Budawangs

[Huntsman247]

Re viney ck/murrumbooie ck. Pre fire Viney was fairly open. Just dodge around the lawyer vine. Murrumbooie is one of the best cks in the Budawangs. Easy going. Ihaven't been in the upper section with the falls.

Thanks. Hopefully it still looks good around the creek.

[Huntsman247]

Not sure of all of your proposed route but the gap in the top cliff line at the head of Canowie Brook is very walkable. Explored that area a few years ago.

Might have to give it a go one day.

[bernieq]

In "Pigeon House and Beyond" (thanks, crollsurf), there are a couple of references to passes off Quilty Mtn to the south and down onto Styles Creek - Colleys Pass and Kirkbys Pass (aka ZigZag Pass). The Nth Budawangs sketch map (Ed 6) doesn't show either, nor do any of the sketch maps in the book. Does anyone know either of them?

Above in this thread (page 2) is a photo (by yogibarnes) of Sluice Box Falls, post 2020 fires. Below is a 1967 photo by Colin Watson and a pre-fire 2019 one of mine. Vegetation is thickest in 2019. Interesting (to me, at least) that there is no discernable change in the rocks over 50 years - gives some small appreciation of the time it takes to erode. Fortunately, recovery from the fires will not take as long - I suspect it will be hard-going off-track in a few years.

Colin Watson 1967 (from Pigeon House and Beyond)

SB Falls 1967.jpg (40.03 KiB) Viewed 26263 times

bernieq - Aug 2019

[potato19]

Has anyone been to the castle/corang peak area recently? What's the water situation like?

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Haven't but having been in similar environs of late i would expect water to be plentiful in all the usual budawangs spots

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[Chatty]

Has anyone been to the castle/corang peak area recently? What's the water situation like?

I walked from Nerriga to Wog Wog the weekend before last and there was plenty of water around then. We didn't go via The Castle but I think it's a safe bet that Cooyoyo Creek would have a healthy flow at the moment.

[Huntsman247]

Water in the area is plentiful. We've had plenty rain recently. Creeks and waterfalls are pumping.

[yogibarnes]

Just back from a four day amble across the Budawangs, Wog Wog to Long Gully. Water is disappearing, now only in the larger gullys and named creeks. Views are still magnificent. The green is starting to dominate the black. The last of the post-fire spring flower fields are lovely, the insects and many species of birds are returning. Even saw two snakes. The tracks are dry and still open but the ground level vegetation is starting to obscure the track in some places. i.e. conditions for walking in the Budawangs are still great!

[davidp]

Anyone interested in the Corang Lagoon issue is invited to join the facebook group "Keep Corang Open!" or to follow the thread on this forum "Private Property signs on Corang Loop"

[Huntsman247]

Has anyone followed kilpatrick ck between the vines and sluice box falls?
How bad it is to follow?

[Zapruda]

Has anyone followed kilpatrick ck between the vines and sluice box falls?
How bad it is to follow?

I went through there in August. It was pretty easy going after the fires. I remember a few tight areas with burnt but close together trees.

[Huntsman247]

Has anyone followed kilpatrick ck between the vines and sluice box falls?
How bad it is to follow?

I went through there in August. It was pretty easy going after the fires. I remember a few tight areas with burnt but close together trees.

OK cool. As far as negotiating any scrambles I take it that it's pretty straight forward? I'm thinking of doing that section on Friday in forecasted rain... But I'm not quite after a slip and slide.

[Zapruda]

Has anyone followed kilpatrick ck between the vines and sluice box falls?
How bad it is to follow?

I went through there in August. It was pretty easy going after the fires. I remember a few tight areas with burnt but close together trees.

OK cool. As far as negotiating any scrambles I take it that it's pretty straight forward? I'm thinking of doing that section on Friday in forecasted rain... But I'm not quite after a slip and slide.

I’m looking back through my pics to jog my memory and nothing is jumping out at me but caveat emptor...

[Huntsman247]

Thanks Zapruda. Caution taken [THUMBS UP SIGN]

[Huntsman247]

Zapruda, your memory serves you well.
Got through a lot quicker than I thought.

[Huntsman247]

1 year after and they decide to close mt bushwalker track due to fires..... Sigh.... Closed till June... Some of these closures are quite ridiculous...

[davidp]

Another “closure” is the historic 1960 walking track to Corang Lagoon. A lot is happening in this space with three recent REClAIM THE LAGOON walks attracting nearly 70 people via the new legal northern route and plans to lobby politicians in the lead up to Nsw elections in March. This land was crown land before the government sold it without undertaking its duty to consult with any of the estimated 30,000 walkers who have used the track for 63 years. For more details or to volunteer to help please see the blog on this site
or visit fb group. Links to follow

[Huntsman247]

Does anyone know what the road is like to the castle Carpark at the moment?
Also I'm assuming access is still open despite long Gully campsite being closed?

[RoyG2515]

Has anyone followed kilpatrick ck between the vines and sluice box falls?
How bad it is to follow?

I went through there in August. It was pretty easy going after the fires. I remember a few tight areas with burnt but close together trees.

OK cool. As far as negotiating any scrambles I take it that it's pretty straight forward? I'm thinking of doing that section on Friday in forecasted rain... But I'm not quite after a slip and slide.

Followed Kilpatrick from Sluice Box up to first big turn to west. Exited there and then battled lawyer vine back to Endrick firetrail. Came across remnants of old road and timber bridge in the scrub. Massive fallen trees across creek. Stay out of creek if you can. Very slow going climbing over and under logs. One bank more open going than the other. The west? Probably very different after fires.

[Huntsman247]

Followed Kilpatrick from Sluice Box up to first big turn to west. Exited there and then battled lawyer vine back to Endrick firetrail. Came across remnants of old road and timber bridge in the scrub. Massive fallen trees across creek. Stay out of creek if you can. Very slow going climbing over and under logs. One bank more open going than the other. The west? Probably very different after fires.

Was pretty good when I did it. We just stayed in the creek and it was reasonable going. The regrowth was mental when we did it. Would hate to see it now.

[JamesMc]

Does anyone have a current status of walking in the Budawangs regrowth-wise?

I'm mindful that here in Victoria, it is common for walking tracks not to be re-cut for many years (if at all) after a bushfire, and consequently becoming completely unuseable after a fire.

Cheers

JamesMc

[sandym]

It's pretty bad although some die back from thinning acacia. Go prepared for battle.

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Does anyone have a current status of walking in the Budawangs regrowth-wise?

I'm mindful that here in Victoria, it is common for walking tracks not to be re-cut for many years (if at all) after a bushfire, and consequently becoming completely unuseable after a fire.

Cheers

JamesMc

The popular tracks (ie those linking wog wog and long gully and various) are all fine, so if you just want to do monolith valley, castle, burumbeet, corang etc you'll be fine. Off track is variable (mostly bad) and northern tracks (ie. various routes to styles ck etc) are in various states of reclaim. The endrick fire trail, Redgrounds etc still good but some of the old routes (eg Holland's gorge below Watson's pass) are purportedly no longer evident, but don't have recent first hand knowledge of the latter.

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[JamesMc]

Thanks Walk_fat boy_walk, that's exactly the sort of information I was after.

JamesMc

[InLike]

It's pretty bad although some die back from thinning acacia. Go prepared for battle.

I was keeping a close eye on this on the drive in last weekend and as we hiked the circuit of Mt Cole in Monolith Valley. We had a very tough time with acacia and port jackson mallee saplings on the approach to Talatarang a few years ago, so I was keen to see how it had developed since.

My guess is that we still have a year or two to go before those areas with tall canopy close over enough to choke off the acacia, although it is starting to thin a little.

Open mallee ridge tops will probably still be a wall of vegetation, judging from Castle saddle.

According to the fire map (https://www.bushfirefacts.org/fire-maps.html) Holland's Gorge and the Upper Clyde don't appear to have been as burned out as some of the ridgetops, so you might be dealing more with the vegetation having naturally reclaimed unused tracks rather than ongoing effects from the fires. Would be interesting to hear from someone who's dropped in there recently.

[davidp]

The new Corang Lagoon circuit from black bobs Ck to smilers creek , Lookout wilderness, twin falls , Corang lagoon, Goodsell creek and back to Wog Wog via edge of reason Lookout is reasonable. Can be done in shorts by some. Also the extension loop to many rock ribs and Corang peak.

[bernieq]

don't appear to have been as burned out as some of the ridgetops, so you might be dealing more with the vegetation having naturally reclaimed unused tracks rather than ongoing effects from the fires.

Smoke from the fires causes proflic germination of seed so, even though fire hasn't touched an area, thick growth fills in open areas shortly after the first rains. As the upper canopy begins to thicken years later, theat burst of thick growth begins to thin out again.

The bush is always changing. Easy walking one year, nearly impassable a few years later - then, 5 years on, more open & easier again.

[Chev]

I hadn't known about plants responding to smoke (not just fire) until I saw it in action at home in Canberra that summer. We were engulfed in smoke for days and days and afterwards I noticed an old banksia in the front yard sending out a bunch of suckers from its roots.