of abseils. Tony named it “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road Canyon” after one of his favourite songs on the Beatles White Album.
I think I may have been in the second party down the creek (with Tom Williams?). We went down it to the Wollangambe and then continued down Wollangambe Canyon.
It was a few years later I think, that Tony, together with Brad Phillips and Airdrie Long first descended another side creek of Wollangambe that we also used to visit from below, and named it Whungee Wheengee Canyon. That one completely overshadowed Why Don’t We Do It In The Road Canyon.
Although, not as spectacular, Why Don’t We Do It In The Road Canyon, does have a shorter walk in and out, and it can be combined with Wollangambe Canyon for a longer trip. It is also safer to do in high water than many other canyons as several of the abseils can be climbed around, and there are passes out from parts of the canyon.
On this trip, Bob parked at the Cathedral of Ferns and we walked in from the fire road from there. The walk out to there is slightly shorter and easier than back to the fire station.
At the first abseil, we encountered another party just below.
We caught up to the other party just as they were setting up ropes at the top of the second abseil and main canyon section. It was a party from Blue Mountains Grammar School, and their instructor kindly let us use their rope set up on the first abseil, so we could get in front.
The canyon was very pleasant and cool refuge from the heat.
Here is Bob on the next abseil –
And looking down there last abseil –
We quickly finished off the canyon and reached the Wollangambe junction. We then followed the ledge upstream to the usual exit point. Here we had lunch.
It was a hot walk out, but we took our time.
It had been a very pleasant day out.