The Lost World

[Packo]

Saturday was great weather for a walk. It started out a little foggy but as soon as the sun was up it started to lift. I was up early and had breakfast before driving the car to the start of The Oaks fire trail. I had planned a walk from Woodford to a Geocache called The Lost World, then down to Glenbrook Creek and up to Faulconbridge.
Walking down The Oaks fire trail is pleasant in the early hours, as there aren’t too many cyclists whizzing past you. In the five kilometres I was on it I came across two types of cyclists. The first group came past so fast and close I jumped sideways into the bush in fright. I would imagine they would get to Glenbrook in under an hour. The second group cruised on by with enough time to say hi and a bit of chit chat about where we were all going. I imagine they would get to Glenbrook in 3 or 4 hours. I was happy to get to the turn off for St Helena fire trail as it’s nowhere near as popular as the oaks. I have never been on St Helena fire trail before and it is a very nice easy going walk following the ridgetop. After about 11km the fire trail heads off the ridge to the left. I followed it for a couple of hundred metres before turning back and finding a walking track that keeps following the ridge. It is quite overgrown and I would imagine that riding a bike through here wouldn’t be much fun. I did pass another man coming the other way along this stretch. It was quite strange as he wasn’t carrying a back pack and I didn’t notice he was carrying any water either, just a piece of paper in his hand. I said hi, he grunted, I kept walking. The turn off to the Lost World is easy to spot and it brings you out at a cliff top looking over Glenbrook Creek. I sat down and had a bite to eat before heading out to find the cache which was quite close by. I signed the log, took a few pics of the view and I was on my way again. Back at St. Helena track its only about 1km to the end. Finding the start of Kings Link, the pass down the ridge, didn’t jump out at me but with a bit of a look I found it. It is marked with a small cairn. Kings Link is a pretty good track. Half way down on a rocky outcrop you have a choice of going left or right and its hard to see which is the right way. I went left but I soon realised that both tracks meet up further down. Further down the track it’s a little harder to follow, and I would assume it would be quite hard to find coming the other way if you hadn’t been here before. Finding a good place to cross the creek wasn’t easy either. I had to back track and rock hop through some pretty rough terrain but I found it. I should of placed a waypoint on the GPS. Lesson learnt.
The walk through Sassafras gully is real nice. So many pools and places to camp it would be a wonderland in the hot summer months. It’s very well sign posted, and an area that is easy accessible from a few different tracks on various Springwood ridges. After I crossed the 20km mark I started to tire, and I still had a few kilometres to go and a bit of a climb as well. I must say I was glad to get to the top, even though it was back to civilization. The track ends close to Faulconbridge train station and it was here I had to make a big decisions. Catch a train back to Woodford… or walk.
Looking at the GPS it was telling me it was just under 7km back to the car. The time was just after 3 o’clock, my feet hurt and my legs ached but catching the train just felt like cheating. After 3 more kilometres I wished I caught the train. After a rest and a feed on some fruit, I found enough energy to complete this mammoth walk. It took just under 10 hours to do the 32km, and I got back to the car just before sundown.

Pictures, map and stats can be found here

[Greenie]

It looks like a good walk. Except for the last bit back to the car!
What GPS are you using to record the walk?

[Packo]

Hi Greenie,
The GPS I am using at the moment is a Garmin Quest. It is a good unit but getting a little old now, and is a discontinued model. I suppose it is getting a little old now but its still doing what it's suppose to do.

[johnw]

Big day Packo, well done . I've walked all of those tracks but not for years and definitely not all at once! I remember those track junctions around Kings Link and Glenbrook Ck being a bit vague and overgrown. There used to be some obscure and deteriorating old signage around there that reminded me of an old time barber shop.

Looking at your map, you didn't go all the way in to St Helena Crater? Just curious about its condition, it was getting very weedy and overgrown and I know that a group started doing bush regeneration there some time ago.

Also what is St Helena Fire Trail like now? I know that MTB riders were complaining that it had been graded as a wide trail. When I walked it, it was more or less single track. And the flannel flowers along it in spring were spectacular.

[Lindsay]

Great report Packo. I noted your comment about the cross opposite Martins lookout. When I was growing up in the area back in the 70s I seem to recall two other crosses in the vicinity. One painted on the cliff face and another made of metal about 2 metres tall on the opposite side of the valley. Does anyone else remember this?

[Packo]

Looking at your map, you didn't go all the way in to St Helena Crater? Also what is St Helena Fire Trail like now?

That's because I didn't even know the crater was there until now The trail is a wide track all the way from The Oaks firetrail to the crater I would assume. I was following it and the track started heading north and off the side of the ridge. I went about 200m down and realised I wasn't heading in the right direction so I backtracked to the top of the ridge where a single track heads east out towards Springwood but I did wonder at the time why the track went down there. I wish I had known the crater existed and I would of paid a visit for sure. Oh well it gives me a reason to go out there again. Thanks for the tip

[johnw]

Looking at your map, you didn't go all the way in to St Helena Crater? Also what is St Helena Fire Trail like now?

That's because I didn't even know the crater was there until now The trail is a wide track all the way from The Oaks firetrail to the crater I would assume. I was following it and the track started heading north and off the side of the ridge. I went about 200m down and realised I wasn't heading in the right direction so I backtracked to the top of the ridge where a single track heads east out towards Springwood but I did wonder at the time why the track went down there. I wish I had known the crater existed and I would of paid a visit for sure. Oh well it gives me a reason to go out there again. Thanks for the tip

Looks like you went about 1/4 of the way down the track to the crater, so wouldn't have taken much longer until you were there, as it's probably no more than 800m-1km long. I think the main track is part of St Helena Ridge at that point rather than The Oaks, which joins it running north/south. But yes, my recollection is a fairly wide trail. I'd like to go back for a look myself at some point, particularly if it's been restored to some extent. Apparently the crater was once quite pristine, and popular as a campsite.

[DaveNoble]

Great report Packo. I noted your comment about the cross opposite Martins lookout. When I was growing up in the area back in the 70s I seem to recall two other crosses in the vicinity. One painted on the cliff face and another made of metal about 2 metres tall on the opposite side of the valley. Does anyone else remember this?

Yes - memorials to I think members of the Catholic Bushwalking Club who had died in mountaineering accidents in New Zealand?

Dave

[tom_brennan]

There is a group working to restore the crater

http://miller.emu.id.au/pmiller/st_helena/index.html

It seems to have stagnated in the last year, but I believe that is because the NPWS is waiting for the right conditions to either spray or burn before it is even worth starting the clean up process.

[johnw]

There is a group working to restore the crater

http://miller.emu.id.au/pmiller/st_helena/index.html

It seems to have stagnated in the last year, but I believe that is because the NPWS is waiting for the right conditions to either spray or burn before it is even worth starting the clean up process.

Thanks Tom. A couple of months back I did a day's bush regeneration with one of the rangers mentioned in that blog, at another site. A pity I didn't know the connection at the time, as I would have asked about the status.