Monday 28/09/2020 Mermaids Pool – Bargo River
Tahmoor, NSW
Dharug country
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies
Apparently daydreaming as we were heading west along Picton Road I managed to turn right onto the Hume Highway on our way to Picton! Not the best start. Anyway, we did find the drive back along Remembrance Drive to be rather scenic and more rural than we may have expected.
Having lost about half an hour on our detour we didn’t reach the carpark just south of Rockford Bridge until about 9:30am. Here a group of about ten 20 somethings were also just heading off towards Mermaids Pool, at least we had a nice fine day which would reach the mid 20’s temperature-wise.
Max elevation: 271 m
Total climbing: 1741 m
Total descent: -1741 m
Average speed: 5.03 km/h
Total time: 05:18:43
We starting by walking under Rockford Bridge along the riverside Potholes Track and were immediately impressed by the quantity of wildflowers in bloom and reflective pools along the river. Around an hour after starting we were at Mermaids Pool, along with a number of other people, this is a very popular walk for good reason. The signs make it plain there is no easy way back out for those who end up at the bottom. We did note a rope ladder beside the waterfall, but it does reach the bottom, probably a bit over 2m too short!
From Mermaids Pool were continued on downstream towards the canyon proper, passing by Mermaids Pool Lockdown and Jacks Pass to Ollies Crossing. Along this section you are walking under the Tahmoor Canyon Walls, a sandstone cliff-line that provides an awesome backdrop to the reflective pools along this section of the Bargo River. After descending to the stone bridge we obviously turned to auto pilot mode, following the “track” up to an overhang before continuing on. Here we became quiet excited as the track became much more basic and required careful observation to follow, well at least that was what we were thinking to start with. We did end up off track on a narrow ledge that ended in a drop-off too high to scale without a rope – time to backtrack. It should be noted that the tracks that Robert has set up in this area ar every well marked by tape in trees. After retreating back past the overhang we reconnected with the last tape we had seen, before heading down to towards the river and The Stone Bridge where we picked up the markings again. Along the rocky sections, as well as tape in trees there a lots of painted directional indicators on the rock showing the way, we had just missed the next one below the overhang.
Devils Knee Waterfall
After a couple of photos of Devils Knee Waterfall we continued on to and over Hip Crossing Bridge for our last crossing of the Bargo River for the day. No wet feet today. A little further around you start a gradual climb up Rosies Pass, named after Robert’s dog, who had accompanied him on plenty of occasions as he had explored the area and established the track.
We headed back via Matilda Track, checking out all of the vantage points along the way. As we neared approached the Jacks Pass section we heard a chainsaw in action. It wasn’t long before we met Robert Sloss doing some of his track maintenance, clearing a fallen tree. It was fantastic to met and chat with the man who had established the track and still maintains it. He requested he take our photo for his collection and we did likewise. He has a lifetime’s experience walking in these parts of NSW and has written many guidebooks of great use to bushwalkers.
The Matilda Track provided a different perspective of the area to the canyon. Lots of viewpoints and a multitude of wildflowers being the most memorable.
We were back to the car and on our way home by 3:00pm, this time without taking any detours.
We were saddened by the news two days after completing this trip that a 17 year old boy had attempted a jump into Mermaids Pool from the surrounding cliff and failed to surface after the jump. His body was found the following day by Police Divers. Back in 2016 a 27 year had also died after hitting his head and in 2014 a 38 year woman fell to her death while camping at the spot with her fiancé. Please take care if you visit!
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