Budawangs: Mt Owen / Cole Divide - Getting Through / Over?

[bushtucker]

Hi all,

Hope you are enjoying bushwalking, especially now that the weather has cooled and it is so much more pleasant that when it's hot (for me at least).

We did a big Budawangs walk on Saturday (16 hours) and covered The Castle, Monolith Valley and Mt Owen, see map here:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... M5GVSlEKRk

But, I had some questions...

We got stuck on Mt Owen and couldn't find the descent in between Owen and Cole that would have allowed us to then wrap around Cole and back towards Seven Gods Pinnacles into Monolith Valley. Instead, we turned back and went back the way we came. Can anyone see where we went wrong? I am really keen to know how it is one gets off Mt Owen in between the two mountains of Owen and Cole?

Also, we visited the top of The Castle, but we couldn't find the logbook, despite having gone all the way to the southern tip of the mountain. Can anyone see where we missed it?

Thanks so much,

Daniel

P.S. Photo from the southern tip of The Castle yesterday below.

[tom_brennan]

'Twas many years ago. We walked down through Monolith Valley, around the back of Cole, and then up the gully between Cole and Owen. It was pretty easy to find a way up from near the saddle, and I think we probably went back the same way.

Later, it looks like you made the same mistake as we (and other parties) did, continuing down the gully instead of climbing out to go to Nibelung Pass!

[Layknot]

Hi,

Nice photo, if the timing is right our group should be somewhere in it (on Byangee). Where that photo is taken is very close to the log book. It looks like you are a little bit further to the south and maybe a little low. The attached file shows what the view from the logbook looks like.

By the way were you the group leaving long gully at some stage in the evening on Saturday?

[jackhinde]

You needed to be in the big crevasse west of the same feature you used to exit/enter monolith valley. Lots of cairns (if you can see them). I ascended that way, walked to the log book and then missed it myself last time I was up there, and as it was after dark spent the night on top. Worth it for the glow worms and a clear moonless night.

[paul8]

Hi Daniel
I was up in The Castle 3 months ago.
Go into this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B877-h5SCJaSM1kzUzFycWpKNkU/view?usp=sharing
It has a KML file. Display it in Google Earth and you'll see a yellow pin. That is where the log book is.
Cheers, Paul

[bushtucker]

Thanks Layknot - awesome photo of the view. We left Saturday morning at 6am (not Saturday night).

Thanks Paul - great link and I can see the marker for the logbook in it.

Happy bushwalking all.

Cheers,

Daniel

[bushtucker]

All,

Forgot to post this. Full trek report: https://getout-adventures.com/2016/05/2 ... shwalking/

[nigeln0friends]

Hi there

Just last weekend we walked up from long gully on a friday night reaching Cooyoyo camp at about 1030pm. Next morning we set off for the monolith valley, doing the track around the back of mount cole and then taking the pass in between Cole and Owen. We had lunch at 2pm on Owen whilst we signed the book and I managed to get a 20min nap in

To get across the top of Mt Owen we had to follow the line of cairns that have been placed, and for the most part, they are pretty good guidance. The recent 2 months rain as caused significant growth and I was dearly wishing i brought gaiters...

We followed the cairns back over the top of owen to the pass but 1 or 2 cairns seemed to go further than the path taking us back down into the pass. We spent 30 odd minutes being confused by a few cairns taking us further than needed but, after much investigation, ended up following a steep decent back into the pass that ended up being correct.

We were fairly annoyed with some of the carins at the end as they sent us on a wild goose chase - do people know how they work or were they just taking the *&^%$#! and trying to get us lost?

Anyway, I've attached the GPS tracker we used but not sure if it shows it good enough... but I don't blame you for not finding it... it was pretty hard.

[Promethean]

Hi Daniel. We did this over the ANZAC weekend (with gaiters, thankfully!), taking the Pass from the other direction - that is, from Trawalla Falls up. There's a point on the western ascent where the main gap hits a dead end. In order to get around this, you have to traverse up on the southern wall - this may have been where you came unstuck. Going in the direction you were travelling, stick to the southern wall, crossing an exposed and sloping section and then following a narrow ledge down to rejoin the "floor" of the gap, just downhill from the deadend.

[bushtucker]

Thanks so much @nigeln0friends and @Promethean - great to hear about your experiences.

[InLike]

We were there today and had problems finding the way down. Unfortunately our track notes described the exit as a ramp (which is somewhat logical describing the way up but not helpful describing the way down). We followed the misleading cairns and ended up trying the two high ramps in red before finding the correct exit.

Very simply for those coming from the west - the exit is straight down the gully from the saddle. Yes you do end up on a ramp above the gully floor but just take the Gully and you'll find the way down.

We would have saved half an hour and a lot of anxiety if someone had told us the same thing beforehand.

[InLike]

Accompanying description above