The Blue Labyrinth : Second Exploratory Route-finding Attempt

by Sean Greenhill, Sat 8th July 2000

Route : Narrowneck, Golden Staircase, Ruined Castle, Mt Solitary, King's Tableland Rd, Kedumba, Wentworth Falls
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-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Greenhill [mailto:bigmig@tig.com.au]
Sent: Monday, 10 July 2000 22:43
To: KevinTiller
Subject: Notes from Solitary

1. The descent from the Golden Stairs carpark is fairly steep and technical-
no grand staircase of anything like that which the name might suggest. It's
a rocky, muddy descent with 2-3 sections of metal stairs. It keeps dropping
and dropping and I thought for a while that I might have missed a turnoff
and taken the trail which drops right down into the Jamison. Eventually you
reach a T junction with a good, flat trail. Theres a big sign right
opposite, which points left to the Scenic Railway and right to Solitary and
the Ruined Castle.

2. The trail to Solitary runs along a ledge partway below the escarpment, so
you've got cliff heading up on your right. Kind of rainforesty, lots of
ferns etc. The trail is good dirt, though when I was there it was prone to
get slippery and muddy, especially given a fair few people tramp over it.
Definitely a good run. Eventually the cliff on the right vanishes quite
suddenly and you're in a wide open area covered in ferns. The escarpment
above you has ended at the rock formation called Castle Head, but you can't
see it through the bank of trees.

3. You come to a trail junction with one trail heading steeply up to the
right, with a signpost procaliming "Ruined Castle. Very steep climb" and
another sign points along the main trail as it continues along, marked "Mt
Solitary". Heading right, another sign is passed almost immediately saying
"Track in very poor condition" but I never had navigational problems. Its a
rocky, gravelly trail that heads upwards to the ridgetop and follows it up.
Great views across to Narrowneck. Where the trees thin, if you look back
over your shoulder you'll see the imposing rock formation called Castle Head
which is actually where the escarpment that was above you off to the right
earlier on ends. For a moment I thought I'd missed a turnoff and passed the
Ruined Castle. But soon you pass two huge boulders then the rock formation
called Ruined Castle. YOu can climb up if you want; I didn't. The trail
skirts round to the right of the Castle and drops steeply (still pretty
rough, gravelly trail) back down and soon meets the main trail again. No
signposts here.

4. The trail is still god quality, and through gaps in the trees you see the
conical formation of Solitary standing high above you as you approach. The
trail passes right over the tops of three or four knolls, each one bigger
than the last. The last one is large enough for you to think you may have
begun the assault on Solitary itself, but no. The trail is still pretty
runnable all the way here, muddy in some spots, rocky in others, fine
elsewhere. You've reached the assault on Solitary when you come to a rock
step formation that goes up and up. The trail diverges left and right. Take
the left trail- apparently the right leads round the cliff faces on
Solitary's south side. You don't want to be there. Get ready to rock climb.
FOr the next 15 minutes, you'll haul yourself up and up with your arms and
legs over rock faces, rock steps, etc with little walking. The route is
regularly marked with arrows and spots of yellow paint- I had no
navigational issues, but in general, just head for the highest points you
can see. It's not exactly time to reach for karabiners, but I've done a bit
of rock climbing and I found my knowledge of the technique helpful. I
wouldn't expect any problems though. Thuis section of ridg eis called the
Korowall Kinfe Edge, and drops away on left and right. Where you can, snatch
views of the Jamison Valley on the left and Cedar Valley and Narrowneck on
the right. Behind you, the Ruined Castle is surprisingly small- just a knob
on the escarpment.

5. The top of the conical peak (which is not actually the summit of
Silitary, but looks it- it stnads apart from the rest of the plateau)
gradully flattens ut, then starts rolling downwards. There aere no trail
markers in this scrubby forest enviroment. Early on a coupple of footpads
head off the one you're on, branching to the right- ignore these. You're
switching from a south easterly course to a more directly eastern route. The
trail starts dropping into thicker, damper vegetation, bearing left usually.
Eventually you descend to a series of rock overhangs called Chinamans Caves.
The trail keeps going on straight, but you want to tak a trail  that heads
off to the right just before the first overhang.It goes up a rise into spiky
vegetation. Form here on the going is pretty technical most of the way-
like, say, the Berowra- Cowan leg of the Great North Walk.

6. Rule of thumb from here on- stick to the northern cliff face, which
you'll come across sonn  enough. The trail climbs upwards, reaches the
highest point of Solitary (950m), and the odd footpad heads to the right.
Ignore these, you don't want to be drawn into the interior of the plataeu. I
found it slow going, but no navigational issues. For most of this leg, the
trail is never more than a few metres from the cliff face, although much of
the timne you can't see the cliff line through the vegetation. At a few
points you can look back the way you came at the cliffs you've passed, and
the Ruined Castle and series of knolls you scaled. You can also see sunlight
glinting off rooftops in Katoomba on the far side of the Jamison Valley.

7. As you approach the East Face, you start to scramble over rocks again,
and the yellow paint arrows and spots reappear (in some cases faded to
white). The trail drops steeply, then climbs again as you approach the Eat
Face. Off to the right, you can see the Col which arcs through the middle of
the plataeu here. It actually has some cliffs surrounding it in spots-
cliffs within the greater cliffs of Solitary. Apparently you can drop
throuhg the inner cliffs here and follow a creekbed down, but we won't. On
the other side of the col, the ground rises again, higher than here on the
North Face, before suddely dropping awya on the southern cliffs. You pass
betwen two large rocks and the trail drops suddenly away to the left. This
is the "official" route down. But ahead of you is a rocky knob surrounded by
cliffs on three sides. Walk out to it and be greeted with views to Lake
Burragorang (Warragamba Dam) to the south and Kedumba Walls opposite, where
you will be climbing in a few hours. There's a logbook inside a rusty metal
cannister here, with entries dating back to 1997. Also two pens- fill it out
for posterity like I did, and read the comments of those who have gone
before. (I should take it home next time- someone ,ight have detailed the
route down to Solitary Pass that frustrated me a fortnight ago.) Walk back
to where the trail drops away. It's time to climb down Solitary.

8. The descent is very steep over loose earth and rock. It is, however, well
marked from this direction with paint marks and small metal plates nailed to
tree trunks at about eye level. These metal plates are within line of sight
of each other almost al the way. Navigation should not be an issue during
the descent, even though the trail is very poor.The trail starts to bear
leftish and follows the top of a ridgeline. At one point you come into a
clearing where there are no markings. It's a flat, terracey area. I spent 20
minutes wandering round the clearing wondering whoich way to go, before I
crossed the clearing directly across from the entry point, followed the top
of the ridge, passed a paint mark and knew I was on course. Then it gets
steep again, and I more or less slipped and slided down this steep section.
Very steep indeed- to go up would mean all four limbs on loose steep earth.
As you get lower still the land starts to flatten out an dthe rainforesty
vegetation from further up thins out somewhat. Eventually you will hear
water below you and come out on the western bank of the Kedumba River.

9. From here on there are no markings. There are a couple of large fallen
trees spanning the water here, but probably too slippery to walk on. Ford
the river right away. A little further downstream another tree crosses the
water, and past that the west bank becomes a wall of rock, and I had to
retrace my steps- so cross the river as soon as you descend to it! There's
good footing on the opposite bank. Head right (south) and eventually you
cross a large ditch which was a watercourse running into the Kedumba.
Opposite this the bank rises steeply. From the footpad where you crossed,
folow that footpad a few metres to the left, then it swings around and heads
up this steep bank. Once atop it, you will find an old, very overgrown
vehicle track. Follow it along, roughly parallel to the Kedumba riverbank.
The trail starts to peter out as you enter a large field of dense ferns, but
ther eare a few faint footpads. Follow these south through the ferns for a
minute or two and then on your left you'll see an overgrown fire trail
heading down towards tyou and the riverbank which is on your right behind
the banks of ferns. Follow this old firetrail up and out and in a few
minutes you'll pass a steep rise on your right and stand on Kedumba Valley
Road. Follow this road straight ahead, get good water from Waterfall Creek
where it crosses the road, and then it's upwards for 600m to the Queen
Victoria Hospital and Kings Tableland Road. It's 7K to Wentworth Falls from
here.

Sean Greenhill
Burwood, Sydney, Australia