Day 187 Sandy Camp Hut

The road to Widden Stud

NSW Day 45 (187) Saturday 27th November, 2021 17.6km

3746.9 / 1352km

The trick in working out how to proceed is second guessing the weather and effect it will have. I can see the bigger river heights but the smaller creeks are not monitored as well.

Widden Brook. Just a little fast in the middle. 
I got a lift across.
There are two apparent creeks that cause trouble. Bit confusing as one they keep mentioning is Nile Creek. On my maps I can't find it but in the end it turns out it is the Umbiella Creek crossing at The Nile. 

Through Widden Stud to the Woolemi National Park
The other is the Cudgegong River. I know already that Widden Creek is up but the Widden Stud has a solution by lifting staff and visitors across the creek on a tractor. So even though there are rivers still peaking I decide to move across the trail whilst there is a break in the weather. We've had one day without much rain and two or three days more. That gives me a couple of days to get to problem spots with hopefully no rain topping up the waterways.

Foaling paddock
The first stop is to get to Widden Creek and get across. Tracey drives me out and I miss the road walk and maybe if I walked it the creek might be down far enough to walk but with more rain predicted my concern is the Cudgegong crossing which is more remote and no tractor to get me across. In the end we got to the crossing but there was no mobile signal to ring the stud to tell them I was there. I was not willing to chance walking it. Tracey took off to find a signal and staff arrived just as she left to check the creek. I got a lift across and Widden has a local mobile network which works closer to the office. Had to walk back to the crossing to say goodbye to Tracey and her family. Had to throw a water bottle across as I left my water when I threw the pack in the Ute.  

Myrtle Creek at Myrtle Grove

By the time I get walking it's about 11am and the plan is to get up to Sandy Camp Hut. About 20k. The first part of the walk is through the stud. An impressive place. 

Up further is the Myrtle Creek near Myrtle Grove some water over the road to negotiate but proved fairly easy.  I finally get to the gate to the park and start climbing.

Myrtle Grove
It's a spectacular walk especially as the creek is running and there are little waterfalls and drips everywhere. The climb is through a rain forest. There are portions of the track that are crowded with plants that seem to provide a citrus type smell so whilst it's a pain pushing through it smells OK.

The climb through Woolemi
The higher you get the forest thins out. There is a lookout called Keith's Lookout, I don't know who Keith was. About 2 kilometres from there is the Hut which was a welcome sight. The wind was blowing and I set up the tent inner inside. A little bit of rain but not enough to cause a problem I hope.