Beloon Pass or Burnt Flat Creek?
JH
Two of us are planning a walk from Mittagong to Katoomba via Yerranderie
next month. We have been told it is better to go to Yerranderie via Round
Hill, Burnt Flat Ck and the Wollondilly R than to go via Hilltop, Wattle
Ridge Rd., Nattai R and Beloon Pass to the Wollondilly. Does anyone have an
opinion on this?
Cheers
John Holland
annette....@marsh.com
Hi John,
I did this trip in July last year via Hill Top, Wattle Ridge Road,
Nattai etc. The first part was pretty boring except for Belloon Pass
and in fact being solo I camped there although I understand this is
strictly speaking not permitted.
Having been to Yerranderie before I opted to take a more westerly
route via Mt Colong and the Kowmung to Christie's Creek, Cambage Spire
etc to Kanagra Walls. Thence the "usual" Kanangra to Katoomba
route. The idea was to avoid the continuous road bash on the
Barrallier route and enjoy some more spectacular country. To my
amazement, in 10 days I didn't see a single other person, even through
all that popular and well travelled country in the prime walking
season.
I guess it depends what you have seen before and what your
expectations are. I'm glad I did the whole route from Hill Top but
if I was recommending it to someone else I would either try your
suggested alternative route (which I don't know) or miss out all the
first bit and teleport myself to Christies Creek at the Kowmung
junction and start from there.
Have fun!
JH
Rd firetrail? Did you strike any thick regrowth in the Nattai?
Cheers
John Holland
<annette....@marsh.com> wrote in message
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Roger Caffin
We did this many years ago, from Katoomba to Mittagong.
We tok the Barralier route from Yerranderie to Belloon Pass and then went up
the Nattai all the way to Mittagong, passing under the Gibbagunya
(spelling?) bridge. We thought it was OK.
But whatever you do, don't drink from the Nattai without treating the water
*very seriously*. The old Mittagong STP was draining into the Nattai, and
although we filtered it we still got extremely ill from viruses which go
straight through a filter. Boiling the Nattai might be OK, but side creeks
would be better. Maybe the new STP is better - don't know.
Cheers
Roger Caffin
johns...@mbox.com.au
> passing under the Gibbagunya (spelling?) bridge.
Gibbergunyah - the enormous freeway bridge that passes over the creek
of the same name.
>Boiling the Nattai might be OK, but side creeks
>would be better. Maybe the new STP is better - don't know.
I don't think I'd take the risk with water from the Nattai. Too many
horror stories.
Kind regards,
John W
(to reply change mbox to bigpond and remove .au)
Roger Caffin
> horror stories.
cheers
JH
Sydney water supply. I've never been caught out in Australia (touching the
wooden desk top) but had a shocker once in Nepal. Ugh, still gives me the
horrors thinking about it.
On the matter of choosing a route: my friend and I recently spent the best
part of a whole day getting from Grey Mare to Valentine's Hut in the KNP.
The fallen timber and regrowth on the northern side of the Falls were really
difficult to negotiate. We have also had other encounters with regrowth on
the AAWT, so when I read Geoff Phipps' account of his walk from Hilltop to
Katoomba in April 2007, I was alarmed by his description of the regrowth in
the Nattai Valley and how difficult it was for him and Neil Hodgson to
negotiate it.
The thing is, though, they went down the Starlight trail and then walked
quite a few km downriver to the Beloon Pass track. My 2007 edition Nattai
1:25000 map shows a fire trail (labelled W11E) going off the end of the
Nattai Rd, straight to the Beloon Pass track. (I suspect this is the one
Annette walked in July 2007, because she doesn't mention hard going at all.)
Then, my good friend Nethery, who lives in Far North Queensland but whose
spiritual home lies somewhere in the cliffs and gorges west of Lake
Burragorang, dropped his Burnt Flat Creek bombshell, saying we are "ijits"
to even consider going over Beloon Pass.
Ultimately, you are responsible for your own decisions but it is always a
good idea to seek the counsel of wise people. Something like: "Those who
ignore the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them over and over."
Cheers, and thanks,
John Holland
"Roger Caffin" <r.ca...@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
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Roger Caffin
> part of a whole day getting from Grey Mare to Valentine's Hut in the KNP.
> The fallen timber and regrowth on the northern side of the Falls were
> really difficult to negotiate.
You can walk up the fire trail between Grey Mare and Valentine - that is
open and easy. A few hours.
You can take the track up the SOUTH side of the Valentine Falls - that may
be more scrubby after the fire but it is only a couple of hours total.
> saying we are "ijits" to even consider going over Beloon Pass.
There was a fair track from the Nattai when we did it, and I can only guess
that the track would have improved over the years. The Yerranderie side is
steep ... true, but hardly meriting that comment imho.
Cheers
David Noble
Flat Ck (too much fire trail walking)
If going from Mittagong - I catch a taxi from the station to Hilltop -
close to the start of the Starlight Trail - then you can walk down the
river via the fire trail (fast, easy) or via Starlights Trail - which is
a very pleasant track to a nice campsite - then slower walking
downstream - to get to the firetrail and some old farms. Last time i
wwent in this way was during the Sydney Olympics, see -
http://www.geocities.com/david_noble_au/MtoK/MtoKWalk.html
I have also gone in via taxi along the Wombeyan Caves rd - and then out
fire trails (farm roads?) - to Russels Needle - and via that to the
Nattai (which was a nice route - but involved some scrambling - and at
one point we used rope to lower packs)
Both these trips were during drought - so sometimes side creeks had
dried up - so we had to drink the Nattai - but we always boiled it first.
On the Wollondilly - look out for big groups of Kangaroos and also some
emus.
I would avoid Scotts Main if possible - eg walk via the Blue Breaks or
the Kowmung or Kanangra
Dave Noble
David Noble
> There was a fair track from the Nattai when we did it, and I can only guess
> that the track would have improved over the years. The Yerranderie side is
> steep ... true, but hardly meriting that comment imho.
Yes - the track is in fair condition.
Dave Noble
>
> Cheers
>
>
JH
Olympics were on - in fact, I have a link to it in "Favourites".
After considering the good advice of everyone, I feel confident about
proceeding via the Nattai firetrail to Beloon Pass, so I guess that is the
way we will go.
While my walking companion lived in Melbourne, the KNP and Alpine NP were
great places to walk, because we could leave a car at the finish and drive
in the other car to the start, but now that he has moved to Adelaide we find
it very difficult making do with one vehicle. The advantage of walking in
the Blue Mts - Kanangra region is you can use public transport. Well, that's
the theory anyway.
Thanks for your help
Cheers
John Holland
"David Noble" <dno...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
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annette....@marsh.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
JH,
Sorry I didn't reply to your last question - I left for 15 days in
Tassie that day - Western & Eastern Arthurs - great trip.
I got picked up at Tahmoor Station by the Slosses and dropped off at
the start of the Starlight Trail. I walked down the Starlight Trail
then down the river to the fire trail. It was a bit of a bush bash, a
few nice areas but mostly just your average unsightly river walking
with weeds, etc. Nice cliff lines above. The first night I camped
further down stream than the nice campsite at the base of the
Starlight Trail and I'm sure I would have treated water from the
Nattai, had no problems with it. (I also carried treated Nattai water
up to Belloon Pass the next night, again no problems - maybe I was
just lucky).
If you haven't already left for your trip, good luck with it.
Cheers, Annette.