Hey everyone,
You may have heard about it, but over the 7 months or so, I have been planning a big re-enactment walk called the Colong Wilderness Walk - Dunphy's Kowmung Adventure. I won't go into the details now, but essentially we're going to retraced a walk undertaken originally by Myles Dunphy and Bert Gallop in 1914, from Katoomba to Picton via the Southern Blue Mountains, following the Kowmung River for a fair stretch of the way. See - http://www.colongwilderness.org.au/abou ... roduction/
The main walk is broken down into 5 wilderness 'Adventure Stages' for people to take part in, but there are also other things going on such as a walk launch at Katoomba, a day walk from Katoomba to Megalong, a big social evening campfire event in the Megalong at Old Ford Reserve, an overnight walk from Megalong to the Coxs River along the 6 Foot track return, and finally a concluding event at Wooglemai Environmental Education Centre.
As you can see, there's lots on offer, and we want to see a good turnout for the walk! All the details, itinerary, route and historical information can be found on the above website, and that is where you register for the walk. Registration is free, however for insurance purposes if you wish to take part in an Adventure Stage, you must be a member of the Colong Foundation for Wilderness (one years membership is $30). Join up now to avoid missing out!
For those that are interested, we also have a facebook page with historic photos and information which you can visit here - https://www.facebook.com/DunphysAdventure
Another aspect that I haven't mentioned yet is the use of historic gear, maps and photographs on the walk. We are lucky in that Myles Dunphy was a great record keeper, and journaled the whole adventure, complete with trip notes, photographs and field sketch maps. These will be used on the adventure to help connect walkers with the original journey a century ago. We are also in the process of creating costumes to walk in for the walk leaders, modeling what was worn during that time period, and we have also begun making a 'dungal swag' from Myles' original designs held in the State Library.
The whole walk is about celebrating how voluntary efforts of early bushwalking clubs led to the dedication of large national parks and, consequently, wilderness areas in the Blue Mountains. It will celebrate the pivotal role of wilderness in the protection of nature in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. In November the walk and its legacy will be presented to the World Parks Congress (a once in a decade international event, this decade being held in Sydney), so if you could get behind the event and promote it, that would be fantastic!
