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Sunday 19 October 2014

Bluff River Gorge

Saturday 18th October 2014

Sandstone Cliffs
Having visited Bluff River Gorge a couple of months ago and enjoyed the experience immensely, I decided that another trip to the area was required to walk some more of the tracks. See here for access directions and previous post.
We set off early from home and drove to the starting point which took about 1'40" and began walking at 0840. The sandy track was much drier than last time with no evidence of water or mud and we soon reached the section of track where it began the descent to the gorge. After climbing down for a short period we took the track that branches off to the left with the aim of walking along the western side of the gorge first.
Sandstone Cliffs
The track meandered along the cliff line below the top of the cliffs and gradually descended to a deep hole in the river where we stopped for morning tea. All along this section were tracks of  small animals in the sand and one small cave showed evidence of being inhabited by Tasmanian Devils, which was quite pleasing.
Looking across to eastern side of gorge
We also spotted the tracks of a large snake, presumably a Tiger, but we did not see any, although we kept a good lookout. The sandstone formations and caves along this side of the gorge were equal to or possibly better than the other side. After our break we climbed up steeply to the wide ledge above the river and then down to the river crossing. The water level was much lower than last time I was here. After crossing the river we walked along the faint pad to meet up with the track proper a little further on and walked back along the eastern side of the gorge. We found a convenient log and had lunch and then walked down to the southern river crossing and then up steeply to join the outward track and then back to the car.
This was a great walk with spectacular scenery of sandstone cliffs. caves and formations.
Distance: 9.2 kms.
Time: 4'30"
Ascent: 380 metres
Click here to download GPX file.
Sandstone Cliffs

Sandstone Cliffs

Sandstone Cliffs

Sandstone Patterns

Sandstone Cliffs

Deep hole in the river

The river from eastern side

Looking across to western side

Eastern side cave



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