Ranon/Claustral Canyon

Cloudy but dry weather for this longer canyon – Ranon which leads on into Claustral.  There was a good path into the canyon and we were quickly suited up and into the first little abseils, then a wander down the fern-lined corridor before we reached the main slot of Ranon.  A good volume of water was flowing which made the abseils down the waterfalls more interesting.  We quickly came to the double abseil which finishes Ranon and drops us into the amazing junction with Claustral.  From there Thunder Gorge was as excellent as ever, and we made good progress through the climb-downs and swims that lead to the exit track.  A brief stop for lunch as we slogged our way up to the Camel’s Hump, then down the other side on the new exit route that takes you back into Claustral Brook. 

All was going well until I turned up the wrong exit gully without thinking. After the path we were following petered out, we turned left and bushbashed up the hillside hoping to strike the main path which we thought was nearby, but checking the GPS told us we had another 500m to go.  Sounds like no distance at all, but the Blue Mountains scrub takes no prisoners attacking us with cutty grass, spiked lawyer vine, inpenetrable skeins of some other vine, and prickly vegetation on every other bush.  It took about ninety extremely frustrating and painful minutes to traverse it, and our relief when we finally got back on the path was palpable.  We reached the road after a nine hour day and it was back down the mountains to rehydrate and restock the calories at our favourite family restaurant.