Saturday 3 October 2023
I was priviliged to to have the opportunity to join Keelan Birch and Jayce Nixon for some of their FKT (Fastest Known Time) attempt of the Coffs Hinterland 100km run. It is a big route taking in the surrounding hills of the Coffs Harbour city. Still rebuilding my fitness I decided to join on the off trail section from Mt. *********** across ***** Knob and Little ****** to ****** Trail.
This outing gave me the chance to knock off a long term goal of reaching the summit of knob and see the Trig point there. Being part of an FKT was an added bonus. I am a huge fan of the FKT tradition.
The boys were starting at 4am. I wanted to catch the start which meant I was up 3am to get there in time. I arrived in time to walk to the end of the jetty with them and watch them start. (the only one). A beautiful place to start their run.
It was pretty early. I was not expecting to see them until after 2pm at Wondurrgah. I went a got some ice and made my way to the North side of ***** through Orara. I stopped and had a nap before taking a narrow, rugged and muddy 4wd trail to the top of ***** Trail.
My plan was to hike across ****** from here join them and then hike back. I estimated it would take me about 3hrs to cover the 4km. From the sections I had covered previously I knew it was going to be steep and technical.
I had heaps of time. When I came up the South side on the single track last year, I crossed beautiful creek pouring out of the side of the hill. I wanted to get there with the sunrise and see if I could capture some images. I started walking down the trail an was surrounded by the calls of Lyrebirds. They would fly from tree to tree around me, just in eyesight through the foliage. The creek was pretty dry. Still a little trickle, but nothing like the last time.
**** **** Falls
I walked back up to the car. With plenty of time I looked at maps. I could see some falls further along the trail I was on. Geared up for running, I took off. The trail was great and I was super pumped as I bombed the the extended downhill (completely forgetting it was going to need to be ascended on the return).
The trail was pretty clear and I used heat maps to see where others had gone off the trail to the falls. **** *** falls are pretty speck. The water cascades down a near vertical rock face maybe 20m+ tall. Would be nice to cool down with a little more water.
The return trip was quite brutal. I didn't quite realise how steep it had been. At one point there is an old winch extension strap left by 4wds. I was tempted to use it to help pull myself upwards but that would probably have been overkill.
Back at the car I rehydrated and picked off leeches. then it was time to head over the top of the knob for my rendezvous.
***** Knob
I took off up the hill towards ***** Lookout, my first waypoint. This section is the only bit of trail on the route. Although its is super rough. About halfway I ran into an old fella making his way down. He was using a stick for support on the steep and rocky tack. We stopped and chatted about different trails. Just before moving off he let me know that he had, had 'equipment malfunction'. One of the lenses had fallen out of his glasses and now all he could see was a blurry cloud. I checked that he was fine to continue as he still had a tough 7km or so, to get down to his car in Glennifer. He laughed me off.
The view from ****** Lookout is one of the best vistas in our region. As far South as the weather allows and even views of Glennifer Falls.
After you pass Legges, the trail slowly Peters out. It is rocky and very slippery as it spends most of its time in cloud cover. The environment here is quite different to its surrounds. It feels very similar to Point Lookout. I stumbled my way along the ridge. It feels like you may be on a trail, but not really. There are a fair amount of fallen trees. You have to drop off the ridge regularly to get around many of them.
As you make your way westward along the ridge, you glimpses of the true ***** Knob. It is much rockier than it seems from a distance and much steeper. There are a couple of moments where I started to question if it would be possible to get up. I a quick to remind myself that others have done it and to just keep plodding.
At the start of the final climb to the summit I notice some marking tape. It goes up the direction I want to go, but interestingly also drops down the gully to the north of the ridge. I assume this must be part of NSW Parks new trail they are developing. The taped route is easier to travel along. They have hacked some of the vines with a machete to clear the way.
I was very excited when I came to the trig point it is quite worn and old. It feels like you have discovered something special. I don't think it will be quite the same once the trail goes in. Different to other trigs I have been to this one is significantly lacking in names scratched in to the metal or carved in to surrounding timber. It is hard to get to.
I continued on over to Mt *****. The bush here is thick with a lot of vines. I was very grateful for the path clearing work that had been done. I relaxed and just cruised along. As I was about leap off a fallen tree I looked down to see a big monitor in my path. He hissed at me but didn't move. I tried to scare him off with noise and banging sticks and stuff. But he refused to move, just occasionally lifted his head and hissed. I decided to go around, which actually required backtracking and finding a path through thick vines.
I arrived at the tower after 3hr 40min. A bit longer than anticipated but reflective of the challenging terrain. Had been following the boys tracker and could see they still were a little bit away. I took the time to eat some food and hang out my shirt to dry of some of the sweat. There is a view here, but not as speck as Legges.
I chatted to Keelan on the phone and they confirmed they weren't far.
The tracker was spot on. I watched them as they came up the hill. First Keelan and then Jayce. Jayce spotted a python soaking up the sun.
The boys were on a timer so we didn't waste any time before heading off. The goanna had gone and the photos in front of the trig were quick. We travelled quicker as a group than I had on my own. Keelan was definitely the fastest. Jayce was was a week out of covid, so having travelled 75km over 13hrs was doing incredible.
We pushed along the ridge at a steady pace. It was an uneventful trek. Another runner, Andrew M was waiting at *****. We made our way down to the car and everyone refilled water.
I wished them farewell as they took off down ****** Trail to Boambee. They were moving well.
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