Euroka Blue Labyrinth, New South Wales, Australia
By
Geocaching Australia on 02-Sep-09. Waypoint TP3358
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | TrigPoint |
| Container: | Other |
| Coordinates: | S33° 52.189' E150° 28.142' (WGS 84) |
| 56H 265885E 6249395N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 595 m |
| Local Government Area: | Blue Mountains City |
/150.469033,-33.869817,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
Euroka TS2006
Official name of this Trig Station as per NSW Department of Lands is: Euroka.
Serial number is: TS2006.
Last inspected on: August 4, 1977.
Elevation is: 617 meters.
Trig is a concrete pillar with mast and vanes.
A trig point (also known as a Trigonometric Station) typically consists of a black disc on top of four metal legs or concrete pillar, resembling a navigation beacon. It is also accompanied by a metal disc, which is located directly below the center point of the tripod or on top of the pillar itself.
Trig points are generally located at the top of hills or points of prominence in the landscape. Many provide unique views and challenges, with some being difficult to get to.
These points were regarded as valuable to surveyors, providing reference points for measuring distance and direction, and assisting in the creation of maps.
To log a find on the Geocaching Australia website, you will need to include a picture of the trig point, along with your GPS receiver and (preferably) yourself. Long distance / telephoto type pictures are against the spirit of this cache. You are encouraged to leave a description of your journey in your log to help others in finding the trig point.
The original collection of trig points has been sourced from Geoscience Australia and may contain inaccuracies.
Please respect local laws and regulations when searching for trig points. If you believe that a trig point is located on private property or in a dangerous location, you may archive the cache, by clicking on Log this Cache and place an "Archived" log on the Geocaching Australia website.
If you feel that you can add to the description of this trig point or adjust the difficulty / terrain ratings, please feel free to edit this cache and amend the information suitably. Vandalism of the cache description or other information will result in your account being terminated.
Addtional Information
Source: Geoscience Australia
Type: Horizontal Control Point
Elevation: 617.2
PID: 2950539
Other Information: Geoscience Australia
Logs
Exactly 8 years ago was the last walk to this lovely trig, thomo31 agreed to come along to get back there as I wanted to check for the original trig plug.
The remains of the old cairn are there and the location of the pin ascertained but unfortunately it is now buried at least a foot down and I did not want to dig that much and damage the area specially after the fires.
Nonetheless it was a much easier walk to the trig as the old track has been reopened all the way to the trig but amazingly already starting to get overgrown in places so in a few months it may well become a problem to follow.
The remains of the old cairn are there and the location of the pin ascertained but unfortunately it is now buried at least a foot down and I did not want to dig that much and damage the area specially after the fires.
Nonetheless it was a much easier walk to the trig as the old track has been reopened all the way to the trig but amazingly already starting to get overgrown in places so in a few months it may well become a problem to follow.
MrT and rogerw3 decided to do the walk to this trig today. rogerw3 had done it a long time ago, but wanted to go and look around again. They parked the car near the road and headed off for the long walk. Access was easier than previous attempts as the track to the trig had been cleared due to bushfires. A 23km walk round trip. TFTT
Rated: for Overall Experience
On page 20 of "History of the Blue Labyrinth" by Bruce Cameron,there is a story about how in 1937 some members of the Warrigal Club were intrigued to to see a trig symbol marked on the middle of a map of a rugged area that was otherwise splattered with 'approx', and set out on an expedition from lower Erskine Creek (near where Warragamba Dam is now) through the Blue Labyrinth to Wentworth Falls, with the intention of finding this mysterious trig.
Although they looked in a couple of likely spots of correct elevation in the approximate location on the map, they found no cairn and concluded no such trig existed.
Then a few years later, 2 Warrigal Club members started systematically mapping the ridges, and when they summited Mt Hall, they discovered a big pile of stones. Subsequent research at the Dept of Lands revealed that the cairn was constructed by an E.H. Taylor, who visited the spot on Nov 16 1881 and again on April 25, 1882. Taylor had ascended out of the Burragorang Valley from Fitzpatrick's Farm, and one of the Fitzpatricks appears to have visited the trig on May 9, 1882 and scratched their name on the metal discs.
Which I guess would give him a pretty good claim to be FTF!
Although they looked in a couple of likely spots of correct elevation in the approximate location on the map, they found no cairn and concluded no such trig existed.
Then a few years later, 2 Warrigal Club members started systematically mapping the ridges, and when they summited Mt Hall, they discovered a big pile of stones. Subsequent research at the Dept of Lands revealed that the cairn was constructed by an E.H. Taylor, who visited the spot on Nov 16 1881 and again on April 25, 1882. Taylor had ascended out of the Burragorang Valley from Fitzpatrick's Farm, and one of the Fitzpatricks appears to have visited the trig on May 9, 1882 and scratched their name on the metal discs.
Which I guess would give him a pretty good claim to be FTF!
My original schedule for today was an SUBW expedition into the Jameson. But when that fell through, and I wasn't able to wrangle myself onto a canyoning trip at short notice, I decided to do a longish solo walk. There's a couple of interesting day walks I want to do, but they were all trips I knew would be more fun with Sophie, and she couldn't come out today, and I knew she wouldn't want to do this one , so today would be the day I finally took up the Euroka challenge.
I know the FTF crew rated this trig experience 5 thumbs up although I think that would have reflected the celebration of roger's very impressive 500 finds, and the thrill of being the first to get to a trig in the better part of 4 decades, rather than the aesthetic quality of the walk itself. Personally, I found it (as indeed, I expected to), a physically hard, but very boring, slog.
I knew it would be hot today (30 degrees), but having read the previous finders log description, I hoped that the overgrown track section at least would be shady, even if the firetrail that bookends the trip would be mostly exposed. Unfortunately, there were enough trees to impede progress and block any view, but very little shade.
So basically, this is a walk in the hot sun along a fire trail where the only views are from the clearings around the powerline towers, followed by pushing through a thick casuarina pines, where the most interesting feature is the rusty remains of an old truck.
As I was walking I was thinking about some of the other Blue Mountains walks that would be an equivalent effort but much more fun ( Solo Man Reloaded, or The Bee Gees) but I guess one (i.e. - me) does trips like this one because they want the physical challenge and the smiley, not for aesthetic pleasure. Anyway if a decent physical challenge is what you want, that's what this one is, my tip though for future visitors is - do this in winter
Having found the trig, and returned to the car, I decided to continue on to the end of Kings Tableland Rd, then did the 800m walk to the southern lookout - that was more like it! A shady single track, bounded by moss and ferns, with a truly unique vista at the end of it.
Anyway even if I haven't rated the journey very highly (and I have no desire to ever do it again), I am still glad to have done it, and so thanks to Roger for getting these old trigs loaded on GCA, and to Roger, TC and pjmpjm for trailblazing the way through. If you guys hadn't done it first I would have pulled the pin when I saw the state of the old firetrail. So Kudos and congratulations.
My time for the trip (locked gate to trig and back to the locked gate) was 5:50, which includes about 30 minutes total in breaks.
I know the FTF crew rated this trig experience 5 thumbs up although I think that would have reflected the celebration of roger's very impressive 500 finds, and the thrill of being the first to get to a trig in the better part of 4 decades, rather than the aesthetic quality of the walk itself. Personally, I found it (as indeed, I expected to), a physically hard, but very boring, slog.
I knew it would be hot today (30 degrees), but having read the previous finders log description, I hoped that the overgrown track section at least would be shady, even if the firetrail that bookends the trip would be mostly exposed. Unfortunately, there were enough trees to impede progress and block any view, but very little shade.
So basically, this is a walk in the hot sun along a fire trail where the only views are from the clearings around the powerline towers, followed by pushing through a thick casuarina pines, where the most interesting feature is the rusty remains of an old truck.
As I was walking I was thinking about some of the other Blue Mountains walks that would be an equivalent effort but much more fun ( Solo Man Reloaded, or The Bee Gees) but I guess one (i.e. - me) does trips like this one because they want the physical challenge and the smiley, not for aesthetic pleasure. Anyway if a decent physical challenge is what you want, that's what this one is, my tip though for future visitors is - do this in winter
Having found the trig, and returned to the car, I decided to continue on to the end of Kings Tableland Rd, then did the 800m walk to the southern lookout - that was more like it! A shady single track, bounded by moss and ferns, with a truly unique vista at the end of it.
Anyway even if I haven't rated the journey very highly (and I have no desire to ever do it again), I am still glad to have done it, and so thanks to Roger for getting these old trigs loaded on GCA, and to Roger, TC and pjmpjm for trailblazing the way through. If you guys hadn't done it first I would have pulled the pin when I saw the state of the old firetrail. So Kudos and congratulations.
My time for the trip (locked gate to trig and back to the locked gate) was 5:50, which includes about 30 minutes total in breaks.
Rated: for Overall Experience
This was rogerw3's 500th trig! Congratulations to him on being the first geocacher in Australia to reach the stratospheric level of 500 trig logs! Of course, no-one else has even logged 400 yet . . .
Two Team Canary members and me came along with rogerw3 today to keep him company (and out of trouble) as he attempted what we thought would be the most challenging trig so far . . .
We covered slightly more than 18 kilometres in 9 hours, and finally achieved the logging. rogerw3 and I have done many hundreds of trigs together, and a good many of these were difficult, involving long walks and serious bush bashing. However, we agreed on our way home this evening (returning over the last two hours in the dark) that this was our most difficult so far -- combining the factors of a very long distance and a considerable length (5 km) of professional grade bush bashing. So it was a worthy 500th trig, to say the least.
The entry point to the Euroka is a fire trail off Kings Tableland Road in Wentworth Falls, NSW, in the area called 'The Blue Labyrinth' on the maps. There's a locked gate at the start, so we had to walk 7 km before we reached the final part of the trek, which we knew would be a 5 km round trip on an abandoned 4WD road of some kind. The trig had last been inspected by surveyors in 1977, so we thought that the road might still be in average condition.
Well, that was a wrong assumption, to say the least, and we gradually realised its serious decay after we found where it joined the fire trail. However, we persevered at a very, very slow pace for several hours until we were within 800 metres of the trig's published coords. At that point, we genuinely weren't sure if we should continue any further, because we didn't want to be bush bashing on our way back when the sun went down. We just weren't confident that we could find and navigate the old 'trail' without any light -- it was already extremely difficult to traverse in broad daylight.
In the end, rogerw3 and TC Senior agreed on a final push. It was tough but we got to the trig and held an accelerated celebration and photo session. Of course, this logging was also an FTF. But foremost in our minds was the need to get going again quickly so as to return to the fire trail by dusk. And push on we did -- getting through the most difficult parts of the former 'trail' fast enough to finally reach the fire trail while it was still light. (I'm leaving out a lot of interesting details here.)
Anyhow, at this point, we took a brief rest and breathed enormous sighs of relief. We knew that we had a long walk back to the GeoBuru2 in the dark, but with a full moon we had no doubts about our ability to make it successfully. And, of course, make it we did make it -- bruised and bone tired, but with a an enormous feeling of satisfaction in having reached one of the more remote trigs in the Blue Mountains (remembering that some trigs can now probably only be reached by helicopter).
And all of us feel fortunate to have joined with him in an adventure we won't forget. It was indeed the trig trek to end all trig treks! We won't soon forget today's GCA log. Five 'Thumbs Up' from me for sheer amazement that we got there and back.
Seriously, a word of caution to future prospective finds of Euroka Trig -- this one is as difficult to reach as we say. We're not joking. The so-called trail from the main fire trail (long but easy) is heavily overgrown and amounts to bush bushing nearly all the way. Only experience bush walkers should attempt it.
(Finally, full marks to young TC Tiger for his praiseworthy endurance and perseverance . . .)
Two Team Canary members and me came along with rogerw3 today to keep him company (and out of trouble) as he attempted what we thought would be the most challenging trig so far . . .
We covered slightly more than 18 kilometres in 9 hours, and finally achieved the logging. rogerw3 and I have done many hundreds of trigs together, and a good many of these were difficult, involving long walks and serious bush bashing. However, we agreed on our way home this evening (returning over the last two hours in the dark) that this was our most difficult so far -- combining the factors of a very long distance and a considerable length (5 km) of professional grade bush bashing. So it was a worthy 500th trig, to say the least.
The entry point to the Euroka is a fire trail off Kings Tableland Road in Wentworth Falls, NSW, in the area called 'The Blue Labyrinth' on the maps. There's a locked gate at the start, so we had to walk 7 km before we reached the final part of the trek, which we knew would be a 5 km round trip on an abandoned 4WD road of some kind. The trig had last been inspected by surveyors in 1977, so we thought that the road might still be in average condition.
Well, that was a wrong assumption, to say the least, and we gradually realised its serious decay after we found where it joined the fire trail. However, we persevered at a very, very slow pace for several hours until we were within 800 metres of the trig's published coords. At that point, we genuinely weren't sure if we should continue any further, because we didn't want to be bush bashing on our way back when the sun went down. We just weren't confident that we could find and navigate the old 'trail' without any light -- it was already extremely difficult to traverse in broad daylight.
In the end, rogerw3 and TC Senior agreed on a final push. It was tough but we got to the trig and held an accelerated celebration and photo session. Of course, this logging was also an FTF. But foremost in our minds was the need to get going again quickly so as to return to the fire trail by dusk. And push on we did -- getting through the most difficult parts of the former 'trail' fast enough to finally reach the fire trail while it was still light. (I'm leaving out a lot of interesting details here.)
Anyhow, at this point, we took a brief rest and breathed enormous sighs of relief. We knew that we had a long walk back to the GeoBuru2 in the dark, but with a full moon we had no doubts about our ability to make it successfully. And, of course, make it we did make it -- bruised and bone tired, but with a an enormous feeling of satisfaction in having reached one of the more remote trigs in the Blue Mountains (remembering that some trigs can now probably only be reached by helicopter).
And all of us feel fortunate to have joined with him in an adventure we won't forget. It was indeed the trig trek to end all trig treks! We won't soon forget today's GCA log. Five 'Thumbs Up' from me for sheer amazement that we got there and back.
Seriously, a word of caution to future prospective finds of Euroka Trig -- this one is as difficult to reach as we say. We're not joking. The so-called trail from the main fire trail (long but easy) is heavily overgrown and amounts to bush bushing nearly all the way. Only experience bush walkers should attempt it.
(Finally, full marks to young TC Tiger for his praiseworthy endurance and perseverance . . .)
Rated: for Overall Experience
A journey to rember both for its length and testing terrain! It was stupid to think it was all going to be easy!
It was an honour to be invited to join rogerw3's 500th Trig expedition.
I was glad to give him that vital push with 800m to go, as I knew none of us would ever get that close again!?!
My eleven year old son continues to surprise me with his lion sized heart. Well done!
It was an honour to be invited to join rogerw3's 500th Trig expedition.
I was glad to give him that vital push with 800m to go, as I knew none of us would ever get that close again!?!
My eleven year old son continues to surprise me with his lion sized heart. Well done!
Well there it is trig number #500, I must thank pjmpjm and Team Canary Senior and Fledgling for making this arduous journey and for their unflagging good humour. There is no doubt that without them I would not have been able to get there, Thank you so much Guys.
We all started from the locked gate an easy very pleasant walk along the wide well graded fire track down to the Erskine Range Ridge, all 7 km of it and we got to our turn off the Hall Ridge track to Mount Hall only 2.5 km and clearly marked on the topo map.
I knew from the start that this one would be overgrown as the only record I could find was when the Trig was surveyed in 1977 when they drove their 4WD along the track to within 40 metres of the Trig. Well when we saw the start of the track our hearts sank, only a bare indication that this was indeed it!
After some discussion we decided to have a look and at the start it was easy (a relative term) to follow so on we went. It was not long before this turned out into a marathon bush bash with virtually impenetrable growth the original track mostly invisible and in most cases could only be made out because of the younger growth on it instead of the huge trees around us.
This turned out to be the hardest bush bash we have done and yes we all had been trough worse scrub but not for this length of time these 2,5 km took us over 3 hours. At 3:00pm I was of the opinion we should turn back as I was getting very concerned we might not be able to return to the fire trail before dark and this would have been extremely dangerous. However Senior Canary pointed out that we were only (another relative term) 800 metres from GZ and we could just make it I agreed reluctantly but now I am very glad that he made us push on.
With 40 metres to go the team held back and made me go first and I was indeed the first person to see this trig in 35 years, the concrete pillar is in fairly good condition with only some scorch marks, the PVC mast has long ago snapped off, becoming brittle with age and I assume succumbed to one of the many ferocious storms and snapped off, but he vanes are still there with remnants of PVC pipe also the name plaque is there.
We only had a few minutes to enjoy the location as we had now to hustle out of there and cover the 2.5 km back to the fire trail before sunset. As it turned out we made good time on the way back and we emerged from this green Hell just as dusk settled in. Mind you there was scratches, cuts and bruises a plenty we all left our pound of flesh and blood behind as a tribute to this journey.
We now had the last 7 km back to the GeoBuru and civilization soon it was dark but the track showed well and we had to resort to torch light only for the last half of the trek.
In all it took us 9 hours to cover 19 km and please do not consider doing this unless you have the experience this is not for the faint hearted it would be so easy to get lost or injured.
In the end Kudos to the Fledgling Canary, he struggled to get over many obstacles and got his share of scratches, cuts and bruises but at the end of it all he was still the one with more energy left than any of us, the resilience of youth is something to be marvelled at!
Again thank you Guys I could not have done it without you.
We all started from the locked gate an easy very pleasant walk along the wide well graded fire track down to the Erskine Range Ridge, all 7 km of it and we got to our turn off the Hall Ridge track to Mount Hall only 2.5 km and clearly marked on the topo map.
I knew from the start that this one would be overgrown as the only record I could find was when the Trig was surveyed in 1977 when they drove their 4WD along the track to within 40 metres of the Trig. Well when we saw the start of the track our hearts sank, only a bare indication that this was indeed it!
After some discussion we decided to have a look and at the start it was easy (a relative term) to follow so on we went. It was not long before this turned out into a marathon bush bash with virtually impenetrable growth the original track mostly invisible and in most cases could only be made out because of the younger growth on it instead of the huge trees around us.
This turned out to be the hardest bush bash we have done and yes we all had been trough worse scrub but not for this length of time these 2,5 km took us over 3 hours. At 3:00pm I was of the opinion we should turn back as I was getting very concerned we might not be able to return to the fire trail before dark and this would have been extremely dangerous. However Senior Canary pointed out that we were only (another relative term) 800 metres from GZ and we could just make it I agreed reluctantly but now I am very glad that he made us push on.
With 40 metres to go the team held back and made me go first and I was indeed the first person to see this trig in 35 years, the concrete pillar is in fairly good condition with only some scorch marks, the PVC mast has long ago snapped off, becoming brittle with age and I assume succumbed to one of the many ferocious storms and snapped off, but he vanes are still there with remnants of PVC pipe also the name plaque is there.
We only had a few minutes to enjoy the location as we had now to hustle out of there and cover the 2.5 km back to the fire trail before sunset. As it turned out we made good time on the way back and we emerged from this green Hell just as dusk settled in. Mind you there was scratches, cuts and bruises a plenty we all left our pound of flesh and blood behind as a tribute to this journey.
We now had the last 7 km back to the GeoBuru and civilization soon it was dark but the track showed well and we had to resort to torch light only for the last half of the trek.
In all it took us 9 hours to cover 19 km and please do not consider doing this unless you have the experience this is not for the faint hearted it would be so easy to get lost or injured.
In the end Kudos to the Fledgling Canary, he struggled to get over many obstacles and got his share of scratches, cuts and bruises but at the end of it all he was still the one with more energy left than any of us, the resilience of youth is something to be marvelled at!
Again thank you Guys I could not have done it without you.
Rated: for Overall Experience
