Ikara head and Girraween cave walking track

[Webguy]

heyas

On Google earth, I can see a fairly well defined walking track out on Ikara head, but following it back it gets lost under trees and I have been unable to find where it joins the road, any tips on where the track starts?

[Grabeach]

20 years back I remember a bit of a pad on the headland, as now shown on Google Earth. The usual trip was to follow the 4WD track (in those days I don't think it was even gated) on the minor ridge to the east and cross the creek near the cave (nothing to write home about), then up onto Ikara Head ridge. The pad started north of here. Could come back the same way or follow the high ground back to the road. Haven't been there recently, but I doubt the pad ever extended back to Victoria Falls Rd.

[DaveNoble]

20 years back I remember a bit of a pad on the headland, as now shown on Google Earth. The usual trip was to follow the 4WD track (in those days I don't think it was even gated) on the minor ridge to the east and cross the creek near the cave (nothing to write home about), then up onto Ikara Head ridge. The pad started north of here. Could come back the same way or follow the high ground back to the road. Haven't been there recently, but I doubt the pad ever extended back to Victoria Falls Rd.

You can go to Ikara Head via the track that crosses the creek. But it is mainly a track used by climbers to go to Ikara Crag - which is reached by crossing the creek and then following the base of he cliffs.

But I have noticed a duck, a 100m or so back from the 4WD track where it leaves Victoria Falls Road. And the duck marks a faint track that seems to lead towards Girraween Cave/Ikara Head direction. I have not followed the track very far though.

Dave

[jonnosan]

The climbers track mentioned by DaveNoble is described in http://www.thecrag.com/climbing/austral ... ikara-head

And I assume the cairn 100m from the 4WD track marks is the "obvious ridge running out to Ikara Head with it's accompanying foot track" described in walk 5 on http://www.pnc.com.au/~wells/Mt.Victoria.html

I am free on Sunday afternoon if you are planning a visit....

[Stephen Nenke]

Head down Mt Vic Falls Rd to the turn off to Ikara, park around there... start walking here but back up to the 1st ridge behind you along the Mt Vic Falls road i.e. heading back in the direction of Mt Vic, head right along this ridge line i.e. towards the causeway. We were there a couple of days ago and just started bush bashing along the ridge but hit the track in minutes, it must join the road and you'd expect a cairn but if you follow the ridge you'll hit the track and its pretty well defined. At one point there's a confusing sharp turn to the right but people have marked that you don't keep going straight ahead by blocking the path with branches. Good luck its a nice walk. Thought Girraween Cave was a little disappointing for something that's marked on the topo, anyone know what the story is??

[Grabeach]

From Upper Grose Valley Bushwalkers Business (Michael Keats & Brian Fox) Pg.443.

Girraween is Aboriginal for 'abundant wildflowers'. Name Girraween Moor originally given to the whole plateau by George Brown and Stan McGaghey when walking there in 1947-1949. Dunphy renamed it Asgard Plateau. Cave was originally called Waratah Cave (I vaguely recall there being a number of them near the cave a couple of decades back), but was called Girraween Cave in error.

[Webguy]

A mate has now mapped the entire walk into OSM so now it is easy to find.

[wellsy]

Stephen Nenke and Graeme Holbeach have both got it right. As I understand it back in the fifties/sixties George Brown used to take groups of scouts out to Girraween Cave to camp on Friday nights for an early start the next morning walking down the Grose to camp at Bluegum Forest on the Saturday night. He knew when to drop down off the ridge to the right and down to Giraween cave (rock overhang) by two "Gendarmes" (small pagoda formations). Back in the early seventies (and possibly well before then) there used to be a substantial stone cairn on the left side of Victoria Falls Road that marked the beginning of the (initially feint) footpad/track along the ridge to Ikara Head. I haven't done the walk since 2001 but I'm heading out there on Wednesday with Kent Dwyer and will see what happened to the cairn and if it's worth restoring .