28/06/1985 – 30/06/1985 Quiera Clearing – Myall Creek – Ettrema Creek return
Morton National Park, NSW
Yuin country
Distance: 10km Total Ascent: 710m Total Descent: 710m
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Richard Buckland, Marian James
Friday 28/06/1985
Dinner at Marion’s parent’s place in Nowra before driving out towards Ettrema Gorge. This involves following Braidwood Road west and turning off to the right on Tolwong Road about 8km past Sassafras. Another 13.8km along Tolwong Road saw us parked in a clearing to camp under the trees in an excellent spot.
Day 1: Saturday 29/06/1985 Quiera Clearing – Myall Creek
The route below has been reconstructed from trip notes and memory.
Max elevation: 774 m
Total climbing: 243 m
Total descent: -683 m
Average speed: nan km/h
After some overnight rain it was now clear so we shifted the tents into the sun to get them drier.
Ettrema Gorge 29/6/1985
We headed off under Marion’s leadership about 10:00am towards Churinga Head. From there it was down the spur to Myall Creek and a superb campsite. We spent some time exploring upstream along Ettrema Creek for a while, finding some magnificent campsites along the way. A lot of bush turkey scratchings and other birds plentiful, no trout to be seen in the creeks but crystal clear water and an A1 campsite.
Day 2: Sunday 30/06/1985 Myall Creek – waterfall
The route below has been reconstructed from trip notes and memory.
Max elevation: 773 m
Total climbing: 466 m
Total descent: -25 m
Average speed: nan km/h
Our tents were damp from the morning dew but it was another very pleasant day. Explored bottom part of Myall Creek up to the waterfall. A really excellent waterfall for summer dips. Only four hours in from the road. Fungi and lichen were plentiful.
Waterfall on Myall Creek 30/6/1985
The landscape was characterised by the very crumbly nature of the rocks with even seemingly solid rock faces giving way under minimal pressure. There was very poor footing on the scree slopes as every second step fell away.
We followed Myall Creek upstream as far as possible after lunch then ascended straight up a rocky spur to the cliffline. Here we found some very well split cliffs in line which we managed to negotiate our way through. Walking parts of this area, especially in Myall Creek were very pleasant today but probably suicidal after heavy rain as there a few places where a slip could easily result in a lethal fall. We walked out of the bush to within 66 paces of the Landcruiser.
The lengthening winter shadows across the valley generated the near instant formation of mist in those shade from the condensation of moisture in the cold air. A very interesting effect to observe and it great to see a new full moon appear at the same time.
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