overnighter into Telowie Gorge

[Ciaran]

Anyone done an overnighter into Telowie Gorge? Looking at going up from Adelaide on a friday night and returning on the sunday arvo, spending saturday night in the gorge.

Thx Ciaran.

[jez_au]

Hi Ciaran, I see no-one has responded yet.

I haven't walked into Telowie yet, on the list.

Are you a member of ABW (Adelaide Bushwalkers)? You could try contacting Mark Proctor, there is some info about a two day walk he led into Telowie, he may be able to provide some information.

http://www.adelaidebushwalkers.org/contacts.html

[Ciaran]

Thanks jez_au

just want to do the one night into the gorge, I shall check the link and see what I can come up with.

'Mark Proctor', went to school with a Mark Proctor.... I wonder ??

[Maelgwn]

oops

[Maelgwn]

Hi Ciaran

I did have plans to respond but clearly forgot.

I have been to the gorge and we approximately followed the route in the attachment. The scrub in the creeks can be quite think in the gorge conservation park but there is a rough track to follow most of the way up the actual gorge.

We camped near the entrance on the western side of the park and there were a couple of other car camping groups there (a bit noisy too).

I can not think of many places that are open and flat enough in the conservation park that they would make good camping, most of it is fairly steep and scrubby. I would definately recommend a visit to the top of the range, good views and good vibe with scrubs and rocks etc ...

The loop we took was partly untracked and you need to be happy with climbing and scrub bashing etc. It probably took us 4 hours + from camp to the top of the range on our second day due to the slowness of going through the gorge and then the climb through scrub.

[Ciaran]

That's great! Similar to what I had in mind. Thought a campsite might be doable north side of Fry-pan track.

Any pics?

[eggs]

I was curious about this query - as I had wondered about this area for a walk.
Turns out the Heysen Trail runs along the top edge.

The Friends of the Heysen Trail website show a shelter there:
http://www.heysentrail.asn.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=174&accom_id=174&name=Go-Cart%20Track%20Shelter

One comment is:
The Go-Cart track shelter (54 H 0233614, 6339422) was a great campsite. It offered heaps of firewood, plenty of water and a brilliant view. Tank was overflowing in November 2010..

I think we have had some rain since then..[locally 85 mm this month]

[Maelgwn]

Yes there is a large open sided shelter and the Corner or the Go-Cart and BBQ tracks, with a big tank connected, should be plenty of water but not enough shelter to camp in unless there is no wind.

I am not so sure about the firewood, it is native scrub on both sides ... probably not a big deal taking it from next to the track I guess.

[jez_au]

Ciaran, if you're still looking for info, you could also try asking Darryl (user dlawson) - http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=2990&start=30#p66913

[beardless]

Thinking of walking through Telowie Gorge in a couple of weeks for an overnighter along a similar route described above along the tracks.

I was wondering:

1. Has anyone has been there since the fires, and what is it looking like around the Go-Cart track area and Wirrabara forest?

2. At this time of the year is it possible to walk the entire gorge or would the gorge be too full of water to get through?

Thank you.

[LTM]

I have done it a number of times in August and you usually have to scramble around one or two large pools and wade through a couple also. I notice that it is no longer closed which is great news.

[beardless]

Thank you LTM. We ended up heading along Telowie Gorge in mid October. We did not have to wade through any pools but needed to scramble around a few.

[beardless]

Here is a short summary of our overnight walk in Telowie Gorge Conservation Park with cleanchin.

Very early on Saturday morning we drove from Adelaide to the start of the Nukuma Walking Trail. We drove through a few showers. As we approached Telowie Gorge the sun rose above dark clouds that hovered over the range.

We started walking at about 8:00am.

[beardless]

Telowie Gorge

[beardless]

It was not long before we saw some yellow-footed rock wallabies (a similar colour to much of the rock in the Gorge).

[beardless]

The Nukuma Walking Trail ended fairly quickly (marked by a sign advising that only experienced bushwalkers should continue). After that it was fairly slow going. We stopped regularly to track our progress through the Gorge on our maps.

[beardless]

Although the creek was not flowing, there were some large rock pools we had to scamper around. The last main rock pool we encountered before we left the gorge was formed by a constriction of the gorge with fairly steep cliffs on each side. We had to climb up fairly steep rock for a number of metres to find a way around on the northern side of the rock pool.

[beardless]

We had lunch in the Gorge under a large gum tree. We then left the Gorge and followed a small (dry) creek. After a few hundred metres we entered areas that had been burnt by the fires in January 2014.

[beardless]

We exited the creek bed after about a kilometre and climbed to meet the Go-Kart Track at about 2:00pm a few hundred metres south of the helipad. From the Go-Kart Track we could see out over the Gorge to the Spencer Gulf. The Go-Kart Track joins to the Heysen Trail which we followed roughly south to the Go-Kart shelter.

[beardless]

The Go-Kart shelter is situated on top of the range just outside of the Telowie Gorge Conservation Park. It is a rectangular structure with no walls. A large round water tank partly encloses one side of the structure which is open on the other sides. There is a smaller water tank under the shelter. We used its water for cups of tea.

We left our main packs and took a short walk to Frypan Hill and saw an echidna on the way.

We returned to the Go Kart shelter to set up our tent, cook tea and admire a glorious sunset over Spencer Gulf.

[beardless]

All day we walked with many flies on and around us. At about dusk the flies swapped shifts with the mosquitos. Exhausted, the tent was our refuge to which we retreated.

The next morning we walked back to the car in a couple of hours along the exposed BBQ Track (a fire track) and the Western Boundary Track. Not the most beautiful track but there were nice views across Spencer Gulf.

It was a short but enjoyable overnight walk. It would be easy to walk the route as a longish day walk. It would be more difficult in winter or after significant rain. The Gorge itself was the highlight.

[eggs]

Well done. I suspect the fire had removed some of the difficult scrub that was previously there.

[beardless]

I suspect you are right eggs. Nothing seemed burnt in the Gorge itself but much of the park had been burnt. It seems like it is recovering. Where we walked there was not much of that tangly plant I read about from your posts.

[jez_au]

@beardless - thanks for sharing! Nice work. With the fires clearing it's time to get in there I reckon. Cheers!

[LTM]

Thanks for the report. Nice to see the vegetation in the gorge unscathed. Looks quite a bit thinner on the slopes. There is also a route around that sheer walled pool on the south side. Good to see the shelter and rainwater tank intact.

[beardless]

Glad you are inspired by the report jez. I have read and been inspired by a good number of the trip reports on your blogs. LTM I will look out for the other route next time.

[peregrinator]

Glad you are inspired by the report jez. I have read and been inspired by a good number of the trip reports on your blogs. LTM I will look out for the other route next time.

Nice report, beardless. And I second your opinion on reports by jez. They are inspirational and full of good information. It's a pity there have not been any for a while.

[jez_au]

I suffered a injury in 2013 so had to stop hiking for 2 years. Just getting back into it now. Which is why no blog entries since. Did manage two overnight hikes last year which is v good!! But I didn't blog them.
I love see photos in bushwalk.com here. Certainly going to plan a good weekend into Telowie Gorge.

[peregrinator]

I suffered a injury in 2013 so had to stop hiking for 2 years. Just getting back into it now. Which is why no blog entries since. Did manage two overnight hikes last year which is v good!! But I didn't blog them.
I love see photos in bushwalk.com here. Certainly going to plan a good weekend into Telowie Gorge.

Two years off must have been hard to take. But good to know you're back walking. I hope to read more of that writing stuff when you get a chance.

[roxyadelaide]

the hike looks great - do you know roughly how many kms it was?

How do you know at what point to come out of the gorge?