Tigersnake Canyon in Wollemi National Park: An experience for life....
by Daniel Cheang
It was my second year in the Sydney University Bushwalking club and I had yet to venture on a canyon trip, Was it the result of too much study, a little tremor of fear or was there a darker, more sinister reason lurking in the depths of my mind ?
YES ! ! ! I really hate COLD water ! ! !
Then I saw in the walks program, that there was going to be a DRY canyon trip led by the Famous Captain Sausage (our very own Dave Noble, not the other one), This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to try one of those activities which everyone swears to being really good fun. Personally, I never could understand the attraction in wading/swimming/splashing through the freezing cold water at the bottom of a dark crack in the rock, only to walk all the way back up out of the valley when you find yourself shivering at the base of the canyon.
With a small amount of trepidation, I signed my name to that faithful green sheet as it was passed around the lunchtime meeting. It seemed my fate was sealed The day dawned bright and sunny, I had been looking forward to the opportunity to do some bushwalking so much, that I forgot to take that all important rain jacket. Later I would have the opportunity to me that most simple of mistakes. But, with no thoughts about such inconsequential things as rain, We set off in a convoy of cars, How unusual, enough seats for all. It must be a sign of things to come, I thought. With much good cheer and conversation we arrived at the starting point for our walk.
It started out just like my other bushwalk, until we reached what appeared to be the start of the canyon. Surely, we're not going into THAT ? Are we!!! As thoughts such as... We can't fit through that? Can we... raced through our minds. It seemed that our misgivings proved to be fruitless as everyone wiggled and squirmed their way down through the crevice. Once through that first step, we found ourselves in what seemed to be almost like a tunnel through the rock, The sounds of the small trickle of water at our feet seemed to carry the echoes of the past torrents that had sculpted the beautifully smooth bulges and curves making up the walls. As we followed the passageway leading onwards, thoughts of awe and respect for the forces of nature and the length of time it must have taken to create the smooth, flowing walls. Patches of dark green algae and black lichens served to punctuate the pale yellow and brown shades of the underlying sandstone. Alter a short walk and scramble, the canyon brought us to a small flat rock platform overlooking a vertical rock face called a cliff.
A rope for abseiling was quickly set up by two of the "greatest" bushwalkers to ever live. Abseiling was one of the things the club had taught me in my first year with them, although it was relatively easy, it still gives me a little thrill of excitement every time. As I begin my downward descent, small, infrequent splashes of water graced my head. Impatient thoughts raced through my mind as unconsciously I let the rope slide faster and faster through my hand. Just before reaching the ground, the realisation that I was going a little too fast for me to stop without burning my hand on the rope, caused me to literally let go of the rope when I was still two metres above the ground. On reaching the ground, I once again made a resolution (which I never keep) to be patient next time I abseil. It seemed the canyon was in two sections, an upper part which we had just completed, divided by the cliff and a clearing of relatively flat bush. This was where we had lunch, around a small fire which was already crowded with the ever present jaffle irons and billy's. It was during lunch, that the two of us without rain jackets realised how comfortable they can be in periods of light to medium rain. The warding power of rain jackets was also demonstrated, as the intensity of the rain decreased as more people put on their jackets, then increased when they were removed.
After lunch, our walk continued to the start of the lower canyon section. Again we passed between beautiful water carved walls of sandstone. The floor soon started to slope away and the light from above our heads decreased as the walls slowly closed together. We followed the passage under overhanging bulges of rock and through little pools of water until we reached a narrow crack in which old wooden debris carried down by the water had been wedged, creating a false floor which ended several metres above the real floor of the canyon. Another rope was set up and as I looked down into a dark murky pool of water waiting to greet us, I was asked to go down first. The start was a little bit tricky as the walls were fairly narrow and thoughts about me being asked because I was the skinniest person there momentarily flashed through my mind, but it proved to be only the first of many dark thoughts that followed. Once off the debris, I descended into a dark, gloomy mozzie infested crack that was created under the platform, this space was curtained with spiders webs which draped themselves around my bare legs. Upon reaching the surface of the murky pool of water that greeted me, uncertainty concerning the depth of it being greater than my height flashed through my mind. I paused to brace myself for entry into the very cold looking water, only to discover that it was only thigh deep, but smelling of things you'd rather not think of. Dave had suggested that I should just keep going after the abseil, so I continued through the canyon. It felt different when it was just me and I knew there was no one else in front of me. An exciting sense of exploration filled me as the passage wound its way through a little series of rock pools and over a dry waterfall only a metre high. The passage started widening into grotto-like rooms with smooth soaring walls tinted a light green with algae. Then after walking and scrambling over some huge boulders, we found ourselves at the end of the canyon, over looking a lost world hidden between the high canyon walls. The trees and shrubs were a bright green and not like the normal eucalyptus trees of the bush, with their rather dull dark green leaves. After most of the day spent in the canyon, the sight of such lush green vegetation was a enjoyable change for our eyes.
As we wandered down this valley, three of us set off to find the glow worm cave Dave had told us about. It was tucked away behind some large boulders and the three of us stumbled our way into it. Once past the entrance, the light quickly disappeared and we found ourselves relying on two mini-maglight torches, whose batteries were rapidly fading away. Crawling our way up into the tiny passage, we suddenly realised that there were a few pin pricks of light on the walls. Excitedly we switched off our torches, and let our eyes adjust to the dark. There were glow worms along the walls of the tunnel, increasing in number further into the darkness. We felt suddenly cheered by the little blue-green fluorescent spots. Squeezing our way back out of the tunnel, we made our way back into the light of the day with smiles on our faces.
After the whole group was all accounted for, we started back out of the canyon. A brisk walk of about half an hour brought us to the rock escarpment over looking the entire valley. The rocks along the top were weathered into strange and beautiful shapes with thin horizontal flakes and reminded me of those underwater corals with the flat tops and spreading edges, which overhung into the water trying to shade other corals growing below. This beautiful sight was spoiled by evidence of other walkers who had been careless when walking over these rocks, breaking off the edges and leaving little fragments of broken rocks lying under these edges. Despite this evidence of human vandalism, the view from the escarpment and the sight of these wonderful rock formations provided the perfect ending for a great day.