Water on Scotts Main Range

[Bushgirl]

Hi fellow bushwalkers - I'm planning the Hill Top to Katoomba walk in the cooler parts of this year but in the nearer future going to walk down Roots Ridge then up to Scotts Main Range and will check out the water situation. I've read there are water holes along Scotts Main Range - is this so and is it drinkable? Also re Hill Top to Katoomba - is it a mainly along fire trails and possibly a bit tedious??

Love this site - thanks for much help already provided - I was even able to find my wonderful coffee maker via this forum.

BG

[juxtaposer]

Reliable water at Watergully, in the head of Butchers Creek about a mile or so before you get to Byrnes Gap.

[Wollemi]

I'm planning the Hill Top to Katoomba walk in the cooler parts of this year

Go very soon - Boxing Day has a top of 16, 27th December is 18 degrees.

In the nearer future going to walk down Roots Ridge then up to Scotts Main Range and will check out the water situation.

I do hope this is a walk for walkings sake - and not a reconnaissance. People who do reccy's bother me a bit, from taking a mate li-loing along the Wollangambe to decide if his 10 yo children could do the trip, as he couldn't 'quite recall the bits from the last time we did it' (he did struggle himself...), to those who drive Sydney - Wilsons Prom to think about kayaking Bass Strait - then pull it off soon after with relative ease.

Perhaps deposit water on your 'check out' walk.

I've read there are water holes along Scotts Main Range - is this so and is it drinkable? Hill Top to Katoomba - is it a mainly along fire trails and possibly a bit tedious??

There are those small earth dams of about 6m x 6m adjacent to the road, but conversation with your walking buddies, or being deep in thought will likely see you miss them. You will see some without trying. I tried looking on Google Earth for you; tree coverage hides these water places from the aerial photography. The appropriate topo map-sheet may show them.
The water should be drinkable - consider; filtering out the course stuff (if any) through a clean shirt/hanky/pantyhose, or let it settle out overnight in a spare pot - if you have one. Yet the amount will be less than one-litre anyway - use 4 to 6 drops per litre of betadine. A water-filter will likely clog, but may work, if water-filters are your thing. Note - some people are allergic to betadine. And the next statement will cancel out this paragraph - you will have no water concerns

I have jogged twice from the Nattai Flats to Katoomba over 2 days one April. Water taken from Yerranderie was enough to the place as mentioned towards the end of this blog; http://www.gphipps.com/bushwalking/mitt ... omba.shtml

Scott's Main Range has a reputation for being tedious, but when I was new to walking in the mid-90's I thought it great. That was on a 6-day Katoomba to Mittagong walk. The guy who organised that with the NPA lead it annually thereafter - over 9 days along the Kowmung River instead, and then up to SMR for a little bit into Yerranderie.

[DaveNoble]

The only reliable water is in the tanks at the Catholic Bushies Huts at New Yards Range (a short way off Scotts Main Range). The owners are normally happy for other bushwalkers to fill up their water containers. Similar for the hut at Byrnes Gap (Pippen's Hut). If it has been dry (like recently) - then it is common for major creeks like Butchers Creek to dry right up (there may be a pool every km or so) - so even though it is usually OK where the fire road crosses it high up - there may not always be water there (if the ford is dry, head upstream a bit and look for pools).

There are small dams at regular intervals (built for fire trucks to draw water from) - as mentioned - usually with water in them - but it is muddy brown and looks bad. I would (and have) only drink it as a last resort - and then boil it. There are no dams on the Cookem Highway (the road out to Mt Cookem - which is better walking as it is not in a wide fire break like Scotts Main).

If you are in that area - Scotts Main can become a bit of a tedious road bash if doing big chunks of it. There are quite good views in places of Broken Rock Range. Its better to try and avoid large parts of it - eg walk via the Kowmung River. All the ridges going from Scotts Main to the Kowmung (between Denis Range and New Yards Range) are open and easy walking.

Dave

[Bushgirl]

Thank you, just wondered what the small dams as marked on the topo were like, sounds like Lake Birrel - last resort water. I agree, walking along the Kowmung might be more interesting as don't really enjoy fire trails.

Going down Roots 'cos we love it down there off Gingra - I think all walks are "reccy's" for the next walk,
philosophically speaking!