We had big ambitious plans to hike in with our canyon and camping gear, set up camp, go on a trip through Surefire canyon on Saturday and then Heart Attack canyon on Sunday. Bliss!
This would be our first ever canyon/camping trip – so we were pretty excited! It is a LOT of gear to carry but we only needed to carry both for about 5km each way to camp.
The hike in went relatively quickly, and we found a nice camping area without much trouble at all. We dropped off our camping gear and headed down the track to Surefire canyon.
Finding the start of the canyon was relatively easy, before long, we were sailing down the first pitch!
On the second pitch you drop deeper and darker into the canyon constrictions! I love this part of the journey – so much anticipation and excitement for whats to come! Feeling like you’re about to enter another dimension.
Each of the abseils had quite tricky starts. The third pitch especially had a large collection of debris we needed to navigate, with a very tricky and slippery start. At this point we were deep in the canyon constriction, with towering canyon walls on either side! Surefire would have to be one of the deepest canyons I have ever explored.
A very tricky start! It is much easier to slide and wiggle your way over the logs. A slip from here would not be particularly pleasant.
Tiana cruising down the awkward pitch!
This canyon is STUNNING. I think it is far more beautiful than most of the mainstream canyons, but the lengthy hike in and out deters majority of people (thankfully).
Tiana and me!
Don’t forget to look up!! Nothing better to remind you of the other-worldly, exquisite, stunningly beautiful deep and narrow slot you are standing in.
One of my favourite sections of the canyon. Look at how high those walls are!
I love seeing trees like this growing in canyons. The entire trunk is in the slot of the canyon whilst the canopy is in full sunlight! This tree was so tall!
Blue crayfish!
On our exit hike we spotted this epic cluster of ghost mushies!!! I always seem to find them in locations I can’t re-visit in the dark! Hopefully one day!
The exit of this canyon has a very tricky series of very exposed scrambles. I would even refer to them as climbs. There were some fixed lines on the first 2 sections and even so, I felt quite nervous and uncomfortable which I don’t typically. The last climb up requires climbing up a tree. Luckily we had a well experienced group and we managed to set up a fixed line and safely ascend, though it took us much longer than we thought.
Don’t be fooled by canyon track notes – some described the climb as easy and some as extremely hard – its all relative to your skill and experience level. Sometimes things also change from the time the track notes were written, so you need to be prepared to encounter the unknown!
Our happy canyon group for the day!
We opted to leave our camping tents behind to save on pack weight and space (I don’t think we would have fitted them if we tried), so we were sleeping out in the open air!
An absolutely superb canyon.
Rachmartee 
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