closed canyons

[ecowain]

Make sure that canyons you go through and publicise are not currently closed, or NPWS may take issue with it, thereby jeopardising their re-opening.

According to the NPWS website, all Grose valley canyons are closed except:
Grand, Claustral, Butterbox and Fortress (as of Tuesday 18th December 2007)

There are a lot of other canyons in the Grose valley, and also in the Carmarthen labyrinth (like Gaping Gill, Ranon, Explorers etc) which are all closed until further notice, including Juggler and Birrabang.

By the way, the exit track from Juggler, which is found at the "3 Ways" junction (the signposts at the end of the Grand Canyon canyon section), is called the Point Pilcher track, and was constructed by a Blackheath gardener for his employer. I'll try to track the dates and names down sometime. It's a lovely little track. If you look closely, you'll see the old sign written on the cliff at the start...

Claustral water levels are up, but not excessively at the moment.

cheers,
owain.

[Aegist]

Yeah, thanks for that. I had noticed on David Nobles news page that the canyons south of the Bells Line were closed - I think it was the week after we did Juggler Canyon actually (probably because of noticing the sign saying that the walking track we had just walked out from Juggler canyon on was closed - this was the first sign we had encountered).

I didn't actually organise the Birrabang trip myself, and didn't actually realise where it was (nor did I look). It wasn't until we were there and in the canyon that it hit me - 'Oh yeah, this region is meant to be closed...'

More aware of the situation now and will be sure to check before I do any canyons.

This is yet another reason why I think we really need a wiki-guidebook like I am trying to organise. There is no way the average person knows to even look for that sort of information unless they are told to look. There are no signs at any of the canyons telling you they are closed, and no way of informing people.

I have just added an 'Announcements and News' section to the Canyoning Template for the guidebook, so that all canyons added should have an announcements bit up top. So if they are closed, it should be clear to any visitor. Plus it can be used to announce accidents, such as the recent fatality in Claustral - Plus because wiki's can be so easily edited, people can easily update information such as "Claustral is running high at the moment, avoid this canyon for the next few days" or whatever.

BTW, don't feel shy about editing this stuff yourself. The whole idea is that people who know more can add to it!

[Aegist]

btw,
WOW was Claustral Pumping today. Scary, and exhilarating. Made more dangerous when I got my weekly canyon buddy to rig up the second abseil and he rigged at off an anchor at the bottom of the first abseil (rather than the bolt in the wall like you should). I had to prussik back up the second abseil, in pumping white water, and re-rig it so that we could pull it down. Probably the most intense thing I have ever done in a canyon.

Otherwise a flawless trip. No injuries, done in good time etc. I can't wait to put up the trip report and video for it

[ecowain]

Glad you had a safe, good time in claustral. I was meant to guide it today, but another guide took my place. Look forward to see how it went in terms of water levels, it's been raining hard today. I've added a few comments to your pics...

Empress was up a little yesterday, but not much more than normal. Butterbox was fine on monday, National Parks had a group in the canyon doing an assessment of erosion issues, and any other safety concerns.

owain.

[Aegist]

Any ideas when you might be doing Butterbox next? It is on our list of "canyons I really want to do, but am a little frightened of..." If I know when you are heading out there next, I might organise a trip on the same day just so I know there will be someone else around at the same time

[ecowain]

All Grose Valley and Carmarthen canyons are now officially open.

In addition, Perrys Lookdown to Acacia Flat only is now open.

[Julz]

btw,
WOW was Claustral Pumping today. Scary, and exhilarating. Made more dangerous when I got my weekly canyon buddy to rig up the second abseil and he rigged at off an anchor at the bottom of the first abseil (rather than the bolt in the wall like you should). I had to prussik back up the second abseil, in pumping white water, and re-rig it so that we could pull it down. Probably the most intense thing I have ever done in a canyon.

I rigged from the same point as your mate when I did Claustral solo last year. Didn't about the rings, and couldn't see them even when standing under them. They're sort of hidden in a concave in the rock. The water was pumping that day too. I prussiked back up when I couldn't retrieve my rope (hard work against all that water), descended again, but still couldn't retrieve. Made the decision to cut my rope and had enough to descend the last pitch single strand. Got both portions of my rope back when someone I knew went through 4 days later. Story could easily have had a bad ending as no-one knew I was there that day, and it was 4 days before the next party came through. I was so gut wrenchingly aware of that fact as I stood there in armpit deep freezing water unable to move my rope. That was a lesson well learnt that day. Lucky I always carry a knife.

Julz