I have just returned from a very pleasant trip through Hat Hill Canyon near Blackheath. It had been a very long time since I had visited this creek and a return was long overdue.
Hat Hill Canyon had a bad reputation. Probably due to notes I wrote about it for Wild Magazine. I recall some trips down the canyon in the 70’s and early 80’s. On the second of those trips I can remember our path down a narrow section of the canyon being blocked by a huge wall of foam. The wall was about 3m high and stretched at least 10m down the canyon. How did this form? At the time, upstream as a sewage treatment plant and the overflow went down the creek. The foam must have been caused by washing detergent.
As well as the visible foam. The creek smelt bad. The water looked unpleasant and there was a very luxurious growth of mosses and algae in the creek bed.
A recent return to the creek was a pleasant surprise and it is time for some revisionism. I was with an old mate, Bob, and we both thought it was a very nice canyon. Quite beautiful in places.
We used notes on Tom Brennan’s website – and they were more than sufficient describing a quick easy route in and several routes out of the canyon.
Once in the creek – there are three constricted sections, and each one is longer and better than the one above. In between are beautiful sections of open rainforest. A lovely creek.
Most of the rocks in the stream-bed are covered with a very thick mat of moss – like thick carpet. This is unlike what you see in other canyon creeks in my experience. I thought initially it may be due to lasting effects of the effluent. But the side creeks also have this thick moss – so It seems to be a local thing.
More images are on my website here.