Jugglers and Grand Canyon

I had a fairly large group interested in this trip, so with Rod's help, we split into two parties at the start of Jugglers Canyon. While the abseils in Jugglers Canyon aren't too hard on a canyon scale, there were still a few challenges for beginners and experienced abseilers alike! Though I missed out on seeing the splash, Vivien! Everyone successfully negotiated the abseils, and the two parties rejoined at Greaves Creek.

Vivien and Emmanuelle were tag-teaming minding baby Justine, so Vivien headed off to find Emmanuelle while the rest of us scrambled down the old Rodriguez Pass track to the top of Beauchamp Falls for an early lunch, a new spot for pretty much everyone. After lunch, we headed back up the tourist track to the start of the abseil into the Grand Canyon, swapping Vivien for Emmanuelle along the way. There was a massive amount of construction work going on on the track, evidenced by the huge number of white bags of sandstone blocks that had been choppered in.

As is pretty normal, we entertained a few inquisitive tourists watching us abseil in to the canyon, though they miss out on seeing the beautiful world that is hidden below the rim. Despite there only being the one abseil, Grand Canyon has a few challenges of its own. There were a few unanticipated swims though most people stayed pretty dry until the final "refreshing" 30m swim near the end.

We seemed to be the only group that day not getting lost exiting out of Jugglers Canyon. A father and two children were heading first towards Neates Glen, then Evans Lookout, before we pointed out the start of the Pilcher Track to them. In the mean time, Vivien rescued another party of canyoners that had ended up at Evans Lookout, by driving them all the way back around to the Katoomba Airfield!