Nattai Loop

[kanangra]

I took a group of 6 down into the Nattai Valley on the weekend. For one lad it was his first introduction to camping. We left the parking area at Wattle Ridge at 2:30 on Sunday afternoon and were down 3 hours later. We camped at Hidden Flat and drew our water from Allum River. ( This must surely be the smallest "river" in NSW. More like a small creek. But the water was great.) A very pleasant evening was spent around the fire on what turned out to be quite a mild night.

Next morning half the party decided to walk back out the same way whilst I led two others around to Thirlmere Lakes NP. We set off at 9:00AM and kept moving steadily until a short lunch stop at Golden Moon Ck. By 3:30 PM we were at the gate on Blue Gum Ck where my car had been dropped by the other party. It was a very pleasant day.

Interestingly as it had taken 3 hours to get down on Sunday this means that provided you had a car at each end the whole trip could be done comfortably in a day of about 10 hours. As most of the track is in good condition this would make an excelent circuit for those in training.

K.

[jackhinde]

at only about 11km long the allum is certainly small, and it always has good water...

[puredingo]

Missed you by 2 days K...I went for a day stroll down to hidden valley and back on Tuesday. The Nattai Rd has seen better days, one section has a huge rut running down the middle of it, all the top soil has been totally washed away and there seems to be a couple of recent land slips from the higher eroding banks. Without maintenance and attention I'm not sure where it will end up.

I did see an interesting sight on the way down, which would of been an exciting time for your lad on his virgin trip...A 6 foot (maybe more) diamond python devouring his last big meal before winter. He was HUGE and had an absolute gutfull of tucker. I couldn't fit him into frame for a photo so in an effort to get him to condense slightly I gave his tail a tweak, NOT HAPPY. Too full to bother moving he gave a couple of warning strikes and then pulled a nice pose so i got the photo.

[jackhinde]

I thought you'd given up the Nattai mr. dingo? a little addicted are you?

[puredingo]

Haha, Yeah I had jack but this was a spur of the moment type of thing. Had nothing on on Tuesday and the surf was onshore so I thought I see what sort of damage the over indulging of the easter break had wreaked on my fitness.
So i did a non stop (except for the python pics break) scoot down to Allum, around the flat and back to the car park. The GPS odometer read 30k on the knocker.

[kanangra]

Agree about the Nattai Rd. It has really deteriorated in the last few months. Nearly washed out the bridge over the little creek on the way down. They must have had a fair bit of rain down there during that downpour a month or so back.

I might also add that the grader has been through on the Waterboard road further down. Smoothed it out but destroyed the little spot where I camped next to the road last time.

K.

[jackhinde]

time you walked upstream of allum puredingo, blatche's pass and the upper Nattai will make a man of you.

[puredingo]

NEVER!...I've heard the horror stories of what lies upstream of Starlights and it's got me spooked....

[Onestepmore]

backyard bliss