June 2011
It is with a certain reluctance that I write about this month’s bushwalk.
When Fran and I did the recce the bush was so peaceful and quiet that it seemed as if we were the first non-indigenous people to visit the spot.
Although it is outlined in a book, the paths were, in some places, quite indistinct and there was not the usual evidence of humanity: no rubbish, no invasion by weeds escaped from a local garden, no other voices.
It is almost a shame to publicise the walk.
Only eight of us made the journey on the actual walk day, so it still felt as if we were exploring the Bugong escarpment.
This walk can be made as long or as short as you wish with variations and additions and for most of the way it is graded as easy.
We started from a spot on the Illaroo Fire Trail but quite quickly turned off onto an unnamed track and walked through a eucalypt forest to the edge of the escarpment.
The view from here is spectacular, looking over Coolendel, the Shoalhaven River, with Mount Barron and the Banfora Saddle in the middle distance and seemingly endless forest covered hills to the horizon.
Various rocks of different shapes and sizes mark the edge and provide a great place to rest and enjoy morning tea, quite reminiscent of Drawing Room Rocks.
Further along the ridge, past wonderful burrawangs (at the moment in fruit), there is another splendid sight – a massive rock that has slipped down the slope a little way and now has growing from its top a virtual Garden of Eden, with rock orchids, burrawangs and ferns.
The walk can be just a circular excursion if you now retrace your path to the lookout and then turn left and follow another track back to the car.
However there is a narrow path through the undergrowth towards another part of the escarpment which leads to a fabulous rock ledge where you can sit and look out over the Bugong Creek Valley towards Mount Scanzi, looking not as pointed and prominent from this direction.
From here it is possible to climb down from the escarpment to the forest floor (this part of the walk is rated as moderate, but is not as hard as you would imagine from the top, as there is a relatively easy way down the slope at one point and it is only necessary to slide on one’s bottom for part of it!).
You can walk off in either direction and discover the caves, beautiful weathering of the sandstone, more burrawangs and rock orchids and wonderful rock formations.
There is another easy path up the slope again when you have had enough of the beauty.
On the way back to the Valley it is also possible to stop at Bugong Creek and explore that upstream for a couple of hours, but the weather forecast had threatened rain so we were glad to continue home.
This is such a lovely walk that we advise you to go soon before it becomes a well worn track and the inevitable rubbish accumulates.
Remember to take your camera.
Lee Sharam