Wanganderry Walls (06-08/06/2020)

The Nattai appears to be the forgotten part of the Blue Mountains, and the Wanganderry Walls appear to be the forgotten part of the Nattai. This is odd, as they have similarly spectacular views to places like the Red Rocks of Wollemi NP or the Point Cameron area.

The Walls are part of a long thin cliff-bound ridge that juts all the way to the junction of the Wollondilly and Nattai Rivers, now submerged as part of Lake Burragorang. The northern part of the ridge is in Schedule 1 catchment land, and is out of bounds, but the southern part offers great views of the Wollondilly Valley, and once out far enough, the Nattai Valley as well.

Rachel and I had walked out to Bonnum Pic in August last year, and noted with interest the ridge that led off to the Wanganderry Walls. The Walls can be seen from Bonnum Pic, and it seemed like a worthwhile place to visit.

Being a long thin ridge, a long weekend offered the best chance to get out a good way and do some exploring. Our plans were pretty fluid during the week, but I had picked a spot for a first night's camp, and some friends were also walking in the area, so we were aiming to meet up with them on the second night, if we could find them.

We set off from the car park at Ben Har at the same time as a party doing a day walk. We chatted briefly, and it turned out to be another SBW club member, Dirk, with family, heading to Bonnum Pic.

The day was perfect winter walking weather - cool, sunny and no wind at all. The Bonnum Pic route had been burned, but re-tagged, presumably by the Southern Highlands club. After an hour or so we left the route and navigated along a series of burnt ridges heading generally north to the cliff edges. The scrub was fairly light, and we could see glimpses of Bonnum Pic out to our left through the trees. As we crested a rise, the landscape changed dramatically, with rock platforms and sandstone domes stretched out before us, and the vast Wollondilly Valley as a backdrop.

After morning tea, we spent the next hour or so exploring the outcrops, working our way north to a narrow rib with a lookout back to the burnt out slopes and cliffs of Bonnum Pic.

From there we crossed back to the main ridge, which then headed away from the cliffs for the next 5km or so. It was slow going, not helped by a couple of minor navigational mishaps. During one of these little errors, we did note water high up in a minor gully as we returned to the main ridge. There had been a lot of water in rock pools on the tops, and in another gully we crossed, so I concluded the three litres that we were each carrying was probably excessive. The burnt scrub was more impeding than before, with some of the small burnt trees - probably Allocasuarinas - bending over as if to form rows of fencing that had to be stepped around and over.

Our arrival at camp for sunset was looking a little sketchy, after only covering 3km in the first 2 hours, but the latter stages of the ridge were easier going. We emerged from the bush back to the cliff edge, spotting a tent site only 50m from a great happy hour and sunset spot, and settled in for port and cheese. The evening was completely still, the sunset pink with clouds, the full moon rose blood red through the trees to the east, and a warm fire kept us heated, if not toasty. A perfect night in the bush.

Despite being on a north western cliff edge, the views of sunrise were also pretty good, and the still conditions made it not too cold to be up and enjoying it. After breakfast, we took day packs and headed north following the narrow ridge towards Beloon Pass. The traverse was superb, following the cliffline, with continuous views of the Wanganderry Walls, Lake Burragorang and the Wollondilly Valley. Nearing our turnaround time, we crossed to the Nattai side of the ridge for morning tea, which was possibly even more spectacular.

We laid bets on whether any of our friends would have done a day trip to our campsite and be there when we got back. I reckoned about a 20% chance, Rachel, 35%. There was no-one there, so we had a leisurely lunch and packed up for the walk back along the ridge. Heading off on another wrong bearing, I used the crossing of a minor creek to pick up water, and as we emerged back on to the main ridge, we heard crashing in the bush. Nicole and Brooner emerged from the scrub, heading to our campsite lookout for lunch. They pointed out on the map where they and the others were camped, so we knew where we were headed.

The return along the scrubby ridge seemed somewhat easier, though it could have just been the 3kg less food and water we were lugging. Dark grey clouds were rolling in from the east, and there was the prospect of rain. We ducked off down a gully to collect water, before emerging out on the rock platforms and spotting Vivien, Emmanuelle and J on a hilltop.

Another pretty sunset ensued, followed by a somewhat colder evening around the fire, chilled by a cool breeze.

It was a lazier start the next morning, as the others set off for Bonnum Pic, and Rachel and I across a deep gully to a lookout the others had visited on the first day. The burnt ridges made for fairly easy route finding, and we were soon up on top of the next ridge. The morning tea lookout was impressive, though compared to the views we'd had for the rest of the weekend, it was somewhat outshone. I tasted some of the sweet nectar dripping from the Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea) flowers. As is often the way once the highlights of a walk are done, the ridge walk back to the car felt longer than expected. The stark white skeletons of the burnt Scribbly Gums (Eucalyptus sclerophylla) made the landscape somewhat surreal, though most of the trees were shooting again from epicormic buds, and there were many small plants germinating from the otherwise bare soil. We hit the Bonnum Pic route and from there it was just another hour or so's slog back to the car, my lack of fitness from no overnight walking for nearly 6 months clearly showing.

Nevertheless, a great weekend in the bush.