30/04/2017 Yarramummun Fire Trail – Boolijah Creek
Ettrema Wilderness, NSW
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos), Sue Davies (Report)
Steve and I had decided a return trip to Boolijah Creek was in order as we had really enjoyed it when we did it four years ago. Time seemed to have dulled our memories of how tough it was!
The start of the walk is located on a small side track off the Yarramunmun Fire Trail, which is accessed via the Nerriga road. Apart from a stroll in along the fire trail the walk is completely off track with no defined path. The clamber down the creek gives good views of cascades and waterfalls, the most pleasant being the large pool at the lowest section of the creek reached on the walk.
Sunday 30/04/2017 Yarramummun Fire Trail – Boolijah Creek return
Max elevation: 577 m
Total climbing: 655 m
Total descent: -640 m
Average speed: 4.92 km/h
Total time: 07:24:17
The day was forecast to be fine and mild so we headed off early and had commenced walking by 8:50am. The walk along the fire trail was fast and easy and in no time we were off the track to negotiate the most direct route to the creek. It appeared likely that no one had been in here since we last visited as there was no trail evident.
It took us 50minutes from this turnoff to reach the creek. Then the real fun began! We had forgotten how rough the going was, however it is of course dependant on the water level in the creek which we thought was a bit higher than last time. We didn’t see another person the whole day but a lovely big black snake was keeping an eye on us from the bank of the river in one spot.
Working our way down the creek was really slow going and involved some interesting scrambling at times! We passed some really lovely cascades and pools and the tannin rich water was cool and clear.
After two hours of scrambling and wading along the creek we reached the large pool with the side creek waterfall flowing into it. A lovely lunch spot! The swim was very brief as the water was freezing!
Waterfall on Cherry Tree Gully sidestream entering Boolijah Creek
After lunch we headed off out of the creek and climbed quickly up the steep and at times unstable terrain. We reached the exit gully in the cliff face which we had climbed as a group on the last walk. We sensed it was not really safe to attempt the climb without a rope so retreated to the base of the cliff line and followed it to find a better passage. Of course this was pretty rough going at times and we had to walk further than we originally thought. Eventually, we found a easier access to the top of the cliffs but there remained some bush bashing required to again reach the fire trail.
We got back to the car just after 4:00pm, a little scratched and tired. It had been a harder walk than we had remembered but it is still a worthwhile day excursion in dry conditions for parties comfortable navigating through thick scrub and doing some scrambling.
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