Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Down to the Kowmung River

In early November, Jen and Marko and I commenced a hike from the Kanangra walls.

From KanangraBoyd


Our hike started from an altitude of 1000m and from within the clouds.

From KanangraBoyd


Just a little south of the stone caravan, we made our campsite and made fire.

From KanangraBoyd

After a very steep descent, we arrived at the Kowmung River. The water was crystal clear and almost entirely trout-free. We shared campsite overlapped with the territory of a very large wombat. As well, we found a red-bellied black snake sunning itself on the rocks near our fishing spot.

From KanangraBoyd

Here, I relax with a mug of whisky by a handsome campfire and think positively about the gruelling climb ahead of us the following day.

From KanangraBoyd

2 comments:

Jaimirris said...

Hey there,

Nice pictures for that walk. Just wanted to ask you what do you mean when you said "almost trout-free" about the river. Did you try and didn't get anything? If so, did you use spinning or fly fishing tackle? I will appreciate your comments. I live preeeetty far from that area but planning to visit in a couple of weeks so I have been wondering is there is trout or other fish there.

Also, could you describe the starting point of your hike? did you come back same way? Just as a hike looks awesome!

Cheers!

Jaime

Alcifer said...

Gosh, it's going back a bit now. I think that we took hand reels but didn't catch anything. That's not saying much though about your chances as I usually come back empty-handed from all fishing trips! I have heard that the area is good for trout fishing. We definitely didn't try any fancy gear. We hiked down over an afternoon and most of the next day. We came back up in one long day of hiking. The climb back out is very steep! Breaking the return up over two days would be preferabe. Our route followed the old Sydney Uni Rover Track from Kanangra Walls. A map is essential for getting all of the way down to the Kowmung River from the Walls. It's a beautiful place and it feels very remote. If you're looking to combine some serious hiking with your trout fishing, this could be a great trip! I'd love to get back to this spot again some time. I slept easily on the sandy bank of the river in the bottom of the valley.