Lake Challis to D'Alston Falls area

[taswalker2011]

Hi all,
Planning an overnight trip exploring the challis lake area and was wondering if you can get to dalton falls and the other falls in that area? any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, TW

[whynotwalk]

Hi TW - a few years back some mates and I dropped off the side of the Cathedral plateau and headed to the various falls on the Mersey. We went roughly south from Chalice, and left the plateau at its southern edge above the Never Never - nearer to the Convent Hill side than the Cathedral Mt side. We just poked around the edge until we found a relatively less steep part, and dropped off. But wherever you drop off it's VERY steep . I borrowed a mate's trekking pole, and it was the first time I'd ever felt the benefit of one - a very useful brake, knee-saver and stabiliser!

The upper part of the slope is scrubby: scoparia, ti-tree, bauera etc. But gravity helps you to push through it before you eventually drop into some very mature and quite lovely myrtle forest. Once in the open forest we sidled along well above the river, as it gets scrubbier down there. We listened out for the falls, and eventually came out at Fergusson Falls. We were aiming for Hartnett, but went past because the wind in the trees masked the roar of the falls ooops! Anyway, it's do-able, and the forest is beautiful. But if you're going back the way you came (I'm guessing that's your intention) you'd have to go back east via the Never Never to Junction Lake, then north via Cloister and Chapter. That's not hard, but there are one or two scrubby bits, and you can miss the track easily in a few places.

If the steep, off-track plunge doesn't sound like your cup of tea, you could always go to the falls from Chalice via Chapter, Cloister and Junction, then through the Never Never in the first place.

Good luck - and take a map and compass!

cheers

Peter

[Nuts]

Sounds interesting. You can drop off immediately Nth of Convent hill, come out at the south of Cloister (avoiding the last of the cliffs). There are a few cairns, a bit scrubby but easy enough, probably a bit longer that way.

[vagrom]

No choice but to go down the Never-never. Too cliffy, right around the Cathedral rim.
Walking down the Never2 seems to present nothing but steep cliffs, on the southern side of the rim anyway.
Making Grail Falls the only way in and out, to Chalice; though there's possibly other access a little further north. See Chapman.

There may of course, be a tiny way somewhere through the cliff line. I've wondered myself if it was possible to drop off somewhere on the west side of the Cathedral plateau and down to the OLT direct.

EDIT: Top two posts trump my very limited experience of the area. Ways off the edge, south of Grail, can be found. But much of the Never Never will still lie ahead, en route to the falls area of Hartnett and beyond. The Never Never's not a quick trip but it's easy going. Darkens earlier and then becomes very hard going.

[DaveNoble]

I've dropped off the Cathedral Plateau on two occasions and headed down to the Mersey at D'Alton Falls - not too hard - mostly open rain forest. No cliffs - if you drop off the right place (easy to find a suitable place - walk along the rim - till the cliffs vanish) - and then just angle down to near D'Alton Falls - where you can cross on a natural rock bridge (which we only found on the first trip after we had taken our shoes off and forded the river). I think the first part of the descent was through light scrub and boulders - but nothing too hard and not too far to get into relatively open forest.

Dave

[corvus]

There is an apocryphal story about Paddy Hartnett descending off the Cathedral Plateau at night down to Du Cane hut with him setting fire to the kerosene bushes on the way down to guide him ,often looked at the map and said that is how he did it as it would have been close to the chock stone and for Paddy only up the hill to his Hut at Du Cane.
corvus

[taswalker2011]

thanks all for taking the time to respond. Thinking i might head along the never never track to get to the falls. Anyone done this? travel time from the car park?
Cheers again, TW