21 September 2010 Snedden Pass

Map: Corang 1:25000

Getting There

This walk was organised and led by Max S as an FBI ad-hoc hard walk:

Tuesday 21 September - Snedden Pass- L/M. This Tuesday walk will be from Wog Wog carpark to Snedden Pass and some way to Yadboro R. The purpose is to check out the Pass for a future pack walk in the area and to look at the how the track has been improved by recent work. All on track hopefully, up to 20 km return and 600 m climb if reach Yadboro R - medium grade expected Map – Corang Weather - Partly cloudy. Patchy fog early in the morning. Winds westerly and light tending southeast to southwesterly up to 25 km/h during the afternoon. Overnight temperatures falling to around 4 with daytime temperatures reaching the low 20s. Leave Woden about 7.00 – can meet others on the way. Please confirm interest with telephone no. so cars can be arranged.

4 of us drove, in a brand new, dust-free, Subaru Outback, via Braidwood and the Nerriga Road to the Wog Wog entrance to the Morton National Park. Around 1hr 45mins. The car was not so clean on return.

Photographs

Access all primary pics here. All thumbnails in the walk report are active - click for a larger picture.

Walk

Track overview	Track a	Track b

A pleasant wander along the newly cleared (by CBC assisting NPWS rangers) Corang track. 6.7km in 1hr 40mins to morning tea. After our break, another 1km to the turn off to the Green Hut, which Ian pointed out to us. From there, another 500m to a small cairn (see pic below) marking the turn off to Snedden Pass.

Into the scratchy Corang hakea (shorts were not the best dress for the day), the footpad (somewhere down there beneath the overhanging growth) soon became braided. Being an eXploratory walk and with Ian's knowledge of the area a few years old, we trended left when we should have trended right, so did a little bend before we came upon the footpad again. Better on the way out - isn't it always the case with hindsight. Nice views allowed by the waist-shoulder high scrub.

View to Corang Peak, Korra Hill and Admiration Point from the Snedden Pass track

The tomato (I just planted some yesterday) stakes were handy guides, with a couple of cairns on the rocky areas above Snedden Pass. The 50-60+m sides of Admiration Point reminded us that we were heading towards a cliff line.

View to side of Admiration Point from above Snedden Pass

The last marker took us to Snedden Pass, the way down looking very pretty with wildflowers, but very slippery with green mosses. Not immediately seeing a further marker, we poked about to the left, but came back to the last marker. In the end, it was a relatively easy scramble down and we didn't have to get the rope out. We placed another small cairn at the bottom, which could be seen from the top, then found the other markers showing the way. Nice conglomerate around.

Flowers bedeck Snedden Pass	A cairn we placed at the bottom of Snedden Pass	Conglomerate at Snedden Pass

From the bottom of the Pass, the ground fell away through open and dry forest to the edge of the pines. Again, some faffing around as we tried to pick up the track markers. We picked up a line along a fence, the going 1000% easier on the pine forest, (no doubt) private side of the fence. At the SE corner of the pines, we hopped the fence and headed E, trying to do the right thing by returning to the National Park. But the going was pretty horrible, so we looped back and crossed another fence heading SW. We stayed close to the fence where the going was still somewhat horrible (or was it to avoid being seen from the nearby sawmill (?) complex).

A high point was inviting for lunch at 12.45pm. The route (track, footpad, nothing? - but Max will take us on it next year) was no doubt a little E of this point, but one could get a glimpse of the spur falling 500m down to the Yadboro River.

Now veterans of the way in, the way out was quite pain free (except for the scratches) and quick. The 2km back to the Corang track took 1 hour, whereas the inward leg took of 2.2km took 1hr 40mins. Nice views to Snedden Pass and the side of Admiration Point.

View on the return leg from the SE corner of Cockpit Swamp - Snedden Pass and the side of Admiration Point

The trick this time was to keep to the W of the fence out in the clear going, picking up the 4WD track towards all the buildings (the buildings are not marked on my first edition digital maps of the area) and brazenly following it to the fence junction at the SE corner of the pines. The Pass was a piece of cake going up.

A floral Snedden Pass

The S end of the tomato stake run was easy to see and I stopped briefly at each to record their locations. Again, in the area approaching the Corang track, there were many brained footpads under the overhanging hakea, but we were fortunate enough to keep on the staked pad.

In case it's of assistance to someone and not taking too much fun away, here's the stakes - running from N to S for the trip in:

A few tens of metres after the last one, we popped out at the small marker cairn we'd left from in the morning. A range of footwear on display, including Eric's with some running repairs on his soul sole.

Marker cairn at turnoff from Corang Peak track to Snedden Pass

By now, the weather was clouding up from the coast. The morning had been perfect, a hint of summer to come. But as we walked out, the cloud came down, the temperature dropped and a mist of moisture fell - a reminder of winter past. Even though Eric was prepared to break out his enormous block of chocolate to share, we decided to press on back towards the car to the first of the conglomerate piles before stopping. Thanks to Barrie R who answered my 'what flower is that?' question with good humour the next day. The 7.9km return along the Corang track took 1hr 40mins.

Conglomerate piles on the Corang track	Native iris or Flag iris (Patersonia longifolia) on the Corang track

An excellent walk and destination, as always, thanks Max. Fine company from Eric G and Ian S.

Distance: 20km Climb: 600m. Time: 8.50am - 3.50pm (7hrs), with 45mins of breaks.
Grading: L/M

KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Snedden Pass

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This page last updated 22Aug22