This Year
0
Number of Walks Ticked
0.0m
Total Distance Ticked
All Time
1
Number of Walks Ticked
32.0km
Total Distance Ticked
| Name | Date | Difficulty | Distance/Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cunninghams Gap to Mount Castle (Main Range National Park) |
1 Jul, 2018 |
Very Hard |
32km 13 hrs |
|
| A friend and I did a part of this walk - from Cunningham's Gap to Sylvester's Lookout. It would be fair to say it was very hard going. Up to Bare Rock it is straightforward (Grade 2 type track). From Bare Rock north is a Grade 5 route. No track or pad exists. A couple of tape markers exist about 1/2 way between Bare Rock and Sylvester's and we added 50 ribbons but ran out about 1.5 hours before Sylvester's. Plan for around 1Km/hr! Bare Rock to Sylvester's took us 7 hours of walking in wet conditions. It would be fair to say that with the exception of saying you've completed this section of the Great Dividing Range, there are few highlights between Bare Rock and Sylvester's other than dense bush. We did get filtered views through the trees of the escarpment at times. We set off on Sunday afternoon and camped overnight in the bush. Rain overnight and being above the cloudline for much of day two, made for tough going. We only saw two very small spots (2 tents) suitable for camping. The rest of the walk the bush is so dense you would struggle to erect a couple of tents. The one we stayed at was a few metres from the escarpment about 2 hours after leaving Bare Rock. The second (and slightly bigger and flatter) is a few hundred metres north of this. Neither could be described as "good campsites', functional only. We found two fairly-consistent looking water sources. The first is about 2.5 hours north of Bare Rock, the other about 5 hours (27deg 59min 53sec South, 152deg 22min 37sec East). This second water point is at the confluence of two creeks. There are pink markers that lead right down the middle of the two small valleys and then there appears no clear way forward. We took a diversion to the West for 100m to collect some water then came back to the route and soldiered straight on into the join of both creeks and climbed the bank on the other side. The only other tricky navigation spot was around the 4 hour mark where we held a contour for too long and ended up heading 15min too far to the West. After checking the compass and topographical map we traversed back in a North-East direction to find the escarpment again. Count on an extra couple of hills than can be easily detected from the topographical maps as you approach Sylvester's. As always, the last 15 minutes always takes longer than you think. There are no spots to enjoy a break and the views so we ended up getting a bit hungry trying to press on to finish the route. |
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