This walk was organised by Keith T (who then unfortunately could not get away at the last minute) and led by me as an irregular CBC Tuesday walk:

Tuesday 2 June: Wineglass Tor via the Shoalhaven River – L/R Features some spectacular views and interesting rock formations above the Shoalhaven River. The walk starts near the end of Matodoro Ridge Fire Trail and descends 400m via Assay Buttress to the Shoalhaven River. The 600m ascent of Backbender Buttress followed by a short walk along the edge of the scarp brings us to Wineglass Tor. Return to the car is via a descent to the Tims Gully/Shoalhaven River confluence followed by an ascent of Monitor Mount. Map: Touga 1:25000 Leader: Keith T Transport: ~$120 per car, $30–$40 per person; 4 wheel drives are required.

5 of us met at 6am and drove via Goulburn, Bungonia and the Matodora Fire Trail to a point about 0.9km shy of the helipad at Bullion Hill. A tad over 2 hours for the drive in and a bit longer coming home (Canberra traffic and lack of adrenalin-charged walk anticipation). Bidding the car farewell, we hoped that we'd emerge back here later in the day. A 12 hour day door-to-door.

Walk track

The spoon drains hadn't reduced in size any since the last visit. This time we parked a little further in along the Matodora Fire Trail. Away just after 8am with a 0.9km tromp to the helipad. Just the other side of it, at the top of the descent, we spied 3 goats. The nannies ran off, but Billy hung around to check us out. Many signs and smells of goats throughout the day. A spectacular 430m descent from Bullion Hill down Assay Buttress to Great Horseshoe Bend with huge views from the top (see pic 1). See pic here also.

Reaching the Shoalhaven River we proceeded downstream for a few hundred metres to find a reasonable crossing point from opposite Backbender Buttress. Both booted and bare-footed styles adopted, with Karen first across and wimpy me last. Two eagles soared high above our objective.

Backbender Buttress rises 570m over 1.4km and we did it in 1hr20mins. Thank goodness Keith wasn't leading us or I would have been totally pooped - this morning, setting my pace, I was nearly pooped. We thought the buttress got its name from the severe climb from the river, ducking under scratchy bushes as we chose from the multitude of wombat trails which crisscrossed the area. Morning tea at the end of Backbender Trail was most appreciated. Our clothing was soaked, from sweat not rain. In fact, the day was perfect for this W-walk (down, up, down, up) - overcast and cool most of the time, with the occasional patch of blue sky and less occasional blast of sunlight.

The ridge-top loop of 5km from here to Specimen Hill was relatively easier going (mainly because it wasn't 45° up or down). Keith had plotted a perfect route and I was not ashamed to use the GPS filled with waypoints strategically plotted along it. Although the cliff-tops and ridges were useful handrails, there were a couple of twists and turns which required some consideration. Soon after morning tea we reached the cliff-tops leading to Touga West Trig 735m. Missed the actual trig point after passing a close by cairn. Spectacular views down into the Shoalhaven gorge and up the many steep spurs to the top from where we'd come.

We reached the Wineglass Tor area just before 12noon, propping at some rock stacks from which the cliffs fell away (see pic here). Then onto the Touga Trig, passing a nearby marker cairn and onto the head-high cairn of the Trig. A log book in a plastic pipe placed there by the local walking club. The views from here would be the most spectacular that I've seen in the Shoalhaven area (see pic here). Before us lay the buttresses we'd slipped down and sweated up and also those for the afternoon which we were yet to tackle (see pic 2). In the centre of view was the razor ridge of Assay Buttress with Great Horseshoe Bend at its base. We could see the sandy river bank we'd strolled along to opposite Backbender Buttress, where we'd forded the Shoalhaven. In shadow was Backbender Buttress reaching up through a little cloud which was probably our sweat from the climb. To the left was the N flank of Poddy Dodger Spur and over it, we knew, was the spur down from Specimen Hill to Little Horseshoe Bend. We could just catch a glimpse of the spur back up to Monitor Mount. An amazing view!

We pressed on S for another 1.5km, across the top of Battery Spur to the top of Poddy Dodger Spur for lunch at 12.30pm. Shirt number 2 came off me soaked in sweat and I was glad I had several more layers. A little blue sky and occasional sun for lunch. It was forecast 12°C for Goulburn but it did not seem that cool. There was no breeze. I see it got to 14°C during the day in Goulburn.

After lunch we headed up to Specimen Hill, then down the S spur towards Tims Gully (see pic here). At about the 350m contour I slipped W off the side (because I'd set the river crossing waypoint as the GOTO), so we missed the gold mining area we'd seen last time at around the 200m contour. We found a suitable crossing point just on the upstream end of some rapids and this time Max led the way across with all of us plunging in boots and all.

It was 5 past 2 by the time we were rested enough to tackle the final climb. We made it (see pic 3), covering 1.2km and 380m up in 1hr, to pick up the end of a fire trail at SH574. This led us 2km in 30mins back to the car.

Not sure I'd have enjoyed driving out if it had rained during the day but an uneventful trip out and back to Canberra.

A huge day. Thanks so much for the idea and the planned route, Keith. Excellent and cohesive and understanding walking companions Eric G, Ian S, Karen C and Max S.

Distance: 14.8km  Climb: 1100m.  Time: 8.10am - 3.35pm ( call it 7hrs30mins), with 40mins of meal stops and several more restart-breathing stops.
Grading: L/R,WX; H(14)

KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Wineglass Tor via the Shoalhaven River