Participants: Tim (T1), Adam, Stacey, Glen
As such, this was not really a canyoning trip at all, with Saturday in the Blue Mountains rainy and miserably cold (putting an end to any canyoning aspirations).
Glen, Adam and I began our weekend early, with a pre-trip bike ride on Friday afternoon along The Oaks Fire Trail (Woodford to Glenbrook). We then met up with Stacey at the Zig Zag Railway around 6:30pm and walked out for an hour or so to a campsite along Waratah Ridge. It was a surprisingly mild evening around the campfire, with cheese and biscuits, roasted veggies and various concoctions of noodles, rice and couscous.
The plan for Saturday was Froth-and-Bubble Canyon, and if time permitted, Dead Log Canyon. However the weather intervened and we took the opportunity to sleep in (with the lovely sound of rain on tent roofs) and have Tim Tams for breakfast (thanks Stacey!). We eventually retreated to cars around midday.
Despite the weather, it's worth writing a trip report just for the camp out! Also, I wanted to note the disappointing 'ribboning' of a 'path' that we saw, off Waratah Ridge towards Dead Log and Hailstorm Retreat Canyons. I really hope no one in SUBW does this as it is far more skillful and satisfying to navigate with map and compass than to rely on such primitive trail markings, not to mention what an eyesore red & white ribbon is in dedicated WILDERNESS!
Thanks to Adam, Stacey and Glen for joining me on this unsuccessful but enjoyable outing.
Tim