With the current situation post bushfires with most National Parks still closed and very few canyons open, it was time to look for some new canyons in the non burnt out areas.
I had stored away a few possibilities. Creeks that may have canyons sections, but probably not that spectacular, nor worth bothering about in normal times. So I travelled up the mountains with Bob, and on the way, at our coffee stop, we worked out what we were going to do.
Our first creek, I had seen on a bushwalk a year or two earlier. Where the track crossed the creek, it looked like it could be canyon downstream. The creek disappeared down a small waterfall. So we headed that way. We soon arrived at the waterfall and found a tree nearby we could use as a belay point.
We abseiled down. The creek was nice below this point – but was hardly a quality canyon. We climbed out not far downstream and made our way back to Bob’s car.
We then headed to our second canyon.
This started with a 20 m abseil down a fairly open waterfall. Below, the creek could not be called a canyon, but it was at least reasonable going. Lower down the creek improved a lot – and did enter what you should probably call a gorge rather than a canyon. It was nice going.
Further down, the creek started to drop. We scrambled down some smaller cascades, then found ourselves at the top of a high waterfall. Here there was at least a nice slot – but it did not look a sustained canyon.
We used two ropes, and abseiled down. It was a beautiful waterfall. Further down, we could see the canyon ended all too soon.
After puling down the ropes, we scrambled under the cliffs and soon found a steep scrambling pass that provided a passage to the too of the cliffs. We had to use rope in two places to haul our daypacks. It was a bit tricky, exposed and dangerous.
On top, we found a shady place for lunch, then walked back along the ridge and back to Bob’s car. This had been a good day out.