Kanangra Canyons exits

[Vern]

Hi to all the canyoning guru's here, did Kanangra Main Canyon the other day and once again found myself scrambling madly up some made up exit route nearish to Murdering Gully and it got me wondering if there was a better desription for the exit?

I did the same scramble last time I did Kalang Falls Canyon. I noticed there was a piece of red striped tape at the intersections of the creeks just above the large rock platform...not sure if this was supposed to be an indicator to a track or not. The guide says to go a further 50m down from here though.

Saying all that I've done it twice now so it is doeable but it's not the best end to a great set of canyons. Also looking at doing Danae Brook soon. Is there any track up from there or is the scramble similar to that of Kalang and Kanangra?

[FatCanyoner]

There is no real clear track up murdering gully. It comes and goes, and there are dozens of variations, because so many groups do things differently. All possibilities are fairly *&%$#!, hence no one simple dominant one taking over. There are some tape markers etc which can be followed, but even they come and go.
Personally, for any group of experienced scramblers, I'd skip Murdering Gully completely. Late last year I did K Main and we exited up the ridge to the right of murdering gully which takes you up to the Kanangra Walls lookout. It was faster, more direct, easier to follow and no leeches! The downsides are LOTS of loose rock, and a couple tricky scrambles. As long as you are careful with the lose rock, and everyone is reasonably experienced, it is far superior in my opinion. (My comments on it at the end of the trip report: http://fatcanyoners.org/2012/12/16/kanangra-main-slot/)

[DaveNoble]

The standard exits from Kalang Falls or Kanangra Falls are either Murdering Gully or the ridge just to the (true) left of it - ie between Kalang Falls and Murdering Gully - but much closer to Murdering Gully than to Kalang Falls. I would rate them much the same in terms of time and difficulty.

Murdering Gully - easy to find the bottom -then go up (you can go all the way up the bed of the gully - but that entails a few tricky scrambles - which are easy to bypass on the true right (or left side as you go up) - BUT - you do need to be careful and not stray too far from the gully - a few parties have got into difficulties and found themselves on steep talus slopes under Kanangra Walls with darkness descending on them. At times there has been a bit of a track up this side - that was easy to follow - but is not not as distinct.

The ridge near Murdering Gully - easy to find the start of this at the junction of Kalang Falls and Kanangra Creek - go up the ridge and tend to go left (east) to avoid difficulties - and as you approach Echo Head - go more to the left on a big ledge and you soon find your way to the track to the lookout. I don't think this route is any faster or easier than going up Murdering Gully - if you know the way up Murdering Gully. Both routes have the danger of stone fall - rocks being dislodged by those above you. But the ridge probably has better views.

On both routes you need to keep an eye out for stinging trees! (And avoid them)

Danae - the "best" exit is over the Spires (Thurat Spires) - but this is slower and not a good choice if you are running out of time or have bad weather. There are are a few abseils getting off the second spire. But great views and some nice scrambling in a great position. You can bypass these difficulties by leaving Danae Brook early and going aup a steep scree/gully right up to the saddle between the second spire and spire head. This is straightforward except for a band of stinging trees. Once up Spire Head - it is scrubby getting back to the road.

The easiest (and fastest) exit from the Brook - is to go straight up onto Kilpatrick Causeway from the junction of Danae Brook and Kanangra Creek (surprisingly - some people have missed this junction and continued downstream....). This is an easy and fairly open route - no dangers of boulders, stinging trees or loose screes. Easy going (but steep) all the way up to the Causeway - then a trivial cliff and you are on the track to the Walls.

Note that Danae Brook is a long day and an early start is recommended. As well as a lot of abseils and all the rigging involved, there is the boulder chute to negotiate (and more tricky bits at the bottom) and then a walk down the creek (which seems to always take a while) to get to the junction with Kanangra Creek - then the climb out. The walk to start of the canyon is easy and not very scrubby if you find the right way.

Dave

[ferozious]

Have done the ridge next to MG twice now. The second time was with a fractured ankle in the dark and took 4 hours (since the climb is so steep I was able to use my hands and knees to climb to take pressure off the ankle!)

The procedure that worked for us both times was to simply stay on the steep spur/ridge until you reach a rock face too high to be scrambled (or until the climbing becomes too steep for your liking). At this point we traverse to the left (facing up hill) until a break in the cliffline can be found. Both times we arrived at the track from the carpark to KWalls L.O at the point where a concrete drain pipe crosses the track.

The Danae Brook exit straight up to the causeway was simple and not at all scrubby. We found worn footpad starting up from the junction of Danae and Kanangra. The Spires exit would be a truly awesome trip though!

[jonnosan]

Any suggestions for the best way down? I want to have a poke about on Thurat Spires and was planning on going down from Kilpatrick Causeway to Danae Brook junction, and returning via one of the ridges next to Murdering Gully. What would it be like doing it in reverse?

[Vern]

Danae is of course the best way down. Did it just the other day. Never done the spires and that would certainly be a long day to join the two. As it was , we left in the dark and got back in the dark. The daylight is shorter now but it was still a long day. The exit track from Danae was much easier than Murdering Gully too.