Warrumbungles solo trip

 

 

Day 1:

 Burbie Canyon creek

The day before the trip was not fun! Lisa my friend decided to not go on this trip for family reasons and Coonabaraban taxi couldn't confirm us if they have a taxi. Still, I decided to "press on regardless" because I believed that there may still a chance for a taxi - "It is a small town, surely no one would use the taxi there". With that hope, I asked Lisa if she can come to central the next day to give me the PLB, I also borrowed from her a phone charger.

Next day began early, I woke up at 5:30 am to arrive at Central at 7:00 am for the train. I quickly met up with Lisa and received the PLB and charger. Seems like I will be going by myself then. Oh well! I do enjoy walking alone. The XPT train departed to Lithgow and I was dead asleep as soon as it ran. I transfer to a coach to Coonabaraban after confirming that there is a taxi for me. Yay! I took out some cash and headed to the town. The drive was very tiring. It was a 5 hours drive! I had a nice chicken sandwich and cream soda at Dunedoo. The view was amazing though, we passed through fields and fields of fully bloomed Canola plants.

Coonabaraban was a small regional town in a middle of nowhere. Greeting me was an old taxi driver. Lucky for me even though it was very cloudy in the town, by the time I reached the Warrumbungles the sky cleared up since the wind blew the clouds northwards! The drive was very nice, as soon as we reached the park, the view opened up, giving high mountains with a lot of greeneries! I became even more excited when I saw the Breadknife and the driver told me I would see a lot of Wallabies, Kangaroos and Wallaroos here. Even though there was a fire here 2-3 years ago, the greeneries were so developed that I couldn't believe that fire used to ravage this place. We reached camp Wambelong after 30 minutes.

Camp Wambelong has more caravan and car camping people than I thought! It seems like I'm the only person who camped without a car here. After setting up my tent. I decided to visit Burbie canyon.

Burbie canyon was 15 minutes from the camp. Reading the sign it said the canyon is ephemeral, meaning it is mostly dry unless there was rain the day before. It also said the best time to visit is late afternoon and I would found popple bonk frog after rains. Lucky! All the condition for a best visit was met! The track was clear and easy. 

 

I could hear some popple bonk frog sounds here

I saw the flowing creek of the canyon! Very interesting although I wouldn't say this is a canyon since the area is very opened up. The vegetation is definitely different from places that I had visited so far. I saw quite a lot of wattles as well. There were 3 wallabies there! Yes! Though because of my bad eyesight, I only heard the popple bonk frog not seeing them. The sound they made is quite interesting and odd, like someone burping. 

 

Spotted a wallaby

 

Entering Burbie canyon

Walking back to the campsite while the sun was setting allowed me to see the beautiful colour on the split rock - which to me looked like a heart. 

First day seemed to be going very well for me! Camping by by yourself is enjoyable in its own way I guess. I like how I can immense deep in my thoughts while having dinner with the flowing sound of the creek by my tent.

Warrumbungle was amazing! As soon as I turnt off my head torch, the Milky way showed itself! Stargazing is absolutely my favourite activity even though cameras couldn't capture it. The Milky way was stunning! There were so many stars that it filled up the entire sky!

Day 2:

 Split rock at day

Day 2 was a big day so I started early. Waking up at 3:50 am with snoring sounds of caravan campers around me, I packed up all my stuff and had my congee breakfast while enjoying the starry sky. I left the camp at around 4:30 am.

Walking in the dark was no easy task. I found out that the battery I bought was too weak for my head torch, so I kept having to replace it. Quite annoying. However, the mysterious forest at night and the starry sky over my head was worth it. There is something about the starry sky that I love looking at it so much. 

 The track at day - it was much harder to walk at night due to its many rocks

As I made my way through the mount Exmouth track. Even though the hill was not that steep, the feeling of walking in a completely dark forest had my heart beat much faster than normal. I stopped by Burbie canyon camp for a quick break, while listening to the nocturnal organisms' orchestra. I started walking again, only to quickly tripped over a rock, not a good start. 

 Burbie canyon campground when the sun had risen

 But I started to notice I could see a little bit better and eventually, as I looked up, the lightly orange and dark blue sky startled me. "The sun is waking up!" I said to myself while moving my feet faster so I could see the sunrise at a better view. Then, the sign to the summit of Mt Exmouth and something else caught my attention - "To Grand High Tops". I didn't know that you could go that way to the other track! Well, better look at the map more carefully next time.

The sun slowly appeared

 Everything could be seen clearer

Mount Exmouth track certainly felt like a mountain track! There were even fences like in those mountain hiking pictures! This was my first time walking on a track like this. Even though I wanted to reach the summit before sunrise. It rose when I was still at the rocky part! How unlucky! But to be honest watching the sunrise at the top wasn't really in my plan anyway, so I wasn't really sad about it. 

This part has a rope for guiding!

The moss here looked quite interesting

Eventually, I stopped walking and just stood there, immersing in the sunrise before my eyes. Watching it over the Warrumbungles was amazing! 

 

The colour completely changed

The majestic view when I'm on a mountain made it to be 10 times better. I quickly climbed to the top, has to say it was quite scary but the view was amazing. 

I got a bit lost going down but manage to get back to the camp at 10am. Walking it after the sun had risen made it to be not as scary anymore.

Mount Exmouth from the bottom

Soon after I returned, there was an old couple who camped next to my tent asked where I went so early in the morning. They were very intrigued in how I got up at 4 am for a 10 km walk and invited me for tea. I chatted with them and asked about the walk to camp Pincham - where the Bread Knife and Grand High Tops walk started! The couple suggested to drove me to the start! How lucky for me! I saved an hour walking and started nonchalantly.

The beginning of the walk was very easy. The track was wide and at some parts there were even built bridges and tiles underneath! How luxurious! Walking through the track today made me realised how unique the Warrumbungles is. I found out that the whole national park is basically a volcano - not active anymore of course, and mount Exmouth can also be called mount Wambelong, since it is in the highest point in the park! After some walking, I took a small break next to this oddly chair-shaped rock by the creek, and had my first chocolate bar in the past 2 days!

Another creek!

The nice track ended when I started to ascend. It looked more like mountain tracks in the pictures now. 

But the view was worth it!

The ascend was very long, I would say I went up for 2 hours with a few picture breaks before arriving at my next camping spot - Dows camp! I arrived there just before noon. Walking up I also noticed how unlike the Blue mountains the national park is, the rocks here were mostly volcanic rock, there were also traces of the bush fire 3 years ago here, as there were bald spots on the mountains and some burnt trees I found along the way. There were a lot of branches so I struggled a bit to find a suitable place to pitch my tent. 

Bluff mountain, a prominent location in the Warrumbungles

I decided to summit Mount Bluff today as well since Dows camp was right under it. The walk up was easy. 

However, the view wasn't less stunning. I had the whole majestic view to myself again. It felt amazing. After I called my mother and my friend because the reception was strong up there, I noticed a track to the very top of Bluff mountain, so I followed it. 

At the top of Bluff Mountain

Now I can officially said that I summited Mt. Bluff! I stayed a bit more to wait for the sunset while listening to the dancing trees. It was beautiful. The orange and pink tinted colour of the sky was magical. 

Sunset was relaxing

I got down quite late as I also lost a little bit. I wonder why it is so hard navigating down a mountain compare to going up! I lighted a fire by myself for the first time! I struggled a lot though. I had a nice dinner while listening to music by the fire. Although I couldn't really see the starry sky due to the branches over my head, having a fire is still very nice.

Day 3 - Last day: 

 Breadknife and Grandhigh Tops Walk

The day started a bit later today. I slept in after big day of walking before. Also, I was afraid that my head torch might ran out of battery again, so I decided that I would start walking when the sky was brighter - at around 6:30 am. I had a nice breakfast after packing up everything - Vietnamese vermicelli and soup - and refilled my water bottle at the creek near by. Then, I headed towards Grand High Tops summit and Lugh's Thorn when the sun was slowly rising. 

 As I approached the track, the sun was rising. I love sunrises and sunset so again, I stood a bit to watch the sunrise. The track descended to Dagda Gap - or Dagda saddle as the sign there said. 

Suddenly, there were rumbling noise in the bush to my left. That was when I saw a dark furry creature. A wild wallaroo has appeared! This was my first time seeing one in the bush! It was bigger than a wallaby but certainly smaller than a kangaroo. It has a coarse and shaggy fur, with a silver patch near its neck and a very thick tail. The way it hopped was very interesting - very upright!. Unlucky for me, I couldn't take a picture of it since it hopped away so fast!

The ascending mountain track was very steep. I reckoned I ascended for 800 m. However, the view opened up to me at the top was one of the best view I has seen. Not only do I saw the Breadknife, I also saw the Berourey spire and the whole park even though it was quite cloudy. Walking up I also saw the shape of the Grand High Tops. Magnificent! 

 Grand High Tops

I tried to climb up to the top of a rock and it was so windy. It felt like the wind could cut through my skin. What a great feeling. 

The rock I tried to climb

The view up there

I walked around a bit and found something like a compass, it pointed to where all the attractions are. Though because of my bad eyesight again, I could not see many of the attractions. 

The descending path was much quicker. it was also more luxurious! After following the yellow light, I arrived at a wooden board path which later led to a lot of stairs! Wooden staircases that went straight down to the bottom of the track! No wonder why most people would ascended through this way instead of the way I did. It felt good to walk early in the day, since there wasn't much people around. I nonchalantly walked back to camp Pincham while enjoying the view on my way. Had to say although my bag felt a little bit heavy, the scenery made the walk very enjoyable. 

I arrived at camp Pincham and instead of going straight to the car park, the descending track was so easy that it only took me an hour to complete.

This solo trip was my first time to do a two nights trip alone. It was very enjoyable having all the time and scenery to myself and walking at my own pace. I get to appreciate the wildlife and scenery more when I was alone. A highlight of this trip is my exposure to mountain tracks! Turnt out that the dry end part of grasses is a very good fire starters as well! I definitely going to come back here again to finish all the tracks that I didn't do. Probably with my family when I have a car for an overnight relaxing trips since the other tracks of the park looks very easy!