Wednesday 8 February 2012

Eucumbene River Packrafting

The Eucumbene River has its origins up on the Great Dividing Range north of the ghost town of Kiandra. The first few kilometres of river wind across open grassy plains, and then it plummets through a gorge before levelling out again in the backwaters of Lake Eucumbene. Below the dam wall the river continues down to meet the Snowy at a junction somewhere deep beneath the waters of Lake Jindabyne.

One of the keener local packrafters, Steve, organised a group paddle down the gorge section via the Packrafting forums. It ended up being just the two of us who turned up. Perhaps the others had been scared off by the description in the Canoeing Guide to NSW, which contains statements like 'in high water the gorge would be continuous grade 4, 5 or even 6 rapids due to the extremely high gradient'!

Prior to setting off we patched up the damage I'd done to my packraft the previous day (see Cave Creek Packrafting for details). I had placed a bit of Patch'n'Go over the damaged tube and floor, but the gash was in an awkward spot so the repair was still leaking somewhat. Steve produced a roll of Tyvek tape and we plastered it over the tube, the floor, and also patched up my busted spraydeck from the Snowy. The Tyvek has amazing adhesive properties, and with a bit more thickness it would be the perfect packrafting repair material.

With the repairs out of the way we did the car shuffle. I had checked out the gauges the previous day and it was apparent that the water levels were low and contiuing to drop, so we opted to bypass the usual start point of the Kiandra bridge and instead put in at the end of the Four Mile Hill Trail. This trimmed off most of the paddling through the grassy plains, which would have been bony and slow going. We launched and started bobbing away through the grass, paddling past a couple of trout fisherman at one stage.


Soon the river swung hard to the left , marking the first rapid of the trip. It was a good little drop, and after a quick scout we both ran it.


The river loses a lot of gradient through the gorge, and the rapids are closely spaced. In places it feels more like a steep creek than a river. It's a beautiful setting.


As the river narrows through the gorge, the flow becomes more concentrated and it was not as bony as the section above or below. Still, some rapids were unrunnable due to boulders and ultra low volumes, so we had to portage a couple of times. Steve got adventurous and did a seal launch off one of the many smooth granite boulders, which became a common theme for the rest of the paddle.


When rivers like this are at such low levels all the hidden hazards become visible. Undercut rocks, sieves and hollows all convince me that this would not be a pleasant place to swim.


About halfway through the gorge the river flattens out slightly and goes around a kink. We had lunch here and expected the rest of the river would be fairly placid, but it soon steepened up again and threw up some more rapids for us to enjoy.


The rapids in the gorge are tight and technical, and would be continuous grade 3 with a bit more water. Even with our low levels a couple of the rapids were still grade 3s.


While there were no big drops, there were enough around the 2, 3 & 4 foot mark to keep us amused.


The gradient eased to grade 2, and there was even the occasional short pool to paddle across.



Eventually the river bed widened, making for some bony running. We continued on past the gauging station, annoying a few trout fisherman before emerging from the bush at the car. With a little more water this last section would be quite pleasant. The gauge reading at the Kiandra bridge was 5.11m.

We're claiming this as the first packraft descent of this section of river, and it sure won't be the last. Thanks to Steve for organising it all and being a great paddling companion. We'll be back again in higher water for a more adrenaline-fueled trip.

(This will be the last packrafting post from me for a while, as my poor battered raft is heading back to the factory for a few repairs)

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Cave Creek Packrafting

Much of the northern end of Kosciuszko National Park is made up of huge grass plains fringed low, gentle tree-clad hills. The country was favoured by graziers and at first glance seems far from rugged. Some of the plains are scattered with granite boulders and contain small creeks; others are divided by deep, slowly moving rivers, and a couple at the northern end appear to be dry. These latter plains sit atop limestone country, known as karst.

Tucked away at the edge of a dry plain is a location called Blue Waterholes. It is here that water emerges from beneath the surface and forms the permanent watercourse of Cave Creek. As the name suggests there are many caves in the area, however they were not the target of this trip. I wanted to travel down Cave Creek by packraft.

I set off around midday on a beautiful blue sky day. A short walk from the carpark one comes to the creek itself, which was flowing at a decent level; as good as you could expect for the middle of summer in Australia, anyway.


Inflating the raft, I paddled along the pools, bounced through the pebble races and occasionally had to get out and drag. Around a few bends the river does a sharp left-hand turn and enters the highlight of the area; Clarke Gorge.


The gorge is simply spectacular. It consists of sheer limestone cliffs plunging down into the creek, and reminds me of a scene from Lord Of The Rings. An amazing place to be paddling a packraft.


After a couple of hundred metres the gorge opens out again, though the scenery is still spectacular.


Due to the low water levels there was a fair bit of contact between the floor of the packraft and the rocks in the bed of the river. Usually this wasn't an issue, as the most of the rocks were fairly smooth and one could spin over them, or jiggle off them by throwing some body mass around. However, on a shallow stretch of river the raft made contact with a rock that felt much more vicious. I heard an unusual noise, and instinctively reached down and felt the base of the raft where the contact had been made. My fingertips detected a couple of edges of fabric that weren't there before and the unmistakable presence of air escaping, so I headed towards dry ground. By the time I reached the bank a few seconds later the raft was looking a little soft.


Soon the raft was unloaded, seat removed and the damage could be examined. A chunk of limestone had sliced the base open beneath the seat, cutting through the tube as well. The total opening length was about 50mm, with a supplementary gouge continuing along the floor to the stern of the raft. For a soft rock, it's amazing how sharp limestone can be!


My original aim for the trip was to continue further down Cave Creek, through a second gorge and past a waterfall, to its terminus at the Goodradigbee River. However, I'd started a little later than I had hoped and the puncture would consume more time, so I decided to dry the raft out, have a bite to eat and then return to the car; the repair could wait until the evening, and the rest of the trip could wait for another day.

As I sat there eating some jerky and soaking up the sun a narrow, slippery and scaly critter came swimming along the creek, beaching itself near the stricken packraft. It was a 600mm long snake, which saw me and burrowed itself in under a rock, with its tail still in the water.


Initially I wasn't thrilled with the idea of sharing the bank with the snake, but it soon became apparent that it wasn't moving anywhere in a hurry. After deflating the packraft and getting ready to depart it eventually slithered out of its hiding place and into some nearby grass. I crossed the creek, located the walking track and started returning to the car. The walk is easy and provides some interesting views of the gorge and the river.


This photo captures the gorge at its best.


The gorge was over all too soon, but Cave Creek still had one final surprise in store. At the end of the second-last creek crossing, basking on a small rock, was a magnificent lizard. It didn't seem at all concerned by my presence, and following a couple of photos I departed with the lizard still occupying the rock.


All in all, a great way to spend a summer's day. Nevertheless, I'm not in a hurry to return to limestone country and paddle a packraft at low water levels. Perhaps it's time for a sacrificial plastic kayak to join the fleet?