Read about events in October
Date: Saturday 18th October 2014
Description/Location: Warrumbungles National Park
Leaders: James & Christine Volk
Report & Photos: Jane Munro
Driving into the Warrumbungles National Park on Saturday afternoon, 18th of October, we were shocked by the extent of devastation from the bush fires of 2012. We saw some regrowth but the cypress trees have not yet begun to regenerate. One unexpected “plus” is that the extraordinary volcanic rock formations can be readily observed, having lost their cover of vegetation.
Christine, James and I arrived at Camp Blackman at about 5.30 and found Michael, Monique, Peter and Annette and Charlie and Cheryl already into the refreshments having set up camp and done a short walk to Burnie Canyon earlier in the day.
It was my first opportunity to check out the famous Camp O Matic, and, trust me, it didn’t disappoint. Have a look at the photos to see for yourself!
All enjoyed wine and cheese, before setting about dinner preparation. Most of us bustled about preparing our meals with lots of gear and appliances. Michael impressed with his minimalist cooking system, as he sat sipping red wine and looking inscrutable.
It was a chilly night and I think most people slept well. I was woken by a delightful dawn chorus and a lovely clear day beginning. The facilities at Camp Blackman were a luxury – hot showers even!
Around breakfast time Annette had a very nasty fall, courtesy of a badly designed bollard and hurt her back quite badly. Annette and Peter headed off to the local hospital so the rest of us were all quite subdued and very much hoping that Annette would be okay. Joby and John arrived with new walker Hans, and we all set off a little after 9am.
The walk began at Pincham car park. We carried a lot of water as we knew the day was going to heat up considerably. Joby walked with us for a little while, then headed back to camp. The rest of us began the ascent via Spirey Creek. I quickly began to doubt if I would last the distance, and was wishing I’d turned back with Joby. There is a section at the start of the walk that has a paved surface and I found it surprisingly hard going.
But then Cheryl very kindly found me a couple of walking sticks and that made quite a difference. Many wildflowers were in bloom, including some ground orchids and paper daisies, a great display of yellows, blues and mauves. As we toiled up the 400m high climb, our leader James kept a good eye on us slower ones, and of course John and Charlie just bounded ahead, as they do, but also waited for everyone else to catch up pretty regularly. The day became quite hot and everyone was glad they took a lot of water- except for Monique (she is such an amazing walker!), who had plenty to spare and shared it with others towards the end of the walk, something I was very grateful for.
Many were tiring but on the promise of spectacular views, dragged ourselves up the steep and challenging Grand High Tops track, for lunch at the top, with spectacular views of the Bread Knife to the west and Belougery Spire to the east.
The rock formation upon which we sat displayed the interesting contours created by the ancient lavas as they spewed out of one of the volcanic vents that formed a small part of this massive shield volcano. The Siding Springs observatory was visible from our lunch spot as well.
We ate our lunch and took photographs. Hans, who had a pretty impressive looking camera, took some great shots and these are displayed along with this walk report. Christine ensured we all received a good sugar hit in the form of snakes, to sustain us as we set out for the second leg of our day’s walk.
Then it was back down again, past Dagda Gap and Dows Camp, where we rested. On the way down we saw a battle-scarred goanna.
Dows Camp is a lovely little camping area. We had a brief meeting with some young backpackers. Charlie took this opportunity to offer each of the women a date, and he did receive a couple if acceptances.
Next we headed via Point Wilderness and Ogma Gap to West Spirey Creek. Striking changes in vegetation were seen on this past of the walk, with luxuriant regrowth a stark contrast to the previous parts of the walk. The last kilometre or so was along the dry creek bed of West Spirey Creek, and I have to admit I couldn’t have walked much further by the time we arrived back at the car park, and parted our ways to head for home and an enjoy the immense sense of satisfaction at having successfully completed a challenging and very interesting walk.
