Glennies Chair New South Wales, Australia
By Geocaching Australia on 02-Sep-09. Waypoint TP2954

I had been looking at this trig for a long time. A few months ago I decided that one way or another I was going to visit it this year even if it meant multiple attempts. I researched bush walking books and looked online but found very little information. I had heard that a local bushwalking club visits this location on occasions but they do not share information outside of their circle. But, I have all the tools I need to get this job done.. maps, survey notes, determination. I also don't fear the unknown, I welcome it. But first, a recce. Last week I drove down from Queensland to see how close I could drive to where I wanted to start my expedition at the border fence. The old surveyors used Old Highway Road to get to the border fence but I chose Sandy Hill Road as my first option. This proved okay as it had very recently been slashed and cleared of debris. It's mostly a good track but there are some boggy sections, even though it had been dry for many weeks. This could be a tough route after heavy rain.

Fast forward a week and I was cooking dinner at the Woodenbong campground. I seem to have developed a pre trig adventure dinner routine. Eye fillet and brussel sprouts with cheese and lots of pepper. Beer of course always makes an appearance haha. The campground has some poor reviews but I was happy with what I had. I have an off-grid setup so don't need power, water or facilities. I always check the facilities out though and they were clean. Well worth the $5 a night fee. After dinner I began researching future trig adventure locations. Edinburgh Castle was taunting me in the distance with its unpublished trig. An attempt will be made there soon. It was kind of nice to have reception. Usually I don't have any or very little when camping.

I didn't think it was too cold during the night but oh dear it was cool in the morning! It was nice to get a hot coffee going. Once the sun was up everything became pleasant. After breakfast and a second coffee it was time to hit the road and get to the border fence. 15 minutes later I was on Sandy Hill Road. The track was still clear but this time when I went through a large boggy area, a rear tyre got staked! Grrrr dammit. Oh well. Tyre changed. I was hoping this wasn't going to be the start of an unfortunate day! I eventually arrived at the border fence. I parked the geo-van then prepared my pack. Now it was time to start walking...

Several hundred metres up the fence line there is a gate in the fence and a track heading into Queensland where it meets private property. This is where some bushwalking clubs and hikers start their walks in the area. Some people have contacts and some don't. Not far from this the fence deviates from the state line listed on modern maps. I continued to follow it SE then East up a very steep section of forest. There were some trees over a few parts of the fence but they were easy to get over or around. I arrived at a corner in the fence just after a steep section. This was where I wanted to leave the fence line and head up a ridge that was going in the direction of the pinnacle and listed coordinates. There was also a pink ribbon at this location which provided more confidence. There was a light footpad going up the high point of the ridge as well as an old broken fence. The forest was not dense and the vegetation was friendly. I noted a few pink ribbons along this route. The Glennies Chair pinnacle was reached. There were a couple of ropes attached to it and they looked in good condition. I wonder how often people visit this? I'm too old for that kind of nonsense and I had a trig to find so on I went. The ridge line veered slightly left after the pinnacle and on the ridge line the old broken fence continued all the way to a cave and cliff face. I continued following what I thought was a logical footpad along a rock wall. There are some interesting erosion results here. To my surprise I ended up arriving at a chute structure with an aluminium ladder inside of it! I wasn’t expecting this! Obviously more people visit this location than I thought. Up I went. A rope is highly recommended for this section. I certainly wouldn’t count on that ladder always being there but today it was very advantageous for my descent.

This is where things got complicated for me. A very large rock wall greeted me. I tried various points to climb up it. Two locations I got more than half way up then had to abort. Another location I managed to climb as far as I could see from the bottom but this was false summit and I was unable to progress to trig goodness. Over an hour later I sat down to have a break. At one point I was only thirty metres away from the listed coordinates! I knew there was a way up, I just needed to find it. Looking again at my maps I decided to push past the listed coordinates and head towards a nearby saddle. This trig is not on the summit. It sits a few hundred metres to the north on the other side of a saddle that I was now aiming for. As I was progressing along the base of the rock wall I could see a faint footpad again. I arrived at what I thought looked acceptable to hike up and what looked to be a light pad also progressed this way so I pushed forward. There were big cliff faces dropping to my right and they weren’t obvious at first glance. This could be a dangerous walk if you lost focus. I arrived at the saddle and smiled because the trig was now fifty metres away on a gentle elevation. … Gotcha!! OMG the views up here are some of the best I’ve seen in this region. Looking towards the summit a few hundred metres away, it was tree-dense so no views there. I gave myself to 1pm to reach this trig and I arrived with 15 minutes to spare. Lots of images taken and then a nice lunch with outstanding views.

It was past my 1pm cut-off point so as tempted as I was to visit the summit I decided to save it for another day. Now I know an easy way up here it’s definitely a location I will return to. I think I’ll add a GC multi-cache to this location and invite some likeminded geo-buddies along for my next ascent.

My way back to my starting point was a pleasant walk through a very nice forest then along an easy to follow fence. The ladder of course made things easier. I’m amazed at how the vegetation was all friendly. I’ve trekked up around the cliff walls of neighbouring Mount Lindesay and let’s just say the vegetation there is very different. I highly recommend this hike. A nice walk, albeit steep, in a beautiful friendly forest and stunning views especially into Queensland. I’ll be back

Rated: for Overall Experience

C○3 ♀ Ɛ○<<○3

I'll be seeing you soon Glennies.. it may take more than one attempt..
I accessed the border fence today via Sandy Hill Road (through gate). It's a 4WD only route.



I'll be starting my expedition from the border fence

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