On Sunday 23rd May 2004 Max Wharton and I left Sanctuary Point for Kangaroo Valley. Our intention was to spend today and part of tomorrow walking Griffins Trail. Although Max had been camping before, this was to be Maxís first overnighter with a fullpack, his previous efforts being car camps. I probably picked the best walk for a (sic) first timer, the walking is relatively easy, there were some great views and a wonderful campsite, complete with wildlife and nearby water. The weather forecast predicted sunny conditions until Monday afternoon when rain was predicted and we set out under sunny blue skies.

As we came over Cambewarra Mountain into the township of Kangaroo Valley, the thick morning fog (a norm for this area) was starting to lift. We parked my car at the end of Jacks Corner Road and entered the Morton National Park past a locked gate. It was 8.50am. Instead of taking an immediate left turn and following the track to Beehive Point, as I have on a previous walk in this area, we headed due north along Griffins Fire Trail and followed this dirt road as it undulated its way below the western slope of Mount Moollattoo. The vegetation along this route is quite dense with Eucalypts, Burrawangs and an assortment of Banksias prominent. This was a good chance to loosen up the muscles and get the body used to carrying a heavy pack for the first time in many months, rather than getting straight into a steep ascent so soon after leaving the comfort of the car. We would face the steep ascent soon enough.

After approximately 3km the road descended steeply to a left hand bend dominated by large rock formations on either side of the road. Here we left the road and took a quick 10 minute break. A foot track starting at this point would take us on a 120 metre descent, allowing us to cut out a much steeper and longer section of road before linking up with the road close to Yarrunga Creek. We were surprised to notice a new rather sturdy fence built across the track at the beginning, but realised this had been built to deter trail bike riders as it was obviously quite easy for walkers to negotiate. (Trail Bike riding has been a problem in the Yarrunga Valley with bikes tearing up the tracks and causing widespread erosion). We easily negotiated the fence and followed the foot track downhill. Early on we negotiated Burrawang Palms before the track widened. It was about halfway down this track I noticed my sunglasses were missing, obviously falling out of my shirt during the walk. I was not keen to backtrack uphill to retrieve them, they werenít that expensive. I hoped to find them tomorrow morning during the return leg.

Before long we had returned to the road and followed it the 100 metres down to Yarrunga Creek, passing a group of 7 elderly hikers coming the other way - these were the only other people we were to see on the entire walk. So far Max felt quite comfortable carrying a large heavy pack when normally he was used to carrying a smaller lightly loaded day pack. He had even obtained for himself two sturdy lengths of fallen tree branches to use as walking staffs which were about to come in very useful. The road crosses the creek via a shallow ford, but just downstream from here a crossing can be made over a series of well placed stones. Max used his two sticks quite well for balance while crossing the creek and there was no repeat of wet accidents that have marred previous crossings at this point.

On the other side we scrambled up the bank and met up with the trail as it headed west through light forest for a short distance. There were no sightings of Lyrebirds, quite common in this area, but soon we noticed the remnants of stone walls, built by the inhabitants of Griffins Farm many years ago. Once again I missed the initial side track into Griffins Farm, marked by a small set of stone steps leading nowhere. I realised this when looking left towards the creek I could make out the green clearing of the camping area. We continued west another 50 metres to the western entrance and made our way across the low cut grass of Griffins Farm camping area. As we approached the more favoured campsite we could make out a lone Wombat grazing on the grass (a reason this area resembles a bowling green) We managed to get within 20 metres of this large mammal before he was aware of our presence and quickly bounded out of sight into the bush. There were also a large number of Scrub Wrens and other Finch-like birds flying around, there were no signs of Magpies. We stopped here for a 20 minute break, it was 10.20am and had taken us just one hour and forty minutes to reach this point. We noticed the previous occupants had been considerate enough to leave a large pile of dead timber for campfire use, a sad rarity these days. It meant we would not need to spend time collecting firewood later this afternoon.

We took a quick look at the farmhouse ruins just above the camping flat, all that was left was the concrete foundations, some stone steps, a couple of water pipes and a concrete trough. We also disturbed another Wombat, out for a morning feed. It was rare to see this nocturnal animal out so late in the morning, we had now seen two in the space of 15 minutes. They are quite common here and the banks of the nearby creek are littered with their deep burrows. It was time to make a decision, what to do for the rest of the day. Should we pitch the tents and spend the day exploring the tracks north of the trail that climb into the wooded hillside above, or take the steep and arduous climb up to Meryla Pass where we would have some excellent views of the valley and surrounding mountains? Naturally I decided on the latter and by the end of the trip was wishing I'd decided on the former. I felt uneasy about leaving the rucksacks at camp, especially with all the quality equipment contained within, you never know who might turn up while we are away. So, I decided we would lug our heavy rucksacks up the 500 metre and 5.2km ascent to Meryla Pass. I was soon to comment I needed my bloody head examined.

We had a 1.2km walk along the undulating Griffins Trail until we reached the concrete bridge at Crankeys Creek arriving there at 11.45am. On the other side of the bridge the dirt road climbs steeply as it ascends the ridge in a series of hairpin-like bends followed by steep straight stretches of loose dirt and stones. It wasn't long before I was commenting to Max that I needed my head read. What was I thinking, attempting a steep ascent such as this with fully laden rucksacks? I could feel my back aching and the muscles in my thighs and calves were as tight as the strings on an archer's longbow. We made several short stops to catch our breaths and stretch out the muscles as every corner revealed yet another steep and imposing climb. It wasn't long before I was starting to wonder where the intersection to the Timealong Trail was, surely we should have reached it by now, it seemed to never arrive.

Eventually we reached another bend and the intersection of the Timealong Trail on the left. This trail descends below the Morton escarpment and passes the eastern side of Wombat Hill before reaching Yarrunga Creek. It's another option for walkers in this area, but again we would not be looking at walking this section. We continued ascending and were mortified to find more steep ascents. We took a 5 minute rest break on the remnants of a fallen tree at the side of the road before moving on. By now my back was screaming, not to mention my legs. It was head down, bum up and one foot in front of the other.

Max and Paul enjoy lunch on a rock at Gales Flat

Very shortly though the road levelled out considerably and we found ourselves passing through a gate and into an open grassy area. This is Gales Flat. This clearing was used by Arthur Yates (of Yates Seeds fame) to graze cattle from his dairy farm at Headlands. We arrived at 12.55pm. Max immediately took photo's of the escarpment to the west while I located a suitable lunch spot. As time was important (requiring us to be back at Griffins Farm by 4.00pm) we decided on a 20 minute break, enough time to rehydrate and eat - the break turned out to be 25 minutes which was fine. We continued on to Meryla Pass, the road now not so steep as it passed through dense rainforest and an area of a recent landslide. It wasn't too long before we reached a newly constructed and locked gate which we had to climb through. The next bend took us through Meryla Pass itself. On the right of the cutting in the road you can make out a coal seam before the road comes out and intersects with the Wombat Hill Lookout Firetrail. We had made it. A quick check of our watches revealed it was 1.45pm.

We followed the Wombat Hill Lookout Firetrail south for about 200 metres to an open spot on the cliffs that gave us excellent views of the Yarrunga Valley. We happily dropped packs and sat and admired the views that included Mt Scanzi to the south, Mount Carrialoo and Mount Moollattoo to the east. Our aptly named Portaloo Point to our left, Wombat Hill to our right and below us, Gales Flat. We were amazed to notice how high we had ascended. We knew it had been a bugger of a climb, our legs and back told us that, but it was amazing to locate how far down into the valley Yarrunga Creek was. Now we had the return journey. We shouldered our packs at 2.20pm and gingerly made our way down the road. The long rest had stiffened us up considerably. The return journey down the steep road was going to take a toll on our knees and we would have to be careful not to lose our footing on the loose surface and take a nasty tumble on the steeper sections. During the descent we were able to spy a Lyrebird in the scrub not far from Gales Flat, but it was the only Lyrebird we were to see on this trip. We arrived at the Crankeys Creek bridge without incident and were happy to be walking along level track for a change as we made our way back to the campsite at Griffins Farm. We arrived there just after 3.30pm.

The view of the Yarrunga Valley from the lookout near Meryla Pass

With an overcast sky and light fading we wasted little time getting our tents set up, collected water from the creek and started preparing dinner. Although I had brought along my Trangia spirit stove, I set up a small cooking fire as I had also brought along some precooked sausages wrapped in foil. With some suitable embers glowing I placed the foil package in the fireplace and covered it with hot coals and ash then prepared the cheesy pasta on my Trangia. While this was happening Max continued to collect kindling to restart the fire after dark, we had plenty of thick timber. We also had another Wombat visit the camping area. This one had a rather sickly looking wound on its hind leg. This Wombat too darted back into the scrub when it became aware of our presence. When the pasta was ready I retrieved the foil package from the fire. The sausages were sizzling and tasted magnificent - cooked to perfection. As I dished out the pasta Max commented that he was hungry, not starving, but he ate the lot just the same. The meal was quite enjoyable.

By the time we had cleaned up it was dark, the sky was clearing revealing an impressive star field above us. Strangely I had expected the temperature to plummet, but it wasn't cold at all. I was able to spend the evening clad only in my thermals. Not once did I require my fleece jacket, beanie or gloves. We quickly got the fire restarted, collected some more water for the billy which we heated on the fire for after dinner hot chocolate or coffee, took obligatory campfire photographs and spent the next 2 hours chatting. At one stage we heard rustling in the scrub. Expecting another Wombat we were surprised to see the biggest possum I had ever seen come wandering through the campsite. It was almost the size of a large Wombat. Aware of our presence it circled our immediate area illuminated by our head torches before disappearing into the scrub again. We decided to take no chances tonight and packed away all our food items into our rucksacks and placed them in our tents.

It had been a tiring day and by 7.30pm we decided to call it a night. I awoke next morning after a good night's sleep surprised by the fact it hadn't been cold at all, even more so, upon exiting my tent at 8.00am there was no sign of any fog. The sky was overcast and small Scrub Wrens darted between the tents scrounging for seeds or insects. Within 5 minutes Max had joined me. He commented that he had heard a very strange animal near my tent during the night - he was referring to my snoring. Perhaps next trip he won't pitch his tent so close to mine!

The campsite at Griffins Farm on the morning of the 2nd day

We spent the next two hours having breakfast, collecting drinking water from the creek and packing up the gear. At 10.00am we shouldered our packs onto our protesting backs and set off for the car. I estimated we should be there by Midday (Max had received a last minute work commitment he had to attend to prior to the walk and only for this reason were we heading out rather than spending a few hours exploring the immediate area). It wasn't long before our walking pace had warmed up the areas of aches and pains and we were again enjoying the morning walk. We again crossed Yarrunga Creek without incident, but now we were faced with the uphill stretch. We located the intersection to the track and battled up the ascent, stopping only a couple of times to catch our breaths and allow the heart rate to settle. About three quarters of the way up I found my lost sunglasses on the track, they were in good condition, but under this overcast sky they weren't required. We arrived at the new fence just 55 minutes after setting out and had a 15 minute morning tea break, happy with the progress we were making. When we set off again we knew we only had two uphill sections to negotiate and compared to yesterday, these were mere bumps. Just 3km of dirt road lay ahead and it was at 11.45am we arrived back at the car, content we had just completed a most enjoyable day and a bit bushwalk.