More Jinki ridges and gullies!

 

I seem to be visiting Jinki Ridge every two years in May. Looking back, I see I reported the last such visit here: 2019 Jinki post  Well, last week my Thursday group did a slight variation: we explored a whole bunch of smaller ridges and gullies, just to the east of the main Jinki Ridge.

We're in the Blue Mountains, off the Bells Line of Road, looking towards the Grose Valley. It's a very fertile area for bushwalking adventures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Death adder

 "I really don't like the thought of bumping into anything with a name that starts with death", wrote my English sister, when I sent her this photo of a death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus).

Neither should I. But I just love these things, and so far they've always been too sleepy to be very offended when I've invaded their personal space.

We encountered this one fast asleep in the middle of the Engineers Track on the lower Grose River. Our fearless leader stepped right over him without noticing. I was second in line, and pulled up sharply. The lady behind me made everyone in the valley very aware of its presence with her loud screams!

Never poke a sleeping snake with a stick, is a well-known rule of bushwalking. Well, fearless leader did exactly that. No problem, we lived to tell the tale, and we did wake the thing up, and hopefully he slithered off into a better hiding place.

The lower Grose, where everyone goes

Not quite everyone, but a lot more than go to the Upper Grose (see here: 2019 post  )

The other day we did a very scenic circuit, incorporating the Avoca Lookout, two crossings of the lower Grose River, a surprisingly navigable section of the Engineers Track, and a return via the fire trail route. It was a nice day out.

Here we are descending the steep track below the lookout.

Then, down near the river, we crossed layers of debris left by the big flood of a few weeks ago. A river crossing would have been rather unimaginable back then.

A couple of hours later it's back across via the quicksands. Then up the big long fire trail, and back out to the car.

Kamarah's Ridge, Gorge, and Gully, and the Canyon Colliery

Another excellent outing yesterday with my Thursday walkers. We explored yet another ridge on the northern side of the Grose River valley. It's called Kamarah, and it's near the upper end of the Grose. 

It was easy walking again, due to the bushfires of a few months back.

From the end of the ridge we were able to enjoy that majestic view down the valley. And to top that, right across from us were the two rival passes, named by (and after) two of my best bushwalking friends.

 

 

 

 

Down next towards Kamarah Canyon.

 

Then into the canyon proper.

Further down the gully then to the site of the old Canyon Colliery coal mine.

The mine ran on and off  for a few decades, before  closing in 1997.  It's still the source of serious zinc pollution in the Grose River.

One positive for it: it provided us with an easy route out. There's a (now decaying) road, with a gentle gradient. The coal was taken up by truck to the main railway line on the Darling Causeway above.

Liversidge Hill and Birrabang Walls

My Thursday walk this month was again to the burnt-out but majestic series of ridges between the Bells Line of Road and the Grose River valley in the Blue Mountains. We explored Liversidge Hill and Birrabang Walls, both with magnificent views across the Grose to the cliffs on the other side.

Above is Liversidge Hill, our morning tea spot. Straight across from us was Baltzer Lookout and the amazing Hanging Rock.

An hour or two later, and up and down a few more bits, and we're heading south again, along the ridge out to Birrabang Walls.

Here's our lunchtime view from the edge of the Walls.

An excellent outing as ever. Easy walking after the fires, though we got rather black from all that charcoal. And there's a certain beauty to the green (and red) shoots of the regrowth.

Back to the Mountains

My occasional Thursday adventure bushwalking group reconvened last week, and celebrated with a return to the Blue Mountains. We'd stayed away during the many months of disasters, the natural ones and the both personal and worldwide medical ones.

We revisited the dramatic headlands overlooking the Grose River to the north of Mount Victoria: Asgard Head, Valhalla Head, and Ikara Head. And I've got it all sorted out which one is which now.





We discovered the upper reaches of Asgard Brook, in a rather deep  and steep gully.

Below: the magnificently precipitous cliffs at Asgard Head

Asgard Swamp

Valhalla Head, I think

Ladies Rocks

And............ a dingo turned up!



He wasn't shy, and followed us around for a while. He was probably hungry, given the devastation of the burnt landscape and annihilation of almost everything he'd normally eat. I imagine he was hoping he could charm us into feeding him. There again, if one of us had developed a limp and fallen over........


Ikara Head