The Blue Labyrinth : First Exploratory Route-finding Attempt

by Sean Greenhill, Sun 25th June 2000

Route : Wentworth Falls, King's Tableland Rd, Kedumba, Mt Solitary and return

Click on thumbnail to get full size photo
Grid References (GR) are from the Jamison 1:25000 topographical map

GR 566607, descending along Kedumba Valley Rd, almost right after the hospital turnoff, looking south	GR 566605, further down the road, still looking south. Lions Head Ridge in the distance
GR 567602, looking across from Kedumba Valley Rd towards Solitary and the Jamison Valley - more southerly (towards Solitary)	GR 567602, looking across from Kedumba Valley Rd towards Solitary and the Jamison Valley - looks almost directly west
GR 573588, not too far before Kedumba Valley Rd hooks back to the north. Still facing south, vegatation rainforesty and ferny	GR 573585, right on the corner where the road hooks back north. Looking south
GR 572587, looking north (and down) on a concreted section of Kedumba Valley Rd with a big bloody overhang!	GR 567578, on Kedumba Valley Rd at the bottom of the descent, in rainforesty environment with vegetion not so thick, but a lot of lichen and rock outcroppings - facing east back where I had come from
GR 567578, on Kedumba Valley Rd at the bottom of the descent, in rainforesty environment with vegetion not so thick, but a lot of lichen and rock outcroppings - facing west	GR 560577. Standing on the overgrown old firetrail not marked on the map that is apparently part of the direct traverse which skips Kedumba - facing east where I had come from
GR 560577. Standing on the overgrown old firetrail not marked on the map that is apparently part of the direct traverse which skips Kedumba - facing west	GR 557577, almost on the banks of the Kedumba River, somewhere in there behind that huge bank of ferns. Looks like I got some muck on the camera lens
GR 559569, walking into the clear at the old Kedumba homestead, looking south	GR 560567, Mt Solitary as viewed from Kedumba Valley Rd approaching the old homestead. Where I pushed up the ridge after the trail ended is in that steep lip that's in shadow, where the spur down the mountain flattens out
GR 562565, looking east back towards Kedumba Walls where I've descended from (and have to go back up!)	GR 559564, part of the ruins of the Kedumba homestead with Mt Soitary in the background. The road is out of shot to the right
GR 558564, the ford over Kedumba River jsut past the ruins. The waters damn freezing and the rocks under the water are quite mossy and slippery	GR 547566, ascending up the trail towards Solitary Pass. As you can see the road surface is still fine. It's not difficult at all to find the right road out of Kedumba, either
GR 544573, the sign at the "wrong" trailhead (the one marked on the map as going nowhere). The trail is leaving the road behind and to the right of the sign. Not in shot is a VCR sized flat rock on the roadside with SOLITARY painted on it and an arrow pointing towards this trail. Must be the way to go!	GR 544574, on the trail. Footing and finding the trail still not an issue, although a bit overgrown. Just north of here (we're looking north) the trail comes to a campsite and stops. There's a steep ridge on the left of that which I pushed up and down the other side before turning back.

-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Greenhill [mailto:bigmig@tig.com.au]
Sent: Sunday, 25 June 2000 23:47
To: KevinTiller
Subject: RE: blue labyrinth

Some general comments on today's walk ...

1. The surface is excellent the whole way. Some of it, while descending
Kedumba Walls, is even concreted. The rest is good quality fire trail or
flat even walking path (when you leave the road at Solitary Pass). Footing
is not an issue where I was- although I did slip and fall on some sand
covering the concrete while descending Kedumba Walls in the morning. Because
I had someone's valuable camera in my hand, I couldn't break my fall with my
hand, and landed on the point of my shoulder. It's still sore.

2. The route described in "Bushwalks in the Sydney Region" which keeps going
straight on west when Kedumba Rd swings south, and follows the river around,
does exist- there's an old overgrown firetrail which heads down to the
river. Hoever, the banks of the river are one big bank of ferns, and I got
lost walking around in it for a few minutes. Yes, you could follow the river
around and push upwards, but coming down I doubt you'd find the turnoff
unless you took compass bearings going up. I went back to the Kedumba Rd,
went down to the old homestead, then took the firetrail up to Solitary Pass.

3. Water can be obtained from Waterfall Creek, which crosses the firetrail
at the base of the Kedumba Walls escarpment. Water is also obtainable if you
follow the roadpast Solitary Pass- a few minutes down the road, you can get
water from Singajingawell Creek (love that name!).

4. Going up Kedumba Walls is very similar to Pluviometer- 600m elevation
gain in 6K. By comparison, Pluviometer gains just under 500m in 6K
(Staircase Spur on Mt Bogong gains 1350m in 6K.).

5. When you examine Solitary Pass on both the Jamison topo and the Bushwalks
in the Sydney Region maps, there's a dam on the left as you climb to the
Pass, right after that on the right a fire trail is marked as going north
for a bit then petering out, then after that a footpad is illustrated as
going up Solitary. However, the "road ends" fire trail has a sign saying Mt
Solitary Walking Track (I took a photo of the sign) and a slab of rock on
the roadside opposite the sign has "Solitary" painted on it, along with an
arrow pointing along the firetrail (which is a bit grown over, but perfectly
navigable). Not much doubt then about where National Parks think this trail
goes. YOu pass a fork which heads to the right and down (which I should have
checked out) then comes to a campground and ends. I pushed up a steep ridge
on all fours (shades of Duane Spur) but didn't get anywhere. I went back to
the main road an wake don further looking for the footpad that the maps mark
as the course up Solitary but never found it, And I know I didn't mix the
two trails up on the map. That fork on the sugnposted track bothers me- it
might have wound round the slope and headed up the gentler slopes to the
north. All will be revealed the Saturday after next.

6. I still think this route is feasible and it had a great "epic" feeling
today surrounded on all sides by these huge brooding monuments that have
always gazed down on this land, and always will.        However, I'll try to
think of other possible routes in the next couple of weeks in case it
doesn't work out. I want it to go over a mountain though!!!!

Sean Greenhill
Burwood, Sydney, Australia