A Hard Day's Night in the Budawangs

Setting off

2.5 m termite mound

We moved quite quickly, even with full packs, until we finally reached a steep conglomerate slope that took us to the base of the first rampart of cliffs guarding the heartland of the Budawangs. Here the track changed dramatically as it followed the cliff line, winding left then right, rising steeply then dropping sharply as it avoided the many large boulders, overhangs, waterfalls, clumps of mallee and other obstacles at the base of this 130 m high conglomerate cliff. Each step taken was either over exposed mallee roots, up on to a rock or down into a hollow – flat ground and a clear track were rare luxuries as the dense shrub layer overhanging the path tried to snag our packs as we passed.

It was amazing how quickly we could climb with just a light daypack in place of the two heavy backpacks. Half-way up the timbered slope, we looked up to the sheer rock face and spotted a group of climbers just starting their descent – using a rope on a very steep rock slope close to the vertical drop of over 100 m! This presented a new dimension to our climb, as I suffer from fear of exposure to height.

The track led up to “The Tunnel”, a crack in the narrow rock ridge leading up to The Castle plateau. Passing through first squeezed you vertically, then horizontally before exiting on the eastern side. From here, a track followed the base of rock face for a few hundred metres to a steeply-rising gully where the final ascent of The Castle began in earnest. At the base of this gully we met the descending group and had a chat with them – apparently ropes were essential for the final 30 m climb onto the plateau, as the alternative route was not obvious and even more exposed. We took stock, and having passed our youthful belief in our own immortality, decided to climb as high as we could but not take any unnecessary risks.

Zig-zagging ever more steeply and narrowly, with a series of interesting rock scrambles, we eventually emerged at the top of the “Tadpole's Tail”, the local name for the narrow rock ridge leading up to the plateau of The Castle. We were at 807 m, just 30 m below the top of The Castle and the feeling of exposure increased dramatically – instead of a steep drop behind and a sold wall in front, suddenly there was an almost vertical drop of over 100 m on either side.

Scrambling over and around several large boulders, we found a platform for a bite of food and some water and a chance to take in the magnificent vista of the Budawangs; to the east lay the immensity of the Clyde River Gorge, rimmed by rock-walled plateaus, to the south-east, the rock-capped cone of Pigeon House stood in splendid isolation, to the north, the rocky razorback of the “Tadpole's Tail” sloped away towards the gap into Monolith Valley, guarded on either side by Mount Nibelung and Shrouded Gods Mountain, names evocative of the landscape. To the west the prow of Mount Owen ended sharply, and the forests of the valley floor disappeared hazily into the horizon.

Morning offered us a new visual treat – we were surrounded by a thick damp fog as the Budawangs put on their “Lost World” face. There is nothing less pleasant for a camper than packing up a wet tent, but we did so quickly, put on our wet weather gear and commenced the steep descent, past fog-shrouded cliff faces and through the rain-dripping overhanging vegetation, which quickly soaked us from the thighs down.

150 m of descent saw us emerge under the cloud-line, where we could watch the mist rising up from the valley floor to join the foggy shroud above us. We felt privileged to have seen two such different faces to the beauty of this wilderness area in one single trip. Retracing our steps along the same rough track (but add dripping wet to previous adjectives), we descended to Long Gully, where Trevor was already waiting with a hot coffee to warm us up – he had come early in the fear that we might have been washed off the mountain the previous night. Thanks for all your help, mate!!