2019 August
Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia ... day trip to:
- Tesselate Hill
- Tessellated Pavements
- Unnamed 734-meter hill (north of Tesselate Hill)
Prolog
A quick preview of the photos are in this link :
http://onemanadreaming.blogspot.com/2019/07/tessellated-pavements-1.html
Below are 2 representatives.
Tessellated Pavements (at Tesselate Hill)
Unnamed 734-meter hill (north of Tesselate Hill)
I've been to these places before ... with David 3 weeks ago in 2019 July.
Although it is relatively common to see rocks with tessellation patterns; yet it is unusual to see them covering such a large contiguous area as in Tesselate Hill.
As can be seen from the above photographs, the areas are quite fascinating.
And so today I repeat the trip, to take more photographs ... solo this time.
Map
LPI 1:25,000 scaled 8931-2S Wollangambe
Map 1) The relevant part of the 1:25,000 topographic map
GPS tracklog file & route
The GPX tracklog file of the walk can be downloaded from:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nDk_TAj_lvNoCT8IHTmC4jnTOawdKMSL/view?usp=sharing
There is a foot track from the carpark to Tessellated Pavements.
Beyond that, it is all off-track.
Map 2) The same GPS tracklog, in red, superimposed on the 1:25,000 topographic map ~~~
- Black Oval: Tessellated Pavements
- 5 black arrows, top to bottom:
1 GR 660 978 ... Northern tip of unnamed 734-meter hill
2 GR 659 974 ... Unnamed 734-meter hill summit
3 GR 654 969 ... Fork ... Photo #49 and #51
4 GR 652 954 ... Tesselate Hill summit, 795-meters
5 GR 652 935 ... Carpark at the end of Mount Irvine Road (in the village of Mount Irvine)
- 2 purple arrows: I should have walked along the ridge, instead of the loopy detour.
Blame it on my wayward GPS for leading me astray :-)
Map 3) Satellite image
In summary, the route for today is:
- Start at a carpark at the end of Mount Irvine Road
- To Tesselate Hill summit
- To Tessellated Pavements
- Off-track to unnamed 734-meter hill
- To northern tip of the 734-meter hill
- Retrace steps back to carpark
Timeline & Distance
Park my car at GR 652 935, at the end of Mount Irvine Road (in the village of Mount Irvine)
09:16 0.0 km Start walking north
09:54 2.1 km At Tesselate Hill summit, 795 meters
10:09 2.65km At Tessellated Pavements
Explore around.
Also morning tea is from 10:50 to 10:58.
10:59 3.75km Leave Tessellated Pavements
11:47 5.0 km At a fork, GR 654 969, photos #49 and #51 ... Go to the left.
12:09 5.5 km Stop for lunch
Lunch
12:51 5.55km Resume walking
13:04 5.95km At summit of unnamed 734-meter hill
13:05 5.95km Explore patches of tessellated rocks around the summit
13:11 6.15km At the furthest north-west patch of tessellated rocks. Then start to head north.
13.44 6.95km At northern tip of the 734-meter hill
13:49 7.0 km Turn around, retrace steps back to the car
14:24 7.7 km At summit of unnamed 734-meter hill
15:21 9.0 km At the fork, same spot as at 11:47
15:43 9.6 km Stop for afternoon tea
Afternoon tea
14:49 9.65km Resume walking
16:11 10.2 km At Tessellated Pavements
Explore around, again ! :-)
16:19 10.4 km Leave Tessellated Pavements
17:17 13.05km Back at the car
===============================================
Total: 8 hrs 01 min
13.05 km Distance is from Google Earth
Pictures
Most of the pictures in this report are from today's trip, 2019 August.
A few were from the 2019 July trip with David.
Carpark at trailhead
Mount Irvine Road (in the village of Mount Irvine) is sealed almost all the way to a gate at GR 651 934.
Open the gate (close it afterwards) and drive in for about 200 meters.
You come to a turning circle with a big tree in the middle.
Park the car around there, but don't block the road or the turning circle.
And don't drive pass the turning circle, as the land after the gate is private property.
1) Carpark and the turning circle at GR 652 935, at the end of Mount Irvine Road ~~~
- Upper pic:
• White oval: Turning circle for the car around a big tree
• Yellow arrow: Direction of walk to Tesselate Hill
- Lower pic: (Continuation to the right of the upper pic)
• Yellow arrow: Drive to this carpark from Mt Irvine Road.
• Car: My Toyota Camry
Near trailhead
2) Private house near the trailhead (same house in both pics below)
3) Windbreak on left (west) side of the trail
Foot track to Tesselate Hill
4) There is a foot track to Tesselate Hill and Tessellated Pavements.
- Lower pic: David ... photo taken 3 weeks ago in 2019-07
5) Rock formations on the way to Tesselate Hill
6) The right side of previous pic
Tesselate Hill summit
The map labels it as "Tesselate" Hill.
Wonder why there is only one "l" in "Tesselate" ???
7) Me ... at Tesselate Hill summit, 795 meters ~~~
No cairn and no view, too flat and too many trees around :-(
From the summit, one can go off-track, move towards the west (left) a bit to a few rocky platforms.
But the views are not particularly good ... again, too many trees.
8) In both pics below: Unnamed hill towards south-west ... I'm not going there. (Pictures taken not far from each other)
- Lower pic: This pic and photo #9 form a 360-degree panorama.
9) The 3 pics below and previous pic form a 360-degree panorama.
- Upper pic: (Continuation to the right of previous pic)
• Towards west-ish
- Middle pic: (Continuation to the right of the upper pic)
• Towards north-ish ... direction I'm heading
(Note: Foot track is not here. It is further to the east (right); and can't be seen from here.)
- Lower pic: (Continuation to the right of the middle pic)
• I detoured along the rocks to where I'm now.
- Continuation to the right of the lower pic is photo #8's lower pic, completing a 360-degree panorama.
10) Acacia terminalis (Sunshine wattle) around the summit
To Tessellated Pavements
Now to Tessellated Pavements ... A foot track goes all the way there.
11) Looking back ... I just climbed down from there.
- Yellow arrow: Direction of walk
12) Same scene as above pic ... only a few steps away ~~~
- Yellow arrow: Direction of walk
13) Yellow oval: Tessellated Pavements
Tessellated Pavements
14) About to enter Tessellated Pavements ~~~
- Yellow arrow: Foot track
- This scene is towards north-north-west.
15) Tessellated Pavements (A few steps forward compared to previous pic) ~~~
It is a huge area.
16) Tessellated Pavements ~~~
- Upper pic: Left half of previous pic
- Lower pic: A few steps forward compared to the upper pic
17) Tessellated Pavements ~~~
- 2 red arrows, left to right:
1 Unnamed 734-meter hill ... I'm heading there soon.
2 Little Tootie
- White oval: Bowens Creek flows in the valley there.
18) Tessellated Pavements
19) Tessellated Pavements ~~~
- Yellow ovals in both pics below: They circle the same area.
- Lower pic: Picture taken closer to the yellow oval of the upper pic
• Cyan oval: White area inside the oval is the same as the white areas in photos #14, #15, #16.
20) Photograph taken closer to the yellow oval of previous pic ~~~
- Yellow oval: Same as the yellow ovals in photo #19
- White area above yellow oval: Same as the white areas in photos #14, #15, #16.
21) The 3 pics below and photo #22 form a 360-degree panorama.
Also, these pictures are taken a bit closer to the yellow oval of previous pic.
- Upper pic:
• Red arrow: Unnamed 734-meter hill ... I'm heading there soon.
• White oval: Bowens Creek flows in the valley there.
- Middle pic: (Continuation to the right of the upper pic)
• Red arrow: Little Tootie
- Lower pic: (Continuation to the right of the lower pic)
• Yellow oval: Same as the yellow ovals in photos #19, #20
- Continuation to the right of the lower pic is photo #22.
22) (Continuation to the right of previous pic)
- White oval: There is an engraving of an aboriginal woman on the ground to the right of this tree.
- Continuation to the right of this pic is photo #21, completing a 360-degree panorama.
23) Tree in the white oval of previous pic ~~~
Nearby is the engraving of an aboriginal woman ... Also refer to photo #24.
24) Engraving of an aboriginal woman
25) Aboriginal engravings ~~~
- Upper pic: At the base of the tree in photos #22 and #23
• White oval: The stone here is the one on the right of the tree in photo #23.
• Yellow oval: Grinding grooves
- Lower pic: Bowl and grinding grooves, not in the same area as the upper pic
26) A human face ... Is it natural or is it an engraving by the aborigines ?
27) Pot
28) Tessellated Pavements
Eastern part of Tessellated Pavements
29) This is the eastern part of Tessellated Pavements.
- Right yellow oval: Photo #30's upper pic zooms into this area.
- Left yellow oval: Photo #30's lower pic zooms into this area.
30) Zooming into parts of the previous pic ~~~
- Upper pic: Zooms into photo #29's right yellow oval.
- Lower pic: Zooms into photo #29's left yellow oval.
31) View from eastern part of Tessellated Pavements ~~~
- 3 red arrows, left to right:
1 Unnamed 734-meter hill ... north-north-east ... I'm heading there soon.
2 Little Tootie ... east-ish
3 Mt Tootie ... east-south-east
- Yellow dots and arrow: Route to the unnamed 734-meter hill
- White oval: Bowens Creek flows in the valley there.
Rock cliffs beneath Tessellated Pavements platform
32) Even the rock cliffs beneath the Tessellated Pavements platform are tessellated !
33) Even the rock cliffs beneath the Tessellated Pavements platform are tessellated !
Looking back at Tessellated Pavements
I am on my way now to the unnamed 734-meter hill north-ish of Tesselate Hill.
34) Looking back at Tessellated Pavements ... It is the entire knoll in the background.
To unnamed 734-meter hill
35) Initially, there is a series of flattish rocky areas on the way to the unnamed 734-meter hill.
- Red arrow: The unnamed 734-meter hill
36) Approaching a lookout which is the top of the rock in the 2 pics below ~~~
- Upper pic:
• Red arrow: Unnamed 734-meter hill where I'm heading now
• Left white oval: Wollangambe River flows there.
• Right white oval: Bowens Creek flows there.
- Lower pic: Closer to the lookout
• Red arrow: Unnamed 734-meter hill where I'm heading now
• Panorama in photos #37 and #38 are taken from the top of the rock in this pic.
37) Facing the unnamed 734-meter hill where I'm heading now ... Picture taken from top of the rock of previous pic ~~~
- Yellow dots & arrow: Route to the 734-meter hill
- Left cyan arrow: Where Wollangambe River flows
- Right cyan arrow: Where Bowens Creek flows
- This pic and the 3 pics in photo #38 form a 360-degree panorama.
38) Panorama from top of the rock of photo #36 ~~~
- Upper pic: (Continuation to the right of previous pic)
• Left red arrow: Little Tootie
• Right red arrow: Mt Tootie
- Middle pic: (Continuation to the right of the upper pic)
• Red arrow: Tesselate Hill
• Yellow oval: Tessellated Pavements ... It is the large rocky knoll in the background of photo #34.
- Lower pic: (Continuation to the right of middle pic)
- Continuation to the right of the lower pic is photo #37, completing a 360-degree panorama.
39) Directly beneath the rock-cum-lookout of photo #36 is this interesting cave with intricate patterns.
40) Some rocks not far from the above cave
41) Come to an area with a good view of where I'm going.
- Red arrow: Unnamed 734-meter hill
- Yellow arrows: Route to the hill
- Cyan arrow & white oval: Wollangambe River
42) Come to another rocky lookout ... The ground is like a bunch of bread rolls :-)
43) From the rocky lookout of previous pic, looking back at Tesselate Hill and Tessellated Pavements ~~~
- Red arrow: Tesselate Hill
- Yellow oval: Tessellated Pavements
- Yellow arrow: The cave of photo #39
- This pic and the 3 pics in photo #44 form a 360-degree panorama
44) Panorama from the rocky lookout in photo #42 ~~~
- Upper pic: (Continuation to the right of previous pic)
- Middle pic: (Continuation to the right of the upper pic)
• Red arrow: Unnamed 734-meter hill where I'm heading now
• Cyan arrow & white oval at centre of pic: Wollangambe River
• White oval at right edge: Bowens Creek
- Lower pic: (Continuation to the right of middle pic)
• Left red arrow: Little Tootie
• Right red arrow: Mt Tootie
- Continuation to the right of the lower pic is photo #43, completing a 360-degree panorama.
45) The lookout in photo #42 form the ceiling of this cave.
46) Some rocks further along the way
47) An interesting rock ~~~
- Upper pic, white oval: Same rock as the lower pic
48) More interesting rocks ~~~
- Upper pic:
• White oval: Same rock as previous pic
• Turquoise oval: Same rock as the lower pic
At a fork
49) When you reach this fork, go left (yellow arrow) to unnamed 734-meter hill. Don't go right (cyan arrow).
- Cliffs on left half of pic: Refer to photo #51.
- Rock on right half of pic: Refer to photo #50.
50) The 2 pics below are the same rock as the one on the right side of previous pic.
51) Same fork and cliffs as the one on left side of photo #49 ~~~
- Yellow arrow: Go left along the arrow to the unnamed 734-meter hill.
- Cyan arrow: Don't take this route.
3 weeks ago, 2019-07, took right fork
3 weeks ago, 2019 July, David and I took the right fork.
Somewhere along the right fork, you maybe able to climb up the cliffs from the pictures below.
But simpler is to take the left fork of previous pic.
52) If you take the right fork (cyan arrow of photos #49 and #51), you will come to this area:
- Upper left pic: A pink ribbon somewhere up the cliffs
- Upper right pic: This tunnel is to the immediate right of the left pic.
- When I climbed up the tunnel, I could reach the pink ribbon. It maybe possible for a nimble rock climber to climb further up to the top of the cliff (to around photo #57). But it was beyond a mortal like me.
So I climbed back down the tunnel; re-traced steps back to the fork in photos #49 and #51, then took the left fork, yellow arrow.
53) Interesting beehive-like rock pattern on the cliffs along the right fork
This trip, take left fork
In this trip, I take the left fork, yellow arrow of photos #49 and #51.
54) Interesting rock pattern on the cliffs
55) Walking along the base of the cliffs ~~~
- Yellow arrows: Follow the arrows to top of the cliffs (actually, to top of a ridge), and thence along the ridge to the 734-meter hill.
56) Looking back ~~~
- Yellow arrows: Direction of walk
On the ridge to unnamed 734-meter hill
Follow the yellow arrows in photo #55 to climb up to the ridge ...
57) Now at the ridge ~~~
- This place is near the top of the cliffs of photo #52 ... If I were able to climb up there, I would end up around here.
- 2 red arrows, left to right:
1 Little Tootie, behind the trees
2 Mt Tootie
58) Need to climb over these rocks ... not difficult :-)
59) An interesting short pillar
60) Going to climb over these rocks ~~~
- The 2 pics below are of the same scene.
- Lower pic: I'm halfway up the rocks.
61) From the top of the rock of previous pic, facing backwards at Tesselate Hill ~~~
- 2 red arrows from left to right:
1 Just behind the ridge is where the car is parked
2 Summit of Tesselate Hill
- Yellow oval: Tessellated Pavements
- Yellow dots: Route along ridge top to and from the unnamed 734-meter hill (where I'm standing now)
- White oval on left edge: Bowens Creek
- White oval on right edge: Wollangambe River
- This pic and the 3 pics in photo #62 form a 360-degree panorama.
62) Panorama from the top of the rock in photo #60 ~~~
- Upper pic: (Continuation to the right of the previous pic)
• Cyan arrow: Wollangambe River
- Middle pic: (Continuation to the right of the upper pic)
• Somewhere amongst the trees is where I'm heading now ...
First, to the rocks in photo #63, then to the summit of 734-meter hill.
- Lower pic: (Continuation to the right of the middle pic)
• 2 red arrows, left to right:
1 Little Tootie ... east-south-east-ish
2 Mt Tootie ... south-east
• Cyan arrows: Bowens Creek
- Continuation to the right of the lower pic is photo #61, completing a 360-degree panorama.
63) More rocks along the ridge to the unnamed 734-meter hill ~~~
- The 2 pics below are of the same scene.
- Lower pic: I'm halfway up the rocks.
Unnamed 734-meter hill summit
Arrive at the summit of unnamed 734-meter hill.
64) Cairn at summit of the unnamed 734-meter hill ... from 2 different angles ~~~
- There is no view from the summit ... too flat and too many trees.
Tessellated rocks around 734-meter hill summit
65) Near the summit, there are many patches of tessellated rocks.
They do not form as large a contiguous area as in Tesselate Hill. But still, it is a sight to behold !
66) At another patch of tessellated rocks ~~~
- Lower pic is the upper pic rotated 90 degrees.
67) Moving back from previous pic ~~~
- White rectangle: It is the previous pic.
68) Moving back from previous pic ~~~
- Larger white oval: It is the previous pic.
- Smaller white circle: A fallen branch, same as the ones in the white circles of photos #69 and #70
69) Moving back again from previous pic ~~~
- The 3 pics below zoom into various parts of photo #70.
- White circles in upper & middle pics: Fallen branch, same as the white circles of photos #68 and #70
- Upper pic: It is lower part of previous pic
- Middle pic: Continuation to the bottom of the upper pic
- Lower pic: Continuation to the bottom of the middle pic
70) Overview of photos #67, #68, #69 ~~~
- White circle: Fallen branch, same as the white circles of photos #68 and #69.
71) At another patch of tessellated rocks ~~~
- Lower pic: Zooming into the white oval of the upper pic
72) More patch of tessellated rocks
73) Yet another patch of tessellated rocks ~~~
- White ovals in both upper & middle pics: Same feature from different angle
- Red circles in upper & middle pics, plus the 2 lower pics: Same rock viewed from different angles
To northern tip of 734-meter hill
Explore towards the northern tip of 734-meter hill
74) Passing these Tweedledee Tweedledum rocks
75) A rock / overhang
Northern tip of 734-meter hill
76) Approaching the northern tip of 734-meter hill ~~~
- Upper pic:
• Approaching the tip
• Looming large in the background is an unnamed 730-meter hill (height is approximate.)
- Lower pic: The northern tip of 734-meter hill (further away from the tip compared to the upper pic)
77) From the tip, facing backwards at the ridge I came from.
- Upper pic: White oval and red arrow: The lower pic is taken by standing at the red arrow and facing the white oval.
- Lower pic: This pic and the 3 pics in photo #78 form a 360-degree panorama.
78) The 3 pic below and the previous pic form a 360-degree panorama ~~~
(The pictures are taken by standing at the red arrow of photo #77's upper pic.)
- Upper pic: (Continuation to the right of the previous pic)
• Wollangambe River flows from left to right in the valley horizontally across the centre of the pic.
- Middle pic: (Continuation to the right of the upper pic)
• Cyan & blue arrows: Wollangambe River flowing towards the blue arrow
• Looming large in the background is an unnamed 730-meter hill (height is approximate.)
- Lower pic: (Continuation to the right of the middle pic)
- Continuation to the right of the lower pic is photo #77's lower pic, completing a 360-degree panorama.
79) Near the tip are Banksia serrata trees.
The northern tip of the 734-meter hill is as far as I go in this trip.
Then it is to retrace steps back to the car.
Flowers
Flowers photographed in this trip
80) Pimelea linifolia (Slender Rice Flower)
81) Hovea (which speicies ?)
82) Lambertia formosa (Mountain Devil)
No comments:
Post a Comment