Bushwalk Australia

There are several Castles known to bushwalkers. There are several posts for each of the different Castles here on the Forum.

Posts about places like Castle Mountain, Cardboard Castle hut, Ruined Castle, Hoddle's Castle Hill, Castle Crags, Castle Rock, Castle Forbes Bay, Rat's Castle and Eldon's Castle amongst others. There are several walkers who have mentioned that they are looking forward to climbing or visiting one of these Castles at some stage and many walkers here who have ... but I can't find a single image of 'The Castle' here on the Forum. Wanting to correct that oversight, enjoy a trip to 'The Castle' ... in the Budawangs.

'Low Clouds'. There are several approaches to The Castle, each has a different character. I particularly like the Southern approaches because of the smell of the pockets of rainforest found on the drive in to the Yadboro campsite.




Every now and again, glimpses of The Castle and the escarpment can be seen on the drive in.




The pristine Yadboro River down stream from the start of the Kaliana Ridge climb and just beside the Yadboro River campsite. The Yadboro is a classic river, it has been known to rise 10 metres in 4 hours and go from several metres wide to 400 metres wide at the Yadboro campsite. I always park my car a bit up-hill. When the Yadboro floods it recedes as quickly as it can rise ... once it stops raining. I always take an extra day's food, even on a day walk.




At the top of Kaliana Ridge and the first of the climbs.




The Budawangs are often called the Floodawangs and the Misty Mountains. Moisture laden offshore winds cooling at the escarpment, can make a climb very interesting. When you are walking North after the first climb, if it is raining (like it so often does here) the waterfalls coming off the cliff line are refreshing, sparkling ... and the water hardly reaches the track because of the long drops.




The first time I climbed The Castle it took me 4 1/2 days of searching because The Castle was basically trackless then. There was no park signage or use-wear on the rocks to describe the route, unlike there is today. The last ascent took me only 4 1/2 hours ... funny that!






Pigeon House Hill and Byangee Walls shot from the first cliff, at the top of Kaliana Ridge.




Then from the summit.






Warren.

Thanks for sharing.

I have often thought of the Budawangs as a highly desirable destination.
The Castle was not so high in my thinking - as I thought the track was a bit of a rock climb. Is that still the case?

Your photo second from end has foreground in focus and Pigeonhouse Mtn in focus - but not the valley in between? How does that happen?

The Budawangs have been on my 'to do' list for at least two decades, but I keep getting distracted by other things/places. Besides, I've heard it's monstrously crowded in the summer, and it's too hard to get the time to get up there at other seasons.
Maybe when I've retired. If I survive that long . . .

That second to last photo is special. I dont know anything about photographic techniques, but whatever you have done works a treat to my eye.

Ive been there twice and both times not made it to the top!
First time 15 years ago and again 1 year ago it was just soooo hot and dry! we went on the same weekend as the black saturday fires in Vic and ended up spending most of our time in a very large overhang/cave to stay cool.

We did try and climb it last time but found it really tricky and figured you need rope! must have missed the track/ route to the top. I'm not good with heights and found the cliff type climb we attempted pretty tough.

What's the best way to get to the top? We got topos but couldnt make out a trail.
Robert

Robatman wrote:Ive been there twice and both times not made it to the top!

Get used to it. I'm starting to believe there are some places some of us are fated to never reach. I've had five attempts at Mt Anne so far and never got beyond the last saddle.

Thanks for the photos and notes Warren. We went to the Budawangs for 5 days in mid Sept 2008 from the Wog Wog entrance and went to Monolith Valley as a circuit. Great country I must say. My photo album is online

We were so impressed that we have plans to go in to The Castle this year via the Yadboro entrance.

love the 9th pic with pigeon house beyond the next outcrop- it almost has a "minturisation" effect you can get with tilt shift lenses. How did you do this?

Robert

Thanks guys for the interest in this thread.

PeterJ, adding the link to your album has enhanced this thread marvellously. I've also done the walk, but I didn't summit Corang. It is great to see your shots from the Western route. I don't think that I've seen better images of the Budawangs, that take a person there. Seeing your images has triggered a few old memories too. Cheers Mate.

Scavenger, I hope you do "survive that long." It certainly is a walk and gully scramble and then a climb not to be missed.

eggs, You are most welcome. There are several routes to approach Castle Saddle before the final climb, could I suggest walkers do them all? These are the routes that I've done.

From the Yadboro River, the climb, basically, is mostly up with a bit of horizontal track, then up again and up again and then down, down, horizontal, and down, back to Yadboro ... and is only a day trip. The climb is about 800 metres from the Yadboro campsite.

From Newhaven Gap in the North or from Wog Wog to the West it can be a 3-4 or 5 day walk, with much scope for side trips. Both walks are relatively flat walking with excellent views of the Great Escarpment.

From Yadboro River starting on the Byangee Track up to Castle Gap, then up the point of Byangee and climbing inside Byangee to reach the top. A section of the climb is inside the mountain. Then traverse Byabgee Walls, down Pickering Point to the Clyde River, then upstream to Holland's Creek, then either up to Darri Pass or up the Northern Head of Shrouded Gods lower tier (preferred), then over Shrouded Gods Mountain, then on to Castle Saddle, summiting the Castle and then back to Yadboro on the Castle Walking Track. This will take 2 hard days of flat river walking and much escarpment climbing. Carry the lightest pack posible ... many leeches will accompany walkers on this journey.

From the Endrick River, past Round Mountain and Foster's Mountain, along Styles Creek, then between Owen and Cole to Castle Saddle before the ascent, then returning past Seven Gods, past Mount Tarn and Sturgiss (camping in Hidden Valley and climbing Mount Sturgiss) then up onto Quilty's Mountain to see the Boro Ground, NW to Binarri Pass (throwing packs and jumping several times between the stacks) then back to the Endrick River turnoff, will take 3-4 hard days on relatively flat ground, with a few short climbs and descents and side trips (this trip is much recommended).

The cap of The Castle is mostly a 200m gully scramble which takes about 40 minutes. There are a few caves on up top around the eastern cliffs. A 6 metre length of rope is good for hauling packs and for people not used to climbing. The last several metres of the climb at the summit is the most dangerous, but not too difficult. Walkers not used to climbing, on exposed sections could prefer the use of a rope. The Castle can be dangerous on the edges of the cliffs because the sandstone can be thinly silicon skinned and can crack like an egg shell . One of my friends died on The Castle and a friend of one of my friends father's his walking buddy, fell and died because of the fragile and brittle cliff edges. A walker from the Canberra Bushwalkers Club suffered severe head injuries when she fell on the final few metres of the climb, during the descent. My attitude to this is, we go into the wilderness to be brave (but not silly).

Robatman, these are the two quickest routes from Yadboro. The magenta line is the track that cuts through the buttress of the Castle at 'the tunnel' which is good and exciting for day walkers but not for those with large packs unless you are happy to drag the pack along the ground in places ... the Tunnel/Meakin's Pass is a tight squeeze at times. Where the green tracks stop on the topo, is approximately the start of the climb.

When it comes to the climb follow the signs of use-wear on the rocks, that is my best tip. The moment the walking track below the eastern face thins out and goes over a couple of car size boulders and all of a sudden becomes steep, you have gone 20-30 metres too far. Back-track and look for a steepish chute with signs on the rocks and erosion on and around tree roots, signs made by scrambling. Once you are past that chute, just follow the obvious signs on the ground and on the rocks. There will be a section where the track stops going upwards and heads east again around a couple of boulders ... keep looking for the signs on the rocks from foot traffic. The climb doesn't keep going up at constant rate. There are several times when you will have to hunt for the track. The leaf litter in places can give the wrong impression that there is no track, that's why I say, look for signs of use-wear. Where the rocks are the route their surfaces are lighter in colour. There will be times when the track is well defined and times when the track doesn't appear to exist. Winds and rain can wash debris over the track.

I've climbed The Castle several times and know how difficult the track was to find when I first started. Over the years people have cut shallow hand holds and scratched upward pointing arrows on rocks ... use-wear and age has worn these signs (mostly) away. At the final climb, there was once shallow hand holds chipped into the rock but foot traffic had smoothed these out. Look for them because that is the route.



Warren.

Concerning the 9th photograph ... Berry, Hume and Davidson Heads below Pigeon House Hill were too detailed and in deep shadow and they ran into the tail of Byangee Walls and hid Byangee's snaking shape.

In the digital darkroom I softened the Clyde River Gorge and distant spurs of Byangee Walls and lightened the far shadows. I carefully captured the gorge with a lasso tool and then within the 'Smooth Filter' group of the editing programme (Canon's Arcsoft 5.5) I selected the Gaussian Blur filter and softened the gorge, and lightened the shadows until Byangee Walls came off the image. I then resharpened Pigeon House Hill.

On the summit of The Castle after rain. Coastal heath and a few Mallee Eucalypts.




Thin soils and slip rock up top ... The Castle is a beaut butte.




Shrouded Gods Mountain.




Sunrise in the Clyde River Gorge looking towards the Tianjara Plateau.




Step This Way! The Clyde River below Warre Head. I took this photo 30 years ago, the first time that I climbed The Castle.




Warren.

wow what wonderful pics of a fantastic place. I have a sister down that way and have been planning a visit with some walking in the Budawangs, the castle has been on my list for a couple of years now. Thankyou Warren - truly inspiring and informative. Julie

Thanks Warren, got me planning a return visit.

juju and Robatman. You are most welcome.

juju, thank you for your rewarding comment.

If you are planning a trip, consider approaching The Castle from one of the longer walks from Newhaven Gap, Endrick River or Wog Wog. There is so much to see.

The Bora ground on Quilty's Mountain. There are Boro grounds on several of the mountains.




There are excellent tracks crossing the clearings and good water where the clearings terminate. This is a trend in the Budawangs.




The tracks go through pockets of subtropical, warn temperate and cool temperate rainforest when crossing wet gullies and in the slit canyons and on southern facing lower slopes and beside the major eastern rivers in the Budawangs.










Warren.

Warren,

Love your work. Particularly that shot of Byangee Walls. Have you ever been up there?

K.

Kanangra, Thank you Mate.

I have climbed Byangee Walls. Byangee despite how wide the butte looks, at one place Byangee is only 7m wide with 150m down on both sides. Kanangra have you been on top?

If anyone is thinking of doing Byangee as a solo walker, I'd like to suggest starting the climb at Pickering Point, the closest point to the Clyde River. The views from Byangee aren't overly spectacular, but could be if the crossing is done slowly. I did the walk with some tiger walkers from the Canberra Bushwalking Club.

When I went over Byangee the light was terrible. Climbing up and down was spectacular. For novice parties, it would help to have a guide, otherwise, walkers could be stuck up there for the duration.

At the top of Pickering Point there is a face that you need to get over. Which is difficult for a lone walker. It is just out of hand's reach. Climbers and those used to climbing will have no trouble. Two walkers helping each other will have no dramas getting up. A 10m rope is useful to haul the pack. There is also a narrow chute to chimney, which is easier to do by hauling packs up. Climbing down at Castle Gap is just as exciting. For part of the climb down, the route is inside the mountain.

Warren.

PS, somewhere I've got some shots, it might take a while to find them.

Warren,

No never been up there. Didn't know there was a walking route to be honest. thought it was for climbers only.

K.

Kanangra, G'day.

There is (surprisingly), a relatively well defined track that runs from Pickering Point along the full length of the butte, to the western most point (?) above Castle Gap.

Crossing Byangee is a bushwalk, with one difficult section at Pickering Point that is all. Summiting Byangee is tricky, interesting and very steep, but no more difficult than climbing the buttress of the Castle, to a walker used to plenty of gully scrambling and doing the odd chimney. Someone not used to heights might find the chimney section a bit daunting.

Byangee Mountain. Nick Croft and a shadow person, just after descending to Castle Gap.




Post-processed image, taken on Shrouded God's Mountain above Cooyoyo Creek.



Warren.

Warren,
Your photos are beautiful.
Have you tried the trip down Angel Creek to Crooked Falls. (N of Mt Cole.)
I'm sure somebody with your photographic talent would have a field day down there.
Melinda

Melinda, thank you.

I haven't been to the Angle Creek rainforest below the Angle Creek escarpment. When I went from Mt Cole up the pass on the western cliffs of Mt Tarn and again from Cole, across to Mt Bibbenluke, the track crossed the upper reaches of Angle Creek on several occasions ... only through the typical Budawang heath and Malley.

Sunrise.






Warren.

Warren,
Photo of Angel Creek heading down towards Crooked Falls, north of Mt Cole.
Very beautiful through Angel Creek, Crooked Falls has a massive view to the north of Hollands Gorge.
Melinda

I'm not familiar with this area but live relatively close by and would really like to do an extended hike in this area. From the photos on this page, i would like to include the Castle, Pidgeon House Mtn, Byangee mtn and Shrowded God's Mtn and any other worthwile spots.
Does anyone know which maps i would need to get? (preferably in the CMA 1:25,000 series)

Cheers

Hi ferozious,
Good to have you on the forum.
The Castle, Byangee Mtn and Shrouded Gods are on Corang.
Pigeon House is on Milton.
There is a very good book on the Budawangs called (funnily enough) "Bushwalking in the Budawangs" by Ron Doughton.
All the places you have named are covered in the book.
Undoubtedly there are other books on this area.
To tell the truth a lot of these walks are quite well known and navigation is relatively easy.
(However the Doughton book gives you lots of info on things to look out for, things that would be easily missed if you din't know to look for them.)
Melinda

Thanks for sharing warren, an amazing set of photos!
I love that second last shot of the forest in the clouds - like something out of mythology.
I guess I always write-off the mainland a bit based on Tassies spectacular walks, you may be changing this thinking with your photo-essay
Thanks again, nice to be so inspired whilst sitting at a desk at work.
Cheers.
Stuart.

My first post on this forum.
Really enjoying the photos here. They have me itching to get out for a walk in this area. I loaded up Oziexplorer to see what maps I had for the area and found one of the old LPI maps. There is a walking track shown that displays the route all the way to the top of The Castle.
Thanks
bshwckr

Hi bshwckr,

I rate the Castle as one of the best day walks in Australia, it certainly is one of the best walks I have ever done.

Once through the tunnel, the track was a bit hard to find in places and we went up a wrong lead or two, but that added to the experience.

Monolith Valley is very special too.

Tony

I do like a bit of a rock scramble. I am definitely adding this to my to-do list

Fantastic photos Warren. Thanks for sharing. I've done the Castle a couple of times, the first time with Upper Blue Mountains Bushwalking Club in the late 80's, led by Col Gliddon, and again in the September school vacation of 1991, on my own. I seem to remember the final short climb up to the top being a bit hairy/scary (ie exposed). Your photos have inspired me to try and get back there on a club walk. The first time I was there we camped at Yadboro Flat on the Friday night and got up in the dark to get an early start on Saturday morning as we were doing it as a day walk. Old Bill McKewan(now deceased) went off after brekky to have a crap in the dark and shortly after we heard an almighty scream from the bushes; he'd squatted on a clump of stinging nettles!!. He was tingling in that "place where the sun never shines" for the rest of the day. Poor old Bill.

Gosh, just came across this. Some fabulous stuff there fellas, I'm envious! Thank you so much for sharing.
Since this topic is about Castle Mountains here is another one, totally different to the rest though I guess that is stating the bleeding obvious.
It's at The Breakaways near Coober Pedy.

Yeah, that's a wonderful place to wander around for a day. Last time I was there it copped a massive cloudburst, so the road out was a mudbath. Added to the fun no end.

Does anybody have any pictures of Coyoyo Creek Campsite by any chance?