In May 2020, I had been on a walk with Bob and Doug where we had visited Lerida Gorge. That had been a very interesting and quite spectacular walk and Bob and myself had planned to return. A warm but wet day was forecast and that seemed reasonable for another visit.
This time, we parked at the turn off to a fire road that goes part way out to the ridge between Arethusa Canyon and Alpheus Canyon. We walked a kilometre or so along the My Hay Road and then turned off at spot height 916 and walked along a ridge that would lead down to the creek that flows through Lerida Gorge.
Along the way, we found some nice orchids and other wild flowers –
Large Tongue Orchid (Cryptostylis subulata)
There were a lot of Fringe Lillies in flower –
And some Flying Duck Orchids (Caleana major) –
And a Horned Orchid (Orthoceras strictum)
Another Large Tongue Orchid –
It was quite easy to scramble down to the creek. Walking short way downstream, not that far down, we checked out a cave on the western side. There was an old fireplace and some relics.
This led to some discussion about “Rookery Nook”, the cave used by Eric Lowe as a bush retreat. See the previous post for more history of Eric Lowe and his cave. I had been on a trip down Arethusa Canyon back in 2006 where we had exited via Alpheus Canyon. I can recall the route we used to climb out of Lerida Gorge passed through a cave with some relics (billies etc). I had assumed that was Rookery Nook. The cave we were in now was not the one I had seen in 2006. Could this one be the real Rookery Nook? There is also a third candidate – see below.
We continued along, following the creek. The going was reasonable and we made good progress. We were soon walking under a cliff on the true right. We wanted to follow it all the way to a lookout we had seen on the 2020 trip. This was an easy ledge to traverse to eventually reach a very exposed lookout. This provided excellent views.
Here we are looking back upstream. Lerida Gorge on the left, and the much bigger gorge of Arethusa Canyon on the right – with a hint of the slot.
Looking down, we could see Arethusa Falls – the main waterfall, and the smaller Vida Falls on the left (with flows out of Alpheus Canyon – Lerida Gorge). Eric Lowe, Eric Dark and others managed to climb up near the waterfalls using tree roots and the scaled the cliffs to climb out via Alpheus Canyon.
Here is the view looking out to the Grose Valley –
We then made our way back along our ledge to reach a scramble that we though would lead up the cave we had visited back in 2020.
The scramble was quite easy and safe, and we were soon in the cave we had visited before. It has a constructed wall and a logbook placed recently by Springwood Bushwalking Club. Unfortunately there was no pen so we could leave an entry.
This cave is another potential candidate to be “Rookery Nook”, but I think being where it is that is unlikely. It does not seem to be suitable place to be used as a base to explore the area. However it is possible to scramble right up to the top of the cliffs from this cave (by reversing the route we had used in 2020).
We then scramble back down to the lower ledge and walked back upstream a bit. Next we explore down at creek level. It was very slippery and bouldery and we turned back at a waterfall. This was probably where had scrambled up in 2006.
We then traversed on the other die of the creek – the western side on a large ledge to a lookout overlooking the junction. Here, there was a large cairn.
and also a very fine view.
We then walked back along our ledge to the usual route out used by canyoners. On the way up, we stopped for lunch in an overhang – it was just starting to rain lightly. We also explored a few ledges looking for the original Rookery Nook that I had seen in 2006 – but with no luck.
We then climbed up to the top, with more great views.
The walk back to the Mt Hay Road was both easy and pleasant with more orchids and other flowers to see.
These small beetles seem to be eating the Fringe Lily flowers. The flower normally only last for a single day.
