Great North Walk in September/October

[Newlander]

Hey everyone

I am looking at doing all of or at least a very major part of the GNW in the last week of Sept/first week of Oct.

I have a few questions about it.

How often is there access to water? Like will I ave to carry 3 litres at a time the whole way or? Also, is there anywhere to buy a fuel cannister along the way or will I just have to pack 2?

Is this a good time of year to do it? Should the bugs be alright or? Temps starting to warm up in these areas pretty good or?

What is the easiest and cheapest way to make the crossing of the hawksbury river?

Does a person really need track notes to do it or will the map set work pretty good?

Also, if anyone wants to come along feel free to comment below or whatever.

[wildwalks]

Hi Newlander

1) the Watagans is the main section where water can be dificult to plan. You can leave a water cache up there. But it is improving as we get more rain in the area, so see what the weather is doing at the time. (be mindful that the big rivers Hawkesburry, Mooney Mooney, Berowra are salty)
1.1) fuel - depends on the fuel, there are a few shops along the way with limited options, mostly metho. Probably easiest to drop a fuel cache, or phone the store to check
this forum might be of more help
http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=4881&p=69066#p69066
2) time of year - great plenty of wildflowers temps are nice and weather fairly stable. Best to avoid the peak of summer where it can get very hot.
3) train to wondabyne and mis a lovely section of walking. Or train to woy woy and but to Patoga. Or Ferry from Palm beach. Sometimes the ferry still runs but very rarley in unreliabley. Leaving you with the ~$100 water taxi option as well.
4) tracknotes?? Not really it is generally well signposted, and the lands department maps (have a few errors) but generally good, they have a specific map kit for the walk.
The tracknotes are useful to have in your pack and for planning as there are some things not obvious on the maps.
http://www.lpma.nsw.gov.au/about_recreation/walking_tracks/great_north_walk

---------------- Plug time-------------
You can download maps and tracknotes from here
http://www.wildwalks.com/bushwalking/general/list-of-walks.html?groupid=20

You can buy GNW book from here
http://www.wildwalks.com/books.html

You can grab a ticket and come to the book launch in Hornsby this Friday here
https://wildwalks.eventbrite.com/
---------------- End plug-------------
Hope you enjoy the walk

Matt

[juju]

Jerusalem Bay near Cowan

J Baysml.png (354.24 KiB) Viewed 7488 times

I started the GNW last spring school holidays with two friends. We went from Sydney to Brooklyn where I became sick and another of us had an injury. It was a wonderful time for wildflowers on this section. Don't miss Jerusalem Bay near Cowan - we nearly did due to the tempting offer of a lift to Brooklyn. Our camps were at Lane Cove Camping ground, Thornleigh scout centre, Under the Galston Bridge, Berowra Waters (just off the track near the car park at the marina) and on the track after Jerusalem Bay (we spent too long at Cowan shop meeting friends to make it to Brooklyn Dam that night).
I had borrowed a Katadyn water filter (500g) for the trip and it was a real asset as most of the creek water needs treatment. The section between Jerusalem Bay and Brooklyn was pretty dry, fill up at Cowan shop.
Perfect time of year for the trip for wildflowers, some rain before the walk would be good.

[jobell]

I'm just back from walking from Patonga through to the Watagans last week.

Water wise - I managed to find adequate water along the way, but carried three litres as most of my camping spots were dry and that provided me with plenty for cooking and my morning can't-start-the-day-without-it coffee. There was plenty of water in the tank at Brown Muir's farm just prior to walking up onto the ridgeline in the Watagans, and I carried an extra litre from there (four in total) to see me through to Heaton Gap (it's only 30 odd kilometres between the two points which took me a day and a half, but if you have better knees than me it could well be a long day's walk).

Food wise - Somersby Store has virtually no supplies for walkers at the moment, save refreshments such as icecreams, cold drinks and hot food. Yarramalong Store had a bit more and I was able to fill the gaps there, but the supplies were quite limited still (I made some gentle suggestions as to what might be worth stocking to sell to bushwalkers..). The BP service station at Heaton Gap has a fair bit more food, but by then you will only need a meal or two to carry you through to Teralba if you are walking north. I didn't see gas canisters for sale at any of these locations.

The wildflowers north of Patonga are fantastic at the moment, it's a great time to go. Enjoy!

[juju]

Hi Jobell. Thanks from me for your comments anyway. I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions.
On this section did you treat the water?
I thought there might be a spot to camp near Kariong or Myron creeks a bit further north west from Mount Wondabyne. Did you happen to notice?
How did you get to Patonga? The ferry timetable starts at 11am. Did you taxi from Woy Woy from the 6am train (buses don't start till 8.15am. Or were you lucky with a lift?

[rcaffin]

On this section did you treat the water?

Too many cars and too many farms. I would suggest carrying stuff to treat water. Yes, there are some OK creeks around.

I thought there might be a spot to camp near Kariong or Myron creeks a bit further north west from Mount Wondabyne. Did you happen to notice?

Kariong: there's space under the cliffs, but last I saw there had been rock falls there. Risky!
In very dry conditions you might be able to camp on the small sandy beach, but I have seen it under a metre of water when it rains.
Myron: from memory ... there might be room for one tent on the N side.

How did you get to Patonga?

Don't. Totally stupid change from the original route. That is, take the Dangar Is ferry to Little Wobby wharf*, and go up the cleared power line from the extreme E end of the houses, or up the spur a little to the E of that*. There are faint traces up the spur but no markers. There's also the remains of an adventure playground there ... You can camp on the flat land at the E end of the houses*, but take water. When you get to the top you wil find a track to The Ponds*.
We have done the * route.
(If you are the only ones on the ferry, ask the driver if he can drop you at the old Sport & Rec wharf, which is at the flat land mentioned.)

Cheers

[juju]

Hi and thanks Roger

How did you get to Patonga?

Don't. Totally stupid change from the original route. That is, take the Dangar Is ferry to Little Wobby wharf*, and go up the cleared power line from the extreme E end of the houses, or up the spur a little to the E of that*. There are faint traces up the spur but no markers. There's also the remains of an adventure playground there ... You can camp on the flat land at the E end of the houses*, but take water. When you get to the top you wil find a track to The Ponds*.
We have done the * route.
(If you are the only ones on the ferry, ask the driver if he can drop you at the old Sport & Rec wharf, which is at the flat land mentioned.)

Cheers[/quote]

Oh, so this way is better do you think? I thought the view from the hills north of Patonga would be pretty stunning. I don't know which way Jobell went but she says the wildflowers north or Patonga were good.
I was going to do this section a few weeks ago but was ill. I did happen to notice the National Parks were running guided walks from Patonga to Wondabyne starting from Brooklyn at 7.30 am with a $10 ferry trip. I tried to contact them to hop a lift but had no reply.

[wildwalks]

You can grab a water taxi from Brooklyn ~$100 (ouch)
Or ferry from Palm Beach to Patonga
Or Bus from Gosford to Patonga

The original Route is much easier logistically, but you do miss some nice stuff and need to get permission from Dept of Ed to walk on there land (easy enough).
Another option is to train to wondabyne and later catch up the Patonga to Wondabyne section as a day walk.

Matt

[rcaffin]

Oh, so this way is better do you think? I thought the view from the hills north of Patonga would be pretty stunning.

Ah well, frankly, I think the hills above Patonga can be a bit ... boring. You climb up to the plateau and walk an awful lot of harsh gravel Fire Trail. It is not what i would call inspiring.

Flowers - time of year rather than that or any bit of the track.

The ridge going W to The Tanks (from above Little Wobby) is a bit rugged, and the track is slightly orangutang, but it is not long and can be amusing. You can get down the cliffs at the tanks to the sea, but that doesn't go anywhere.

The track from The Tanks across the plateau is ... a flat Fire Trail. But it is not that long. There are some interesting bits off the FT. Once you closer to Kariong Creek things get more interesting again. You can get water from the last creek before Piles Creek. You can camp at the Piles Ck swing bridge. But then again, you could camp up on the plateau around Leochre too: there are some open sandy areas.

Cheers
PS: I am here only on an irregular basis. Sorry.