Powers Escarpment - The weapon cache Victoria, Australia
By Jamin Appleford on 01-Jul-22. Waypoint GC9WPR0

2 November 2024 3:15pmWorth every scratch and bruise. [B)] We sure got the adventure we were promised, and GZ was well worth a visit.... and we didnt die once. Last weekend, catnap777 and I cleaned up every cache on McMillans and Paradise Falls Tracks except the one we saved for today. Now, with "Just a touch of Paradise" in the bag too, we headed from there for Powers Escarpment and a couple more T4.5 caches on this, the other side of the King River valley. From our success at Powers Escarpment #1, we hugged the wall as close as we could heading for the Weapon Cache making note of the 2nd scramble point up as we made our way past it. [^]At GZ we were greeted by a feature even more inspiring than the sheer rockwall we had been following. It didnt take any encouragement for us both to dive right in and explore. Even after retrieving the well stashed cache, we were quite happy to take our time here to catch our breath and take in our surrounds, but we soon had to hit the trail back as we had an event in Wangaratta to attend. We liked the look of the nearer scramble point for a route back up and took it, but found ourselves struggling to find firm handholds and footholds closer to the top. There were also a couple of small blackberry bushes there strategically placed to make scaling the conglomerate rock even more precarious. We did some dodgy stuff that paid off, but without dropping a rope down there first and having a pair of secateurs handy (we hadn't), the option further northwest (our entry point) would have been the safer option. TFTC Jamin. How on earth do you find these amazing places? A fav for this one cos we survived it.

2 November 2024 15:20GZ: Oh my goodness, coming up to this cave was the best part of the whole journey. Following the escarpment was beautiful. Weaving our way along the edge, over boulders and through thin scrub all the way until we rounded a corner and there it was. A sight to behold, no doubt. A bit of exploring and the cache was soon in our hands .dalerious and I had such a successful morning at Paradise Falls and now it was time to make our way over to Power's Lookout and try our luck at a line of JA caches that have not had too many visitors since their inception. As usual, we studied the map and had a good idea where to start our walk from once at the parking coordinates. We felt good about attempting these caches as a suggested trailhead was provided for what we thought at the time was a safe decent to a lower level.It wasn't until we reached the rim of the escarpment that we realised that the "access point" was for further down the escarpment. Unfortunately, this made getting down harder than it should have, because we had to spend time trying to find a safe way down. This is the only flaw in what turned out to be a lovely walk to find 2 caches. Lovely if you discount the inch long ants which I am terrified of as I have been stung multiple times in one sitting by those attack freaks!We really wanted to make it to the Multi-cache but because we were not sure if we could exit safely there, which meant we would have to walk back way over to our original drop zone, which was a fair distance away. It is here that I will suggest to JA maybe adding waypoints on where to decend from, which, in my opinion, would promote cachers to come and give these a go, because it is worth it.My criticism here is not meant to hinder visitation. I would love more people to give these a go. I just want to see them attempt them safely. One exit point we chose to get back up, looked alright from the bottom, but soon became almost unreachable for a short statured person as myself; and there was no turning back.Thank you for bringing us here, and we look forward to visiting again to go find the rest .

I knew we were in for an adventure when travelling of track to one of Jamie Applefords caches - little did I know how big and memorable that adventure would be! After the nearby event at LWH Ronice88, weirdobiker and I, accompanied the CO, set off to explore the Powers Escarpment area. Having already found #1 we were cruising along and coords eventually took as to a cave. Can only imagine who hid out here in times gone by. Beautiful spot and Ronice quickly had on theme cache in hand. We all signed and set off for the next ones. However, an unfortunate, genuinely random accident saw us testing our first aid kit and abilities. Thankfully Ronice had a first aid kit and we were able to perform very temporary first aid. And thats when the real adventure began. Without going into full details it meant clinging on with fingernails, being narrowly missed by a falling boulder, torn to shreds by blackberries. With Bens immense composure, Ronices stoicism, Pams trust and faith and my fingernails we made it to the top for the walk out on the track. Thank you for a caching experience that I will always remember. My first aid kit is now a real thing and we will back to complete this mission. Regardskbucky

Ronice88 had been wanting to collect this cache (actually all of the ones in the area) for a while and after spending a night in Whitfield so that we could canoe to collect the Lake William Hovell series and also attend an event, kbucky and myself decided to join Ronice88 on her quest. It was fortunate that the CO also joined us as this was a little bit more than a 'scramble' over some rocks to get to this one. The scenery was breathtaking with the overhanging rocks, moss which was growing happily where the water dripped down the escarpment. Unfortunately we did not get to finish what we set out to do so we will need to return another day to finish what we started. This is one of those caches that I will definitely remember collecting. I really learnt today that you have to have faith in your own ability and work as a team with those that you are with to get out of unexpected situations. Thank you to the CO for placing this cache and also for accompanying us on Ronice88's quest.

We arrived here with varaible GPS readings gradually settling to an amazing opening was found...and its the type that invites you in. Little did we know this would be the last cache for the day due to a mishap which could have happened anywhere, but stopped us in our tracks not long after leaving. But back to 'The Weapon Cache" - totally loved the wander along the base of the escarpment - it is hugely fabulous and impressive. You should be prepared to wander carefully in awe of the cliffs and secret overhangs and imagine Harry Powers hanging out here too. This deserves a 5 star rating, and 5 X hip hip hoorays to the CO for placing the cache and luring us here, and a FAVE allocated for all that. I've had my eye on this series for awhile and finally the day arrived where the mission could be realised - solo or not. After the 'fishin attack event" at Lake WH weirdobiker and kbucky who couldn't resist a micro adventure were keen to join me and then as it turned out the affable CO Ben "tagged along" too - to do a maintenance run. What happened is another story, but travelling with others, carrying a first aid kit and PBD and having the competence to extricate yourself has a lot going for it. A memorable day was had, and three names were added to the log book. TFTC and the FUN.

Caching day with the sister. Managed to convince her to give these a go... After making our way down the escarpment and dnfing on the first we headed over to this one. Bush wasn't too bad and it was really a toss up between the rocks at the base or the bracken further down the hill. Eventually though we dropped down and saw the entrance to the cave. This was way bigger than I thought and was really a highlight of the trip. At the back I moved a rock away and there was the cache. Pretty cool really. Signed the log and continued on our way. TFTC... fp once i save some more up again

Day 2
Waterproof report card added

Day 1
The escarpment had turned into a full-time waterfall.

Incessant rain does that. The roads here had been carefully picked to avoid the floods that had crippled so many roads around Victoria. And it didn't stop during the bananas visit.

This is a hard place. Well worth the 4.5 terrain rating. Abseiling into this hard country allowed the only entry. With every surface wet, that wasn't easy. More on that in other reports.

Animals have to eat. Normally they leave their habitual tracks for careful selected paths through the bush. But not here.... The steep slopes make it almost impenetrable. Obvious Wombat track were on good for a few meters either side of the burrow. Understand this is really tough country below the escarpment. Particularly in the drenching rain.

Entrance into the cave was underwater from spraying down the impressive escarpment overhead. Understand everything was wet. Including the report card attached to the weapon. Like mush the signing was almost indecipherable in the gloom. Getting it back in the small container was neigh on impossible. This would be the worst one discovered today.

The bananas thinks that this needs some repair but this such a hard treasure to get to, if Day 2 goes OK the treasure's, wacked by all this rain logbook, we will replace the mush with some waterproof paper.
Stay tuned.

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