Wollemi NP: Budgary Creek – River Cave Canyon circuit
Several days were spent closely checking the changing forecasts and the recorded rainfall at Lithgow, Clarence and Glen Davis. Very little rain was recorded at Clarence since Wednesday and with a 50% chance of 1mm forecast, our walk went ahead with a final plan of “take a look” at the canyon before proceeding.
Nine walkers including 3 visitors, enjoyed a day in Wollemi National Park, somehow avoiding what the changing weather threw at us. Meeting at Clarence at 8:15am, Peter advised of Plan A (as advertised), Plan B (skip the canyon and do a full loop of Deep Pass from North to South), Plan C (a repeat of the 24th May 2024 walk) and Plan D (Mt Irvine and The Tessellated Pavements).
We thought the intermittent rain still falling as we drove along the dirt road, would keep us out of the canyon, so we considered swapping the two sections of the walk by doing Deep Pass first (Plan A-1) so we had a better chance doing the canyon in the afternoon.
However, Peter’s driving navigational error took us to the start of the Canyon and the northern entrance to Deep Pass, thus missing our car shuffle finish point at the western entrance to Deep Pass. That 400m section of road missing on google maps has a lot to answer for!
No problem, let’s do the canyon first and then Deep Pass as a ‘down and back’ after that (Plan A-2) so there would then be no need for a car shuffle!
As we descended the track and side creeks towards Budgary Creek (anti-clockwise circuit), ‘baby’ hail falling on us for a minute, was a surprise as we sloshed through very wet and thick scrub descending towards River Cave Canyon.
Waratahs were everywhere on the way down and later on the way up. They had really come out over the prior 3 weeks. Masses of other flowers also delighted.
The odd shower and thunder tried hard to put us off continuing but luckily we found no change in the creek level compared to our recce 3 weeks earlier, so a fantastic explore awaited us.
Changed into “wet” shoes, the Canyon did not disappoint. Taking our time, we looked at every angle as we splashed along in ankle to thigh deep water. The little climb up and along a rock platform avoided the deep pool, was no problem. Connie and Johnny (2 of our visitors) were well prepared, young and quite agile, so no problem on this walk as was Hazel from HVB, our other club. Julie spotted a lovely small black frog just before the end of the canyon. After videos and many photos were taken, we eventually reached the steep, rough climb up between the rock walls. It was not long before we reached the road and our cars.
On return, we hid from increased falling rain, eating lunch in the cars. It was now time that a final plan (Plan E) was hatched. Most agreed, it would be pointless and not much fun walking in this drizzle and the roads would be getting more hazardous if left later to negotiate, so….. “Nar, let’s give it a miss!”
Coffee and cake at Mt. Tomah Botanic Gardens sounded so much nicer, so off we headed.
It was still raining when we got there, making the view across the gardens and valleys spectacular.
After coffee, some viewed a fancy displayed flower (name?) just below the centre.
In summary, we dodged a bullet and had a lovely time in the canyon, thus making the most of our day.
Walkers: Gary, Julie, Loïc, Fernando, Hazel (V), Connie (V), Johnny (V), Jenny and Peter.
Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8kkENkh6h5oZBXxz9
Video of a segment of the canyon: https://youtube.com/shorts/lpo33dr0-F4
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