Wilpena Pound and Edeowie Gorge (warning many images)

[eggs]

I thought I would start this thread to better answer a query from photohiker:
"I'm planning to go up there later this month to do an overnight Wilpena, Edeowie, StMarys Peak hike, camping overnight at Cooinda. Be grateful for any hiking or photo tips you might have for the area."

I did this walk with 3 young kids (1 was 10 years old) in Oct 2005.
I had also travelled into this area 2 times while at uni (about 1981) - in June and in November.
The biggest issue to consider is water.

What we discovered in 1981 was that the June winter rains got the creeks into Wilpena flowing, but that Edeowie Gorge was relatively dry.
In November that year, the Cooinda Camp waterhole was a small mass of green slime (which we chose not to use), but there was a good flow of water in Edeowie Gorge. Our deduction was that general rainfall took a while to percolate through the rocks of the gorge and emerge well after the rains were past.
[Of course, a heavy rainfall would have a dramatic effect in the gorge, and is probably the only time the water falls are running]

I will add a few photos from the last walk in Oct 2005 which were scanned from prints that I took.
We lugged about 18 litres of water into Cooinda Camp on a day of about 37 C.
I had told the kids that if we couldn't find water, we would be coming back out the next day.

My 10 year old walking inside the pound on a very hot day. Note the mesh to stop the flys (I swallowed 6 that day)

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The water supply was actually very good, but to be safe we boiled it all, processing another 40 litres over the next few days.
The weather also grew much milder making our time very pleasant as well.

Pool of Water at Cooinda Camp

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The main waterhole near Cooinda Camp - about 100m north from camping area with the track running along the top of the rise on the left side.

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[eggs]

From the camp at Cooinda we climbed St Mary's Peak as a return walk.
This is a good track and can be incorporated with the loop from the outside coming over Tanderra Saddle.
I did lose the track on another occasion coming down from the peak just before getting to Cooinda - where there is a lot of bare rock, but it was not hard to correct from this.

Looking up to St Mary's from the track up from Cooinda Camp.

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The views from the top (tallest peak in the range) are extensive.

From St Mary's looking north-west over Edeowie Gorge

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Cooinda Camp itself is an area of nice firm sand - but there are some "grassy areas" across the creek. (if it has rained)
On this trip I sure missed the old campfires that were once allowed. The trench fire we built in winter of 1981 was a bit of a life saver, as it was extremely wet and very cold on that trip.
Sitting around a gas cooker and a trangia did not quite have the same feel.

The cooking circle of rocks at Cooinda. St Mary's Peak is behind. The ashes were from someone who had been naughty!

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[photohiker]

Excellent stuff!

Thanks for this eggs, I will have a good look at it tonight, just getting called to cook dinner

[eggs]

I am not sure of how far you wish to explore Edeowie Gorge, as many get to the top of the first fall and then return.
The real splendour of the gorge lies beyond.
The gorges in the Flinders Ranges are often where creeks have cut dramatically through the lines of the ranges. But Edeowie Gorge is cut into horizontal layers of hard quartzite and consists of major waterfalls as the creek descends to the level of the plains flowing towards the vast salt lake of Lake Torrens.
Being a desert mountain range, these falls are rarely flowing.

There is a good track to the top of the gorge (but the scrub is extremely thick - so try not to lose the track)
The first fall is easy to negotiate (I am not sure if this is called Malloga Falls - or if that name belongs to a side fall just past this one)

Top of the first falls - can be climbed down by following the ledge the kids are on - or by bypassing climbing up the side and then down on the opposite wall.

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The official advice is that past this point is untracked and requires extreme care. In fact it is a long but pleasant walk down a very rocky creek consisting of numerous little pools and small drops before you get to Glenora Falls and then you do need extreme care.
Once again we found that despite numerous fresh water holes in the pound, the gorge water holes were very low and dried out. However, there are still plenty of water sources in the gorge - its just a curious contrast and example of how the water takes time to get into the gorge.
First there is a tricky fall which is bypassed on its right side by climbing directly down the cliff face. I was a bit shakey on this part, particularly when coming back up it when I needed a bit of a shove to get up.

Minor fall just before the big drop - need to climb down a small cliff to the left of the photo.

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Then shortly around the corner is another drop. It may look a short way down, but do not try to go down here. We noted a goat carcess on the rocks below. It had got down, but had perished, being unable to get back out again. At this point you must scramble up the rocks to the left getting high above the creek level to a ledge which bypasses the fall.

Going up/down the side to get to the bypass ledge

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[eggs]

Then comes the ledge itself. There is one tricky bit were the overhang matches a gouge in the ledge so you climb down to get past it.
My daughter did not like the look of this (despite the fact that she was small enough to crawl through without getting off the ledge ), so I called it quits there and let the boys go on further to get a few photos. The rest of the ledge is fine - its just the drop down that is amazing.

Negotiating the ledge past Glenora Falls - one is through and the other is in the gap.

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Looking down on Glenora Falls from the ledge - a big pool at its base.

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The last image gives an idea of the rock walls that are a feature of the gorge.

looking out from the ledge into the vast walls that make up Edeowie Gorge

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Beyond this point there is another reasonable stretch before getting to the last fall (Edeowie Falls) which is also a bit higher than Glenora.
I have been past them on the earlier walks, but it is also tricky. There is a small drop down onto the main fall and you need to cross along the broad rock that marks the edge to a small notch in the wall on the left. We climbed through this hole in the wall and ended up on a scree on the other side which leads easily down to the bottom. The lower gorge is very pleasant and can also be accessed via Edeowie Stationhttp://www.frabs.com.au/aroundedeowie.htm.
It has lovely pools in it and at least one section where the water has to be waded due to the cliffs closing in from each side.

Again, we did all this over 3 (or 4?) leisurely days. I was unfit and the kids were young, so we were not moving all that fast.

All the best
Brian

[eggs]

All right - just a couple more..

I told you I needed some help on a small cliff..

Being helped up a small cliff

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This is on the rocks above the 3 metre drop you must not go down!! a little upstream from the main drop of Glenora Falls.
the bypass ledge is about 2/3rds up the photo on the left

Looking out over the top of Glenora Falls into the walls downstream. Do not descend past this point!

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[north-north-west]

Yes, as has been said elsewhere, the big issue here is water. I've been in there five times now, winter and summer, and Cooinda's never had more than a green smear, though there's usually a useable trickle at Glenora Falls.
Mind, Ive been up to the Flinders after some drought-breaking rains too, but Wilpena was inaccessible 'cause the roads had been washed out . . . It's all in the timing.

[Kainas]

I feel like I have been to this place....(maybe just a dream) where exactly is it?

[eggs]

Kainas

that is a rather broad question.

It is in South Australia
It is in about the middle of the Flinders Ranges - which run a very long way from South to North.
Wilpena Pound is about 450 km North of Adelaide and is a large basin formed by a folded range - with the layers of rock rising up at the edges into a long wall of cliffs in the shape of a horseshoe.
Edeowie Gorge exits out the back of the horseshoe starting from a high saddle which runs from St Mary's Peak on one side to Pompey Pillar on the other. St Mary's Peak is the highest peak in the range.

Does this answer the question?

Brian

[iandsmith]

Silly me, I should have checked here before I went there. I only went past Malloga and wasn't sure how much further to go so I probably only went another half a kilometre or so. Question: Is it possible to access the gorges from the other end?
Here's a couple of pics from my excursion.
Cheers all

[mikethepike]

Thanks eggs and iandsmith for the posting the very good photos ‘eggs’! I'm wondering if you or anyone else can advise me on the route up/down Glenora Falls, the middle of the three falls in Edeowie Gorge. I recently went upstream through the Gorge and am wondering whether or not I took the normal route past it. The falls come almost without warning as a great semi-circular cliff and a ‘path’ appears to go fairly steeply but easily up ground on the right side of the falls (looking upstream). The route then appears to go up as high again or higher to the top of a second line of cliffs after which you presumably descend down easy ground back into the Gorge somewhere above the falls. However, I did the same walk 40 year ago and couldn’t remember leaving the main creek bed to this extent (I could remember the route on Kanalla and Malloga Falls but not much of Glenora) so after getting less than half way up I went back down to the ledge about level with the top of the falls. I walked left and past a hip-high sharp edged boulder that blocks the ledge and that has your backside sticking out over much vertical air as you pass. I then continued around to near the left side of the falls and climbed first one short cliff and then another (neither over 4 m high but not that easy). I certainly don’t remember doing this the previous time we went up this way –it was a big group and we would have taken ages getting everyone and the packs up these two short but steep rock sections and surely I would remember that. Was I off track or should I have kept going up the route I was originally on? Any information will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Re not publishing info on sensitive tracks, I think this one is OK. Certainly it's reputation from 'The Ledge' traverse at Kanalla Falls probably restricts traffic to perhaps 1 to 3 parties in most years.
Thanks, Mike

[eggs]

I notice there was no answer to the question "Is it possible to access the gorges from the other end?"
I suspect this was answered on another thread - but yes - the Gorge can be entered from Edeowie Station side.
This is private property - but given they advertise access, I suspect they would allow access to casual visitors.


Mike,
There are a number of photos of the middle falls section above - including the bypass "ledge" where a boy is shown in the only tricky section. This is looking downstream with the falls a good 20 m below the ledge level.
There is also a photo looking down from the ledge. This is a north view, so the ledge is on the south side of the gorge.
I have been this way twice - first time about 30 years ago. I don't remember any real track that we were following through the gorge on either occassion, although some pads were apparent.
There may be other ways to get around the falls - but this path looks fine - and we had a party of 12 use it 30 years ago - as a day trip without packs.

So to recap describing it going downstream
- there is first a small waterfall that is climbed down by a cliff section to the right of the actual fall (pictured with me climbing - which was for me the most difficult part).
- around the corner is another overhanging drop which should not be attempted (there was a goat carcass below demonstrating your fate if you go that far) - instead - head up the slope on the left (south) as pictured.
- after a short climb traverse around till you reach the ledge and continue along it - the tricky bit is a gap in the ledge where the top juts out and there is a sloping basin of rock that is easy to use to climb past it
- From the end of the ledge it is an easy drop down a slope/scree to the creekbed a short distance down stream from the falls.

Your description was confusing to me - particularly your reference to walking on the left side - when if you were going upstream all of this is on the right hand side of the creek.
However, assuming you were on the south side, if you were traversing a ledge at about the same height as the falls, it is likely you were actually below our ledge - and that certainly looked a more risky proposition.

[eggs]

This is another shot from the ledge - where you can see the falls below.

If you were on a lower shelf - you would have had to negotiate the cliffs on the RHS of the fall in the photo - whereas the higher shelf exits above them.
The descent back down is still steep but quite straightforward - but you need to watch for loose rocks - as one of our 12 was almost hit by one when a member of the group went to shift it to make it "safer".

[eggs]

I found another few shots each way along the ledge to the other end:

View upstream

View downstream - scree/slope at the back is the route up/down from the base of the falls

[mikethepike]

Thanks 'eggs' for your further info and the extra photos but like yourself trying to follow my route description, I'm not fully able to follow your's either. But I'll study it a bit more today as I am going back to the Gorge next week to pick up some gear left there and will take a selection of your photos with me and work it all out then. I will be going in from Wilpena and back again and spend a couple of nights in the Gorge and explore a bit more some of the tributary creeks. There was an article published in Adelaide Bushwalkers' Tandanya magazine some time ago that claimed that the location of one of the Falls was marked wrongly on the topo map. Not sure if correction made in the latest edition. When I find the article and checked it out that next week, I'll give the details here.
If anyone would like to come with me on this trip 9-13 August, (Edeowie Gorge and couple of other interesting days in the Pound) please get in touch by email. Don't worry! You won't be going onto dangerous rock - I keep well clear of such places myself.
Mike

[mikethepike]

HI Eggs
I recently went back to Glenora Falls to collect my rucksack 3 weeks to the day that I left it at there and your route descrition in your 3rd August post now all makes sense to me! I saw the correct ledge when I was there 3 weeks earlier but couldn't recall it from my previous trip so I went down to the lower ledge as you suggested I must have done. I thought it looked the prefered route at the time but now having done both, I much prefer the normal ledge. When I was there earlier and heading upstream, I initially continued up the gully above the traverses apparently following earlier party(s) perhaps trying to avoid the traverse and this was confirmed by a scrap of litter. I decided to checked it out and found that the gully narrows and steepens and ends in cliffs. So I can't see how you can easily avoid the traverse but it is very easy. The small stepped cliff you then have to get up above Glenora Falls is the only part of the Gorge that really requires a bit of physical effort, as you suggest.
cheers, Mike

[eggs]

Glad you figured it out.

Anyway - I am a bit confused about Kanalla Falls? Is this the same as Edeowie Falls - the major drop at the bottom of the gorge?
Or is it next to Malloga Falls - right at the head of the gorge - where the main creek has a fall on it and a side creek also has a fall on it?

[AdamM]

Great photos eggs and iandsmith!

I'm planning on a trip with a mate to Wilpena Pound at the end of the year, probably staying at Wilpena Pound Resort for several nights between Christmas and New year (driving from Adelaide via Clare, in a 2/rear wheel drive sedan, probably a Commodore or Falcon) - does anyone have any suggestions for day walks?

Thanks in advance.

[eggs]

Hello Adam
At that time of the year I think all overnight trips are ruled out by Parks.
Water is always a major issue, but at that time of the year temperature takes over as the key concern.
We took a group of kids to Wilpena in the warmer months and took off for an early ascent of Mt Ohlssen-Bagge {also known as Mt John}.
It is a reasonably short walk from the resort - but we almost melted even in the early morning temperatures of a very hot day.
We did not attempt any other climbs that day - but did do a drive up to Brachina Gorge with brief excursions out of the air conditioning to look along the creeks.
So Ohlssen-Bagge can be done on a hot day if you start really early.
If the weather is cooler, you could climb St Mary's peak (take plenty of water) as a return walk or a loop inside the Pound, and a long return walk could also be attempted to the top of Edeowie - but temperatures must be reasonably cool.
A much easier walk is to Blinman Pools - which is a lovely flat walk which should have some water in parts.
referhttp://www.southaustraliantrails.com/trails.asp?id=14251 - download the pdf from there.

[north-north-west]

I've done the St Mary's loop in summer, whilst driving back from the west just after the New Year. It's OK if you're used to walking in hot conditions.
Or maybe it was just a cool summer . . .

[mikethepike]

Hi eggs
With regards to the name Edeowie Falls, there is no official recognistion of that name and I can only think that someone used the term generically for their Kanalla or Malloga Falls. Just while on nomenclature, it's interesting that Mt Sawtooth is not an officially recognised name, it has nver appeared on the topo maps, though it did appear on other map(s) at one time. (It's the ridge line that overlooks the northern side of Edeowie Gorge)

[eggs]

A quick update re walking in summer.
Parks have now an official policy that closes all the major walks into the pound and its adjacent peaks during the Summer months.
ie Cooinda Camp and Malloga Falls, Tanderra Saddle and Mt Ohlsen-Bagge