193412
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193412 [2014/09/12 11:57] – [This all Sounds Like Kowmung to me] emmanuelle_c | 193412 [2014/09/12 13:22] (current) – [Social Notes.] emmanuelle_c | ||
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===== Exploration of Tuglow Caves ===== | ===== Exploration of Tuglow Caves ===== | ||
- | A letter from Oliver Glanfield to Myles Dunphy | + | A letter from Oliver Glanfield to Myles Dunphy\\ |
23rd. August, 1934. | 23rd. August, 1934. | ||
+ | |||
Dear Myles, | Dear Myles, | ||
- | I have been trying to drop in and recount our experiences on our second | ||
- | visit to Tuglaw Caves on August 4, 5 and 6 inst., but having been unsuccessful in seeing you I am writing a brief outline of the trip. | ||
- | The party - Cedric Old and Keith Hardiman, both of the legal fraternity; and Win. Barnes, a doctor; and myself - left Sydney on Friday night in Old's car and stayed the night at his cottage at Wentworth Falls. This time we carried a | ||
- | thermometer as a matter of interest. At Wentworth Falls a strong westerly blow | ||
- | arose and sent the temperature down to 400F. Spent a good night indoors and moved off next morning in good sunshine to Jenolan. Along the main road, from about | ||
- | Hartley to Jenolan, snow had fallen the previous night and still remained in protected | ||
- | patches. Somehow we could not get warm. | ||
- | Passed through Jenolan and up the Oberon Hill, finding the whole country covered with a few inches of snow. Air temperature 350F generally, but once dropped to 330F. Good road but a bit slippery to Ginkin Turnoff (main Ginkin Road, not the short cut, which is in a terrible condition. Poor road to Ginkin, sky becoming | ||
- | ominously overcast, and a bad road to Tuglaw which necessitated detours, and once the | ||
- | removal of undergrowth by axe to provide a safe passage around a road bog of unknown depth. | ||
- | Arrived at Dennis' | ||
- | The river was greatly swollen and crossing proved difficult. Old tried to wade at the usual ford but the current was too strong and the cold water made his | ||
- | skin very sore. As the light was failing rapidly we decided to push a pole across the narrowest part where two limestone boulders formed a deep, rushing channel. A | ||
- | second lighter pole was also manoeuvred into position, and then I crawled across on | ||
- | all fours and fixed a rope to the opposite side. On this somewhat insecure bridge we crossed with our gear, and entered the hut at twilight, finding one of Dennis' | ||
- | Old, failing in a brave attempt to wade the river, ran up and down the bank | ||
- | trying to warm himself, clad in shirt, pullover, coat, overcoat and muffler, but | ||
- | without his trousers, and presented a strange sight in the fading light of the cold evening. After spending some time and considerable physical effort in warming himself he was unfortunate enough to step forward onto a seemingly solid-looking | ||
- | grass tussock by the side of the stream, and found himself dropped vertically into | ||
- | the chilly stream again. These incidents produced a deal of hilarity but the various comments cannot be recorded. | ||
- | SUNDAY, AUGUST 5th., 1934. The day broke clear and sunny, but fresh to cold. Party | ||
- | set out over Tuglau Mountain to the Caves. Much to my discredit, I admit an error in guiding and we found ourselves in the next gully upstream along the Kawmung from the Caves, but after a scouting trip on my part, we climbed out and arrived at the | ||
- | Caves about mid-day. We had brought along a winch made of one inch galvanized iron | ||
- | piping with handles, and rigged up this S.E. of the bigger entrance, having previously | ||
- | marked Z)112 200 feet of rope in 20 feet sections. Decided to lunch before the descent. During | + | I have been trying to drop in and recount our experiences on our second visit to Tuglow Caves on August 4, 5 and 6 inst., but having been unsuccessful in seeing you I am writing a brief outline of the trip. |
- | of the crevasse. This feeling intensified when I reached a larger cavern, the sides of which were beyond reach, However, I signalled for further lowering and, swinging freely in space, descended 40 feet or so to a ledge. Altering my direction somewhat I continued steadily downward | + | |
- | up from what appeared to be a " | + | The party - Cedric Old and Keith Hardiman, both of the legal fraternity; and Win. Barnes, a doctor; and myself - left Sydney on Friday night in Old's car and stayed the night at his cottage at Wentworth Falls. This time we carried a thermometer as a matter of interest. At Wentworth Falls a strong westerly blow arose and sent the temperature down to 40°F [4.4°C]. Spent a good night indoors and moved off next morning in good sunshine to Jenolan. Along the main road, from about Hartley to Jenolan, snow had fallen the previous night and still remained in protected patches. Somehow we could not get warm. |
- | I had pulled a second rope dawn with me as a safety precaution and in coming_ | + | |
- | trousers and back pocket and contents, torn off against a rock somewhere in the ascent. | + | Passed through Jenolan and up the Oberon Hill, finding the whole country covered with a few inches of snow. Air temperature 35°F [1.7°C] generally, but once dropped to 33°F [0.5°C]. Good road but a bit slippery to Gingkin Turnoff (main Gingkin Road, not the short cut, which is in a terrible condition). Poor road to Gingkin, sky becoming ominously overcast, and a bad road to Tuglow which necessitated detours, and once the removal of undergrowth by axe to provide a safe passage around a road bog of unknown depth. |
- | I would mention the matter of sound in the Caves. Each man had a fairly loud whistle of the vibrator or ''' | + | |
- | Next man down was Barnes. Profiting from the knowledge gained of the first two descents he successfully gained a solid (?) bottom at 110 feet. He left the rope; we hauled it up and sent dawn Old to join him, Hardiman and I pulled up the second rope (a mistaken move) and lowered ourselves into the smaller hole or entrance which we explored last Easter. However, we did not get far before the signal to haul up was heard (both entrances lead to a common cavern) | + | Arrived at Dennis' |
- | After some deliberation I was lowered on the main rope, carrying the second rope, and after some manoeuvring, | + | |
- | Dusk was approaching rapidly, so we dismantled the winch and wound up the - ropes. Made a short trip to the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Kowmung River, which was running strongly - there were no placid pools between the rapids. | + | The river was greatly swollen and crossing proved difficult. [Cedric] Old tried to wade at the usual ford but the current was too strong and the cold water made his skin very sore. As the light was failing rapidly we decided to push a pole across the narrowest part where two limestone boulders formed a deep, rushing channel. A second lighter pole was also manoeuvred into position, and then I crawled across on all fours and fixed a rope to the opposite side. On this somewhat insecure bridge we crossed with our gear, and entered the hut at twilight, finding one of Dennis' |
+ | |||
+ | Old, failing in a brave attempt to wade the river, ran up and down the bank trying to warm himself, clad in shirt, pullover, coat, overcoat and muffler, but without his trousers, and presented a strange sight in the fading light of the cold evening. After spending some time and considerable physical effort in warming himself he was unfortunate enough to step forward onto a seemingly solid-looking grass tussock by the side of the stream, and found himself dropped vertically into the chilly stream again. These incidents produced a deal of hilarity but the various comments cannot be recorded. | ||
+ | |||
+ | __SUNDAY, AUGUST 5th., 1934.__ The day broke clear and sunny, but fresh to cold. Party set out over Tuglow Mountain to the Caves. Much to my discredit, I admit an error in guiding and we found ourselves in the next gully upstream along the Kowmung from the Caves, but after a scouting trip on my part, we climbed out and arrived at the Caves about mid-day. We had brought along a winch made of one inch galvanized iron piping with handles, and rigged up this S.E. of the bigger entrance, having previously marked our 200 feet of rope in 20 feet sections. Decided to lunch before the descent. During | ||
+ | |||
+ | I had pulled a second rope down with me as a safety precaution and in coming | ||
+ | |||
+ | I would mention the matter of sound in the Caves. Each man had a fairly loud whistle of the vibrator or "Boy Scout" type. This could be heard to about 80 feet down, after which it was necessary to place a man at the mouth of the hole to repeat the signals to the winch-man, only 40 feet away. I intend, in future, using whistles of the " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Next man down was Barnes. Profiting from the knowledge gained of the first two descents he successfully gained a solid (?) bottom at 110 feet. He left the rope; we hauled it up and sent down Old to join him, Hardiman and I pulled up the second rope (a mistaken move) and lowered ourselves into the smaller hole or entrance which we explored last Easter. However, we did not get far before the signal to haul up was heard (both entrances lead to a common cavern) and we had to hurry to allay fears of the boys being trapped. Old came up first, and then we realized that, as the second rope had been removed, we did not know where Barnes was. | ||
+ | After some deliberation I was lowered on the main rope, carrying the second rope, and after some manoeuvring, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dusk was approaching rapidly, so we dismantled the winch and wound up the ropes. Made a short trip to the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Kowmung River, which was running strongly - there were no placid pools between the rapids. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Started back to the hut, ascending straight up the side of Tuglow Mountain, gaining the summit in darkness, with just the faintest glow of light in the Western sky, above Dennis' | ||
+ | |||
+ | __MONDAY, AUGUST, 6th., 1934.__ Day broke beautifully; | ||
+ | |||
+ | From Tuglow to the main Oberon - Jenolan Road we encountered conditions worse than met with on the outward journey; the road bogs seemed to be more numerous and dangerous, but we successfully crossed or by-passed them and proceeded on to Jenolan for a mid-afternoon meal. From here to Sydney we overcame the difficulty of being cold, by actually getting inside our sleeping-bags and sitting in the car - excluding the driver, of course - although the cold was not so severe as on the outward journey. Stopping at Katoomba we bought packets of chips and fish, and proceeded, thus having our evening meal without delay, by changing drivers. To Sydney without event, then a good, hot bath and bed. | ||
- | Started back to the hut, ascending | + | We are convinced that the best way to enter Tuglow Caves is straight |
- | MONDAY, AUGUST, 6th., 1934. Day broke beautifully; | ||
- | From Tuglaw to the main Oberon - Jenolan Road we encountered conditions worse than met with an the outward journey; the road bogs seemed to be more numerous and dangerous, but we successfully crossed or by-passed them and proceeded on to Jenolan for a mid-afternoon meal. From here to Sydney we overcame the difficulty of being cold, by actually getting inside our sleeping-bags and sitting in the car - excluding the driver, of course - although the cold was not so severe as on the outward journey. Stopping at Katoomba we bought packets of chips and fish, and proceeded, thus having our evening meal without delay, by changing drivers. To Sydney without event, then a good, hot bath and bed. | ||
- | We are convinced that the best way to -enter Tuglaw Caves is straight dawn the | ||
- | larger hole on a winch-controlled rope, and also that these Caves present possibilite-, | ||
I suggest that any would-be adventurers should be dissuaded from attempting exploration underground, | I suggest that any would-be adventurers should be dissuaded from attempting exploration underground, | ||
- | 411114.000 | ||
===== "On the Wallaby" | ===== "On the Wallaby" | ||
Line 292: | Line 283: | ||
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Club Members the Compliments of this Season allied to good walking and camping during their holidays. | I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Club Members the Compliments of this Season allied to good walking and camping during their holidays. | ||
- | FOR THE SOCIAL COMMITTEE | + | FOR THE SOCIAL COMMITTEE\\ |
Rene D. Browne, Hon. Social Secretary. | Rene D. Browne, Hon. Social Secretary. |
193412.txt · Last modified: 2014/09/12 13:22 by emmanuelle_c