Text and photosSonya Muhlsimmer

Heni descending Pantoneys Crown

A round trip to Pantoneys Crown and Point Cameron, Capertee Valley, NSW – join the dots

Did you know Australia has its own Grand Canyon? Yep, that’s right, it is out near Capertee, in the Gardens of Stone National Park in NSW. Capertee Valley is the widest canyon in the world, around 30 kilometres wide and 875-1000 metres deep. The Grand Canyon in America is not quite as wide as Capertee but it's deeper.

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Capertee Valley is known as Wiradjuri country to the original inhabitants of the area, with numerous significant cultural sites. It is also home to critically endangered White Box, Yellow Box and Blakely’s Red Gum Woodland, and 26 threatened animal species. This is a special place and absolutely spectacular to see. So, when a friend of mine called and asked if I was interested in doing a three day hike to visit Pantoneys Crown and Point Cameron, well of course I said yes.

Pantoneys Crown is an immaculate mesa located in the middle of the valley surrounded by soaring sandstone cliffs, magnificent to see rising to 1039 metres high. Point Cameron is a big cluster of pagodas along a rim of cliffs that literally point out, with a big scramble to get up to the top, which is about 1014 metres high. At either point the views are simply breathtaking.

This was an Upper Blue Mountains Bushwalking Club walk with Kirstie as leader, and I was the co-leader. There were three other members on this walk, Anna, Gary and Heni. The plan was to do a car shuffle so we don’t walk the last four or so kilometres on the

fire trail. The start of the hike was near Baal Bone Gap. We would then walk along the cliff and find the scramble down Baal Bone Point, climb Pantoneys Crown and camp the night. Day two was to walk to the northern end, scramble down then climb Point Cameron for camp two, then walk out past Mount Jamison and McLeans Pass, along the Great Dividing Range to our cars. This is a pretty tough walk and not for the faint-hearted. We have to carry a bit of water to camp as there is no or minimal water, unless you know where to find it. We also have to scramble up and down the sides of steep cliffs with heavy packs with some exposure, and navigate through a maze of pagodas and thick tall shrubs. But the views make it all worth it.

Gary, Anna, Kirstie and Heni at the top of Pantoneys Crown

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Day 1: Moffitt Trail to Pantoneys Crown, 12.35km, 9 hrs, elevation 700-1039 m

I left home at 6 am, picked up Kirstie then drove towards Lithgow to pick up Heni and Gary. We were meeting Anna at Lidsdale off the Castlereagh Highway, then following her to leave her car at the end of the walk on a rough fire trail, only accessible with a 4WD. Then we drove to the top of the hill on the Moffitt Trail and started our walk. The main trails were maintained recently so the drive was pretty good most of the way. I recommend a high clearance 4WD because when the rains come, it is steep and slippery in some sections. The side trail is not accessible without a 4WD, do not try it without a capable car. A quick note here, a few litres of water must be carried as the next water spot is around lunch the following day.

At around 8:46 am at checkpoint one, into the scrub we went. Kirstie was spot on with her navigation and in no time we made it to checkpoint two, the cliff. I need to tell you, in Kirstie’s preparation for the hike she contacted a friend who had done the trip last Easter and as the inspiration for the route.

Pantoneys Crown in sight

We found it. The hole in the rock, we are on the right track. Baal Bone Gap

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He had the dot points from his trip. So we were playing join the dots for our proposed route, with 11 dots, or checkpoints in total. Soon enough the view opened and we could see Pantoneys Crown. Wow it is impressive to see. We continued to walk along the cliff till we started descending Baal Bone Point. Checkpoint three was around a pagoda or two and down a small crack with a handline around a tree, through a squeeze between a couple of boulders and down a pretty steep hill. We then walked across the saddle to the base of Pantoneys Crown. Once we were out of the thick scrub we could see it straight ahead: the end was is in sight. We must still climb up about 265 metres and we would then be at camp. We reached checkpoint four at the base of the scramble and after a few pack hauls and a few rests, we were on the top of Pantoneys Crown, otherwise known

Finding our way down Baal Bone Gap

Sonya descending Baal Bone GapKirstie Wulf

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as checkpoint five, high camp. It was just on dark when we got to the camp on Pantoneys, however we got some great sunsets as we reached the top.

Day 2: Pantoneys Crown to Point Cameron, 11.75km, 10 hrs, elevation 524-1014 m

The weather was forecast to be wet but so far the rain had held off. Kirstie, Gary and I decided to have breakfast at the top of the world and enjoy the view, on top of a pagoda, but it was going to be a big day today with another peak to climb so we didn’t stay too long having breakfast. We packed up and once we got around a couple of pagodas the walking was fairly straight forward with some more stunning views.

The summit plateau is only about 1.3 kilometres long before it drops down and a scramble begins and we quickly made it to the large cairn, which denotes the highest

point. There is a logbook somewhere up here, I looked around, but I could not find it. On we went to find checkpoint six, the northern pass, which is where the scramble down begins.

There were hand lines attached in a few places, but we used our own hand lines at other steep areas where we couldn’t quite see what was below - it was better to be safe than sorry. It turned out to be OK once we saw what was under foot, but it was good to have the line as a backup.

Heni descending Pantoneys Crown

Gary climbing up Point Cameron

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Once the scramble was done, there was still quite a way to go down. After a few slips, trips and falls we had a break. It is hard on the knees with a heavy pack on your back.

Checkpoint seven was the next point of interest, it was the ideal ridge. This area was affected by the 2019-20 fires and the regrowth has turned into thick scrub in some places. It was quite hard walking, you just have to keep pushing through and eventually the scrub thins out. We followed the recommended ridge, until checkpoint eight where we descended to find Crown Creek. We were all running out of water.

Once down at the creek it was a worrying sight, the creek bed was bone dry. Our plan if no water could be found was to follow the Bicentennial Trail back to the cars for an easy exit. Half the group walked one way up the creek, the other half walked down the creek in search of water.

We were to whistle if or when we found water. Heni, Kirstie and Anna found water upstream and they whistled.

Meanwhile, Gary could hear water gushing from somewhere, then he found a shed with a hatch in the bushes. On closer inspection he managed to open the hatch as there was a broken lock and lo and behold, there was water inside. But the catch was you had to climb down into the shed, then drop down to a shelf to get the water. It was a bit tricky to get to but there was water. I was willing to get in but I am short, and the shelf was taller than me so I was a bit worried that if I got

Point Cameron in the back - Checkpoint 8Kirstie Wulf

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in there, it would be really hard to get out. Gary managed to get in. I handed him all our bottles and he filled them up. It was a good supply of water, but I would not recommend banking on this supply as if the hatch was locked, there would be no way to access this supply. Besides, the other half of our group found a good supply of water in a nearby creek.

After lunch it was time to start walking up to the ridge, checkpoint nine, the spur, then to find the scramble up to Point Cameron. The scrub was thick in some parts, but we pushed through and found checkpoint 10 where we start climbing. We did a few pack hauls, scrambled up about 150 metres and we were at the top, checkpoint 11 Point Cameron, our last checkpoint. It was just on dark so we found a few flat spots of ground to set up camp. We were near the point which is called the nipple, literally right on the side of the cliff. I would not want to be a sleepwalker here. At least we would have some amazing views to wake up to. During the night the rain finally came. We were not going to avoid it this trip.

Day 3: Point Cameron to car, 5.2km, 5 hrs, elevation 1007-1084 m

It was raining through the night and drizzling in the morning so when I woke up I got dressed and had breakfast in my tent, then packed up what I could before getting out of the tent. It was going to be a wet but relatively short day walking back to the car and we could then change into dry warm clothes. We were walking along the cliff but navigating through a few pagodas and again through some thick scrub. We eventually found some cairns, which led us down a pagoda and up through another one and along to Mount Jamison, then down a steep rocky track and into McLeans Pass. Wow, it was pretty spectacular in here. Anna led us at this point as she knew the way. McLeans Pass is an old route between the Wolgan Valley and Capertee divide. It is a short canyon and tunnel, otherwise known as the Stargate Tunnel. It was spectacular and only a couple of kilometres to the car. Kirstie found a watch

along the trail and it looked like it was only recently lost as it had battery life left. After signing the logbook we were off to the cars and home to a hot shower.

We eventually reached Anna’s car and she drove us back to my car. Wow, the road had changed significantly from a couple of days ago. The rough road that we drove down had turned out to be a lot rougher with some pretty big puddles of water. I am glad it was Anna’s big Land Rover navigating this section of road and not my Suzuki Grand Vitara. I think my car could have managed, but it was good to have the bigger, tougher 4WD to get us out. It was a rough couple of kilometres to drive, and I am so glad we were not walking this part.

Back at my car we changed into something warm and dry and headed home. What a walk, it was awesome. The views were something else and so worth it, but as I said it is a tough walk and not for the faint-hearted. It was a long weekend of great company, amazing views and an epic adventure.

Stargate TunnelKirstie Wulf

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