Mittagong to katoomba....

[puredingo]

G'day, I'm thinking of taking this walk on next month and was wondering if anyone on here has done it? If so my questions are do you think the food drop at Yerranderie is essential and with all this rain (POURING as I type) will the various foords/creeks be crossable? I'll be entering at Starlights which will shorten the Nattia stretch and I can miss some of the Kowmung to I suppose If I'm getting light on for food? Anybody got any educated ideas???

[kanangra]

No the food drop at Yerranderie isn't necessary. The only real crossings you have to worry about are the Wollondilly and the Coxs. Neither should be a real problem unless the heavens really open up.

K.

[puredingo]

Thanks for the reply K. Would it be a safe assumption going by your handle that you did the walk the other way around..starting at Katoomba? Going by the maps that way seems a slight bit easier on the legs but that's just a guess.

I don't know about the heavens opening up but we're nearly flooding here in the Illawarra and apparently the Warragamba dam is about to over flow...would this have any effect on the area?

Cheers, aaron.

[kanangra]

I'v ebeen both ways and It is easier from Katoomba but it is a long way in either direction. The Wollondilly is the largest river you will come to. It is very wide at the crossing and will be running so you will need to be careful. All the rivers are running high and more rain is predicted so you will have to make a judgment. The area at the Woll. crossing is open and free of obstructions so should be possible, if careful, even after heavy rain.

K

[climberman]

No the food drop at Yerranderie isn't necessary. The only real crossings you have to worry about are the Wollondilly and the Coxs. Neither should be a real problem unless the heavens really open up.

K.

The 'dilly is currently four metres above normal. The Coxs is up a metre. They'd be a real problem, now the heavens have opened up.

[Pteropus]

On the news this morning the Wollondilly was rising fast in Goulburn. Check the bom out here -> http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/flood/greatersydney.shtml ... for river heights click the "River Conditions" button in the box above the map. Looks like the river is around 5ish metres down stream of Goulburn.

[michael_p]

Here is a direct link to the river height chart of the Wollondilly at Jooriland: http://www.bom.gov.au/fwo/IDN60233/IDN60233.568144.plt.shtml.

There doesn't seem to be a graph for the Nattai, which is a pity as there are several crossings required on the K2M route.

Cheers,
Michael.

[puredingo]

Thanks for that Micheal....Maybe I'll have to leave it for awhile? I can only imagine how over grown the Nattia is after this summer of perfect growing weather..the weeds would be HUUGGGGEEE.

[Lindsay]

I attempted this last year - Mittagong to Katoomba, but had to pull out on the second day after an injury. The Nattai is extremely diffcult going and exiting via Stralights trail seems a really good idea.

[puredingo]

Hey mate, just did but pulled out at Yerranderie...It was a hard, trackless slog and I wouldn't recommend it, unless your into that kind of thing?

[jackhinde]

completed katoomba to mittagong proper today... if you pull out on starlights then you're cheating
we blazed the trail along the nattai quite well over the last 3 days, so if anyone else wants a go they have about 5 days till the weeds close in again.
sorry we were to late for you mr. dingo

[puredingo]

G'day Jack, I must of only just missed you somewhere along the line...which wouldn't be hard as I was lost A LOT...I actually think I seen your entry in the ledger on top of Bellon pass? The Nattia really did me in as I couldn't find hardly any of the old Nattia Rd and just stuck to the river to be sure. It was hard going.

[jackhinde]

we did the nattai from belloon to mittagong. starlights down to belloon is quite reasonable aside from the %^&(&^ sticky beaks/farmers friends. the hardest bit at the moment is the area known as "blatches pass" between russels needle and the bottom of box vale.
that nattai road is quite open so you were unlucky not to find it, though it leaves the river and heads reasonably high up the bank in a few spots. also it does not follow the path as shown on the topo, for example the topo has at least two more river crossings than actually exist from memory.

[puredingo]

Yeah, I only had the topo map to go off and it wasn't much use (although it saved me going up Belloon pass) I lost my GPS on the first day which was OK because A) I didn't really know how to use it and B) It was borrowed off a mate.
I don't know the names of the crossings but heading my way S-N I couln't find the trail after the first 3 crossings. One trail was nice and open until I had to cross the river and on the other side I couldn't even find the beginning of where a trail might have been ( this is where the river bends off to the west) so I then hugged the river bank and according to the map I missed a crossing so then I came upon the last crossing before Belloon pass. I followed this trail with big hopes as it was also nice and cleared and there was quiet a recent fire some ways along but it just ended in a mass of kickarse weeds? So back to the river I went and again hugged it until I came across those 2 water depth markers and the Pass sign.
All this extra scrub bashing cost me time and energy and made the pass climb hell!! By the way was that you plastic mallett half way up the pass? I would of grabbed it for you but an extra gum leaf worth of weight on me and i would of actually cried.

[jackhinde]

nah, the mallet probably belongs to who ever has been busy addding new markers... could be sloss. where'd you drop the gps? i'll be nattai bashing again in a week or two and i like the idea of a treasure hunt!

[puredingo]

Nah, the mallet was sitting up on a rock about chest height as proud as punch, you could not miss it walking past so i assumed somebody found it and sat it there for a fellow walker who was looking for it? I doubt it belongs to Sloss he's gone extinct as far as I know? and this mallet was newish.
Mate, I hope to hell you don't find that GPS because if you do it means your know near where you should be on the nattia...and if you do find it tell it to go to hell from me. It told me after 10 hrs of walking I'd done 4 kmls!!! and just once more with the weak satellite signal message i would of smashed it was rock anyway.
Howcome you do this particular walk so often? If you don't mind me asking.

[jackhinde]

i'm into that sort of thing

[puredingo]

Gotcha...Well let me know when your going next time and I'll tag along and this time I can do it with a bit of luxurious of farm road romping...That's if if your into that sort of thing?

[Hughmac]

Hi guys. Let me know if you do want to organise a walk, I'd be happy to tag along - I like that walking myself. I also tend to agree that bypassing the Nattai to Mittagong is cheating, but god its a hard slog at the start or end of a long walk. I reckon a walk down Nattai Rd then back up the river to Mittagong would be a fair hit out in its own right - Nattai Rd down to the river is actually quite a nice walk if you've never done it.

[jackhinde]

got some budawang business to sort out soon. will let you know in a week or two about nattai bashing... how do you feel about climbing/scrambling?

[Hughmac]

If you mean climbing with ropes, I've never done it, although I've done a little abseiling and have a harness. I gather by scrambling you mean traversing rough country including inclines, and I'm fine with that. I used to live at Hilltop, and have a done a bit of off track walking around Rocky Waterholes Ck and the Nattai. I currently live at Moss Vale.
Cheers

[puredingo]

Well I'll assume I would be the least experienced out of us as I've no absieling experience at all. If Hughs definition of scrambling is correct then i'm alright with that as i grew up in the national park and before I knew what "bushwalking" was i was doing it on a daily basis.
Count me in I may be 39 but what I lack in youth I make up in enthusiasm

[jackhinde]

an hilltopian in moss vegas. forgive a mere mitta snob, but is that a step up in the world or step down?
just kidding. got a few events up the sleeve, will pm you both eventually.

[Hughmac]

A step sideways I reckon

[puredingo]

No such thing, Hugh. That's realestate propaganda sugar coated in the guise of politcal speil, each relocation is positive or negative but never an even split. If we're talking the highlands I'm going to go with Exeter as my place of abode given the choice.

(p.s you can tell I'm bored outa my head nursing a sick teenager)

[Hughmac]

I have to say that there aren't many places I wouldn't like to live in the Highlands (Bowral springs to mind though). The natural environment in nearly all directions is magnificent, just no end of amazing places to investigate.

[highlander chris]

There's nothing wrong with Hill top, so quiet, and plent of playground just over the back fence! Certainly better moss vale lol