I was planning another weekend of camping down in Bungonia national park, but the weather forecast put an end to that. Heavy rains and thunderstorms don't make for the best camping, but rather than write off the entire weekend a friend and I decided to do an alpine start for a day trip.
We left Sydney at 4 AM and were at the trail head by 6:30 AM. The full moon gave way to slightly cloudy skies, but with no ominous thunderclouds in view we liked our chances of getting through the canyon without suffering too much from the weather.
As we hiked along the yellow track we kept an eye out for cannibal snakes, alas, none were to be seen. Perhaps the cold and rainy weather kept them subdued. The track was still wet from the recent rain, as we crossed the upper section of Bungonia Creek the water was flowing considerably stronger than three weeks ago, when it was barely a trickle.
At this point we left the track and followed the water downstream, weaving between boulders, trying to stay dry as long as possible. There was a constant breeze that kept the temperature down, as we came to a point where it was no longer possible to keep walking, we suited up and plunged into the water.
A few swims / wades later we arrived at the first abseil point. We shivered while we sorted the ropes, still in the shade of the rock walls, then rappelled 30m down a steep to a small ledge just above a large pool of water.
In we went, then swam across to dry land to temporarily stow our ropes and continue on. A few more sections of scrambling and wading through deep water found us round a bend into welcome sunshine.
Further on we came to another abseil point, the confluence of Bungonia Creek and Jerrara Falls, the canyon we complete three weeks prior. Due to the heavy rain, Jerrara Falls was pumping, it would have made the abseil down very adventurous. Luckily the creek we were on had a smaller catchment and our abseil was easily straight forward. Sixty metres to another small ledge above another large pool, we swam across soon came to the final descent.
I couldn't communicate the problem to Justin over the roar of the water, my hand signals were illegible, but luckily he figured out what had happened and manage to get his rope unstuck before it was too late. We safely made it across the lake, amazed at how the area had been transformed by the downpour.
The easy part was done, we now had to navigate the swollen gorge floor, where only weeks before it was a dry sandy riverbed. It was slow going but it wasn't long before we arrived to the Red Track entry, de-suited, and began the steep and laborious hike back to the top of the gorge. Forty minutes later we were in dry clothes and heading back to Sydney, seven hours after we started that morning.
It had turned out to be a gorgeous day, and I loved the pre-dawn start. Worth every moment.
More photos here
