Trip reports

Trip report

2011-01-14	Canyoning - Devils Pinch Canyon and Pipeline Canyon at Newnes
Trip report:
On Saturday the party of six did Devils Pinch Canyon. We left from the campground at 8.00 am and headed up the Pipeline Track. After a few breather breaks and a stop at the lookout at top of the Pipeline Track we headed on to the watershed and located the Starlight Canyon Track that heads north east. We followed this and broke off near the head of the Devils Pinch Creek. We then followed the ridge to the west of the Devils Pinch creek and entered the "dry" canyon on the western side before the first abseil. Devils Pinch has two main parts. A "dry"(er) section - which was wet on this occasion- which we rigged as two abseils, although it can be rigged with more but shorter abseils. The second part is a sustained wet slot canyon section that finishes in a waterfall abseil out into the Wolgan Valley. We rigged the canyon with four abseils in all. All the abseils in Devils Pinch have tricky starts and some are tight with obscured visibility so effective bottom belay is quite difficult. We completed the last pitch at about 4.30pm and then headed down to the Wolgan River and back to Newnes on the southern side of the river - part of the way along joining the fire trail. We used two 60m ropes, which was ample. The canyon was much wetter than normal but was still able to be negotaiated without problems. On Sunday we did Pipeline Canyon. Again an 8.00 am start. Up the Pipeline Track and along the Starlight Canyon track for a bit. We wanted to do most of the canyon so we went further north than the usual entrance. We followed a tributary on the western side into Pipleline Canyon. This route appears to be rarely used because there was no obvious path. Near the end of the this tributary we encountered two waterfall abseils which would often be dry. Each was about 25m but we used double ropes as we were unsure of their length. We then followed the canyon down to the slot part. The last two abseils brought us out into the Wolgan Valley near the base of the cliffline for the "somewhat exposed" walk back to the Pipeline Track in the Gully (as is described in guide books). We noticed as we were doing this that another long pitch has been rigged further down the stream below this. But as we had already removed our wetsuits and packed away our gear we did not go back to do this. We arrived back at Newnes around 4.30pm. The abseils in Pipeline Canyon are not easy. They often have low starts followed on occasions by awkward overhangs. We used a 60m and a 55m rope, which was ample. Both these canyons are not suitable for beginners or people who are not fully self proficient in abseiling.