Gammon Ranges 2010

[eggs]

Thanks jcr_au
I have not heard of those, but will look into them.

[eggs]

The home contents insurance covered me for accidentally damage and with full replacement - so I now have the same 2 lenses but an upgrade to a Pentax K-7.
I can take photos again!!

Camping on the top of Mt McKinley

[freemandale]

Ahh!! The scenery and colours are so different!! Whilst I like my Tasmanian walking (I just love the greenery!), there is nothing quite like the colour and vibrancy of SA!

So, winter in SA and summer in Tas - it doesn't get better than that!

[mikethepike]

I've done four extended walks in the Gammons and used a Kodak Instamatic on my first walk with pretty ordinary results. I didn't take a camera on the other walks but this was before I stared to take a compact digital camera which, not surprisingly, doesn't come up with anything like the quality of your photos.

[NNW - I have no idea about the stability of the big scree, but it is very steep and I doubt anyone would try to climb it.
There are some reasonable screes for climbing, but there are also a lot you can see which would be suicidal - being very fine and extremely steep]

From what I've read about rock screes, each one comes to rest at an angle which is very stable for the type of rock involved. So not counting, for example, screes composed of slaty bits lying in rock dust than might lend themselves to glissading, I think all the screes made up of bigger rock are very stable and safely can take the weight of people walking up and down them. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has a different experience of this.

[eggs]

Thanks re the photos. I do take a heavy DSLR camera with a few lenses and a tripod on these kind of walks.
One day I might try just the pocket Pentax Q, but for now I happy to carry the extra 3.5kg.

There are some amazingly steep screes on the face of McKinley.

Very steep fine screes on a ridge off Mt McKinley

However, we did descend what could be called an active scree coming off McKinley Bluff. There is a photo looking up at its bottom part [Number 23].
It was not really fine material, but in going down this scree you would often place a foot and then surf it down for a metre or 2 until it stabilised again.
I am not sure how you would go about climbing up this one.
This is a shot at a point where it got a bit better - probably because the rocks got a bit bigger and less prone to slipping.

Coming down the sliding scree from McKinley Bluff

[north-north-west]

Up a scree is always a bit safer than down. You're right though, you'd have to be very careful, especially with a full pack.

[psychs]

Hi Eggs,
Thanks for your great stories & photos covering the Gammons. Just a couple of specific questions.
(1) Do you need a rope to descend the waterfalls of The Terraces? From some of your photos it looks a bit hairy.
(2) How hard is it going up Streak Gorge & the saddle at the top of it?
(3) I'd be keen to follow your path to the the Prow from The Terraces. What's the grid reference for where you start ascending to the Prow?
Cheers
psychs

[eggs]

Hi - just noticed your questions.
1) We did not use a rope down the Terraces - but we did pass packs down by hand.
2) Streak Gorge was straightforward and only a bit scrubby getting onto the saddle at the top.
3) After descending into the top of the Terraces from this saddle, we dropped packs at the second LHS creek junction and headed up it [roughly North] about 300m. This was an easy creek to walk, but we exited when we thought it was getting a bit scrubby. After climbing up onto the broad slope under the Prow - we basically headed straight for the Prow and climbed it directly. We returned via the same route to the packs before descending down the main part of the Terraces.
I have a reference map from scrubmaster indicating that he has been to the Prow by following that creek to its source just under the Prow and by descending down Fern Chasm.
Fern Chasm has some big drops in it, but could possibly be bypassed by walking just above the chasm.

[iandsmith]

Wow, only four years late but, hey, lovely story and pics. I've heard the Gammons were pretty good, now I've seen your stuff I'm convinced!
Cheers, Ian

[Leugocaster]

Hi eggs

thanks for multiple great posts and photos

I am planning a first walk in the Gammon ranges starting in late July and imagine 8/9 days walking in a loop from lochness well (leaving car Forester will this get in?)

It would include some of what seem to be highlights from you and others pictures and also give a sense of the multiple different environments and visit peaks (John roberts, cleft, prow and Mckinlay as well as the more interesting gorges (bunyip, Cleft, terraces..) and waterfalls.

I am thinking of a couple of day trips radially out from the loop one to the Prow and the other to McKinlay.

We should be able to carry enough water to camp out for a night if necessary.

I hasn't rained much this year although there was 40mm in late April at the Arkaroola gauge.

We have done substantial off track walking (8-12 day - Tassy, budawangs, Kakadu, NZ) and are comfortable climbing steeper stuff and pack hauling if necessary.

Do you have any recommendations for places to visit, great campsites, interesting routes, reliable water? if there were a good reason we could make it longer and maybe put in a food drop to be retrieved part way through the walk. We could also make it shorter and spend a day stationary just enjoying being there and exploring around camp - would you have a recommendation for places to consider for this?

Thanks for your and anyone's contributions in advance

[eggs]

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