A wet trip out to Clews Cave and the Island

[FatCanyoner]

G'day folks,

I can't claim this trip report, but I was half of the party, so I figure it's okay to share.

I just bought a pair of trail running shoes, thinking they'd be good for bushwalks with lots of road bashing / track walking. Despite the rain (which has been pretty set in recently) we decided to press ahead with a longish day walk, out the Drip Rock trail, off track to Clews Cave, then up onto the Island. It was that final spot, which overlooks the junction of the Colo and Wollongambe Rivers, that I was really interested in. It was a lovely, if rather wet, cold and tiring day.

Full trip report and some pics here: http://fatcanyoners.org/2014/03/02/the- ... lews-cave/

[DarrenM]

Nice work! Except for the shoes that is, and nicely written.

[Allchin09]

I can see why people are so interested by the Wollemi!

What brand of trail running shoes were you wearing Tim?

[FatCanyoner]

nicely written.

I can't take credit for it, but totally agree. Em's lunch break today was well spent!

What brand of trail running shoes were you wearing Tim?

I bought a pair of Salomons. They seem pretty good, and did surprisingly well in the off track sections (they did make a lot of noise when wet), but I definitely won't be wearing them on any trips involving scrambling!

Last edited by FatCanyoner on Tue 04 Mar, 2014 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[DarrenM]

Who has time for lunch breaks these days! Nice one Em!

I was up at 4.30am to get the train for a Mt Solitary loop run but hit snooze. I'm getting soft. Glad you guys had a good trip.

[davidf]

Fantastic.

How long did you take to get to the cave?

How did it look like foe a descent into the creek for colo river access?

[FatCanyoner]

How long did you take to get to the cave?

I think it was about 4 hours to the cave, but we moved pretty quick in the morning.

How did it look like foe a descent into the creek for colo river access?

We weren't looking to go to the river, we didn't have time for that, but there are quite a number of passes near the Island. Brian Corlis' book "Colo River: Passes and Routes" lists several routes near there. He expanded on those identified on the classic Bob Buck sketch map. There are passes north, west, and south of the Island. They are all pretty steep by the look of things. From my understanding creek from Clews Cave definitely goes to the river. If I were going to the river that way, I wouldn't bother detouring via the cave, as the creek looks like reasonably slow going.

[davidf]

Thanks.
Where is that book available if anyone knows off hand?

[DaveNoble]

Thanks.
Where is that book available if anyone knows off hand?

Try the author - [email protected]

It costs $35 inc postage. It was published by the author and not sold in bushwalking shops.

For some information see page 12 of -

http://www.bushwalking.org.au/bushwalki ... nter05.pdf

Regarding Clews Cave - I seem to recall some discussion about whether the cave marked on the maps is actually the cave used by Clews?

Dave

[jonnosan]

There is a copy of that book in the state library, as is a copy of the Buck map.

[Allchin09]

What brand of trail running shoes were you wearing Tim?

I bought a pair of Salomons. They seem pretty good, and did surprisingly well in the off track sections (they did make a lot of noise when wet), but I definitely won't be wearing them on any trips involving scrambling!

I had a pair of Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra 2 Gore-Tex shoes which I liked, but I found them to be too slippery in the arch of the shoe as hard plastic was used there, and the shoes also wore out too quickly. I then bought a pair of Salomon X Ultra GTX shoes and I haven't had any problems with them yet. I find the quick-draw lace system used on the shoes to be really beneficial.