{"id":4369,"date":"2014-04-25T10:04:45","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T02:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/?p=4369"},"modified":"2014-04-25T12:13:59","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T04:13:59","slug":"cathedral-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/cathedral-rock\/","title":{"rendered":"Picnic at Cathedral Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cathedral Rock National Park<\/a>\u00a0boasts some of the more spectacular bushwalks in NSW, and perhaps Australia. Dominated by tall, striking granite tors – many of which I found to be somewhat reminiscent of the mysterious moai<\/em> of Easter Island<\/a>\u00a0– rising out of a scenic forest of eucalypts, Cathedral Rock Track<\/a> is something every avid hiker should experience.<\/p>\n

Getting there:<\/strong> Follow road signs to Cathedral Rock National Park, roughly 8kms\u00a0west of Waterfall Way in New South Wales, Australia, 70 kms east of Armidale, and\u00a0head down Round Mountain Road to Barokee<\/a> Rest Area, where the track begins.<\/p>\n

The track:<\/strong>\u00a0The Cathedral Rock Track circuit is a pleasant 5.8km through bushland dotted with beautiful granite rock formations.\u00a0Allow 2 or more hours for the circuit, or 3 hrs or more in total for both the circuit and rock climb up Cathedral Rock. For the circuit, begin at Barokee Rest Area and follow the sign for ‘Cathedral Rocks 2.5km’ pointing to the left, cross the mud flats and head into the bush up one of the two signed trails (either trail brings you through the circuit and leaves you at the same point). The trail up to Cathedral Rock splits off about halfway through the circuit, and is\u00a0clearly signed. If your fitness level will accommodate the adventure, the view from the top of Cathedral Rock is more than reward enough for the walk and final climb, which involves rock hopping, a few tight squeezes between boulders, some steep rock ascents and small section of chain climbing (shown below). Be sure to wear hiking shoes with a good grip, and pack a snack or picnic lunch, lots of water and a camera for that memorable view (above).<\/p>\n

Warning:<\/strong> I recommend that all but the very most experienced hikers avoid doing the final rock climb section solo, as it can be treacherous in places, with a potentially deadly drop. The images do not quite capture the steep incline at the top, nor the tight squeezes through one final section of the climb, where the hiker is required to fit between boulders to continue the journey. Wet weather would also make some of the rock climbing in the final ascent dangerous, as there are few holds in some sections. Having a friend with you will ensure that if you take a tumble, help can be reached. (There was some phone reception near Cathedral Rock.)<\/p>\n

Image above: Enjoying the view at the top of Cathedral Rock. Images below: The mud flats, early uphill walk towards Cathedral Rock, and one of the sections of trail through boulders on the ascent.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

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\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

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Images above: Rock formations and view heading up Cathedral Rock, pausing for the view part way through one of the two short sections of steep chain climbing, resting out of the wind at the top, and Berndt in the clouds, carrying our daughter and enjoying the view at the highest peak of Cathedral Rock.<\/p>\n

While you are in the area, check out nearby Ebor Falls:<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Gear:<\/strong> (Geeky details for hikers.)<\/p>\n

I wore my trusty\u00a0Scarpa<\/a>\u00a0hiking boots, which held well on the large sections of steep (but dry) rock, and my\u00a0Osprey<\/a>\u00a0women’s hiking pack. As usual, I\u00a0prefer hiking skirts worn with wool layers and\u00a0canvas gaiters<\/a>, and though it was warm and I took my other upper layers off, I regret it, as I took off some shoulder coming through the tight, rough rock squeezes (a mere flesh wound) in the final metres. I also brought my\u00a0Canadian-made\u00a0Tilley<\/a>\u00a0T4 hat, which is\u00a0durable, machine washable and comes with chin straps for windy days. (Also, there’s a kind of fascinating and gross story about one of these nearly-indestructible hats being eaten by an elephant THREE TIMES. And surviving. Did I mention it was machine washable?)\u00a0Ideally for this walk, I recommend fingerless hiking gloves to comfortably grip the rock or cold chains, particularly in cooler weather.<\/p>\n

Our 3 year old daughter, Sapphira, was carried by Berndt in her\u00a0Deuter Kids Comfort III backpack<\/a>, which she has already travelled through Spain, Canada and New Zealand in. I highly recommended structured carries like this one for children aged 1 to 3. They are excellent for long day walks, though it made the squeeze through the boulders at the top somewhat difficult, and now that she is 3, Sapphira enjoyed taking some of the trails on by foot.<\/p>\n

Happy hiking.<\/p>\n

PS I have listed my gear because I find similar information helpful on other blogs. This post is not sponsored.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here for more of my favourite walks.<\/a><\/p>\n

* Photographs copyright of Tara Moss & Berndt Sellheim, 2014.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cathedral Rock National Park boasts some of the more spectacular bushwalks in NSW. Dominated by tall, striking granite tors – many of which I found to be somewhat reminiscent of the mysterious moai of Easter Island – rising out of a scenic forest of eucalypts, Cathedral Rock Track is something every avid hiker should experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[11,61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4369"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4408,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4369\/revisions\/4408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}