Orroral Valley from the slab above the cave

Tuesday 2 February: More Headwaters of Honeysuckle Creek – M/R,X. Starting at Honeysuckle creek car park, go West for about 3.5 km along the ridge between the two main arms of Honeysuckle creek until we meet the Legoland ridge. Turn South-East along the ridge and between the boulders to the Orroral Ridge road. Then, depending on the day/scrub/inclination of the party, either down the road to the carpark, or follow the watershed by going a little to the East and North to the Spinnaker, from where we will drop down and back to the cars. 10km and a little over 500 metres ascent. Limit: 8. Map: Corin Dam. Leader: David H; contact me by 6pm the previous Sunday to discuss options. Transport: ∼$40 per car.

8 of us drove in 2 vehicles to the Honeysuckle Creek camping ground car park.

Summary

Distance: 13.7km | Climb: 625m | Time: 8.35am-4.20pm (7hrs 45mins), including 55 mins of breaks | Grading: M/R; H(12)

Photographs

Photographs are available, where you can start a large sized slideshow.

Videos

Waypoint and Track Files

Download the .gpx file. (Right click, Save Link As…, Save – if you want to use it.)
To use in Google Earth, do File, Open… and select Gps or All files as the File Type.

Track Notes

David had warned us to ‘bring our armour’, so we donned gaiters and gloves right from go. A beautiful day in the bush – blue sky with cotton ball clouds, the air had been washed clean and the scrub was dry, with the temperature reaching 27°C in town so maybe 22°C where we were. It really was perfect.

A scrubby leg to the west got the heart pumping, with morning tea towards the western edge of the 1300+m feature. It provided great views across the top of Honeysuckle Creek to the Orroral Ridge of Stone and beyond.

The going eased as we bent around the catchment of Honeysuckle Creek and gently up onto the (quite broad here) Ridge of Stone. A granite slab afforded us some nice views. See video 1.

We next headed generally south along the ridge as it became a little narrower. We skirted Sentinel Rocks to the east and came on the end of the well used footpad which runs along the ridge. Close by, we stopped for lunch. Lovely views from open granite slabs down into the green Orroral Valley and to the hills the other side. See video 2.

Some faffing around to regain the track after lunch, only because I happened to head off first. I’m not much good on/near tracks. A quick pace south to the Opera House cave at Legoland. We walked in the side entrance, admired the chock stone in the roof and granite-framed views down into the valley, then exited via the crawls at the back of the cave. After the first, there is access to run up a slanted slab and, as long as you stop at the top, you don’t die and access a mighty view! Down to the Orroral River valley again and up to the hills beyond, and also back north along the ridge. Fabulous! Check out video 3.

Through the second crawl there is access to another granite feature that you can run up, but we left it today and headed back to the footpad. A quick trip to the Orroral Ridge (Tower Rocks) car park at the end of the vehicle access from Honeysuckle Creek.

We zigged to the Link Track intersection where David and a companion left us to descend the Orroral Ridge Rd, as said gallant leader had suffered an injury (in silence to this point).

Ian W took over and we zagged down the Link Track to a take off point to head NE to The Spinnaker. Relatively open going along this route, except for very dense scrub and an assisted climb to the ‘Tunnel of Love’, so named on a previous walk. Today it was more like the tunnel of bad jokes.

We continued on towards The Spinnaker, found the back cavern entrance, bashed through the scrub (which seems more dense since my last visit) and got ourselves to the top of the granite spinnaker for the view. See video 4.

We exited via the rock overhang (see video 5) down to the saddle and ‘Sundial Rock’. Picked up the footpad to the old vehicle track which runs up to the tanks.

A quick exit back to the cars.

A beaut day after all the rain/hail/lightening/thunder of recent days. Thanks very much for putting it together David and your leadership, and Ian W’s afternoon efforts.

Timings
From To Distance Time
Start Morning tea 2.3km 1hr 15mins
Morning tea Lunch 4.0km 2hrs 35mins
Lunch Orroral Ridge car park 1.9km 40mins
Orroral Ridge car park The Spinnaker 3.2km 1hr 20mins
The Spinnaker Finish 2.4km 1hr 10mins
Track Map

Track

Profile

Party

8 walkers – Mike B, Mark B, David H (leader), Meredith H, Ian H, Phillip S, Ian W (arvo leader), me.

Next Tuesday Walk

Tuesday 9 February: Bulee Brook – M/R/W/ part X. A circuit to explore the cascades and cliff lines of Bulee Brook in Morton National Park. Leave the Nerriga-Nowra road about ½ km west of Bulee Gap, cross lower Bainbrig Creek, then through surprisingly-open forest to Bulee Brook. The Brook looks, from Google Earth, to have 2 sections of cascades, probably separated by thick scrub. From there we may explore the tops or bases of cliff lines north of the Brook, depending on time and weather. 9 to 14 km, total descents and ascents around 150 to 300 metres spread over 3 undulations. The ‘W’ grading is just in case the creek crossings are deeper than I expect. 1 hr 45 mins from Queanbeyan, all sealed road. Leader: Linda G. Map: Nerriga. Transport: $80 per car. Limit: 8.