Doctor Dark's Cave

[GregG]

I wrote a report today and had trouble posting it but fortunately I took a screen shot in case something went wrong and to save me having to re-type it on my smart phone. So I have attached the screenshot. I hope it is a) legible, and b) interesting.
Regards
Greg

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[GregG]

Here's a picture of the kitchen area.

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[johnw]

Nice report Greg. I've been there a couple of times but probably 2 or 3 years since last visit.
The way in was still fairly obscure when I last visited.
I find it very disturbing if the Instagram crowd have discovered it. I'm sure Eric and Eleanor Dark would turn in their graves.
Thankfully it sounds like all is well, for now. But many locations have become problematic in their wake.
I'm thinking of places like the Figure of 8 Pools and Wedding Cake Rock in RNP among others.

[mandragara]

I attribute this sort of stuff to the boom in popularity of apps like Alltrails. Both a blessing and a curse.

Both times I've encountered underprepared or lost parties this year were following Alltrails. One very confused couple at Gladstone Pass, another lost group of 5 trying to get to the Grose river via the Devils Wilderness.

[FatCanyoner]

It's not too hard to discover these days. The track to the cave (admittedly rather incorrectly marked towards the end) now appears on the topo map.

It's hardly a surprise that a short, easy to follow, accessible, and now published track would would be getting a lot of action, especially with COVID travel restrictions increasing the appeal of easy bushwalks.

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[Xplora]

I attribute this sort of stuff to the boom in popularity of apps like Alltrails. Both a blessing and a curse.

Both times I've encountered underprepared or lost parties this year were following Alltrails. One very confused couple at Gladstone Pass, another lost group of 5 trying to get to the Grose river via the Devils Wilderness.

Is there a disclaimer on the site? Follow these tracks at your own risk. We are not responsible for the accuracy of information.

[jrg]

It's not too hard to discover these days. The track to the cave (admittedly rather incorrectly marked towards the end) now appears on the topo map.

It's even on Google Maps now.

[edit: removed hyperlink which will make it easier to find than it should be].

[mandragara]

I attribute this sort of stuff to the boom in popularity of apps like Alltrails. Both a blessing and a curse.

Both times I've encountered underprepared or lost parties this year were following Alltrails. One very confused couple at Gladstone Pass, another lost group of 5 trying to get to the Grose river via the Devils Wilderness.

Is there a disclaimer on the site? Follow these tracks at your own risk. We are not responsible for the accuracy of information.

Yes, there's a disclaimer about Alltrails not being responsible, usual deal. But people just see a trail and their pin on the map and blindly follow it.

This was the section that caused trouble near the Grose. 1) The track is wrong and the actual track meanders a lot more (see Keats' book on the lower Grose), 2) The trail is graded as 'moderate', it is not a moderate walk, it is steep and loose, with mild exposure in places. Any research outside of Alltrails would have revealed that.

Capture.PNG (578.2 KiB) Viewed 8305 times

[Xplora]

Yes, there's a disclaimer about Alltrails not being responsible, usual deal. But people just see a trail and their pin on the map and blindly follow it.

This was the section that caused trouble near the Grose. 1) The track is wrong and the actual track meanders a lot more (see Keats' book on the lower Grose), 2) The trail is graded as 'moderate', it is not a moderate walk, it is steep and loose, with mild exposure in places. Any research outside of Alltrails would have revealed that.

Capture.PNG

I know that area and have been down there a few times. Didn't do the loop though but continued down the Grose or headed upstream to the Wilderness. Rough country and slow going. So I take it they followed the red line and not the proper track. I remember there used to be an old BBQ plate at the river. Tracks like these should never be posted. I actually don't post any of my trips anywhere for the same reason. People with no idea should not have access to this information. Books are still a better way of putting out that sort of stuff as these people tend not to want to fork out money for it but still problematic for those wanna-be's.

I remember going to Dr. Darks cave when there was no information available online about it and very little in books. It is the world we live in and I suppose it will have its own form of natural selection as much as we try to stop it.