Edeowie Gorge Blinman, South Australia, Australia
By RIPIRP16 and mrnoo17 on 26-Jul-13. Waypoint GC4H4FG

We came to Edeowie to visit the gorge but I had an unfortunate accident the evening before and had to get stitches. It rained overnight the track was just dry enough to head down around 9, the weather in the gorge was threatening all day long, and cold after a previous really warm day we didnt think k we would need our jackets. We froze almost the entire trip lols. This cache definitely sounds beyond our capability and we in fact didnt get past the first waterfall with my Injury and the weather not looking at all stable. We had not only the possibility of wet slippery rocks, but also the track back to the campsite becoming wet as it had from the previous nights falls. We did however climb up to almost level with the top tier and enjoy amazing views as seen in the picture. Im disappointed not to see above this fall and between the next one to experience the magical area as I was really hoping. I never actually thought Id be able to reach this cache due to my fear of heights I havent been able to get past. Me and exposure dont do well together .

This is the view from the bottom of the first falls

This cache is definitely not for the faint hearted, with it not being found since 2017 it has been on my list to do for some time, so off I set from Edeowie station after paying my $30, a lovely walk along the gorge floor exploring seeing many birds and the odd goat skull, it wasn't until I arrived at the first falls I understood what was to come.

2 options, free climb the left side or reach around at 50m up and hope you don't fall, I chose option 1, no ropes just up I went, scary at times but made it. the next section wasn't as bad but I saw daylight. I continued making my way through till I reached GZ, took some time to find as the elevation factor was difficult to judge but the new container from last year was found. Signed the log book since the last physical finder in 2015. Then it was return to the car time. A lovely walk in 2.5hours return.

With a few days off work I decided to head north for a night to the Flinders Ranges, and attempt to find SAs longest unfound traditional cache and Mount Abrupt plus what ever I had time for in the area. A beautiful part of the world up here.

Thanks for the cache

Back again for maintenance run (more frequent than some of closer to home hides!) on a loop Mt St Mary's, highline traverse to Mt Abrupt saddle, Edeowie gorge and back to the Pound. Gorge was the driest I have seen it so far, no water in the usual places but still spectacular. Remembered where the cache was for an easy find. The Sistema was still in good shape however the plastic was starting to show its age, so replaced the container.

Kanalla falls was a little trickier than remembered, although we had overnight packs this time. It looks like there is an easier rout from the left side that the goats use to get up, going up, then traversing to the right, then a short final scramble adjacent to the falls. We walked out via Malloga falls which required no further scrambling (even Cairns around Glenora falls). You could easily do this as a 2 day walk from Wilpena with nothing higher than T4 (mainly for distance). We left GZ about 11 and got back to the Wilpena info centre by 6pm with heavy packs on.
Cache on!

This one seems to have been caught up in the reaping process and I have removed the disabled status.
Tchingal

The cache appears to be in need of owner intervention.

I am temporarily disabling it, to give the owner an opportunity to check on the cache, and take whatever action is necessary.

Please respond to this situation in a timely manner (i.e., within 28 days) to prevent the cache from being archived for non-responsiveness.

If you require more time please be sure to post a note (not an email) explaining the situation and how much more time you require.

For ongoing issues please ensure you visit the listing and post a new note every 28 days to keep everyone up to date or the cache will be treated as an abandoned cache and archived without further notice.

Arrived at the bottom of the falls and watched the goats for a while. I so wanted to do this but the wise old voice in my head said no. A beautiful walk this morning.

Spent a few excellent days at Edeowie Station and on one we walked up to this cache. The walk was certainly worth it when we finally reached the gorge. Mrs MNJ walked a little further into the gorge and was rewarded with two spectacular eagles. I think the goats should be asked to make better tracks - don't think they were happy invading their territory. TFTC.

Logged as a find with permission of the owner. After 2 incredible journeys through the gorge looking for this cache, about 50km and 20hr of walking in total, signing my name in a small container is a very small part. I feel I did enough of the hard work to count it as a find. I probably didn't have a pen anyway.
A wonderful place, with or without a cache. I am sure I will be back again.

Thank you for permission to log a find

Epicer...fail.
Once again I got here. This time, I got to ground zero, and once again, I went home empty handed.

This time I approached from Ediowie Station with a group of 8 friends. We climbed up the bottom falls following the rock climb approach from the left hand side, which was entertaining. We did belay up the more difficult climb (although 2 of us did it first without ropes to check it was the right route.) We think it is about a grade 8 climb, but the exposure is nuts. After lunch on top of the falls, some of us headed down to look at the second waterfall and try to find the cache. The wander between the falls is fantastic, it is a truly spectacular walk, and the rest of the gorge is almost as good.

However when I looked for the cache I had no luck, again. It's kinda a shame to have a nemesis cache 5hrs drive away. Looking at the pictures on return home, I thought I looked there, but maybe I didn't look hard enough.

I've now done 3 different approaches to this cache, each with their merits, each very difficult, and each very spectacular.

I wonder when I'll be back

Awesome to be back out here again, but very disappointed to not see any water in the gorge . Crossed over the “dubious bit” with even less worries than before. We even had two less experienced climbers with us today, both with a much healthier respect for heights than I, who did this bit without questioning anything. IT IS SAFE!! Just remember if you keep at least three points of contact with the rock its pretty much impossible to slip. I think it’s the exposure that is getting most people. Even a dead easy maneuver 30m up in the air can be a challenge when you aren’t used to heights. But seriously, I almost considered lowering the terrain to a 4 after this walk. Its that simple. If you have reasonable fitness, there is no reason why your body cant do this. It is just the mind telling you “No.” Its just magic up between kanalla falls and GZ. For those who are feeling a little more adventurous, you should attempt to follow Seaeagles1997 and my footsteps up to the top of the rim of the gorge. The views up there are just out of this world, and make time and space stand still. Good luck to all searchers!

Ever since mrnoo17's previous trip out to Edeowie Gorge he has always mentioned it and said I have to go there, and it's really evident why. On a road trip with the CO and a few other friends this was the only opportunity i'd get in a long time to come here. We started the walk from Edeowie Station which proved to be the perfect access point as the walk isn't too difficult, just longish.
We wound our way around the gorge admiring the views and climbing various rocks and the goat cave. The whole way we were hoping that the swimming pool at the top of the falls would be full and flowing but as every other part of the gorge was dry this didn't seem likely. After a couple of hours walking we made it to the waterfall. And came to the part where all other geocachers are pulling out, but didn't find it too daunting. Dangerous....maybe but easily manoeuvred if youre keen. To our major disappointment the pool was bone dry so we sat and had lunch and laid in the sun instead.
Laying in the sun got far too enjoyable as quite a long period of time was spent doing this. When I woke up I decided to keep walking and try and find where mrnoo17 went. I tracked him down using the ancient coooeeeee technique and found he was climbing some of the cliffs that led way up into the heavens where only the eagles soar. This sounded way to awesome to not experience so I started the sketchiest ascent (with mrnoo17, who came down to get his camera) through the landslide to the top. Up on top was one of the best ever experiences. It was so quiet and peaceful, it was if time stopped, until our friends in the gorge started playing music and having a rave party and we found some entertainment ourselves pushing some boulders down the cliffs, which made the most satisfying echo throughout the whole valley and almost started a mini rock slide where we climbed up.
After building a rather awesome rock cairn to prove we went there we very carefully climbed back down to grab the geocache, which was still in perfect condition despite the amount of time between visits. The walk out felt pretty long too, even though we ran quite a bit of it in some parkour style rockhopping.
In all it was a very enjoyable day and we got back to camp just on sunset.
TFTC RIPIRP16 for hiding the cache. MORE GEOCACHERS NEED TO GET OUT HERE!!! WHERE ARE ALL THE ADVENTUROUS GEOCACHERS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA??

With 11 D/T loops between the 4 of us (Freddo, Tiger_Muffin, Malco! and I) and nearly 400 4.5 or 5 star terrain caches under our belt we thought we would be well equipped for any cache.

Wrong!

The infamous location, we believe to be dubbed ‘white knuckle rock’, proved to be our Waterloo.

We took a glorious early morning walk into the gorge. The clouds had disappeared and the rocks were a glowing red. Soon we found ourselves at the base of the first fall and decided on the right hand side approach.
Progress was smooth until......

We did a quick risk assessment. 1% chance of failure whilst walking on a 1 foot wide ledge with overhanging boulder. Nothing to lean into, nothing really to grab, a 50m drop to the left and we could not see what was around the corner.
I investigated going a few steps down the rock and back up , but was told in no uncertain terms to climb back up again.

We were mature and did what we never thought we would do. We aborted and turned around. Even with ropes this is a difficult prospect as there are very few places to tie a rope.

Back at the base we inspected the left hand side approach. We found the green rockclimbers arrow, but again we deemed it too dangerous.

Maybe next time we will attempt to come from the top, but for now we did the only sensible thing to us.
Alas, it’s a DNF

Thanks RIPIRP16 for taking us to probably the most beautiful spot in the Flinders Ranges

Epic fail you pwned us n00bs...
We walked in from Edeowie Station, where we had camped for two nights. We walked up to Kanalla falls and turned around.
This time we climbed the 50m on the right side of the gorge and had a close look at the ledge. The mountain tiger goat procrastinated. I have never heard the mountain tiger goat procrastinate before. It was a humbling experience.
We crossed to the left side of the falls and examined the green arrow up close and personal. It points up.
The mountain tiger goat looked for another way round but it was way way way to scary.
We considered our options and pleaded the fifth.
We may return with gear. Lots of gear.
Wow that is a fantastic location. Truly amazing.

I don't take failure well....but if it means me walking away in tact and not in the back of an SES helicopter or a hearse then I will except failure. Did I hear the words "commonsense"??
After parking the Pahero we ventured into the gorge, initially following the blue arrows before being funnelled into a ravine surrounded by walls of red rock. The walls closed until we reached an impasse, a 60m high waterfall. Stories of its passing were discussed.

An approach from the right found all of us on a narrow ledge, 50m up, trying to gaze around the corner to see what was beyond. I hesitated - the Roach hesitated and the Frog called it.

An approach from the left was investigated. I thought I could see a way. The Frog found an arrow that pointed upwards - useful?? Not unless it was attached to a ladder or rope. The Frog, the Roach and the Tiger waltzed around on the walls of the gorge looking for an avenue of egress to the top of the falls. Malco! watched on from the bottom (wisely). After some serious discussion and much consideration, the mission was aborted.

Did we care?? Not really! I have been in many gorges around SA but this is by far the most spectacular to date. Simply spec-tac-u-lar!! Cache or no cache. Happy to come back for this one later.

After the triumphant ascent of Mt Abrupt yesterday, the four of us: Tiger Muffin, *Cache or Check*, Freddo & myself set ourselves another mission. This mission would end in failure but not without a great experience of walking through a magnificent section of the Flinders and experiencing Kanalla Falls up close and personal.

The weather, in contrast to the day before, was brilliant and we were treated to a sunrise that lit the far-off peaks and cliffs with a typical deep orange. The funk of too much tawny had gone, and I at least was up to the challenge. The hike along the gorge didn’t seem to be that difficult, and I didn’t stop to wonder why there had been only one group find on the cache. That became rather obvious a little later.

Around 700m to go, the arrow started pointing to the left and we soon entered the narrow entrance to the last section of valley leading to the first waterfall. A little rock hopping later, we faced the sheer cliffs of Kanalla Falls. Freddo’s guidance became essential as to took us up the right hand slopes to a narrow path that came to an abrupt halt with a 50m drop to our left. We I arrived at the scene, we had TM lying prostrate, peering over the edge, *CoC* looking down and Freddo casually sitting with his feet dangling over the edge. The mutterings of protestation were an indication of halt to our progress.

After some deliberation, we returned to the valley floor to see if the other side offered any better access to the top of the falls. On the way down, I scoped out the other side from the opposite side and noticed that all the other side offered was a nasty overhang. Easy with the right gear, but all I had was a nice length of MIL-C-5040H Type III 550 paracord, which didn’t seem to impress my companions – “Did you bring a harness?” I was asked. “Alas…” I responded.

At that point, I mentally put a line through this journey. The other three clambered up the left hand side of the gorge to see if there was a way through. Massive ledges were visible, high up the side, but whether they connected was debatable. Freddo found some arrows. They went vertically up the rockface. Not for us to use. Finally, after much discussion, the attempt was ‘called’.

I wasn’t too disappointed - for the walk here was well worth the effort, and there was a kind of privilege to even be involved in this attempt. Subsequent photos and other sources have shown that a bit more equipment is needed to achieve this one.


On the way back we ran into a large group of hikers with little ones heading into the gorge. We wished them well. They didn’t look equipped well for their mission either.

Thanks RIPIRP16 & mrnoo17. YPUN. One day I might be back. I might bring a harness.

Found it.

Joint FTF with Adrian Mc. We set a brisk pace on the approach journey, excitement and adrenalin fueling our walk. Upon reaching the Edeowie Gorge entrance track the terrain turned from a relatively easy walking trail to little more than an eroded water spillway. Between the official track markers and the helpful cairns erected by previous visitors we stayed true to the course and soon arrived at Mallogo Falls. From here there was no track and we rock hopped our way on a steady downward slope towards GZ, navigating an occasional (dry) waterfall the only thing to slow the trek. We arrived at what we thought was GZ and after admiring two majestic Wedge-tail eagles fly away from their drinking hole we proceeded to scour the many nooks and crannies around this waterfall. Adrian was insisting that the GPSr was showing us at still 50m away but at first we put it down to poor satellite lock in the gorge. This HAD to be the right place. After a fruitless search my partner in crime looked down the next waterfall. It was a massive and seemingly impassable drop but a passage was soon negotiated by climbing the steep surrounding cliff and dropping back down on the other side. I may be a -BlackSheep- but Adrian Mc is a f*@*ing Mountain Goat. He was up and over in no time, fearlessly crossing the traverse and soon referencing the hint photos with the scenery in view. Moments later the prize was in hand. Although we were 'floating on elation' with this epic FTF, the return journey was a slower and fatigued event. After a round trip of about 30k's I have never been more grateful for a hot shower and a cold beer. An amazing and beautiful place with a challenging walk. TFTC **This IS 5 star terrain, no doubt about it. Any crippling injury down here would mean a helicopter winch out and a fall would surely kill.** I would recommend this cache but only to those with confidence and experience in this type of environment.

Never been in this Gorge before so we thought we would give it a go. Took 2 hours to get to the end of the gorge making our way along the creek bed, rock hopping, following roo tracks. Once we got there we decided we would not go any further, just looked too hard. DNF
Then we had another 2 hours return to the car.
So pleased to have a nice hot shower back at Wilpena Pound

With the two dnf's I thought that it would be best to shed some more light upon this cache. The first image with this log is on the side of Kanalla Falls. To get to this spot, you must start walking up the right hand side bank a good 300 odd meters before the face of the falls. From here there is a ledge that leads to the pool seen to the far right in 'Kanalla Falls pool'. The Geodad is pictured taking a photo at the spot where (I think) Freddo got stuck at. For any questions, reed the top of the cache description for more instructions...

Epic fail you pwned us n00bs...
We walked in from Edeowie Station, where we had camped for two nights. We walked up to Kanalla falls and turned around. There is no way I am stepping across a 40m drop without some protection. Sharon from the station said she was roped up when she did it and she is not silly. Looks like this is a 5* Terrain experience.
The walk up the gorge to the bottom of Kanalla falls is amazing. The narrow canyon is awesome. There was a little water from a few springs near the head.

epic ... fail.
Went walking here leading a group of rovers. I was planning to go down the gorge from Wilpena, but didn't expect to get this far. After lunch at the top of Glenora Falls (50m away from GZ) , 3 of us tried to get to the cache. We climbed up to the traverse and went above the falls, but at 30m from the cache I decided to pull the pin. I was not sure how far up we needed to be and without seeing the slope the cache was on I was not keen to progress any further, especially as we had to walk all the way back. I definitely agree to this approach being 5 stars, a fall from up here will kill you, it is over 100m to the base of the falls, and it is a terrifying traverse.
All up we did 33km for a DNF, but an amazing walk none the less.
I will return one day, either with rope, going all the way through the gorge, or going from the other end, it is an amazing, but very dangerous place

Published