It has been a VERY long time between Blue Mountains canyons for our group, longer than I think most of us can fathom or want to admit! But sometimes life gets in the way and other hobbies and responsibilities take priority.
Nonetheless, it was time to immerse ourselves in a canyon once more! The weather forecast over the Mountains townships was very bleak, but we had perfect weather out on the Newnes Plateau.
Ethan and I had done rocky creek some 5 years ago, but neither of us had been back since and no one in our group had done Twister canyon, so it seemed perfectly fitting for our first canyon back in the Bluies. It was also Matt’s first canyon!
The roads along Glowworm Tunnel Rd and Galah Mountain Rd were all in very good condition which was a pleasant surprise.
Time to stretch out and dust off the gear!
As its a short hiking distance day we decided to change into our wetsuits at the car park, which we totally didn’t regret later.
Down the trail we go! There were some beautiful caves, overhangs and rock formations on the short trail down to Twister Canyon.
Matt coming face to face with his first canyon!
It wasn’t long before we reached the first fun slide. There are no compulsory abseils in Twister, so it is a series of fun jumps and slides!
It is so beautiful being back in the canyon environment!
Ethan and Matt on another fun canyon slide. He’s very photogenic in canyons…
If only a photo could describe the feeling you get being in a canyon! It really is nature therapy. I loved this shot as you can see the layering of two different waterfalls!
I didn’t take any photos of the first jump to reach this second level, it was our favourite jump of the canyon, reminded me of NZ canyons actually. This was also the trickiest climb down of the canyon but a freshly fixed line with butterfly knots made it a lot easier.
And that was the end of Twister! After a leisurely lunch stop at the track junction we continued back down to Rocky Creek Canyon, with the intention to reverse the canyon, grab our bags from our lunch spot and haul up the exit track.
It has been 5 years since i’ve been through Rocky Creek Canyon, and its interesting the parts you forget and parts you remember. It was the third canyon I had ever done.
From the junction it was very short to reach the start of the canyon, which surprised me. I had remembered it being longer but that may be because we skipped Twister the first time. Plenty of jelly mushies along the way!
I remember this first jump into Rocky well. 5 years ago though there was a huge log over the waterfall and pool you could use to shimmy down or jump carefully. Last time though we didn’t reverse the canyon and exited further downstream. This time we were mindful that we would be climbing back up so made sure to leave a fixed rope.
Comparison photos 5 years apart! Crazy to think there was enough water through here that somehow squished this huge log down a tiny canyon?!
Maybe this is the same log that was higher up 5 years ago! I suppose they would decompose eventually?
Me in the canyon!
The logs do make things a little more slippery and spicey.
We then reached the next tricky climb down that although not very high, required climbing back up through water. As its been sometime since we’ve been in a canyon, we left much later than we should have, and the fact it was still winter and was COLD, we decided to leave it there and head back to the cars. It was a shame to miss the most beautiful part of the canyon but we had such a great trip through Twister.
Some more mushies on the hike out! As we finished climbing back up the first big jump, we ran into a pair of hikers looking to check out the canyon. It is still a shock to the system to see ill-equipped hikers in these canyon environments – no backpacks, wetsuits or gear of any kind. Another painful reminder of the damage of mainstream sharing for personal gain.
We advised them how cold the water was (they were in t-shirts and shorts) and that you can’t get into the canyon without swimming. I don’t believe they ventured too far as bumped into them again at the carpark and noticed they had wet clothes, so they must have tried! The fact they also chose 3pm to hike down into the canyon is also a sign they were not experienced enough to be in that environment.
Still a phenomenal day in nature with the best people. Cup = FULL.
Rachmartee 
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