Supplement to "Discovering the Colo Wildernesss on foot", 1st edition

Last updated Nov 2010

This page contains errata and additional information to supplement the first edition of this book. Most of the information on this page has been incorporated into the revised edition.

WARNING: The Colo Wilderness is rugged and remote country. Always go well prepared and preferably travel in a group of at least 3 people. Travel time along the river and side creeks can be very slow (less than 1km/hour) and tiring due to boulders, rapids and thick vegetation. Also, the gorge is surrounded by impenetrable cliffs in many places. The 1:25000 topo maps of the area have 20 metre contour intervals which do not show all the cliffs.

Errata

Page	Error found by	Description
28	Dave Noble	Sketch map shows fire trail going further than it really does around Alidade Hill.
29	Anthony Dunk	The track off Boorai Ridge is shown entering the Colo about 250 upstream from where it should be. (The route shown on this map is navigable, but much steeper than the track marked with cairns). See a revision to the map here.
32	Anthony Dunk	The difficulty of this walk should be "Hard".
52	Dave Noble	Caption of photo is wrong. Railway was built for mining shale, not coal.
69	Anthony Dunk	The current recommended treatment for snake bite is to apply an elasticised pressure bandage, not a crepe bandage. The elasticised bandages are much more effective at reducing poison movement.

Grid references

Page	Data provided by	Feature	Grid reference (AGD66)
27	Anthony Dunk	Start of Canoe Creek entry track	749150
27	Anthony Dunk	Canoe Creek entry point	751148
27	Anthony Dunk	Canoe Creek exit track	746140
31	Glen Morris	Log blocking side track to Crawford's Lookout	719234

Other extra info

According to the NPWS, walkers are allowed to follow the road which leads to the Colo-Meroo campground from Upper Colo. This road has a number of locked gates to prevent vehicle access, but walking is permitted. The walk is about 40 mins each way.
When following Boorai Ridge to the Colo, the old logging trail is not the most direct route. Where the logging trail descends from the ridge, leave the trail and continue along the top of the ridge (off-track) until you eventually meet up with the logging trail again. See a revision to the map here.
Bob Buck's Pass 6 is reasonably straight forward for experienced walkers. This route follows a creek bed, so there is quite a bit of boulder scrambling. Take a length of rope to help with lowering packs at the final drop above the river.
Brian Corlis, a member of the NPA, published a booklet in 2005 which revised the classic Bob Buck sketch map of routes into the Colo Gorge. Unfortunately this is now out of print and the author has no plans to do a reprint. Apparently there is a copy available in the State Library.