Start Location: Kurrajong Heights, Burralow Road. End Location: Leura, Mt Hay Road.
Estimated Distance: 40km. Time to complete: 43 Hours.
We spent some long nights reading topographic maps of the area and observing clear aerial views using Google Earth to ensure ourselves that this hike could be completed in less than 48 hours. At first we were a little sketchy about attempting the hike as almost 50% of the route chosen was not trailed which meant we had to be precise with compass bearings and distance travelled (having decent compass skills was an essential requirement for this trip).
We started the expedition on Thursday night at approximately 10pm after gobbling down as much food as we could and soaking up all the water we could carry. The starting location was Burralow Road which turns into the Burralow fire trail that runs all the way down to Patterson Range Trail bridge. The bridge was closed due to recent flooding but we needed to cross Burralow creek to reach our destination for the night which was the very end of Donnas Trail (located off the Patterson Range Trail). It was a very easy and leisurely stroll under a bright full moon to this point where we set up camp at approximately 12am.
Day 2 welcomed us with glorious sunshine and our spirits were surprisingly very high considering how far away Mt Hay was in the distance. We had an extremely difficult task ahead of us which was descending the ravine below and grossing the Grose River to climb onto the Royal Engineers Ridge. We found a pass through the cliffs down to a creek which we decided to follow as far as we could until an impassable water fall appeared which meant it was time to bring out the rope. Not being the best climber I spent up valuable time searching for an alternative route but finally gave in once my friend had safely made his way down.
Climbing down had proved to be the easy part once we reached a fiercely flowing Grose River which was very high due to recent heavy rains in the area. We spent a long time trying to find a way across which didn’t involve a swim and after almost an hour we found a series of rocks which we leaped across to reach the other side of the bank. After short climb out of the bank we reached a moral killing wall of rocks in each direction, we needed to get over somehow and followed the rock wall along until we found a very sketchy but passable gap. Again the rope came out and we safely climbed up each level until we finally got our way to the top and continued along the ridge until we reached the next break point which was Whition Hill.
We had lost valuable time in the Ravine and needed to make up some ground to reach the agreed camp which was still almost 8km away. The ridge line proved to be painful and we charged through the thick scrub which cut us to pieces as we moved from the Royal Engineers Ridge over to the Mt Hay Range. The scrub was so think in placed we had to put the scrambling gloves on and push through, it became easy to go off course as every direction looked the same due to the thickness in some areas, we were happy our compass was on hand pointing us in the right way. Unfortunately due to energy and time spent already we had to stop approximately 3km from where we had hoped to reach that night. Our water supply was dangerously low and being on a ridge line didn’t help us much in finding water. With the last hour of sunlight left in the day I ventured back down a ravine in the search for water. Not long after I set out I was lucky to find a beautiful looking water fall which filled us back up to 100% water supply, a moral boosting moment given the distance still to travel.
Day 3 was again a sunny morning and we were up at a very early hour as we planned to make up a lot of lost ground. Mt Hay still looked extremely far away and our spirits were nothing like they had been the previous morning after mosquito attacks all night. After a quick breakfast consisting of trail mix and some dried fruit we charged along the Mt Hay Range at tremendous speed and arrived at Kolonga Ridge not long after 12pm. We were again dried up of water as the sun was extremely hot and the bush bashing was proving to be exhausting given the pace we were traveling.
From the edge of the Kolonga Ridge, Mt Hay soared into the sky above us and still looked a good hiking distance away. We tried to make our way back onto the Mt Hay Range which was towering over the Kolonga Walls but we made a wrong turn into the Moogan Gully below which was a very time costly mistake. We climbed back up the ridge and again found ourselves in the wrong place. A little worry began to settle as we thought we may not be able to make it out and over Mt Hay with the water we had left. We were again extremely lucky to find a very slow trickling water fall that we took the time to replenish our water, the water was not the clearest but we used our sterilizer to be safe. From here we used some simple triangulation skills to determine where we were on the topo map. We had somehow traveled a full KM away from the path we had intended to follow which meant we had to back track slightly and follow a contour back around to the Mt Hay Ridge.
We pushed on and scrambled our way to the top of the ridge and received a nice surprised once at the top as the Boorong Crags were right in front of us. We were right back on course and found that we were also still sitting well for time as it was just past 2pm when we hit the first cliff face of Mt Hay.
The views were incredible as we scaled up Mt Hay, I was sad to discover my camera battery had not lasted and I was unable to capture the sights of that afternoon which were truly incredible and moral lifting. We were glad to have picked up and rough trail as we continued up Mt Hay which we finally made to the top for a late lunch. Climbing back down the other side was a welcomed change of pace and a lot easier on the legs which were extremely battered after the previous days. We continued along the Mt Hay Road and greeted our organised lift with a smile and exhaustion after pushing through the final day. Our time of completion was 5pm.
This expedition proved to be one of the toughest hikes I have completed to date and I would definitely not recommend this hike to anyone who is not experienced and physically fit. If you are up for a challenge then this hike may be for you? I have listed below the maps used for the trail.
Kurrajong, Mt Wilson and Katoomba Topographic Maps available at http://www.cartodraft.com.au/
Some Photos of the trip below:
The Ravine heading towards the Grose River
The Grose River
Camp at the end of Donnas Trail (Off Paterson Range Trail)
My favourite boots to date, they may just make one more trip (BlackHawk Warrior Boots)
More to come
