On Friday 14th May 1999, Gary Williams, Dave Aldridge and I set out on a 5-day trek in the Budawangs. We were picked up at my place by Noel, our driver who would be dropping us off and picking us up. The journey along the old unsealed Braidwood Road took just under 90 minutes and we arrived at the Wog Wog Trackhead & Car Park just before 8.00am. It's a little windy this morning and overcast, but we need not have worried, by 2.00pm there wasn't a cloud about, though the heavy winds stayed with us for the first two days.

We set off with Gary leading, Dave in the middle and myself as 'Tail End Charlie' at least until Corang Plateau where I then took the lead for most of the 5 days of the trip. We crossed Wog Wog Creek and ascended the main ridge to Tinderry Rocks where we had our first rest break. From there we ascended onto Corang Plateau and made our way west to Corang Peak where we had planned to have our lunch. We seemed to be making good pace, but just after Tinderry Rocks, it became clear that Dave was having trouble with his rucksack harness. I wasted little time in swapping packs with Dave for the ascent onto Corang Plateau and found the problem was being caused by unevenly adjusted harness straps. This problem fixed we continued the walk with no further rucksack problems for the duration of the trip.

Just prior to doing this walk, a member of the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers (Who had recently completed a walk to Corang Peak) warned me that the tracks on Corang Plateau were very wet and slippery, despite the fact it had not rained for two weeks prior to the trip. We found this to be the case as we followed the track around Korra Hill, just west of Corang Peak. The track was more akin to South-West Tasmania, with mud several inches deep and the dry spots on the track overgrown by prickly Hakea. Dave wasted little time in letting myself and Gary know of his displeasure at the state of the walking track. Gary & I were both quite surprised at the poor condition, certainly it was the worst we had ever seen it. Gary and I wondered about the condition of Bibbenluke Ridge which would be attempted next morning. We refrained from worrying Dave with our thoughts.

We reached the top of Corang Peak just after midday and after a very steep and tiring climb, made more treacherous by the strong gusty winds that threatened to toss us off balance and throw us over the edge. Once on top we dropped our packs and took shelter from the freezing winds behind the rock cairn. We decided that the conditions were just not appropriate for lunch here. We agreed to move off and find a sheltered spot during the descent to Canowie Brook. We found a small sheltered cave just after the main rocky part of the descent. With no wind buffeting us we were able to have an enjoyable lunch break.

After lunch we made our way down the rest of the descent to Canowie Brook. Once there we took the opportunity to remove our warmer clothing now the sunny conditions had joined us, and slaked our thirst from the creek. We set off towards Burrumbeet Brook, losing the track several times in the overgrown conditions. After a most pleasant walk we arrived at Burrumbeet Brook. We dropped packs - Dave went searching for the best water supply while Gary and I checked out the caves. We were not keen to take residence in the same cave we used last year. We found 3 useful looking caves just west of last years section, the best of which was right at the end of the clearing. We picked up Dave and our packs and settled in at 3.50pm.

We spent some time hunting firewood, setting up our sleeping areas, cooking our meal and cleaning up before relighting the fire for the cool of evening. It got dark just after 5.00pm and the wind tried its best to blow the embers of our fire every which way. Thankfully we had a suitable hearth built of stones to thwart this wind which threatened to render our "Brass Monkeys Incomplete". By 7.00pm however, it was quite apparent we would soon run out of firewood, so we all climbed into our sleeping bags and attempted to get some sleep.

I fell asleep almost immediately, but the 'Land Of Nod' comes a lot harder for my insomniac companions. I was awaken just after 8.00 with Dave yelling out "Shoo - Get Out". I shone my torch over my pack - a large Wombat was trying to make off with one of my walking boots. Caught in the glare of our torches she fled into the bushes, and we could make out the Wombat Cub she was carrying. We vowed that from now on, all our gear would be carefully stowed whilst camping.

Next morning we wasted little time packing up. Our Wombat did not return during the night and I managed to sleep right through to 4.00am, then slept fitfully until just before 7am. Gary and Dave did not sleep well at all. Dave complained that his air mattress was just not comfortable enough. Gary just doesn't sleep.

Today was planned to be quite a short walk due to the difficulty involved with ascending and crossing Bibbenluke Ridge. Our plan was to have lunch at Bibbenluke Camp, search for the Bibbenluke Camping Caves (for the return journey) then make our way up to the Mt Cole Camping Caves.

The strong winds were still with us but the sky is blue. We rugged ourselves up against the morning chill as we made our way up the Burrumbeet Brook Valley. It was not long before we started the ascent. The first thing we noticed was the track was much improved. Since last year, wooden blocks have been placed on the worst sections of the track, reducing erosion and making our ascent quite easy. Near the top we found a small clearing where we stopped for a break and enjoyed the views across Burrumbeet to Corang Peak.

As we neared the top of the ascent the track again closed in on us and the last section was almost a scrub bash but it was not long before we stepped out onto the scrubby heath of Bibbenluke Ridge. From here the walk was a little easier than I remembered, though there was still a problem with Hakea growing too close to the track in some sections and the wind was twice as strong. We got some great views from the ridge, these included Mt Tarn & Mt Hoddle to the the north, Mt Donjon, Mt Cole & Mt Owen in the east and naturally, Bibbenluke Mountain in front of us, also to the east.

As we started a slow descent past a conical shaped hill in the grasslands not far from Bibbenluke Camp, the track started to deteriorate once again. The recent rains must really have hit this area hard. The track was so wet and muddy that we often had to walk around the worst affected sections. The track became treacherous with its slipperiness and we all had moments of terror as we lost our footing. During one fall, Dave had so much difficulty getting to his feet, because of his weighty rucksack holding him down, we could not help but notice that he resembled an overturned turtle - at least we now know how he got his nickname.

We passed through another section where track maintenance works had recently been done. Dave commented wryly that the work should have been done 100 metres or so back up the track. Worst was to come though, as we hit the forest just above Bibbenluke Camp, the track degenerated into a nightmare. Definitely the worst conditions of the whole trip. With the prickly scrub crowding the wet and muddy track we found ourselves resembling Giraffes having a drink as we negotiated each section - one foot on each side of the track. Dave started to let us know how he felt about the track conditions again, to some extent we could sympathise with him. After all, despite the fact we knew the track would be overgrown, we had no idea it was going to be this wet.

As we descended to Bibbenluke Camp, Dave fell behind us by about 20 metres. As we came to the open plain we were greeted by the sound of some terrible cursing coming off Mt Tarn in front of us. At first I thought someone was in trouble on the mountain, but then realised it was an echo. Dave had come to grief once again on the slippery track. He was in no further mood to continue and Gary and I were certainly not in his good books at this present time.

We all dropped our packs at one of the campsites. While Dave attempted to calm down (he was not talking to us) Gary and I decided to go looking for the Bibbenluke Caves. We were not really successful, the tracks heading up to the base of Bibbenluke Mountain Cliffline were very much overgrown. We decided to take lunch, then head for Mt Cole Camping Caves. We noticed that our once clear blue sky was now becoming quite dark as the strong winds brought clouds across from the west.

The walk to Mt Cole was quite uneventful. Once again the track was in poor condition and Dave continued to let us know how he felt. We assured him that once we made it to the camping caves he could relax for the rest of the day. Of course we had the ascent to deal with too. Unlike last year, we did not lose the track and it was not long before we were struggling up the steep rise to the camping caves. We arrived just in time, not 5 minutes after staking our claim to one of the best caves in the cliffline, another group turned up hoping to grab our spot, they reluctantly moved off to one of the less hospitable overhangs nearby.

During the remainder of the afternoon we collected firewood, checked out the route to Monolith Valley and watched the rain squalls blowing up the valley below us. We were quite relieved we had taken the option to camp in Mt Cole this night. By the time we had cooked dinner, the sky had cleared and we were greeted by glimpses of a red sunset through the trees. Even Dave had cheered up and was looking forward to our exploits tomorrow when we would venture into Monolith Valley.

We got a roaring campfire going which helped warm us up. The wind still roared up the valley and occasionally found its way to our campfire and blew embers into the air. It became so constant that we decided to opt for the warmth of our sleeping bags by 7pm.

During the night the wind died out completely. Once again I had a great night's sleep, unlike my 2 companions. Once again I woke at 4am, then slept fitfully until 6.30am when we all got up to sample a magnificent sunny cloudless & windless day.

By 8.20am we had carefully hidden our rucksacks in the bushes below our cave and set off along the narrow trail that followed the base of the Mt Cole cliffline. We all took turns carrying the daypack that held our water, food and other necessities. We climbed the gully that separated Mt Cole to Mt Donjon and quickly found ourselves in the Monolith Valley Protected area. It was here that I realised I had left my spare film back in my rucksack, with just 6 shots left in my camera I was most annoyed with myself for my carelessness. I would have to be very choosy at which sights I took pictures of in Monolith Valley.

It was 10am when we entered Monolith Valley. We had taken a rest break near Seven Gods Pinnacles where we had a magnificent view across Hollands Gorge. Our pace was then slowed down due to the fact that Dave was suffering from a mild bout of Gastro - just as well we had plenty of Sorbent. The descent down the Green Room was of course, spectacular, as was the first section of rainforest in the valley. It was, as I have described before, like wandering through a 'Tolkein-Like' enchanted forest. Everywhere you looked there were ferns, mosses, vines, toadstools, lichens and orchids. The rock walls were slippery with moisture and I wished I had remembered that extra roll of film, I could have easily taken half a roll in this wonderful area.

We were running short of drinking water, so we looked for a section of the creek that was flowing quite fast. The water had a brownish tinge to it, but Dave & Gary claimed the water tasted magnificent, so I refilled the waterbags.

We followed a route taking us past the old camping area to an open rocky section between Mount Nibelung & Mount Mooryan. Here we met up with a group of walkers who were just setting off to climb Shrouded Gods Mountain just behind us. We sat and enjoyed our morning tea, taking in the views of this wonderful valley and watched the other group making their precarious climb. I had hoped to make the trip out to Mt Owen where we could sign the visitors book and take in the views of the Castle. Unfortunately Dave had no desire for any more climbing and he certainly did not want to wait around while Gary and I were off exploring for 2-3 hours. After forgetting my spare film I felt it wasnít worth the effort this trip either. There was always next time.

We returned to the camping cave just after 1.00pm after taking lunch at Seven Gods. We took a long break at the cave, retrieved and repacked our rucksacks. One hour later we made our way down the track, heading for Bibbenluke. We took great care on the descent of Mt Cole as this was the place we lost the track during last years walk. There were many false trails leading off and we were grateful we had taken the trouble to mark the correct trail during our ascent yesterday. This time there were no problems and we were able to keep to the correct track. It was a hard difficult climb out of the saddle, once again caused by overgrown tracks, though we were thankful these tracks were dry. As we came out of the bush on Mt Tarn Ridge, we came across another group of  four walkers who had just spent the whole day lost in a bushy maze. Gary and I were sympathetic, we had taken the wrong track and ended up in the same maze ourselves last year. We showed them the correct junction for Mt Cole & Monolith Valley before heading off to Bibbenluke Camp.

Once at the campsite we unpacked our rucksacks, collected water and prepared an early dinner. It was going to be such a clear night that we decided to sleep under the stars. There would be no need for the tent. We collected enough wood for our campfire and waited for sundown. The stars were brilliant tonight and the nearby mountains looked eerie in the fading light. Just before we lit the fire, a quick check of our sleeping mats at the back of the clearing revealed a problem. Dew was forming on our mats, sleeping bags and rucksacks. It was now obvious we were going to have to pitch the tent after all, otherwise we were going to end up quite wet overnight. It was going to be a tight squeeze inside, the tent was designed for only two and there were 3 of us. It was going to be a snug cozy fit, but at least we would be warm.

Somehow we managed to get the tent pitched in the dark. Satisfied with that we brushed the dew off our sleeping mats and placed them and our sleeping bags inside the tent. We then lit the fire and enjoyed its warmth for the next 90 minutes - It was becoming very chilly in the valley and we were thankful we had the tent pitched, it was going to be a very cold night. We hit the tent at 8.30pm with much difficulty. It was a tight squeeze, but we all managed it somehow and made room by attempting to sleep on our sides. Gary complained at one stage that someone had their hands on his bum but that must have been wishful thinking. We had all heard about crowding into telephone booths and Mini Minors, but this was ridiculous.

I woke up yet again just after 4.00am feeling very uncomfortable. My neck was sore and I could not move. I had been pushed into the side of the tent by my companions and I was feeling very claustrophobic. Fighting down the panic I tore myself from the sleeping bag and somehow dived out of the tent into the cool night air, gasping for breath. As I calmed down I was amazed to notice Ice forming on our rucksacks behind the tent. Gary and Dave were both awake, yet again they had both failed to get a decent night's sleep. I decided that Sleeping pills should become a necessity in the First Aid Kit for these two. With some difficulty I got back into the tent, but instead of coccooning myself in my sleeping bag I arranged it so it covered me. I again slept.

I woke just after 7.00am to an empty tent. Dave and Gary were outside talking in amazed tones. When I joined them I could see why. The whole valley was covered in a white blanket of frost, the trees, bushes and our tent & rucksacks were covered in ice and there was a thin film of ice on the water. Yet halfway up both sides of the valley, everything was still green. We noticed that as the sun rose, this green line came closer. As the sun bathed our campsite with warmth, the melting ice dropped from the trees like a shower. Everything that was covered in ice now became quite wet. We did not mind, today was going to be the shortest day of the whole trip, we had plenty of time on our hands. We set our rucksacks in a sunny spot to dry, then took down the tent and wiped off the dew using towels before packing up.

It was almost 10.30 when we moved out, heading for Burrumbeet Brook. We had a cloudless sky above us and still no wind. The return trip across Bibbenluke Ridge was of course, very difficult with the wet and muddy tracks but for most of the way we handled the conditions without complaint.

As we descended the ridge to Burrumbeet we bumped into that same group of Four walkers who had got lost yesterday. They were lost again, this time looking for Yurnga Lookout. We informed them that the intersection was near the bottom of the ridge. They flew on ahead of us. As we made the descent we took in the views to the south, which strangely included Pigeonhouse Mountain. It seemed weird that we had never noticed this view during previous walks in the area. We suddenly found ourselves climbing a steep ascent which was again made more difficult by the scrub crowding in the track. We should not have been ascending at this stage of the walk. I suddenly realised we had somehow missed our turn-off and were now climbing to Yurnga Lookout.

Dave & Gary were not impressed and spent most of their rest break at the lookout sitting with their backs to the magnificent view and refused to speak to me. They did have an excellent view down Burrumbeet Brook though, but this paled in comparison with the view behind them. I was keen to explore the rocky outcrop that would probably give us an even better view of the Scenic Rim, but I was not keen to earn further wrath from my two companions. This was another section to contemplate for the future.

After 20 minutes rest we moved back down the trail and regained the right track. Along this last section of track before our cave at Burrumbeet Brook, we started collecting large pieces of firewood for tonight's fire. As we hit Burrumbeet Brook we stopped for a rest break at another track junction. While Dave rested, Gary went searching for water while I explored the track. It led to possibly the best cave situated in the Budawang ranges, nice and deep, well sheltered from wind and other elements and a large stock of firewood. It would have been a great stop-over coming in. I returned to the others, Gary had no luck finding the water. I informed them of the cave I had found. We decided to head for the same cave we had used on the first night, at least we were 30 minutes closer to the end of our walk.

Once we arrived Gary and I hunted for more firewood and collected our water supplies from the creek while Dave set up our campsite. We then had a relaxing 2 hours before preparing dinner. We sat and reflected on our trip so far. I was surprised to hear Dave declare that he thought the trip had been a success, especially considering how he had struggled and complained on the first two days. He admitted the tracks were far from satisfactory, but agreed that the views at the end were well worth the effort.

Gary then surprised us by declaring he was going for a nature call. He picked up his toilet roll and headed into the bush. This was the first time in 5 walks (2 of them 5 dayers) that Squeak had required that roll of Sorbent - he blamed the extra greasiness of the twiggy sticks this trip. 30 minutes later he had not returned and we wondered if something had happened to Gary, perhaps he had slipped and hurt himself. I decided to go and find out. The first thing I realised when I came to the rocky outcrop was that the winds had picked up again, Gary was round the next outcrop and was disgusted at being disturbed. He had searched high and low for a safe secluded spot and had only just settled in when I came wandering by. I returned to the campsite chastened. 20 minutes later Gary came back with a much reduced toilet roll - it turned out that the wind had blown the roll onto the track and it had rolled for some distance. Poor Gary had to chase the paper trail, but upon retrieving it, the wind caught a long section of paper and blew it into the valley. He had barely enough left to clean himself with.

Later on we enjoyed a sumptuous dinner of Satay Rice, cheese and the remaining Twiggy Sticks. We warmed ourselves up on cup-a-soup and after we got the pots cleaned up we lit up the fire. With the largest amount of firewood we had for the whole trip, we were able to keep the fire going until 9.00pm when we again hit the sleeping bags. I dozed off almost immediately.

I awoke yet again just after 4.00am (just what is it with me and that time of morning?) and slept fitfully until 6.30am. For the first night in the whole trip Dave claimed he actually got some sleep, though Gary did not reveal whether he slept or not. It was cold and windy and from our vantage point we could see shrouds of mist rising out of the valley.

At 7.40am we left the cave and headed off for the Wog Wog carpark. For the first section of the walk we wore our raincoats to protect our clothing from the dew on the plants growing on the side of the foot tracks. It was less than 45 minutes later that we were making the exhausting climb up the ridge to the conglomerate slope and the ascent onto Corang Plateau. Dave almost mutineered when I answered his question "Are we going up there?" with the affirmative, but Gary and I both assured him that it was much easier than it looked and he later agreed we were right.

The climb was easy, in fact Gary and I both agreed that it seems to get easier everytime we do the ascent. Once at the top we followed the cliffline for a short distance, stopping only to view Corang Arch. We then followed the scrubby trail past the southern flank of Corang Peak and rejoined the track we had walked in on 4 days earlier. We took a rest break next to another track junction 5 minutes later. I decided to do a recce and found that the small track led to a very nice looking camping site, I marked this down in my mental notebook for future reference.

We struggled through the mud and water near Korra Hill, but soon we were making good time as we headed across the much easier tracks of the western end of Corang Plateau. It was not long before we descended onto the ridge and by midday we were enjoying lunch, the last of our food at Tinderry Rocks. Gary even celebrated with an orange.

For the final section I let Dave lead the way and keep the pace. To my surprise he kept up a nice quick pace that belied his earlier complaints about the pace Gary & I were setting. We arrived at Wog Wog just after 1.00pm and waited for our lift to arrive.