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Yileen
Canyon
Adam Bramwell, Feb 2001
Prospective canyoners have to endure a 9-month wait between joining
the club in March, and summer’s ideal conditions for canyoning.
This allows people to get all those 'other' activities out of their
system. Even though you can go canyoning in winter, and go mountain
biking or climbing in summer, trips are much more enjoyable when
fitted around the seasons.
Scott's trip to Yileen canyon in the Blue Mountains was aimed to
be the exploration of a new canyon. Still early in the season, we
were thrilled at the prospect of some more canyoning, especially
one that hasn't been publicised or travelled so much, only appearing
in the latest edition of the canyoning guide. Because of this, we
though it was likely to be a bit more pristine, and would definitely
be more of an adventure than travelling through a canyon we were
familiar with. The canyon was new for all members of our group,
and the morning saw us debating a couple of options at the end of
the fire trail, before deciding to head off on a scenic ridge towards
an entrance gully.
When canyoning, only a small part of the day is spent in the canyon,
the rest is spent rummaging along ridges, guessing where to enter
the upper section of a tributary in order to minimise scrub-bashing
and maximise the amount of time spent in the cool of the canyon.
Everybody knows there's less vegetation and better views on a ridgeline,
but if you go too far before dropping into the gully, you may encounter
terraced cliff lines, which are difficult to descent.
With this in mind, we dove off the ridge into a gully and walked
through a thick lattice of scrub suspended a couple of feet above
the ground. Different tactics were taken on these sections, some
people tried to balance on top, sometimes plunging through up to
their thighs, and others attempted to clear a path, sans machete.
I turned around and backed into the scrub, my pack saving me from
all the scratches and creating a nice tunnel in the process.
It was obvious to anyone who cared that no one had been this way
in a good few years, if ever. But we continued, through slides and
a small jump-in to an absolutely huge waterfall, dropping far down
into the valley. We were about to enter the point of no (or very
difficult) return. An abseil was set up off a distant tree, and
then our blind descent with the water was halted when David quietly
stated that he didn't think we were in the right river system. Bugger!
Of course we weren't, but it's new and untracked!
Democracy saw a group of navigators assemble on a high point, posturing,
guessing and second-guessing as to the peaks and rivers around the
place. It didn't take long to unanimously put into words what we
all knew - we made a wrong turn way back up at the end of the track!
We turned around and made a quick trip back to the track, and there
it was, a turn-off bigger than a super-highway. How could we have
missed it? After a mega-slippery descent down tussocked grass, we
entered Yileen canyon, and that's where my memories end. I can't
recall any other details, save for finding a sunny extended lunch
spot, exiting over a sweet expanse of the Grose Valley, and noticing
some dots climbing the cliffs of Pierce's Pass nearby. Too tantalised
by the thought of going through a truly 'new' canyon? There'll definitely
be a return journey to find out where that waterfall goes.
Another week starts with dreams of the coming weekend… |
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Photo:Scott Carson
Adam seeing if the inpenetrable scrub lives up to its name |
Photo: Scott
Carson
Waterfall slide |
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