Juggler and Grand Canyons, Blue Mountains

Tom Brennan had agreed to accompany me for my last day of Canyoning. We arranged to meet at North Richmond and asses the conditions before deciding on our trip. The weather was still unstable with afternoon thunderstorms forecast and as such he opted for another shorter easier day to mitigate the risk of flash flooding.

We drove back southwest to the Great Western Highway, where I parked my car and hopped into Tom’s wagon. Our goal for today was Juggler Canyon followed by Grand Canyon. The two canyons are often linked together for a days outing. Whilst Juggler didn’t have a glowing reputation, it was billed as a much more interesting way to get to Grand Canyon, which would be a rather short day on its own.

Parking at the end of an old dirt road, we began down the track towards Juggler. Tom and I held views about canyoning that were poles apart, but it was interesting to hear his reasoning on a number of issues we dissagreed about. He almost never wears a helmet, very rarely brings a wetsuit and is completely content to absiel double strand despite knowledge of more advanced rope techniques.

His attitude reflected the gist I got from many Oz Canyoners, that to them, Canyoning is just a natural extension of bushwalking with just a few extra challenges thrown in. This idea persists because of the relative ease of most Oz Canyons, the lack of much current and the very warm australian temperatures.

Contrast this to my opinion that it is a sport in its own right, with the requirement for specialist equipment and techniques, given the experience in NZ, Utah and Europe….

Even though I didn’t quite agree with him, at least a bit more background information was starting to make the reasoning a little more understandable..

Arriving at the first drop, I paused to put my helmet and harness on, whilst Tom looped the rope, threw it then hand over handed down the low angle drop. I rappelled, then stashed the rope in my rope bag. At the next drop, I rigged a stien knot to give me a single line, then rapped with the rope bag attached down the debris chocked double tiered drop.

Tom rigged the next absiel from old slings around boulder pinches. There was a bit of water pouring over the edge, so he removed his t-shirt, and delicately abseiled to edge his way out of the fall line. I put on my spray jacket and went right down the middle.. It seems a crux difference between the two schools of thought is wether water is to be avoided at all costs, or embraced and sought after…

From here, It returned to a bit of a scramble till we arrived at the old tourist track that led to Grand Canyon. The track climbed to the halfway up the rim, then sidled around above the canyon on a track incised into the rock.

Before long, we encountered the super engineered NWPS three bolt and chain anchor. I descended first, marvelling at the super subway style of canyon formation.

Packing the rope away, we slowly began down canyon. Rather than sliding our way into the numerous pools to wade across, Tom made a point of delicate traverses to remain dry at all costs. Whilst it seemed a little strange at first, it actually made a very simple canyon a fair bit more challenging and enjoyable.

The highlight of the canyon was definitely the giant subway like formation of the canyon. Reminding me of the Zion canyon with that name, Grand seemed to have the same shape but on a significantly larger scale.

Near the end of the canyon, there was one compulsory swim, which Tom again tackled with the ‘strip off’ approach, whereas I put on a layer of neoprene and my spray top. He was probably laughing in side, when I slowly hauled my pack complete with wet rope, wet neoprene and technical canyoning harness up the exit hill. Perhaps a lesson needs to be learnt here.. Match your equipment to your trip… ;0)

On the way out, we paused at a neat rocky outcrop for a bite of lunch. Overhead the thunder cells were brewing, which hastened us on our way. Another mellow but enjoyable adventure to end my trip.