28/02/2014 - report - photos - Tiger Snake Canyon track notes

Participants: Tom Brennan, Angela Horvath, Patrick McInnis, Liz

After heading up the mountains and finding it drizzling pretty much all the way from Sydney, I figured that Mt Hay Canyon might not be the most enjoyable day. Instead we drove to the Zig Zag Railway (shut down) and left Angela and Patrick's car in the car park, and headed out on the dirt roads to the Old Coach Road car park.

By the time we got there, the rain had pretty much stopped and we were enjoying cool but dry walking out along the old fire trail. A short walk off the ridge led us to the top of Crooked Crevice, and we shimmied and squeezed our way through the tight spots and out the end for morning tea.

The rain started again lightly as we headed up the ridge and back on to the track down to Tiger Snake Canyon. In the canyon, we all managed to keep our feet dry save Liz, whose shoes failed her at the bottom of the short abseil. She slipped into the pool exclaiming "This water isn't as wet...", for which we made fun of her for the rest of the day.

After the long abseil into the lower constriction we spent a fair bit of time exploring around the dark narrow corridors, and Patrick and I climbed on to the arch. By this stage the rain was coming down, and we headed out for lunch under the massive sandstone overhangs lower down in the creek.

At the top of the pass, the vegetation was covered with water, but being fairly open we stayed mostly dry until one short thick section soaked me through. Thankfully it wasn't that cold, and we were soon back on the fire trail heading for the car. It was still a long drive back to Sydney, but a fun day in the bush and a pretty good option considering the weather.